The European Metal band Civilization One, by ex- Firewind singer Chitral Chity Somapala, is returning to Chity' s birth town of Colombo in Sri Lanka for a second time.
Civilization One are coming again at the invitation of TNL (the biggest TV/Radio station for Rock Music in the country), and will perform as the main act at the TNL Onstage Finals show.
TNL Onstage is a band contest for young talents, which has established itself as a prestigious talent pool of the country since its premiere 10 years ago. It can be compared approximately to the Western TV formats like American Idol or Britains Got Talent, and is receiving peoples and medias full attention.
Last year the organizers of the final show put the icing on the cake, as they engaged a Western band as an attraction, an absolute novelty! Never before had a Western Heavy Metal band performed in Sri Lanka! But the explanation was obvious! The band was CIVILIZATION ONE, with the Sri Lankan born singer Chitral Chity Somapala at the helm. It is not only national pride and common identity, but true appreciation and absolute admiration for a native who left the country more than 20 yrs ago to fulfil his professional music career.
Chity Somapala started his musical career in 1986 as a singer and bass player in Pop-cover bands. His first tours took him to Europe, where he finally settled in Germany. After a short time he left Pop-music to concentrate on a career as a true Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal singer. He joined several German and international bands, such as Court Jester and Avalon, and he traveled the world with Firewind.
After leaving Firewind, he decided to realize his own musical ideas and founded his band Civilization One in 2006. The first album Revolution Rising was inspired by the dramatic events of the Tsunami catastrophe and was received very well by critics and fans alike.
In his homeland, Chity became famous through his song Nadee Ganga, which was broadcasted all over the country as a TV/RADIO commercial for the LION beer brewery in Sri Lanka, unique as it was in the traditional language sung with a Hard Rock Metal touch. This song caused a musical revolution! Hard Rock became popular in Sri Lanka, where the radio scenery had been dominated by classical traditional music, Western HipHop and Indian Bollywood film tracks. Many young musicians tried to emulate their idol, followed his career and founded countless metal bands such as Stigmata, Tantrum and Nemesis.
So nobody was surprised when Nemesis, the winning band at last years Onstage Final show, cantillated Nadee Ganga for the acoustic set, an open- armed welcome for the homecomer! When Civilization One finally entered the stage, the euphoric audience broke into the safety zone in front of the stage which had been guarded by security unsuccessfully. All the fans were in agreement: they all came to see Civilization One, not the band contest! And they werent been disappointed at all! The concert was a sensation and brought forward a great awareness of Civilization One and music of this genre in the country.
It was a great moment for the band leader Chity Somapala, who had been working for a homecoming like this for a long time! The crowd didnt let them go without the cult- song Nadee Ganga as an encore.
The time has come and the band is making its presence felt again. This time the Sri Lankan fans will get a preview of the upcoming album Calling the Gods, which is in the final stages of completion. Also, the band announces the release of The Works of Chity Somapala, a compilation album for the Asian market, ready in time for the concert date.
The local fans are sure to be rabid about the new album Calling the Gods which will be released very soon and presented live on stage for the first time!
In the meantime Sri Lankan Record Label Criminal Records will be releasing a limited edition compilation of Chitral Chity Somapala "THE WORKS" including the Smash Hit "Nadee Ganga".
Civilization One are coming again at the invitation of TNL (the biggest TV/Radio station for Rock Music in the country), and will perform as the main act at the TNL Onstage Finals show.
TNL Onstage is a band contest for young talents, which has established itself as a prestigious talent pool of the country since its premiere 10 years ago. It can be compared approximately to the Western TV formats like American Idol or Britains Got Talent, and is receiving peoples and medias full attention.
Last year the organizers of the final show put the icing on the cake, as they engaged a Western band as an attraction, an absolute novelty! Never before had a Western Heavy Metal band performed in Sri Lanka! But the explanation was obvious! The band was CIVILIZATION ONE, with the Sri Lankan born singer Chitral Chity Somapala at the helm. It is not only national pride and common identity, but true appreciation and absolute admiration for a native who left the country more than 20 yrs ago to fulfil his professional music career.
Chity Somapala started his musical career in 1986 as a singer and bass player in Pop-cover bands. His first tours took him to Europe, where he finally settled in Germany. After a short time he left Pop-music to concentrate on a career as a true Hard Rock/ Heavy Metal singer. He joined several German and international bands, such as Court Jester and Avalon, and he traveled the world with Firewind.
After leaving Firewind, he decided to realize his own musical ideas and founded his band Civilization One in 2006. The first album Revolution Rising was inspired by the dramatic events of the Tsunami catastrophe and was received very well by critics and fans alike.
In his homeland, Chity became famous through his song Nadee Ganga, which was broadcasted all over the country as a TV/RADIO commercial for the LION beer brewery in Sri Lanka, unique as it was in the traditional language sung with a Hard Rock Metal touch. This song caused a musical revolution! Hard Rock became popular in Sri Lanka, where the radio scenery had been dominated by classical traditional music, Western HipHop and Indian Bollywood film tracks. Many young musicians tried to emulate their idol, followed his career and founded countless metal bands such as Stigmata, Tantrum and Nemesis.
So nobody was surprised when Nemesis, the winning band at last years Onstage Final show, cantillated Nadee Ganga for the acoustic set, an open- armed welcome for the homecomer! When Civilization One finally entered the stage, the euphoric audience broke into the safety zone in front of the stage which had been guarded by security unsuccessfully. All the fans were in agreement: they all came to see Civilization One, not the band contest! And they werent been disappointed at all! The concert was a sensation and brought forward a great awareness of Civilization One and music of this genre in the country.
It was a great moment for the band leader Chity Somapala, who had been working for a homecoming like this for a long time! The crowd didnt let them go without the cult- song Nadee Ganga as an encore.
The time has come and the band is making its presence felt again. This time the Sri Lankan fans will get a preview of the upcoming album Calling the Gods, which is in the final stages of completion. Also, the band announces the release of The Works of Chity Somapala, a compilation album for the Asian market, ready in time for the concert date.
The local fans are sure to be rabid about the new album Calling the Gods which will be released very soon and presented live on stage for the first time!
In the meantime Sri Lankan Record Label Criminal Records will be releasing a limited edition compilation of Chitral Chity Somapala "THE WORKS" including the Smash Hit "Nadee Ganga".
