:''The Shadow Gallery is also the name of the home of the protagonist in the graphic novel V for Vendetta.'' Shadow Gallery is an American progressive metal band formed in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania during the early 1980s. It was originally called Sorcerer. After changing their name to Shadow Gallery (taken from the graphic novel '' V for Vendetta'' by Alan Moore) and recording a short 8-track demo, the band was signed to Magna Carta Records in 1991. Shadow Gallery's eponymous debut was released the following year in Japan and Europe. In mid-2005, Shadow Gallery released their fifth studio album, ''

Room V ''Room V'' is the fifth album by the progressive metal group Shadow Gallery, released in 2005 (see 2005 in music). It continues the story started in ''Tyranny'', picking up after Tyranny's Act II. It is the band's first album not featuring lon ...

'', on the European-American independent label

Inside Out Inside Out may refer to: *Backwards (disambiguation) or inverse Books * '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason * ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb * ''Inside Out'', novel by Barry Eisler ...

. The band has been compared to contemporary progressive metal bands

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

and Symphony X. The members of Shadow Gallery have also collaborated with other progressive metal bands. Dream Theater's James LaBrie contributed backing vocals to the song "I Believe", which appeared on Shadow Gallery's 1998 album, '' Tyranny'', and in return Shadow Gallery members have contributed to LaBrie's side projects, including MullMuzzler. Shadow Gallery songs, often in the context of a concept album or story, are frequently long with extended instrumental pieces in the middle. For diversity, their music is heavy at times and mellow at others, sometimes incorporating elements of neoclassical and

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

. On October 29, 2008, lead singer Mike Baker died of a heart attack at age 45.Mike Baker's Deat
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Accessed October 31, 2008

Influences

Shadow Gallery combines musical influences from virtuoso guitarists, like as Jason Becker and

Al Di Meola Albert Laurence Di Meola (born July 22, 1954) is an American guitarist. Known for his works in jazz fusion and world music, he began his career as a guitarist of the group Return to Forever in 1974. Between the 1970s and 1980s, albums such as ' ...

, as well as progressive rock bands such as

Rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * YES (Your Extraordinary Saturday), a learning program from the Minnesota Institute for Talente ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

. The band displays heavy metal influences from outfits Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche and

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

. When interviewed on the subject, Gary Wehrkamp has also added that "The band likes everything from Tori Amos, to old

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, Alice Cooper, Gamma Ray, Type O Negative, and

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

History

1985–1991: As Sorcerer

Sorcerer originally consisted of Mike Baker, Carl Cadden-James, Ron Evans, and John Cooney. The ensemble began as a cover band, particularly interested in covering difficult to play songs by artists such as Yngwie Malmsteen and

. In 1985, guitarists Chris Ingles and Brendt Allman joined the band, with Ingles immediately switching to keyboard duties. At this time, Ron Evans departed in order to pursue other musical interests and goals.

1991–1998: Debut and ''Carved in Stone''

After changing their name to Shadow Gallery and recording a short 8 track demo, Mike Varney eventually signed them to Magna Carta records on August 23, 1991 as the label's second contract (the first having been Magellan). The record label's objective had been "..to bring a fresh breath of progressive rock to an audience who was subdued by larger record companies quest for typical commercial music". Impressed with Shadow Gallery's initial demo, Varney suspected the band could help fulfill this objective. Shadow Gallery's eponymous debut was released the following year in Japan and Europe. However, before the arduous commitments of a supporting tour and a new studio album, the band needed to secure a stable lineup. April 1993 saw the recruitment of guitarist/keyboardist

Gary Wehrkamp Gary Wehrkamp (born May 11, 1970 in Butler, New Jersey) is an American musician, songwriter and producer. He is most notably a member of the American progressive rock band Shadow Gallery. Biography Career Early Years Wehrkamp made his foray ...

, originally of the band The Boxtops. Another lineup addition followed in April 1994 with drummer Kevin Soffera. With this new solidified lineup, Shadow Gallery released its second studio recording on July 11, 1995, titled '' Carved in Stone''. However, time constraints and other commitments precluded the band from touring in support of both albums.

1998–2001: ''Tyranny''

''Carved in Stone'' was followed up by their 1998 release, '' Tyranny'' with drummer Joe Nevollo replacing Kevin Soffera. The album is a deeply political

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, with themes including the nature of war and the military-industrial complex. ''Tyranny'' is also notable for the contributions made by a number of guest musicians. Beyond James LaBrie's vocal contribution to "I Believe,"

D. C. Cooper Donald Christopher Cooper (born August 22, 1965) is an American singer. Career Cooper started his career playing in several local bands and touring local clubs in the Pittsburgh area while studying singing under renowned opera coach Charlotte ...

(vocalist of Royal Hunt) contributed vocals to the track "New World Order," and violinist Paul Chou made a guest appearance on the tracks "Spoken Words" and "New World Order," with the former featuring a duet between Mike Baker and Laura Jaeger. Shadow Gallery would return the favor to LaBrie in 1998 when Allman, Cadden-James, Wehrkamp and local musician/songwriter Gary Sloyer appeared on and aided in LaBrie's musical side project, Mullmuzzler. Their debut record, '' Keep It to Yourself'', was released by Magna Carta in the Summer of 1999."

