Gaia Epicus was originally formed at a new year eve's party as 1991 became 1992 by Thomas Hansen, Roar Følling and Tom R. Brumoen. They started playing punk rock with Norwegian lyrics under the moniker Rått Kjøtt (meaning "Raw Meat" in Norwegian). Only three months later they recorded their first demo tape called "Frekke Faen" (meaning "Rude Fuck"). They also came in 4th in a competition called NNMR (North Norwegian Championship in Rock).
After about seven months of playing they changed both musical direction and band name and became a thrash metal band under the new moniker Execution. They changed drummers several times before finally ending up with Cato Skivik. At this time the band played several Metallica songs but also some of their own.

They recorded a new demo called "Sacrifice" and later on another one called "The Bullet For Me?". By now they had turned into a hard rock band. In April 1995 they also participated in the biggest rock competition in Norway called "Rock Mot Rus" (meaning "Rock Against Drugs"). The band came in 5th in a field of 70 bands.

In the summer of 1996 their drummer Cato left and was replaced with Ken Høyli. They now started playing more progressive metal and in the winter of 1996 a second guitarist called Joakim Kjelstad also joined the band. In early 1997 Ken was replaced with the new drummer Marius Nilsen. In April 1997 they participated in "Rock Mot Rus" once again and came in 3rd this time.

In 1998 the band changed their name once again into Millenium. In April it was time for another "Rock Mot Rus" festival where they ended up 5th for the second time. In August Joakim and Tom left the band and in October Roy Værnes joined as their new bass player. In 1999 they had to changed their name again since there was already a band named Millenium.

The new name for the band was Theater Of Pain. During April and May 1999 they recorded a demo cd entitled "Land Of Mysteries". In September Joakim rejoined the band and one month later Tom also returned to replace Roy. On November 11th they played a show in Umeå, Sweden, together with Dio, Manowar and Motöhead.

In June 2000 it was time for another name changed and they now became Eternal Flame. In September there was some line-up changes as bass player Tom and drummer Marius were replaced with Espen Hammer and Torbjørn Strøm. In February 2001 they finally changed their name into Gaia Epicus. In June Tom joined the band once again as Espen Hammer joined another band.

In August 2001 they released a promo cd entitled "Cyber Future" and in February 2002 they were joined by a keyboard player named Eirik Øverland Dischler. In August another demo called "Keepers Of Time" was released and before the month had ended both bass player Tom and drummer Torbjørn decided to leave the band.

On September 26th, 2002, Gaia Epicus signed a record deal with the Portuguese label Sound Riot Records and in 2003 they released their debut album entitled "Satrap".

After a dispute with the label the band severed ties with Sound Riot Records in late March 2005.

source : tartareandesire.com