Posted on: August 8, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

According to many musical critics, classic heavy metal is a dead genre, buried deep somewhere in the 80’s. But every once in a while a fresh new band invades the scene to prove these critics wrong. The Australian formation Pegazus is just the band to prove that classic metal music is doing good and isn’t going anywhere. The four-piece managed to bring back the same magic that was once delivered by Iron Maiden, Helloween and Judas Priest, in the same time carving their own name in metal history. The three exclusive re-releases of Pegazus’ albums – “Wings of Destiny”, “Breaking the Chains” and “The Headless Horseman” – introduce a band that wasn’t afraid to face the hostile music business and, against all odds, remained true to the purest forms of heavy metal!

“Wings of Destiny” (1998) with nine killer tracks bring the best traditions of classic heavy metal to life. The album showcased a lot of references to true legends of the genre such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Fates Warning and Manowar, but at the same time presented the band’s own unique style. While songs like “Werewolf”, “Wings of Steel” and “Enchanted World” brought the sheer essence of heavy metal, the album featured also some quite surprising compositions like the ballad “Destiny” and the instrumental track “Life on Mars”.

“Breaking the Chains” (1999) proved to be an extraordinary release, taking the roots of heavy metal into a whole new level. Reviewers called the album “a combination of AC/DC’s simplicity and Iron Maiden’s attitude”. The album featured galloping riffs, memorable leads and stunning solos – all the crucial elements to form an epic heavy metal album. What is more, Pegazus included a true gem on that LP – a brilliant cover version of Helloween’s “A Little Time”. Needless to say, the release was a great success on the metal scene, in the same time gaining lot of positive feedback from the fans.

“The Headless Horseman” (2002) was faster and heavier than anything Pegazus has ever written before. The album was by far the band’s most intense offering, being later on compared to Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”! Songs such as “Nightstalker”, “The Patriot” and the epic title track once again proved Pegazus’ pure heavy metal genius.

“Wings of Destiny”, “Breaking the Chains” and “The Headless Horseman” will be released in a new digipak edition. Each album includes bonus tracks and is limited to numerated 2000 copies. Digitally remastered using 24-Bit process on golden disc. The official release date is scheduled for 7th July 2008 in Europe and 5th August 2008 in USA (via MVD).

Pegazus
“Wings of Destiny” (remastered + bonus tracks)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1172 DG
Barcode: 5907785032378
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numerated copies)
Genre: heavy metal
Release date: 07.07.2008 Europe / 05.08.2008 USA

Tracklist:

1. Wings of Steel
2. Cry Out
3. Braveheart
4. Mother Earth
5. Enchanted World
6. Life On Mars (Instrumental)
7. The Werewolf
9. Destiny

Bonus tracks:
10. Mother Earth
11. Witches Hex
12. Symptom of the Universe
13. Victim of Changes

Pegazus
“Breaking The Chains” (remastered + bonus tracks)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1171 DG
Barcode: 5907785032361
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numerated copies)
Genre: metal
Release date: 07.07.2008 Europe / 05.08.2008 USA

Tracklist:

1. Metal Forever
2. The Crusade
3. Queen Evil
4. Breaking The Chains
5. Tears of the Angels
6. Chariots of the Gods
7. Emerald Eyes (Acoustic Instrumental)
8. Bastards of War
9. Apache Warriors

Bonus tracks:
10. Time Machine
11. Restless and Wild
12. A Little Time

Pegazus
“The Headless Horseman” (remastered + bonus tracks)

Label: Metal Mind Records
Cat. No.: MASS CD 1173 DG
Barcode: 5907785032385
Format: CD Digipak (limited edition of 2000 numerated copies)
Genre: heavy metal
Release date: 07.07.2008 Europe / 05.08.2008 USA

Tracklist:

1. Intro
2. The Headless Horseman
3. Nightstalker
4. A Call To Arms
5. The Patriot
6. Look To The Stars
7. Dragon Slayer
8. Spread Your Wings
9. Forever Chasing Rainbows
10. Victim
11. Neon Angel
12. Ballad Of A Thin Man

