[avatar user=”Mosh” size=”50″ align=”left” /]Dendera are a classic metal band from southern England. Dendura were an Egyptian-themed progressive symphonic metal band from Michigan. The former are still very much on the go (and a favourite of your editor), whereas the latter split up but reformed with a slightly different line-up to create Aria Flame.
Originally featuring just writer/singer Aziza Poggi and percussionist Erik Sales, they penned a few songs, wrote melodies and came up with themes and ideas. As the project gained impetus, a full band was required and this was built with the addition of guitarist Dan Cruzan, bassist & producer Greg Cloon and keyboardist Alicia Menninga. Alicia left at the end of 2014 to run her own business, so the band temporarily used backing tracks when playing live in place of her keyboards until Joop De Rooij joined as guest keyboardist.
2014 was very good for the band. Having released a single and video towards the end of 2013, their debut EP, A World of Silence, came out in October and the reviews were very good. Produced by the band’s bassist Greg Cloon, it was mixed and mastered by Neil Kernon (who has worked with some little band from Birmingham called Judas Priest). This led to them opening for Xandria and Delain to a packed house – obviously a highlight in the band’s history!
They have a busy 2015 already planned with gigs lined up from January onwards. After the fun of playing gigs in Europe last year, they’re focussing initially on the US, but I’m sure there will be offers of international shows again.
The video below is the single from 2013, “Divine World”. It sums up the band’s operatic and baroque feel well, and is the final track on the EP which I will try to review shortly.
