British gothic power metallers Aonia have been announced to support Norwegian symphonic metal band Sirenia at the fifth edition of The Dames of Darkness Festival which will take place on 9th and 10th May 2015 at The Robin 2 in Bilston, near Wolverhampton. Frontwoman Melissa comments:
It’s a huge honour to be chosen to play one of the best festivals in the UK. We [Aonia] would like to thank David Homer from Apparition for booking us and our press officer, Nico, for recommending us for the festival. We’re looking forward to the festival. I’ve attended the last two Dames and both we’re brilliant. It’s an exciting opportunity for us! We hope to see many of you there!
Building on their successes as 2012 Bloodstock Metal to the Masses finalists, Aonia are currently gigging regularly, securing support slots at more well-known venues and in more high profile festivals. For example, the band has played Metal Rites Festival, Martin Walkyier’s Viking Funeral, Whitby Goth Weekend, Metieval Summerfest and Warhorns Winter Festival. The band provided main support at Dovestock and headlined the Fringe stage of the Doncaster Live Festival. Most recently, they supported Canadian power metallers and Bloodstock veterans Kobra and the Lotus at the Corporation in Sheffield.
Rising phoenix-like from the ashes of the band Cathexis, Aonia was formed by drummer Tony Gaskell and vocalist Melissa Adams. James (guitar) joined soon after. Gary (bass) joined the band in January of 2012 and Przemek ‘Slick’ Druzkowski (guitar) joined in February of 2013. In mid-April of 2013 the band decided to add a second vocalist, Joanne Robinson – another operatically trained colorartura soprano – to the line-up, to further differentiate themselves from the rest of the metal world. And then there were seven – in May of 2013, Tim ‘The Machine’ Hall, with 20 years of gigging experience, joined on keyboards, giving the band a fuller, more epic sound. With seven musicians, the scope has further widened to construct complex compositions and intricate tapestries of sound.
The band has had numerous successes, appearing in Metalhammer magazine, Terrorizer magazine, Alternative Female Voice magazine, Dominator Magazine and Bitchslap Alternative Fanzine. Aonia has been band of the month for Valkyrian Music and Alternative Voice, as well as band of the day for Lizard King Music, The Moshville Times and Ginger Squirrel Music. They have also reached #9 on John’s Rock Show on Birmingham City Radio.
In December 2011, Aonia released its debut EP City of Shadows to critical acclaim. They quickly followed this success with the filming of their debut video “Gift of the Curse”, which was released in March, 2012.
Aonia released their second EP, Sunchaser, on July 25th, 2014. The addition of a second operatically trained vocalist and full, orchestrated, more technical keyboards give more depth and create an intricate tapestry of sound and the band is excited to capture the magic produced live in CD form.
Sunchaser can be purchased from http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/aonia2
Tickets for The Dames of Darkness will be on sale soon and will be available from the venues website at http://therobin.co.uk