Bonus tracks:
13. The Patriot
14. Warriors
15. Jailbreak

Bio
Pegazus was formed back in 1993 by brothers Johnny (guitars) and Robbie Stoj (drums), who teamed up with vocalist Justin Fleming to fulfill their childhood dream of becoming rock stars. In January 1994 bassist Dave King was added to the fold and the band started to write material and rehearse it solidly. In a few months Pegazus was ready to rumble and on the 5th of August 1994 the guys gave their first live performance at the Richmond Tavern. The show was a major success – hundreds of metal-hungry fanatics witnessed the birth of a new Australian Heavy Metal legend.
After playing together for nine months, the guys decided that it was time to record show their efforts to a bigger audience. Thus Pegazus decided to do something that no unsigned Australian metal band attempted before, and recorded their debut album completely on their own! The recording session took place in the local St. Andrews studios in March 1995 – having only 6 and a half days’ budget, the group managed to record and mix eleven tracks. The self-titled album was soon released in Australia and overseas, gaining a handful of positive reviews and entering the Metal Labyrinth Top 10 album charts, where it stayed for 17 whole weeks! The launch of the debut album was crowned with two extraordinary performances at the exclusive Palace Entertainment Complex in Melbourne, where Pegazus played for a thousand people every night. Some of the footage from these shows was later used in low-budget videos the band made for their songs “Pain Is My Friend” and “Our Father & The Holy Ghost”.
In early 1996 vocalist Justin Fleming went through a personal crisis and eventually decided that leaving the band will be the best way to help himself deal with his problems. For the next three months Pegazus was performing as a three-piece, with Johnny Stoj handling the vocals, until local singer Danny Cecati contacted the band, offering his skills. Danny came to audition for the band around May and instantly won the job, proving to be a worthy successor of Fleming. The reformed group begun working on some new material and eventually recorded two new songs (“Mother Earth” and “Witches Hex”) for a limited sampler demo tape “Metalbound”, which also featured cover versions of Black Sabbath’s “Symptom of the Universe” and Judas Priest’s “Victim of Changes”. The tape, released in December at a special KISS-inspired show, sold out almost immediately, to this day remaining one of the rarest and most sought for releases of the Australian underground metal scene…
In 1997 Pegazus was again invited to the Palace Entertainment Complex to play two exclusive showcase gigs. The successful performances gave the band some new motivation to work on their follow-up album and thus in March The guys went back to St. Andrews studios to record “Wings of Destiny”. This time the recording session took 15 days in total, resulting in nine killer tracks that bring the best traditions of classic heavy metal to life. The album showcased a lot of references to true legends of the genre such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Fates Warning and Manowar, but at the same time presented the band’s own unique style. While songs like “Werewolf”, “Wings of Steel” and “Enchanted World” brought the sheer essence of heavy metal, the album featured also some quite surprising compositions like the ballad “Destiny” and the instrumental track “Life on Mars”.
After “Wings of Destiny” was finished, Pegazus received a couple of record deal propositions, but nothing really worth their attention. Again, the guys decided to release the new LP on their own – it took them seven months of playing live gigs to come up with the proper budget to press the album. Around that time the band’s great friend and supporter, Steve Rowe (Mortification) suggested to send a copy to Nuclear Blast Records. The group was rather skeptical about it, but eventually Rowe send “Wings of Destiny” to the label on the band’s behalf, just before Christmas. The guys were honestly surprised when in January 1998, Nuclear Blast’s Managing Director contacted them personally and offered Pegazus a 4-album deal, which was signed after a few weeks of negotiations.
Nuclear Blast officially released Wings of Destiny” in Europe on May 25th, and the album instantly reached number # 103 in the German chart list, soon selling over 25,000 copies in Europe alone! Because of this enormous success, Pegazus got invited to the famous Wacken Open Air Festival to play in front of over 20,000 meta fans. Unfortunately, six weeks before the festival bassist Dave Kong was fired from the band due to personal issues. The guys quickly found a temporary replacement – Eric Martins – and went on to Germany to preach the ways of heavy metal! After Wacken, Pegazus performed at the Rockhard festival near Dortmund, where they supported Savatage and played for over 6,000 people. These were some of the most thrilling performances in the group’s career, but little did they know that the best was yet to come. A week after they returned to Australia, the guys received a call from Nuclear Blast and a European tour headlined by Hammerfall was soon scheduled. Starting October 1998 , Pegazus went on for four weeks to play alongside Hammerfall, Primal Fear and Labyrinth in such countries as Germany, Austria, Italy, Hungary, Switzerland, Belgium and The Netherlands.
