CRYSTAL EYES (SWEDEN)

Guitarist and song writer Mikael Dahl and Niclas Karlsson became a part of the local music scene in the town Borås in Sweden when playing in various local bands. When they discovered their mutual passion for Heavy Metal they decided to start a new band of their own. It was the spring of 1992, and CRYSTAL EYES was born. The name came up among many others during a brainstorm session, but CRYSTAL EYES was picked simply because they thought it "sounded good". Quite soon they were joined by bassist Christian Gunnarsson, Martin Tilander and Mikael BlohmIn. The band had been recording demo tapes of Mikael's and Niklas' songs from the very beginning, but on the demo tapes from 1993 and on their mutual friend Andreas Götesson started to appear as an external lyricist. In 1994 the band decided it was time to release an official demo tape. The cover of the self titled demo tape was made by Andreas Götesson, but more importantly he created the logotype which has stayed with the band ever since. In the spring of 1995 Mikael was the only member left. After a few months searching for new members Mikael completed the new line-up in the fall of 1995 with drummer Kujtim Gashi, guitarist Jukka Kaupaamaa and bassist Kim Koivo. Kim Koivo quit in May 1996, and since a bassist was needed immediately to record the second official demo tape Marco Nicolaidis temporarily helped out as a bassist for a few months. The second official demo tape THE SHADOWED PATH turned out to be a turning point for the band. The demo tape received some really good reviews, and it was more or less the first time CRYSTAL EYES got any attention from outside Sweden. In January 1997 Mikael found a permanent bassist in Claes Wikander. Spurred on by the response from the last demo tape they immediately rehearsed a bunch of new songs, and recorded the third official demo tape THE FINAL SIGN in Mars. It received an even better response than the last one, and also started to sell quite well. The demo tapes actually sold out in just a few weeks, and the band had to make a second pressing of THE SHADOWED PATH and THE FINAL SIGN. The first demo tape didn't get a second pressing since the band thought it didn't meet up to the standards of the last two. In October Jukka Kaupaamaa was replaced by Jonathan Nyberg. In May 1998 the fourth official demo tape THE DRAGON'S LAIR was recorded.


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1994 DEMO

Art by Andreas Götesson. Pro printed covers and tapes

TRACK LISTING:
- Queen of the Night
- Crystal Eyes
- We are the Future

THE SHADOWED PATH 1996 DEMO

Art by John Blance. Pro printed covers. Tapes had printed stickers on the shell

TRACK LISTING:
- Winds of the Free
- A Tale of Forgotten Realms
- The Shadowed Path

THE SHADOWED PATH 1996 DEMO TAPE:

THE FINAL SIGN 1997 DEMO

Art by Luis Royo. Pro printed covers, Tapes had printed stickers on the shell

TRACK LISTING:
- Rage on the Sea
- The Final Sign
- Twilight Dreams
- Extreme Paranoia

THE FINAL SIGN 1997 DEMO TAPE:

THE DRAGONS LAIR 1998 DEMO

Art by John Howe. Pro printed covers and tapes. Also released on CDr

TRACK LISTING:
- The Dragon`s Lair
- Victims of the Frozen Hate
- Interstellar War
- Another Race

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