Devils Island

Biography

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Devils Island (2003-present): a Heavy Metal band from Brooklyn, New York, USA.

he history of Devils Island goes back about early-2002, when three friends had first come upon thoughts of forming an old-school metal band. The three founding members: Georgi Haralanov (vocals), Alex Treyer (guitars), and Ivan Martynovich (guitar) had ambitions but no experience. Undeterred, they writing songs and practicing in various basements and apartments across New York City shortly after they became acquainted. The trio adopted the name Devils Island (the name of a famous prison) from a result of Alex's fascination with punitive measures of the old world.

After a few months of searching they found a bassist in the form of Sergey Deych. The addition of the talented bassist boosted the band's confidence to a new level and led to the creation of the first songs that are still in its active repertoire. The final piece of the puzzle, however, was set into place with the addition Anthony DiSpigna on drums to fill out the rhythm section. Unlike the rest of his newfound band-members, Anthony had several years of experience, playing in several bands ranging in style from hard rock to death metal. His skill was immediately recognized by the band, and Anthony's ideas were promptly incorporated into the songwriting process. Though the band was still fine tuning and developing its sound, the first songs started cominginto shape. Songs like Black Sea, One Man and Heavens Warning, which were made around that time, appear on the recordings as well as working their way into the live shows to mark what the band consider the official birth of Devils Island.

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Devils Island started gigging in the summer of 2003. The first show took place in the downtown Manhattan bar called Orange Bear, which was followed by a local show at the now extinct Lamours in Brooklyn. With every show, the crowds grew bigger, drawn in by the band's unique sound and electrifying stage show eventually enabling Devils Island to get opening spots for such heavy metal masters as Entombed, Nuclear Assault, King Diamond, and Symphony X in the fall and winter of the same year.

But around the time of their King Diamond show, Ivan had to leave the band, replaced by a friend of the band, Dima K. on guitar. Dima had had previous band experience, playing in a number of local acts such as the short-lived Xenith, and multi-genre unit En Vayne, where he has remained an active member. His input accented the double guitar attack of the band and has brought a highly melodic take on the band's songwriting and vivacity to their live show. In early 2004, Devils Island channeled its live energy into a four-track demo recorded at W.Y.H. studios in Brooklyn featuring their recorded tracks to date under the membership of Serjey Deych (bass), Jaimen Shinn (drums), Alexander Treyer (guitars), Dmitry Kitaygorodsky (guitars) and George Haralanov (vocals). Coma Dreams EP would arrive in 2006.