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Narnia is a Swedish
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...
band founded by guitarist
Carl Johan Grimmark Carl Johan Grimmark (born 14 October 1977) is a Swedish guitarist. He has appeared with several influential Christian metal bands including Narnia, Saviour Machine, and Rob Rock. He joined the band Beautiful Sin in 2006. He has also played w ...
and singer
Christian Liljegren Per Christian Liljegren (born 3 February 1971) is a Swedish musician. Career Liljegren is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the Christian melodic power metal band Narnia. He is also the frontman of the metal bands Au ...
. The band formed in Sweden in 1996, disbanded in 2010, and reformed in 2014. Their music references ''
The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven portal fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, the series is set in the fictional realm of Narnia (wor ...
'' by
C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...
.


History

Liljegren and Grimmark met for the first time in 1993 in
Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat o ...
, a town in the south of Sweden. At this time Liljegren and his band Modest Attraction were just about to release their first album, ''The Truth in Your Face''. Grimmark was a member of a band named Sentinel. They remained in contact over several years, during which both had trouble with their bands. Modest Attraction produced its second album ''Divine Luxury'' in 1996, at the same time as Grimmark decided to leave Sentinel. Liljegren phoned Grimmark and asked him whether he was interested in working together on a project. Liljegren had a passion for melodic hard rock, which he was not able to explore in the band Modest Attraction. Grimmark was instantly interested in a project along those lines. A few months later Liljegren called Grimmark again and told him that Modest Attraction would go on tour to Germany and the guitar player Stephan Mohlin could not accompany them. Thus Grimmark replaced Stephan. Stephan soon left the band all together, and Grimmark was asked whether he would like to become a full-time band member. Grimmark accepted, thus giving Liljegren and Grimmark time to plan their project. They took a few old songs from other bands and altered them to their own preferences. In September 1996 they went into the Top Recording Studio. Grimmark played all of the instruments and Liljegren sang. The recordings took several months. They had several guests on the album, including Jakob Persson, who later played bass in Narnia.
Janne Stark Janne Stark (born 1963 in Karlshamn) is a Swedish guitarist and author. Biography Stark recorded his first 7" single with the band Paradize in 1979, then formed the band Overdrive in 1980. He released the 12" MLP ''Reflexions'' in 1981, afte ...
( Overdrive, Locomotive Breath,
Baltimoore Baltimoore is a Swedish rock band, led by Swedish singer Björn Lodin. Lodin was originally approached by Elektra Records in 1987 to record a solo album, but Lodin opted to use the moniker ''Baltimoore'' rather than his own name. In 1992, Lod ...
) was responsible for the guitar solos and Mart Hallek played the violin. In January 1997, the recordings were finally finished. After hard work, the album ''Awakening'' was mixed. Thanks to their manager Magnus Söderkvist their album was taken up by ten Japanese labels. Nine of these labels wanted to take Narnia under contract, finally Narnia decided for
Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...
. In May, Liljegren and Grimmark went on their last tour with Modest Attraction. They met Matthias Mittelstädt, who possessed an enterprise named MCM Music. Mittelstädt, along with his brother, Rainer Matthias, loved the album and Mittelstädt became their manager. With a demo in hand and new management, they began to search for talented new members and finally Narnia was born. Subsequently, the group signed with
Nuclear Blast Records Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...
, and would release the albums ''Long Live the King'' (1999), ''Desert Land'' (2001), and ''The Great Fall'' (2003) on that label. They opened once for
Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band. Formed in 1984, they have released sixteen studio albums, six DVDs and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo ...
during this time. A live-DVD and live album was released of their concert in Germany, both titled ''At Short Notice... Live in Germany'' (2006). The following album, ''Enter the Gate'' (2006), was released on MCM Music, as was the compilation album ''Decade of Confession'' (2007). On 9 April 2008 Narnia began recording their latest album. On 29 April Liljegren announced his departure from the band. On 29 August the band announced on their official MySpace that the new vocalist is Germán Pascual. Germán grew up in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil, but moved to Sweden in his teens. Previously he has worked with various bands and artists, such as Minds Eye and Mendez. ''Course of a Generation'' was released in Europe by Massacre Records on 24 July 2009. On 15 April 2010 the band announced that they would be breaking up. On 20 October 2010 they announced that they would hold two final concerts – one in Germany, and one in Mexico. Original keyboardist Martin Härenstam (Claésson) rejoined for the final two concerts.


