Magic Never Dies

Power Quest are an English power metal band from Southampton. The line-up consists of keyboardist Steve Williams, drummer Rich Smith, vocalist Ashley Edison, guitarists Glyn Williams and George "The Kid" Karafotis, and bassist Bradley Edison.

Biography

2001–2008

Power Quest was conceived in March 2001 by keyboardist Steve Williams, who had recently departed London power metal band DragonHeart (later called DragonForce). Steve Scott (another former member of DragonHeart, and also ex-Shadowkeep) was approached regarding bass duties. Scott was keen to work with his former colleague and accepted the offer. The original intention was for Power Quest to be entirely based in Southampton, but other than guitarist Adam Bickers, no other interested musicians in the city could be found. For the second guitar slot, they managed to secure the services of their former DragonHeart bandmate Sam Totman, at least in a short-term capacity as his commitment lay with his own band.

The newly founded band recorded a two-track demo which was uploaded onto MP3.com in August 2001. Recording was supported by ZP Theart on vocals and Totman along with Bickers on guitars and Scott on bass.

In April 2002, vocalist Alessio Garavello was recruited to the Power Quest ranks. He was recommended to the band by Maurizio Chiarello, label manager at Underground Symphony Records. Garavello flew over for a photo session with the band in May 2002 and returned in June to lay down vocal tracks for the new album. He was accompanied by the guitarist of his band, Arthemis, Andrea Martongelli, who recorded a few guest solos on the album - now named ''Wings of Forever''. Following the album's release, he was recruited as a full-time member to replace Bickers who left to pursue a career as a doctor.

In January 2003, drummer Andre Bargmann was recruited into the Power Quest ranks. Bargmann left the band in July that year, following the release of the second album (''Neverworld''). His place was filled on the tour by Last Hours of Torment drummer Gavin Ward, and eventually on a more permanent basis by Francesco Tresca. Totman also left after the release of ''Neverworld'' because of increased activity in DragonForce.

In November 2004, the band played a show with Dream Evil and Labyrinth in London, and then later in the month the band headed back to Thin Ice studios to record three new songs for the ''Magic Never Dies'' album. In November and December 2005, Power Quest toured on their 'Magic Never Dies tour', playing various dates in the UK, notably The Marquis in London on 25 November. The band followed this with a 'Magic Never Dies Tour part II'. In August 2006, Power Quest announced that current Garavello would be taking up a second role as rhythm guitarist, as the band had been without a second guitar player since Bickers' departure in 2003. In October 2007, an official Napalm Records MySpace blog post announced that Power Quest had signed to Napalm Records.

In December 2007, Williams announced on the Official Power Quest forums that there would be five guest appearances on the forthcoming album, '' Master of Illusion''. The first of these was announced as guitarist Bill Hudson from North American power metal band Cellador, who would be providing guest instrumentation on the track "The Vigil". The second of these was announced as keyboardist Richard West from British progressive metal band Threshold, who would be providing a keyboard solo on the track "Human Machine". The third was revealed as Jorn Viggo Lofstad, from Norwegian progressive power metal band Pagan's Mind who shared the stage with Power Quest in their 2006 tour. Fourth was announced as Chris Neighbour from UK thrash metal band FourwayKill. The final guest was announced on the newly redesigned Power Quest website as Bob Katsionis from Greek power metal band Firewind who would provide guest instrumentation on "Save the World".

Lineup changes, ''Blood Alliance'', and split

In June 2008, in a press release, the band announced that Hudson, who had previously contributed to the ''Master of Illusion'' album on the track "The Vigil", had joined as joint lead guitarist alongside Martongelli. In January 2009, bassist and founding member Scott decided to quit the band to remain permanently in New Zealand, leaving Williams as the only original member of the band. The band found a replacement bassist, Oliver Holzwarth

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