Astral Crossing

Hailing from Thessaloniki, ASTRAL CROSSING played Progressive Power Metal closer to the robust US sound than its European counterpart. Although their history goes back to 1991, it appears as if ASTRAL CROSSING’s creative impetus was repeatedly delayed due to internal conflicts. To state an example, according to an interview made by the band back in the 1990s, the completion of their debut demo had to be put on hold right in the middle of the recording process since three out of five members suddenly decided to drop out! The remaining members Nikos (guitars) and Panagiotis Stayrou (bass) soldiered on and succeeded somehow in completing the demo, entitled “History”. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find this tape yet, nor any data regarding its year of release.

After the completion of “History” and subsequent live shows, ASTRAL CROSSING was disbanded in 1999. However, several years later (around 2013-2014), the band reunited with a new lineup and set out to record a full-length album. This ambition was eventually materialized in the form of “Revenant” (2015) – 8 tracks of Progressive/Technical Power Metal in the vein of Chuck Schuldiner’s CONTROL DENIED with some modern groove tendencies sneaking in the backdoor. Included in the ranks at the time of recording was Konstantinos Maris (vocals), Dimitris Goutziamanis (guitars), Panagiotis Stayrou (bass) and Dionysis/Dennis Konstantinidis (drums).

Following the release of “Revenant”, ASTRAL CROSSING was allegedly once again stricken by internal conflicts, which led to the three members of the band’s early lineup leaving the band. After some further controversies regarding the continued use of the ASTRAL CROSSING moniker by the remaining musicians, an agreement was reached in liaison with the band’s record label New Dream Records that the remnant members should change name to LEGEON while remaining their right to use the “Revenant” material.

The latest reports from the LEGEON camp states that the band is currently working on new material for a forthcoming album. Keep in mind though that this was posted back in 2017, so we really don’t know much about the current status of the band.

Compilation appearances: