ATHENA XIX

Italian cult progressive metallers ATHENA are ready to write a new chapter of their glorious history along with their new label Atomic Fire Records. But that’s not all: the band now known as ATHENA XIX have also re-united with their frontman and founding member Fabio Lione, best known as the current singer in ANGRA and for his past with RHAPSODY, TURILLI/LIONE RHAPSODY, RHAPSODY OF FIRE and VISION DIVINE. 

“We were thinking of this reunion for a long time”, the singer explains. “ATHENA was a very important band for everyone of us, but we all were busy and had different things to take care of, so a lot of time has passed. Now, everyone is really happy and motivated, we finally found the right sound and the right people to work with – so it is like we are back again with the same motivation and passion than before, but with a lot of more experience and ideas and there is an evolution in the band sound.”

This evolution is also reflected in the band name, now called ATHENA XIX. “It perfectly fits, because it was the year of the reunion of all the original members, when we started to collect and record all the ideas we had,“ explains Fabio Lione, who made his first musical steps in ATHENA back in the days. “This actually was my first band ever and we released a demotape long time ago in ’91”, he remembers.

Originating in 1991, ATHENA released their most successful album to date, »A New Religion?,« in 1998 – still recognised and appropriately rewarded as the best prog metal album of an Italian band ever. The original band members finally re-united in 2019 — after several line-up changes and a hiatus — writing new songs which will be released next year via Atomic Fire Records. “It is a massive evolution of our original sound, we touch many styles, really interesting and with a lot of details, ideas connected to the concept etc. I’m sure we will surprise a lot of people and I can’t think about any similar band at the moment. If I have to describe our sound in one word, I would say: unique!”