APOLLO PAPATHANASIO QUITS THE BAND! REPLACEMENT TOUR VOCALIST ANNOUNCED.

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FIREWIND have announced Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Adagio, Beyond Twilight, etc.) as new vocalist for their upcoming North American touring activities, after longterm vocalist Apollo Papathanasio parted ways with the band.

FIREWIND comments:
“Today we are in the unfortunate position to announce that Apollo has decided to step down permanently from the vocal duties in FIREWIND. For the past few years it was evident that Apollo could not keep up with FIREWIND’s ever growing and demanding touring & promotional schedule. Several times we've had to recruit replacements in order to continue touring the world and keep playing for our fans. We're lucky enough to have worked with some of the best Metal singers out there!

Although we're sad to announce Apollo's departure and we sure will miss him, at the same time we feel that the show must go on! FIREWIND is a band that has gone thru lots of ups and downs the past 10 years, but is still going strong!

With that said, we're happy to announce that Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Adagio, Beyond Twilight, Darkology) will be singing for us on the upcoming N. American tour with Turisas! This guy's a phenomenal singer and we can't wait to get out there and Rock! We're looking forward to our return in America. See you all soon!”

TURISAS + FIREWIND & STOLEN BABIES:
“Guards of Glory - North American Tour 2013”

02.02.2013 Jacksonville, FL - Roc Bar
03.02.2013 Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
04.02.2013 Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall
05.02.2013 Richmond, VA - Empire
06.02.2013 New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
07.02.2013 Worcester, MA - The Palladium
08.02.2013 Montreal, QC - Les Foufounes Électriques
09.02.2013 Toronto, ON - The Mod Club
10.02.2013 Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
11.02.2013 Cleveland, OH - Peabody's Downunder
13.02.2013 Minneapolis, MN - Mill City Nights
15.12.2013 Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre
16.02.2013 Salt Lake City, UT - In the Venue
18.02.2013 Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
19.02.2013 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
20.12.2013 Portland, OR - Branx
21.02.2013 Oakland, CA - Oakland Metro Operahouse
22.02.2013 West Hollywood, CA - Key Club
23.02.2013 Santa Ana, CA - The Constellation Room
25.02.2013 Tempe, AZ - 910 Live
28.02.2013 Dallas, TX - The Door
01.03.2013 San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
02.03.2013 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
04.03.2013 Orlando, FL - The Social
05.03.2013 Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
06.03.2013 Tampa, FL - State Theatre
 
I just saw it on Facebook and I'm shocked it's all so sudden. Apollo is a phenomenal singer and he really has a unique voice so it's sad to see him go. As for his replacement I just listened to some of his stuff and he is good but not really what I would say "fits" Firewind, he kinda has that operatic Power Metal sound but I was also sceptical about Mats during the 2011 tour. And I'm sure Gus and the guys won't pick a bad singer as any replacement full-time or just for a tour.

As for a permanent replacement I would say Kelly's voice could maybe be a bit too Power metal sounding and include Firewind back under the label of Power Metal (something I have the feeling about that Gus has been hard working away from) but still I can be wrong. As for in my eyes other possibilities the only 2 singer that come to mind are Stephen Frederick back which would be awesome, or Mats Leven back as a full-time singer which he would be great as.

But I think this is a bit of an End Of An Era for Firewind, because Apollo has been not only the singer for 4 albums but also (in my eyes) 2 maybe even 3 of the most important and best albums Firewind has released so far. And my guess is that after the tour everything on the Firewind front will slow a bit down with Gus' solo album coming up and that we'll hear more late this/early next year about a even stronger Firewind.
 
Apollo has a day job teaching music at a school and a wife and kids. Apparently he was having difficulties getting the amount of time off needed to do extended tours, not to mention the strain it puts on his family life.

The guy did it for the right reasons.. I wish him all the best and respect his decision as I am sure it was not an easy one to make.
 