Post-breakup and reunion

Since their farewell shows in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
(at Revolution Metal), and Germany (at Christmas Rocknight), there has not been a great deal of information about the members of Narnia. That changed on 22 January 2012, as former frontman Carl Johan Grimmark took to the band's official MySpace and revealed that he had been quite busy in the past year. According to Grimmark, he had joined the band
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
during the summer of 2011, playing guitar and keyboard. He also stated that he was also involved with the band
Full Force Full Force is an American music group of hip hop and R&B singers, songwriters and producers from Brooklyn, New York. Members *B-Fine (Brian George) – drums and drum programming, backing vocals *Shy Shy (Hugh Junior Clark) – bass guita ...
, composed of Mike Andersson, vocals (of Cloudscape), Anders Johansson (of
HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. They have released thirteen studio albums. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when g ...
, formerly of Yngwie Malmsteen's
Rising Force ''Rising Force'' is the first studio album by guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, released in late 1984 through Polydor Records.Stefan Elmgren Stefan Elmgren (born 17 May 1974) is the former guitarist of the Swedish power metal band HammerFall from 1997 to 2008. History Before becoming a member of HammerFall, he was the guitarist in the band Highlander. Elmgren has also worked with his ...
(formerly of
HammerFall HammerFall is a Swedish power metal band from Gothenburg. The band was formed in 1993 by ex- Ceremonial Oath guitarist Oscar Dronjak. They have released thirteen studio albums. History Early days (1993–1996) HammerFall was formed when g ...
) and
Tommy Larsson Tommy Larsson (born 7 September 1951) is a Swedish former footballer who played as a midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middl ...
(formerly of Heed). He hinted at something big taking place in the future, but has since remained tight-lipped regarding the news. On 31 January 2014 the band announced they were active again, celebrating the 15th anniversary of their ''Long Live the King'' album by playing live shows and re-releasing the album as a deluxe edition.


Band members

Current *
Christian Liljegren Per Christian Liljegren (born 3 February 1971) is a Swedish musician. Career Liljegren is best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the Christian melodic power metal band Narnia. He is also the frontman of the metal bands Au ...
– lead vocals * CJ Grimmark – guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, vocals * Martin Härenstam – keyboards * Jonatan Samuelsson – bass guitar,
bass pedals Bass pedals are an Electronic instrument, electronic musical instrument with a foot-operated pedal keyboard with a range of one or more octaves. The earliest bass pedals from the 1970s consisted of a Pedal clavier, pedalboard and analog synthesi ...
, vocals * Anders Köllerfors – drums Former * Fredrik Junhammar – drums * Sonny Larsson – backing vocals * Jakob Persson – bass * Linus Kåse – keyboards * Germán Pascual – lead vocals * Andreas Olsson/Passmark – bass * Andreas Johansson – drums Timeline


Discography

Studio albums * ''Awakening'' (1998) * ''Long Live the King'' (1999) * ''Desert Land'' (2001) * ''The Great Fall'' (2003) * ''Enter the Gate'' (2006) * ''Course of a Generation'' (2009) * ''Narnia'' (2016) * ''From Darkness to Light'' (2019) * ''Ghost Town'' (2023) Live albums * ''We Still Believe – Made in Brazil'' (2018) Compilations * ''Decade of Confession'' (2007) * ''Soli Deo Gloria'' (2021) Video albums * ''At Short Notice... Live in Germany'' (2004)


References


External links

*
Narnia at nolifetilmetal.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narnia Swedish power metal musical groups Swedish Christian metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Nuclear Blast artists Musical groups from Jönköping