2001–2005: ''Legacy''

On April 10, 2001, the band released their fourth studio album, ''

Legacy In law, a legacy is something held and transferred to someone as their inheritance, as by will and testament. Personal effects, family property, marriage property or collective property gained by will of real property. Legacy or legacies may refer ...

'', which would prove to be their last under Magna Carta Records. While this album was released in between ''Tyranny'' and ''Room V'', it had no relation to the ongoing narrative of the two albums, instead forming a collection of independent songs. The album was met with generally favorable reviews, for example ''Screaming in Digital'' wrote that:

2005–2008: Room V

On May 30, 2005 (Europe) and June 7, 2005 (USA) Shadow Gallery released ''

'', the band's fifth studio album and its first under new record label InsideOut and also the first album without Chris Ingles. It is a concept album, which continued the narrative set out in ''Tyranny''. The album included Jaeger returning to perform a vocal duet on "Comfort Me." Included as a limited edition, the band also released a second disc. In addition to a multimedia segment titled ''The Story of Room V'' (that can be accessed on a computer's

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...

) the album contained five extra tracks, including a Joe Nevolo drum solo ("Joe's Spotlight"), an unreleased demo (entitled "Memories"), an acoustic version of ''Room Vs "Rain", and a long medley covering many

songs titled ''Floydian Memories''. This track is particularly notable, as it features

Mark Zonder Warlord was an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band, formed in 1980 and based in Los Angeles, California. Since its formation the band was led by guitarist William J Tsamis and drummer Mark Zonder. History Early years Warlord is the ...

performing drums on the "One in a Crowd" portion of the medley, as well as Arjen Lucassen performing guest vocals and the "Shine On" guitar solo.

2008–2009: Baker's death and ''Digital Ghosts''

According to an email sent to the Shadow Gallery News email list on October 31, 2008, Baker died after suffering a heart attack on October 29, 2008 at the age of 45. Despite the death of Baker, Shadow Gallery continued, and their latest album,

Digital Ghosts ''Digital Ghosts'' is the sixth album by the progressive-metal group Shadow Gallery. It was released on October 23, 2009, in Europe and November 3, 2009, in the U.S. This is the first album since their former singer Mike Baker died on October 2 ...

, was released on October 23, 2009 in Europe with new vocalist Brian Ashland. Wehrkamp stated on Shadow Gallery's MySpace page:

2010–2013: Touring

2014–present: Hiatus

On September 3, 2014, Shadow Gallery responded to a question on their Facebook page regarding a new album with: "There is movement, creation, there is collaboration, preparation- words spin into music freely given, voices for the stories told, passion to share with strokes so tender, so bold - a new dream born of old. Days pass but we do not count, we are forever past the age of doubt. We will rise. We will rise. You whisper time and who will follow you?...We are working on it." On November 29, 2015, Wehrkamp's home and studio was destroyed by fire. Shadow Gallery subsequently posted links to their Facebook page asking fans to donate money to nonprofit organization Mady's Angels to aid Wehrkamp and his family. In addition, a benefit concert for the Wehrkamps was held at Sherman Theater on December 26. Although Wehrkamp and his family have made a recovery since, it is unclear how this will affect the band's progress on the new album. In June 2016, the band's Facebook page featured new material in the making via short Periscope videos.

Live performances

To the chagrin of long-time fans, the band waited until 2010 to perform live, despite having been together (as Shadow Gallery) since the early 1990s. When asked the question in one interview, Wehrkamp explained that "We have always been more a studio band than a performing band unfortunately, and while we rehearsed for a tour just before ''Tyranny'' was started, a few obstacles blocked our touring options, and we were locked back in the studio to make another record. I know there are many people who cannot understand why we haven't played in support of this record, and I can see why they feel that way, but honestly, it's very difficult." In a more recent 2005 interview, he cited the band's various side projects as a reason, stating that "I truly think that it will maybe never happen as we all have full diaries, families, full time jobs and mortgages... I for instance give lessons and I play in 2 other bands... But we will seriously consider it this time, as it will be very difficult to get all the guys of the band together to go on tour. Besides it was never our intention in the first place to do live gigs as SG is most and for all a real studio band. Maybe, some day, never say never…." On December 17, 2009 it was announced on the band's website they were going to make their first live appearance on the Triton Power Cruise (along with 9 other bands), which was set to sail April 30 - May 3, 2010 from Miami, Florida. However, in February the

cruise A cruise is any travel on a cruise ship. Cruise or Cruises may also refer to: Tourism * Booze cruise * Music cruise * River cruise Aeronautics and aircraft * Cruise (aeronautics), a distinct stage of an aircraft's flight * Aviasouz Cruise, a R ...

was cancelled due to an extreme medical crisis within the promoter's family. On April 17 of 2010, Shadow Gallery announced on their website they will be the headliner on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at ProgPower Europe in

Baarlo Baarlo (; li, Baolder ) is a village in the southeastern Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Peel en Maas, Limburg, about 6 km southwest of Venlo. Name and symbols The oldest mention of the name Baarlo is from 1219. The old ...

