Johan van Stratum (born 15 April 1982) is a Dutch bassist, currently playing live for German power metal band

Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Nine musicians have been part of the band ...

and

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk music, f ...

. He was the bassist of

Stream of Passion Stream of Passion is a Dutch progressive metal band with symphonic and gothic influences founded by guitarist and composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Mexican singer, violinist, and lyricist Marcela Bovio. They have released four studio albums. ...

, and one of the two founding members to stay in the band until it disbanded in 2016. He also played bass live for

and The Gentle Storm, VUUR. In July 2021 he was announced as the bass player of German power metal band

Career

Van Stratum started music at age 14 by singing, before being pushed to play bass by his friends. His first instrument was a brandless bass guitar brought for 50 euros. He considers his biggest influences

Tim Commerford Timothy Commerford (born February 26, 1968) is an American musician, best known as the bassist and backing vocalist for rock band Rage Against the Machine and supergroups Audioslave and Prophets of Rage. Since 2013 and 2015, respectively, he ha ...

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to Rage) was an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1991. It consisted of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim ...

Chris Wolstenholme Christopher Tony Wolstenholme (born 2 December 1978) is an English musician. He is the bassist and backing vocalist for the rock band Muse. He combines bass guitar with effects and synthesisers to create overdriven fuzz bass tones, a motif of ...

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, and

Reginald Arvizu Reginald Quincy Arvizu (born November 2, 1969), also known as Fieldy, is an American musician, best known as the bassist for nu metal band Korn. He is also the guitarist/bassist for rock band StillWell. Career Prior to Arvizu's time in Korn ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

. His first band No Problem was with future

After Forever After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death growls. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded. Singer Floor Jan ...

member and

collaborator Joost van den Broek, with whom he studied music. He also used to teach bass guitar and is co-founder of the only government accredited Metal education Metal Factory in Eindhoven NL.

Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer, best known for his long-running progressive metal/ rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as t ...

formed

in 2005, with a line-up including Van Stratum on bass. The band released their debut album ''

Embrace the Storm Embrace the Storm is Dutch progressive metal band Stream of Passion's debut album released on 24 October 2005 by InsideOut Music. It was preceded by the single "Wherever You Are" (18 October 2005) and followed by the single "Out in the Real World" ...

'' in 2005, with Lucassen acting as composer and

Marcela Bovio Marcela Alejandra Bovio García (born October 17, 1979) is a Mexican singer and violinist who is currently a member of the Dutch symphonic metal bands Stream of Passion and MaYaN. In 1995, she joined Hydra, a Mexican metal band, singing and ...

as lyricist. After several years of touring and the release of the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

Live in the Real World ''Live in the Real World'' is the first live CD and DVD album by Dutch/ Mexican progressive metal band Stream of Passion, created by Arjen Anthony Lucassen. It features not only songs from their debut album '' Embrace the Storm'', but also songs ...

'', several members of Stream of Passion chose to leave the band, including Lucassen, who had decided to leave to band to continue on its own. As the result, Van Stratum, Bovio and Van den Broek shared songwriting duties on their three subsequent studio albums: '' The Flame Within'' in 2009, '' Darker Days'' in 2011, and '' A War of Our Own'' in 2014. ''A War of Our Own'' was produced and released independently, and funded via the

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

site

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

. In April 2016, the band announced via Facebook that they would be separating at the end of the year, stating "Over the past eleven years we've had the time of our lives playing in stages all over the world and sharing moments of joy on stage. But all good things come to an end, and we feel it's time to move on and search for new musical challenges. We're proud of everything we've achieved, with your help, and we want to end the band history on a high note instead of losing focus, interest and drive. Before parting ways as a band we will perform a few goodbye shows; we also want to record a DVD to serve as a memento of the good times we've had. ..Once again, we'd like to express our eternal gratitude for the support you've given us all these years. All of us will continue to make music, one way or the other; so we still hope to see you soon on a stage near you. Thank you for being part of the wonderful adventure that has been Stream of Passion!" The band released a live album entitled ''Memento'' later that year, and performed their final show on 28 December 2016. In 2016,

Anneke van Giersbergen Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973) is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project wa ...

created the band VUUR, and chose Van Stratum, whom she had worked with as a part of The Gentle Storm, as bass guitarist. He was featured on the band's first album, ''

In This Moment We Are Free – Cities ''In This Moment We Are Free – Cities'' is the debut studio album by Dutch progressive metal band VUUR. It was released on 20 October 2017, via Inside Out Music. Apart from the regular edition, the album was released on special editions including ...

'', released on 2017.

Personal life

Discography

Stream of Passion

* ''

'' (2005) * ''

'' (live, 2006) * '' The Flame Within'' (2009) * '' Darker Days'' (2011) * '' A War of Our Own'' (2014) * ''Memento'' (live, 2016)

VUUR

* ''

'' (2017)

Blind Guardian

* '' The God Machine'' (2022)

As a guest

ReVamp Revamp may refer to: Changes *Revamp, informal term for maintenance, repair, and operations *Revamp, informal term for editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio eng ...

: ''

Wild Card Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...

'' (2013) * The Gentle Storm: '' The Diary'' (2015) *

: '' The Theater Equation'' (live, 2016) * Ayreon: ''

Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live ''Ayreon Universe – The Best of Ayreon Live'', alternatively known as ''Ayreon Universe – Best of Ayreon Live'' or simply ''Ayreon Universe'', is a live album and DVD/Blu-ray by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project ...

'' (live, 2018) * Ayreon: '' Into the Electric Castle Live and Other Tales'' (live, 2020) * Ayreon: ''

01011001 – Live Beneath the Waves ''01011001 – Live Beneath the Waves'' is a live album by Arjen Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project Ayreon, released on 17 May 2024. It is a live version of the 2008 concept album ''01011001'', which was filmed during a series of ...

'' (live, 2024)

References

External links

Official Stream of Passion website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stratum, Johan 1982 births Male bass guitarists 21st-century bass guitarists Dutch heavy metal bass guitarists Dutch rock bass guitarists Living people Stream of Passion members Blind Guardian members 21st-century Dutch male musicians