I'll have to give the new singer a listen, but i'm kind of (glad) Apollo left. A lot of times a vocalist change yields a stylistic change, and while I loved Allegiance and The Premonition (and their 3 albums previous to those) they lost me with Days of Defiance and Few Against Many. I'm excited to see what happens to them on their next album, hopefully it's a return to form and doing a 180 away from their current classic rock knockoff direction.
 
K.F.D said:
Apollo has a day job teaching music at a school and a wife and kids. Apparently he was having difficulties getting the amount of time off needed to do extended tours, not to mention the strain it puts on his family life.

The guy did it for the right reasons.. I wish him all the best and respect his decision as I am sure it was not an easy one to make.
Click to expand...

Is this verified? And if this is the case, I think he made the right move also. Family always comes first.
 
As much as I hate the band having yet another line-up change and I will miss Apollo's voice, I feel he was wasn't as strong live. He's left for the right reasons, though. For my money Mats Leven gave a really strong performance a couple years ago and seemed really into it, so we'll wait and see what new blood can do. The end of an era indeed.
 
Deb H said:
You guys probably should check out Kelly's other band Darkology. Surprised no one's mentioned this before but their drummer is Firewind's original drummer (not demo) from Between Heaven & Hell - Brian Harris!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOKuSflGna8
Click to expand...

First of all it's great to see you again Deb!
Second, I honestly didn't know that Brian Harris plays in the same band as Kelly. But it's great that kelly has that little connection to Firewind in a way, most of the time there is a little connection between a small group of bands that include Firewind
 
Ah, thanks.........I won't out stay my welcome though ;)

Yeah, it's a nice bit of trivia for Firewind fans and there seems to be a bit of a connection to Adagio vocalists too! (cough, cough - Mats Leven) :)

Take care!
 
In my opinion, Kelly has a better set of pips than Apollo, but Apollo is a MUCH better fit with Firewind.. I saw the Atlanta show this past Sunday, and was very impressed with the band, and Kelly, but he seemed a tad nervous, (which is certainly understandable just 2nd show into the tour), and very akward/cornyish onstage... actually i'm puzzled as to why they are not headlining this tour? cause they blew the other two bands AWAY...
 
I'll be honest, I was absolutely gutted when Apollo left. Changing singers is such a huge thing for me, a voice is such a massive part of a band's sound. Kelly's a great singer but he lacks some of the ballsy rock POWER that Apollo had behind his voice. I saw Firewind at Bloodstock last year, great show, really good to see them so high up on the main stage and with such a great turnout. The new singer put on a good show but unfortunately, for me, he's just not Apollo. Still, it was a great performance and it was nice to hang out with the guys after the show (Gus even dragged me over to get me in his Blackstar advert but I guess that recording got lost somewhere as it was wasn't in the advert that got released :p )
Looking back, Premonition has been my favourite Firewind album since it was released, and I think it probably will always be my favourite. Vocally I was disappointed with the last album, Apollo's voice lacked the power of Premonition, but on the next tour he sounded fantastic and songs that I didn't really like on the album I loved live.
Overall... I wait to see what the next album sounds like before I make a decision on the new singer. Festivals don't have the best sound so I won't judge until I've heard them live in a smaller venue.
 
Iron Mask released a press statement saying Kelly Sundown is their new vocalist and it listed Kelly as "Ex Firewind" so I take it hes all done with the band.
 
The Metal Madman said:
Iron Mask released a press statement saying Kelly Sundown is their new vocalist and it listed Kelly as "Ex Firewind" so I take it hes all done with the band.
Click to expand...

Yup. His last live show was it for him.

According to Petros, Bob and Gus, Kelly was never a permanent replacement and was never a contracted member. He was only ever going to be a live replacement to fulfill their your dates.

Word has it that Kelly is not to fond of them as a result, I guess he figured the gig would be his at the end of the day.

He felt that he and Jo were treated as outsiders.

He changed his FB "works at" section about 4 months ago? (Around there).

So, ya he's 100% out
 
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