, Netherlands. On July 20 a local show in Tannersville, PA on September 5, 2010 at Barley Creek Brewing Company was announced. This will become the band's debut show and the opening band will be New Jersey based progressive metal act

Suspyre Suspyre is an American progressive metal band from New Jersey, United States, who were formed in 2001. About the band Suspyre's sound is heavily influenced by a wide variety of bands and composers, most prominently Dream Theater, Opeth, Symphony ...

. On the same day a statement appeared on the band's website saying they would embark on a two-week European tour starting with the ProgPower Europe show on October 2. The tour is called the "Shadow Gallery Live: 2010 Tour" and is sponsored by Greek concert promoter Warcry Entertainment Group. Support act during most of the shows will be the Greek modern rock band Maplerun. Although all band members have performed live onstage before in other bands this will be the first tour in 20 years of their career as Shadow Gallery. In the weeks following the initial announcement more tour dates were confirmed and as of August 23, 2010 the final European tour schedule is listed as: * 10/02/2010 ProgPower Europe Festival – Baarlo, Netherlands * 10/03/2010 House of Progression - London, England * 10/04/2010 Nouveau Casino - Paris, France * 10/06/2010 Alcatraz – Milan, Italy * 10/08/2010 8Ball – Thessaloniki, Greece * 10/09/2010 Stage Club –

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

, Greece * 10/10/2010 Kyttaro – Athens, Greece * 10/14/2010 MMC Club -

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, Slovakia * 10/16/2010 Turock -

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, Germany * 10/17/2010 Biebob - Vosselaar, Belgium In an interview with the band conducted on August 22, 2010 guitarist Brendt Allman answered a question about the probability of touring again after the European dates as follows: "It's tough to say because there's a lot of different things going on in a lot of people's lives, but if we can do it once, we can probably do it twice." The band has announced in 2013 that they will be playing live again. Their first announced headlining gigs are on May 5, 2013 at the U.S. progressive rock Rites of Spring festival (RoSfest) in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and on Friday, September 6, 2013 at the U.S. progressive metal festival ProgPower USA in Atlanta, Georgia. The month following the band heads over to Europe to perform at ProgPower Europe in

, Netherlands on Friday, October 4. This will be Shadow Gallery's second headlining appearance at the Dutch progressive music festival and the band has stated they will play a special 2 hour set.

Current formation

Current members

*Brendt Allman – guitar, backing vocals (1985–present) *Carl Cadden-James –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, backing and

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

(1985–present) *

– keyboards, piano, guitar, backing vocals (1992–present) *Joe Nevolo –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(1997–present) *Brian Ashland – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (2009–present)

Former members

*Chris Ingles – piano, keyboards (1985–2007) * Mike Baker – lead vocals (1985–2008; his death) *Kevin Soffera – drums (1994–1996)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:90 top:10 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1985 till:08/26/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1985 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1986 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass,_flute id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards,_piano id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_albums LineData = at:04/01/1992 color:black layer:back at:07/11/1995 color:black layer:back at:09/22/1998 color:black layer:back at:05/15/2001 color:black layer:back at:07/05/2005 color:black layer:back at:10/23/2009 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Mike text:"Mike Baker" bar:Brian text:"Brian Ashland" bar:Brendt text:"Brendt Allman" bar:Ron text:"Ron Evans" bar:Gary text:"Gary Werhkamp" bar:Carl text:"Carl Cadden-James" bar:Chris text:"Chris Ingles" bar:Ben text:"Ben Timely" bar:John text:"John_Cooney" bar:Kevin text:"Kevin Soffera" bar:Joe text:"Joe Nevolo" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4) bar:Mike from:start till:10/29/2008 color:Vocals bar:Brian from:06/01/2009 till:end color:Vocals bar:Brian from:06/01/2009 till:end color:Keys width:7 bar:Brian from:06/01/2009 till:end color:Guitar width:3 bar:Brendt from:start till:end color:Guitar bar:Ron from:start till:01/01/1990 color:Guitar bar:Gary from:01/01/1994 till:end color:Guitar bar:Gary from:01/01/1994 till:end color:Keys width:3 bar:Carl from:start till:end color:Bass bar:Carl from:start till:end color:Vocals width:3 bar:Chris from:start till:03/01/2007 color:Keys bar:Ben from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1992 color:Drums bar:John from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:Drums bar:Kevin from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1996 color:Drums bar:Joe from:01/01/1996 till:end color:Drums

Discography

Studio albums

*1992 – ''Shadow Gallery'' *1995 – ''Carved in Stone'' *1998 – ''Tyranny'' *2001 – ''

'' *2005 – ''

'' *2009 – ''

Compilation albums

*2007 – '' Prime Cuts''

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1985 establishments in Pennsylvania American progressive metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Pennsylvania Inside Out Music artists Magna Carta Records artists Musical groups established in 1985 Rock music groups from Pennsylvania