Sphere
of Souls was formed by vocalist André Vuurboom following
his departure from Sun Caged in May 2004. Former Autumn Equinox
bassist Kees Harrison was soon recruited to the line-up, closely
followed by André's former bandmate, ex-Imperium drummer
Patrick Gerritzen. Joost van den Broek, who had also recently
left Sun Caged, soon expressed a keen interest in the project,
offering his services as keyboard player and producer for
the band's first album. Guitar virtuoso Anand Mahangoe agreed
to contribute solos.
André
soon began writing material and demoed a number of tracks
with Kees. At this point in time the band was still without
a rhythm guitarist for the album. In January 2005 a suitable
candidate was found in former Imperium guitarist Rob Cerrone.
In
February 2005 Sphere of Souls began rehearsing as a four-piece
(minus Anand Mahangoe and Joost van den Broek). However, it
soon became apparent that Patrick Gerritzen was not going
to be able to combine his other commitments with the band.
In late March 2005 he was replaced by Kees's former bandmate,
ex-Autumn Equinox drummer Ruud van Diepen.
Sphere
of Souls' debut album 'From the Ashes...' was recorded between
May and September of 2005 at Rotterdam's Excess Studios and
the home studios of Joost van den Broek and Anand Mahangoe.
In
October 2005 Anand Mahangoe became a permanent member of Sphere
of Souls.
In
November 2005 Sphere of Souls signed to the Finnish progressive
rock and metal label Lion Music, which released 'From the
Ashes...' on Friday, 21 April 2006 to critical acclaim.
Prior
to the album's release, Sphere of Souls made their live debut
opening for Ulysses on
1 April 2006.
This
was followed by a prestigious support slot with Vanden Plas
on 2 April at P60 in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.
The
official release party for 'From the Ashes...' was held at
Plato in Helmond, the Netherlands, on Friday, 12 May 2006.
Joost van den Broek, who does not usually perform live with
Sphere of Souls, also joined the band on stage for the performance.
On 7 July 2006, Joost also accompanied the band supporting
Stream of Passion at Podium in Hardenberg.
The
high point of 2006 for Sphere of Souls was undoubtedly their
opening slot on the second and final day of ProgPower Europe
2006 on 1 October 2006, which earned them a number of positive
reviews, most notably in the Netherlands’ oldest metal
magazine, Aardschok.
In
early 2007, Anand Mahangoe and Ruud van Diepen left Sphere
of Souls in an amicable split. Ruud has since been making
waves in the Netherlands with his new band, Alura.
Following
the departure of Anand and Ruud, a long search for new members
ensued. Ruud in particular proved difficult to replace. In
July 2007 André and Joost found a talented lead guitarist
in Alex Rosenhof of Picture of the Moon. In October 2007 the
search for a drummer finally ended when Sphere of Souls found
a suitable drummer in Milan Ridderhof, formerly of Daisy Vain.
Sphere
of Souls are currently putting the finishing touches to the
‘From the Ashes…’ material with the new
line-up and resurrecting a number of previously unreleased
Imperium/Souls of Inbetween tracks. Material for a second
album is also in the works and the band will resume live work
within the next few months.
Watch
this space!
André
Vuurboom
Kees
Harrison
Anand
Mahangoe
Joost
van den Broek
Rob
Cerrone
Ruud
van Diepen
Live
images above by Klaas Guchelaar. Visit www.kjguch.com