Based out of Los Angeles, California, Destiny’s End is a technical melodic power/speed metal band fronted by James Rivera, formerly of the legendary band Helstar. Destiny’s End delivers driving, heavy riffs, catchy hooks and thought-provoking lyrics – all packaged into well crafted songs. The intricate guitar work of Dan DeLucie and Perry Grayson combined with the thunderous and precise rhythm section of Nardo Andi (bass) and Brian Craig (drums) provides a solid foundation for the powerful vocals of Rivera and the soaring dual-axemanship of DeLucie and Grayson. While maintaining originality, the influences of such metal icons as Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Savatage, early Metallica and Death are evident in the band’s unique songwriting.
Destiny’s End recorded their debut album, Breathe Deep the Dark, with respected engineer Bill Metoyer co-producing. Breathe Deep the Dark can be considered loosely conceptual with lyrics focused on questions of mortality and individualism. The album is a collection of intense songs displaying memorable melodies, blistering speed and extreme heaviness.
Formerly of the band New Eden, DeLucie, Andi and Craig gained admiration for their CD Through the Make Believe (1997), which received perfect scores in magazines like Rock Hard and Heavy Oder Was. They have opened for such top metal acts as Fates Warning, leaving metal fans across the globe clamoring for new material. Soon after the release of Through the Make Believe, New Eden joined forces with vocalist James Rivera (Helstar). Splitting from guitarist Horacio Colmenares, the four recruited talented young axeman Perry Grayson, chose the new moniker Destiny’s End and began writing material for what has now become Breathe Deep the Dark.
With Breathe Deep the Dark Destiny’s End established themselves as a driving force in the resurgence of power metal. The experience and energy they possess proved them to be True Metal warriors.
1999-2001
Following a few successful regional tours of Texas in 1998 through early 1999 (one with Mercyful Fate and two as headliners), Destiny’s End scored a full-scale U.S. tour with fellow American metallers Iced Earth and Nevermore in May-June 1999. An appearance at the illustrious Wacken Open Air Festival in Germany in August 1999 brought DE overseas for the first time. A European tour with labelmates Sacred Steel and Wardog augmented the Wacken appearance. DE appeared on two tribute albums, covering Dio’s “The Last in Line” for Holy Dio (Century Media) and “Dressed in White” for the King Diamond Tribute (Necropolis). The tracks were engineered and co-produced by Warrior guitarist Joe Floyd. Floyd would likewise be called upon to engineer and co-produce DE’s second album,Transition, in early 2000. Transition was recorded in March 2000 at Silver Cloud Recording in Burbank, CA. But all was not well in the DE camp. Disagreements over haphazardly arranged one-off gigs and general splintering were creeping into the DE fold. When Joe Floyd’s mix was completed, Perry Grayson decided to leave the band for personal reasons. Following Perry’s departure Rivera drafted Houston guitarist Eric Halpern to fill Grayson’s position for several shows. Grayson, now tackling aggressive vocals as well as guitar, formed progressive thrash/death metal outfit Artisan in June 2000 with bassist/vocalist Mike Bear and guitarist/vocalist Ana Greco. Meanwhile, unhappy with Joe Floyd’s powerful mix of Transition, Metal Blade Germany ordered a rather lacklustre remix by Achim Köhler without any band members present. This further delayed the release of Transition, which finally saw the light of day in May 2001 – far too late for a band in their unfortunate death throes. Though Halpern’s picture appears on the CD, he did not record a note with DE. Perry Grayson and Dan DeLucie played all of the guitar tracks on the album. Shortly after Transition hit the streets Metal Blade dropped Destiny’s End from their contract and the band faded from view. There was gossip of a possible reunion gig in 2008, but it remained just a rumor.
Post DE Bands
James Rivera later sang for Seven Witches (DE drummer Brian Craig was along for the ride on one of the SW albums), then Distant Thunder, a resurrected Helstar and for a short while Vicious Rumors. Rivera is still active with metal covers band Sabbath Judas Sabbath and Helstar, while Dan DeLucie eventually formed Crescent Shield with vocalist Michael Grant (Onward) and released two albums. Nardo Andi and Brian Craig have not actively pursued music since the early 2000s. Alongside the aforementioned Artisan, Perry Grayson formed his vintage heavy rock power trio Falcon (for which he also sings) in 2002 with founding Cirith Ungol member Greg Lindstrom. In addition to Artisan’s demo/EP (2002), Grayson played both rhythm and lead guitar on international metal project Isen Torr’s Mighty and Superior EP (2003), spearheaded by Solstice (UK) guitarist Rich Walker. Perry Grayson left Artisan in late 2003 to concentrate on Falcon full-time, and in 2005 he played bass for Pennsylvania doom rockers Pale Divine on a European tour. Falcon have released two albums.
- BREATHE DEEP THE DARK (1998, Metal Blade Records)
- TRANSITION (2001, Metal Blade Records)
- "Dressed in White" on KING DIAMOND TRIBUTE (Necropolis Records, 1999)
- "The Last in Line" on HOLY DIO (1999, Century Media Records)
- Also Pre-Production Demos 1997 and 1999
- Destiny's End @ Amazon
- Perry Grayson Aug. 1997 to April 2001
- Destiny’s End – Transition has artwork of Gerald Brom
Statistics: Posted by Dani — Thu Feb 16, 2023 11:27 am
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