in early 2002 jeff lukka put up wanted ads for musicians in local music stores, and soon met jose cruz. they started jamming with a drummer, which jeff knew already, but had to let him go quite fast due to a lack of skills. though they did look for a new drummer it would be a while before they found one, so even though it was just the two of them, they continued jamming and started writing their own material.

during the summer of 2002, jose reflected upon an ad for an already established band, ironfire, that was a guitarist short. though he auditioned for the guitar spot he didn't get the gig, but was offered to join the band as bass guitarist. jose accepted and was thus introduced to drummer steve mason. now the long term mission status of the yet unnamed band was one step closer to a full line-up.

shortly before ironfire played its live debut with jose on bass, jose made sure to introduce jeff and steve to one another, with much success. jose didn't want to rock the boat, so he kept quiet for some time about his and jeff's project. but they did record the first 5 pieces of music that they had composed on a camcorder to give to steve.

in early 2003, with yet another line-up change in ironfire, jeff joins the band as guitarist. jeff and steve got to know one another better, which only contributed to a strong friendship between jeff, jose and steve. during the summer of 2003 the video tape, that jeff and jose had made, surfaced at a get-together at jeff's place. and to no one's surprise steve was thrilled about the material and the genre.

a couple of days went by, and the guys teamed up at the rehearsal hall an hour early for the regular ironfire practice, to take a look at the 1st song. the chemistry between the three worked like a charm. music style and genre too was right up their alley hence not continuing to rehearse together never struck their minds. a few weeks later, at a brain storming session at jeff's place, the three came up with some fairly stupid suggestions, together with one that wasn't too bad. thus the project gets a working title, which later is decided to be the band name. and a new band sees the light of day: "blinded by fear".

in late summer 2003, after having played a super gig, ironfire decided to split, and "blinded by fear" picked up the pace. the hunt for a bass guitarist and vocalist started and less then a month later, old friend and guitarist from ironfire, søren jensen introduced jose to a vocalist, niels toft. niels was more than interested, and came out to a rehearsal, listened to the material, and jammed a couple of tracks with the band. at this point every body was feeling good about the direction things were heading. less than a week after niels' audition, another old friend and original bass guitarist from ironfire, jakob lykkebo replied to a text message from jose, stating that he was more than willing to get back in the game as a metal bass guitarist, he just wanted to know a time and a place.

now with both jakob and niels on board, the ship is ready to sail. the band has a full line-up and is ready to take on the world.

the demo "enroute to pain" was recorded at niflheim between the 5th and 11th of april 2004 and a subsequent appearance at copenhagen's leading metal-club - the rock, ensured a buzz in the underground. shortly after the gig, jose left the band due to musical disagreements. after a few months of search, erik joined the band and new material was forged once again.

after yet another gig at the rock the band held an extended summer vacation and moved to a new rehearsal hall. shortly after settling in, erik left the band in favor of his studies and once again the search began...

Source : http://www.blindedbyfear.com/opera.home.htm