Symfonia was a short-lived

symphonic power 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 ...

supergroup Supergroup or super group may refer to: * Supergroup (music), a music group formed by artists who are already notable or respected in their fields * Supergroup (physics), a generalization of groups, used in the study of supersymmetry * Supergroup ...

formed in 2010 by

Andre Matos Andre Coelho Matos (14 September 1971 – 8 June 2019) was a Brazilian singer and musician. He was involved in the heavy metal bands Viper, Angra, Shaman and Symfonia. Since 2006, Matos had been dedicating his time to his solo career. In 201 ...

(vocals),

Timo Tolkki Timo Tapio Tolkki (born 3 March 1966) is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing ...

(guitars),

Jari Kainulainen Jari "Jartsi" Kainulainen (born 29 April 1970) is a Finnish bass guitarist. He is best known for having been the bass player of the power metal band Stratovarius from 1993 until 2005. Kainulainen is currently the bassist of Masterplan, having ...

(bass),

Mikko Härkin Mikko Härkin (born 25 May 1979 in Kuopio, Finland) is a Finnish power metal keyboardist, who has performed with Sonata Arctica and Kenziner. History Härkin begun to study piano at the age of 5. He joined ''Kenziner'' in 1998 and with them rec ...

(keyboards) and

Uli Kusch Ulrich Kusch (born 11 March 1967) is a heavy metal drummer. He is best known for playing with Helloween, Gamma Ray, Masterplan and Holy Moses, among others. He is known for his technical style of playing, fast-paced speed metal-like rhythm, an ...

(drums). On February 18 of 2011, the band made its debut performance at Finnish Metal Expo. The band released its only album, ''

In Paradisum "In paradisum" (English: "Into paradise") is an antiphon from the traditional Latin liturgy of the Western Church Requiem Mass. It is sung by the choir as the body is being taken out of the church. The text of the ''In paradisum'' — with or wit ...

,'' in March 2011.

History

After touring together as members of

Stratovarius Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after fo ...

and Angra, guitarist

and vocalist

became good friends. When Matos moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, Tolkki called him and told him he had some song ideas he would like to show him. On the condition of being part of the songwriting process but not of the managing duties due to his other activities, Matos flew to

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

and started working on the songs, though at that time they did not know if those songs would be used in a band, or a project or anything alike. Tolkki then completed the team with other musicians who were living in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

back then: bassist

, keyboardist

and drummer

. Months later, the five musicians met in Helsinki and started rehearsing. By October 2011 last news were that drummer Uli Kusch officially left the band to continue recovering from his nerve damage which made it impossible for him to play drums for a year. The band did a tour in South America (mostly in Brazil) and would start to record a new album subsequently. By December 2011, Timo Tolkki announced in his official Facebook page that he would probably never record anything again (he later announced he would return to music with his new project,

Avalon Avalon (; la, Insula Avallonis; cy, Ynys Afallon, Ynys Afallach; kw, Enys Avalow; literally meaning "the isle of fruit r appletrees"; also written ''Avallon'' or ''Avilion'' among various other spellings) is a mythical island featured in the ...

). In his long text, Timo cited some problems during the recording and touring of the first Symfonia album. Symfonia's homepage has since been replaced with a big red square with the verse "the key to the universe is love", which appears at the song "Key to the Universe" from Tolkki's solo album '' Hymn to Life''. In a post at Symfonia's official forum Timo Tolkki stated that "ending the Symfonia as it is, was a rational decision based on both the opinions of me and Andre Matos and the hard evidence or facts.", thus confirming that the band is no more. Commenting on the sudden end of the band in a 2013 interview, Matos said: Tolkki and Matos remained out of touch since then. Matos died on June 8th, 2019.

Discography

*''

'' (2011)

Line-up

Last line-up

- vocals (2010–2011) *

- guitar (2010–2011) *

- bass (2010–2011) *

- keyboards (2010–2011)

Additional musicians

* Alex Landenburg – drums (2011)

Former members

- drums (2010–2011)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 2010 Musical groups disestablished in 2011 Heavy metal supergroups Finnish power metal musical groups 2010 establishments in Finland 2011 disestablishments in Finland