In January 1999 the group finally managed to find a proper replacement for Dave King and the bass duties went on to Cory Betts, a long-time friend of Pegazus. In May the band finally entered St. Andrews studios for the third time to record the tracks for their new album – “Breaking the Chains”. The LP was eventually mixed and produced outside Australia, at the House of Music Studios in Winterbach, Germany, with Matt Sinner (Primal Fear/Sinner) behind the knobs. “Breaking the Chains” proved to be an extraordinary release, taking the roots of heavy metal into a whole new level. Reviewers called the album “a combination of AC/DC’s simplicity and Iron Maiden’s attitude”. “Breaking the Chains” featured galloping riffs, memorable leads and stunning solos – all the crucial elements to form an epic heavy metal album. What is more, Pegazus included a true gem on that LP – a brilliant cover version of Helloween’s “A Little Time”. Needless to say, the release was a great success on the metal scene, in the same time gaining lot of positive feedback from the fans.
Unfortunately, things didn’t look good for vocalist Danny Cecati and due to lingering personal problems he was forced to leave the band in March 2000. While looking for a replacement, Pegazus got involved in a tribute album to Thin Lizzy and in June 2000 they ended up recording the classic tunes “Warriors” and “Jailbreak” with Johnny Stoj on vocals. After submitting these tracks to the label, Johnny thought that writing an original song would be in fact a much better way to salute the legendary heavy metal giant. Thus “Ballad of a Thin Man” came to existence – this twin guitar harmonic tune contained a mixed bag of lyrics inspired by classic Thin Lizzy albums.
After a 3-month search, Pegazus finally came across a person who would be able to replace Danny Cecati. Out of several singers who sent their audition tapes to the band, Rob Thompson immediately caught the guys’ attention and right after inviting him to a live rehearsal, the group knew they found the right man – Thompson officially became Pegazus’ new vocalist in July 2000. The renewed line-up played their first show not sooner than December 2000. The reaction was quite obvious – the fans instantly loved the new singer and Pegazus was once again back in business!
In January 2001 the band went on their first national tour of Australia, which proved to be a great success and strengthened the group’s position on scene. The guys knew that the next step was to record a new, thrilling album. While still writing material for the new release, Pegazus played some of the new songs on a special 7th Anniversary Show in Melbourne. Around this time bassist Cory Betts decided to leave the group to concentrate on his own side project. Fortunately he agreed to stay for the recording session of the band’s fourth album – “The Headless Horseman”. Recorded once again in St. Andrews studios, the new LP was faster and heavier than anything Pegazus has ever written before. The album took six weeks to record and master, but the result was simply breathtaking – “The Headless Horseman” was by far the band’s most intense offering, being later on compared to Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”! Songs such as “Nightstalker”, “The Patriot” and the epic title track once again proved Pegazus’ pure heavy metal genius.
In January 2002, after five months of intensive searching, the band finally managed to find the proper replacement for Betts and new bassist Hanny Mohamed was added to the line-up. The following months brought the European release of “The Headless Horseman”, crowned in April with a Launch Party Show at the Central Club in Melbourne. In October the group started planning an official Australian tour which would promote the new album, and did a few warm-up gigs locally. Finally, with the beginning of 2003 Pegazus kicked it off with “The Thunder from Down Under” OZ Tour, taking the group all across their home country. In September a historical event took place – the band recorded their entire show at The HeadBangers Ball II Festival in Melbourne and soon released it as a live album entitled “Pegazus – Live! Thunder Down Under”. The performance brought all of the group’s most memorable songs from their previous releases.
During their career, Pegazus managed to do something that not many bands were capable of – they brought a dying genre back from the grave and pumped new life into it! The classic heavy metal feast served on each of the group’s releases proves that pure metal destruction is still at large! May these three exclusive re-releases of Pegazus’ albums – “Wings of Destiny”, “Breaking the Chains” and “The Headless Horseman” – bring you all the way back to the good old times of leather and chains! As many critics agreed listening to these LPs – this is heavy metal like it should be played!!

Leave a Comment