Steel Warrior was formed in the summer of 1996 by André Fabian (guitar/vocals), Culver Yu (drums) and Anderson Xavier (bass). These three friends wanted to create music in the mold of European heavyweights like Gamma Ray and Running Wild, music that would incorporate the melodies, epic passages and classical influences of true heavy metal without bowing to trends or shifts in musical taste. The addition of Robert Nietsche on guitar completed the band's initial line-up.
The band immediately began to compose songs that would express the common musical vision of the members. Surprisingly enough, the first composition was a ballad called "Wind of Sorrow." "Rasalom" followed, based lyrically on the book The Keep and musically on the European style of `80s metal. Other compositions included the band’s namesake tune, "Steel Warrior," as well as "Blind Faith" and "Crossing the Mist."
Armed with a solid repertoire of tunes, Steel Warrior performed its debut live gig in October 1996 at the "1st Heavy Metal Convention" in Itajaí. The band was well received by the crowd and soon played other successful shows in the local scene.
Encouraged, the band recorded their only demo tape, featuring "Rasalom" and "Steel Warrior" plus a live version of "Crossing the Mist." The demo received high praise from metal `zines such as Rock Brigade, Steel Conjuring, and Singing Swords, and the band began to get mail from England, Portugal, Greece, Japan and all over the world. In spite of the band’s growing success, personal problems resulted in the departure of guitarist Robert Nietsche. The band quickly found a replacement in their friend Pedro Giovani. With a new line-up, the band continued writing songs, adding "Garden of Souls" and "Son of an Eagle" to its growing catalog of tunes.
It was around this time that Steel Warrior had the opportunity to perform as opening act for the mighty Gamma Ray in Florianópolis/SC. This was a great honor in itself, but it was especially exciting since Gamma Ray is one of the band’s admitted idols. Of course, the show was a big success, and Steel Warrior was received well by the crowd and by Kai and all of Gamma Ray.
After composing one more song (an epic tune called "Revenge") and gaining Boon Yu as a permanent guitarist, Steel Warrior decided that they had enough material to record their first full-length CD. The band recorded from May 1998 to February 1999 and released the CD in June. The debut disc is called Visions From the Mistland and features eight amazing tunes plus plus an intro and outro. The CD is completely financed by the band itself, but they are working on securing a deal with a European record label, which should be easy given the quality of their music.
Source: http://www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/amphitheatre/6685/steelwarrior.html
