The realization of one's ultimate vision is among the highest peaks of human achievement. It demands supreme dedication, masterful skill, unwavering patience and the gifted ability to temper the mind with the soul. rapture, the debut offering from DRAGONLORD, is the very embodiment of this ideal. It is a whirlwind dream set into furious action by a true master of his craft.
Forged from the mind of founding Testament guitarist Eric Peterson, DRAGONLORD is an inspired concept that fully explores the realm of dark extremity. With blackened keyboards, blasting percussion and a razor-edged dual guitar attack, the album's haunting aggression and precision attack stem from ideas that have steadily grown in his mind over the years. "I've had these ideas for a while now," states Peterson. "It was only a matter of time before I got them out and made this a reality."

One of the first things listeners will notice is Peterson's commanding vocal performance. After years of letting the guitar do his talking in Testament, the legendary axe-man makes a spectacular debut behind the mic. "I'm glad I waited so long because I feel very confident and inspired by others who've done the guitar/vocal thing," he says. Finding a group of like-minded individuals at first seemed impossible, but as it turned out, Peterson didn't have to look very far. "I knew I wanted to have dark orchestrated sounds incorporated with evil and heavy riffs, but I didn't know anyone around who played like that," he says. "The lineup began with (keyboardist) Lyle Livingston and myself. Steve DiGiorgio had introduced us and we hit it off right away. We are both into dark music so we instantly clicked."

The pair took refuge in the dark recesses of Peterson's garage and the songs "Tradition and Fire" and "rapture" were born. Fueled by inspiration, they recruited Sadus drummer Jon Allen into the ranks. Allen's blasting, thrashing and intricate style fit perfectly and the band set up a session one fateful night, inviting new Testament touring guitarist Steve Smyth and DiGiorgio along to sit in and jam just for fun. "We went through the songs that Lyle and I had written and it all came together right away. That night we all agreed to do this project called DRAGONLORD."

From that point onward, the band continued to wrap majestic sounds around Peterson's lyrical concepts. "The songs deal with the darker side of our fantasies and imagination," he states. The results are a varied melding of beauty and sonic devastation with the key-laden blackness of "Unholy Void" and "Born To Darkness" leading into the relentless aggression of songs like "Wolfhunt".

The seamless materialization of rapture have made the ultimate results much more vital than Peterson's own initial ideas. "DRAGONLORD was going to be a one-off side project," he says. "But we already have half of the next record written and it only gets better! We are taking this seriously and plan to put out more killer symphonic black/thrash music."

Recorded in Oakland, California and mixed at the famed Dug Out Studios in Sweden, what was once a loose-ended concept has exploded into a crucial force to be reckoned with upon the landscape of heavy metal. Prepare to witness the triumph of the Dragon!

Official biography (2001)