Narnia
Narnia is a European Power Metal band from Sweden that has been around since their conception back in 1993 when they were formed by Christian Liljegren and CJ Grimmark who both met for the first time in Jönköping-a town south of Sweden. However, at that time, both Christian & Cj were in their own bands with Christian fronting Modest Attraction and CJ fronting/guitar for a band called Sentinel. Christian & CJ stayed in contact for the next three years with Modest Attraction producing 2 albums during that time. In 1996 after the release of Modest attraction's second album-'Divine Luxury', Christian contacted CJ to see if he would be interested in working together on a bombastic, melodic, neoclassical Hard Rock & Heavy Metal style dream project which he was unable to explore in the band Modest Attraction. CJ was immediately interested and so the dream began to move forward. There was just one problem, the group still needed to choose a band name. After having seen the animated movie about the The Witch & The Lion, Christian figured “Narnia” would be a good moniker for the new band. During the next few months, Modest Attraction guitarist-Stephan Mohlin wasn't able to tour with the band on their German tour so guitarist-CJ Grimmark was phoned to see if he could fill in as lead guitarist which he quickly accepted. Later, Grimmark's position as lead guitarist became permanent after Stephan quit the band all together. In the months to follow, while working together with Modest Attraction, Christian & CJ began work on their material for their new project. In 1996 Christian's vision was realized as they stepped into Topz Recording Studio to record their debut album. They finished the album in the Spring of 1997 and signed with the Pony Canyon Inc label which is known for their work with Yngwie J. Malmsteen. The Awakening album was released on July 18, 1997, and several thousands of copies were sold on that very day garnering the band the attention they needed to move forward as a power house band.
In 2019 Narnia released their eighth full-length album titled 'From Darkness To Light' which was released on an independent record label. With this release Narnia now has a staggering 8 full-length studio albums to their credit including 1998-'Awakening' , 1999-'Long Live The King' , 2001-'Desert Land' , 2003-'The Great Fall' , 2006-'Enter The Gate' , 2009-'Course Of A Generation' , 2016-'Narnia' , and 2019-'From Darkness To Light'. For a group to have produced so many records and to still be going today just shows the tenacity of this Swedish Metal band. 'From Darkness To Light' was produced by Narnia’s guitarist-CJ Grimmark, mixed by the band’s Sound Engineer-Viktor Stenquist, and Mastered by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios. The record has been released on all digital platforms, CD, and Vinyl (in different colors) in collaboration with record label Sound Pollution (Europe, USA, Australia). The album is also being distributed by King Records (Asia), and by Voice Music/MusiK Records, Icarus Music and The Dove’s Voice Records (Latin America).
'From Darkness To Light' has received positive reviews from around the world, and recently received 1st position in Sweden Rock Magazine’s “The Jury” (4 reviewers on 9 international releases), along with a review (8 of 10) and a full page interview with the band’s vocalist-Christian Liljegren. A great start for this new major venture for Narnia, which involves a tour that begins in South America along with American bands Stryper and Tourniquet.
With their 8th release Narnia continues to do what they do best - delivering up energetic Power Metal along with some additional surprises including some modern touches just to spice things up a bit. One tune that really benefited from this is track-4 "The Armor Of God" where the modern touches bring the song to life giving a needed extra dimension to the arrangements coming across as a modern Folk element if you will.
Some tunes that stand out on this 2019 release are track-7 "Sail On", with its smooth catchy chorus that hooks you and draws you into the song, "MNFST" with its spot on heavier vocals and heavier guitar play, "You Are The Air That I Breathe" with its memorial driving arrangements, "Has The River Run Dry" with its praise lyrics and the overall songs arrangements being a good representation of some of Narnia's earlier releases.
'From Darkness To Light' has received positive reviews from around the world, and recently received 1st position in Sweden Rock Magazine’s “The Jury” (4 reviewers on 9 international releases), along with a review (8 of 10) and a full page interview with the band’s vocalist-Christian Liljegren. A great start for this new major venture for Narnia, which involves a tour that begins in South America along with American bands Stryper and Tourniquet.
With their 8th release Narnia continues to do what they do best - delivering up energetic Power Metal along with some additional surprises including some modern touches just to spice things up a bit. One tune that really benefited from this is track-4 "The Armor Of God" where the modern touches bring the song to life giving a needed extra dimension to the arrangements coming across as a modern Folk element if you will.
Some tunes that stand out on this 2019 release are track-7 "Sail On", with its smooth catchy chorus that hooks you and draws you into the song, "MNFST" with its spot on heavier vocals and heavier guitar play, "You Are The Air That I Breathe" with its memorial driving arrangements, "Has The River Run Dry" with its praise lyrics and the overall songs arrangements being a good representation of some of Narnia's earlier releases.
CJ Grimmark continues to inspire fans abroad as he lights up the fret board with a slew of memorial guitar licks. For those like me who can appreciate a good solo, there are a number of areas from track to track where CJ breaks loose and engages in some killer solos. In addition, check out the instrumental track-10 featuring some of CJ's handy work on the six strings. CJ's heavier guitar play on MNFST graps your attention along with his sick solo towards the end of the track.
The band's lyrics are Christ centered and thought provoking as one can see in the following excerpts:
"MNFST"
I believe in the Holy Father
Who gave His only Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Who raised Him from the dead
I'm not ashamed of Jesus
Who gave His life for me
I believe in the resurrection
The King is coming back
"I Will Follow"
Listen to me now
I got something to say
Jesus is my King
No matter what they say
I will follow
Sing and give my praise
Face tomorrow
I live to see your face
I will follow
Sing and give my praise
No more sorrow
Surrender to Your grace
"You Are The Air That I Breathe"
You You are the air that I breathe
You are the truth that I seek
I believe I believe in You
I believe in the Holy Father
Who gave His only Son
I believe in the Holy Spirit
Who raised Him from the dead
I'm not ashamed of Jesus
Who gave His life for me
I believe in the resurrection
The King is coming back
"I Will Follow"
Listen to me now
I got something to say
Jesus is my King
No matter what they say
I will follow
Sing and give my praise
Face tomorrow
I live to see your face
I will follow
Sing and give my praise
No more sorrow
Surrender to Your grace
"You Are The Air That I Breathe"
You You are the air that I breathe
You are the truth that I seek
I believe I believe in You
Without question Narnia has delivered up another solid release with their 2019 album 'From Darkness To Light'. If you are into bands like Rob Rock, Gloriam Dei, Millennial Reign, or Within Silence then you are going to love what Narnia brings to the table with their latest release.
Purchases can be made at any of the following links:
Musicians:
Christian Liljegren - Lead Vocals
CJ Grimmark - Guitars & Backing Vocals
Jonatan Samuelsson - Bass & Backing Vocals
Martin Härenstam - Keyboards
Andreas "Habo" Johansson - Drums
Christian Liljegren - Lead Vocals
CJ Grimmark - Guitars & Backing Vocals
Jonatan Samuelsson - Bass & Backing Vocals
Martin Härenstam - Keyboards
Andreas "Habo" Johansson - Drums