The band was formed in autumn 1999 in the following line-up :
Jacques - vocals, Demian - bass, Leonid - guitars, keyboards, Kirill - guitars, Vladimir - drums.
The members had played previously in different St. Petersburg local metal bands. Toward the Summer 2000, Stalwart prepared work material for debut album, which was recorded in July-August at Neva Studio, and released early 2001 on cassettes by Russian label Fono Productions. The album laid down the foundation for original Stalwart-style, combining massive thrashcore rhythmic groove with atmospheric fragments and acoustic inserts.
In summer 2002, Stalwart started to record the second album. Drum tracks were recorded in Astia Studio, Finland, under the supervision of Anssi Kippo (Children Of Bodom, Impaled Nazarene, To Die For, Norther), the rest of work was executed in St. Petersburg. The work demonstrated the significant progress in band style in comparison with the debut by virtue of unusual consortium of angry riffs and symphonic keyboards. The band got signed a deal with the MetalAgen / Soyz Music label and, in October 2003, the album “Dive to Nowhere” was released. The album had very positive reviews in Russian metal press, some of zines characterized it as “one of the best Russian metal releases 2003”, and the 8,5-minute title track became a trademark of band for a long time.
In summer 2004 MetalAgen / Soyuz re-released Stalwart's first album "Jerk" on CDs.
Early 2007, Stalwart started to record the third album “Abyss Ahead”. For the recording the famous Hertz Studio, Poland was booked with producers Slawek and Wojtek Wieslawski (Vader, Decapitated, Hate). This album became a debut for new guitar player Antuan. The work was completed in May, mixing and mastering was also done in Hertz Studio. “Abyss Ahead” was released in May, 4, 2008 on CD-Maximum label, showed the more powerful and solid work in comparison with the previous one.
Soon after “Abyss Ahead” recording sessions, the band suffered serious line-up changes. Vocalist Jacques and drummer Vladimir have left the band. Nevertheless the newcomers Oleg Sobolevsky (vocals, ex-Zindan, Frosted Glass) and Tim Ismag (drums) raised the band to the new scale, importing much more drive and energy. New sound of Stalwart, much more hot, fast and aggressive, externalized itself on the next CD “Annihilation Begins”, also recorded, mixed and mastered in Hertz Studio during 2008 (it was released December 5th 2009 by Metallism Records).
In 2010, new drummer Alex Timanov replaced Tim Ismag.
In 2012, Stalwart released thier 5th CD "Manifiest Of Refusal" on Canadian label PRC Music. "Manifiest Of Refusal" already received many positive reviews from metall press around the globe.
Source : http://www.reverbnation.com/stalwartmetal
