Biography

In mid-1997, Heaven’s Guardian began a promising career in Brazil, characterized by the strength and authenticity of its heavy metal. The band released its first phonographic record, the EP “Roll of Thunder”, in 1999. Songs like Neverland and Roll of Thunder were widely accepted by the public and the specialized media, attracting the interest of different record labels to sign the group.

Heaven´s Guardian thus established a partnership with the Brazilian record label Megahard Records, releasing the first full album “Strava” in 2001. International music critics soon referred to the melodic and heavy compositions of the band. Hits like Fighters, Freedom, and Hope started to be sung by audiences in warm live presentations of the band together with great icons of rock like Blind Guardian (Germany), Saxon (England), Sonata Arctica (Finland), Angra and Sepultura (Brazil).

In 2004, the band released the second full album D.O.L.L. by the same record label. With the production of the renowned music producer Paulo Anhaia (CPM 22, Charlie Brow Jr.), major publications paid honorable praise for the work produced. This projected Heaven’s Guardian’s name and music to international levels. The CD D.O.L.L. was released in several countries, including Japan where Burn Magazine classified it as a must for rock audiences and rated it with a 9 out of 10 possible.

The band gave a gift to the fans on their 10th anniversary, launching in 2007 the DVD and live CD “X Years on the Road – Live at Gyn Arena”. This work included the most famous songs of the band in a great concert performed to more than 3,000 people. In 2008, Heaven’s Guardian went through a deep change when the singer Carlos Zema left the band to join the U.S. band Outworld. On that occasion, the renowned Mário Linhares (Dark Avenger, Harllequin) took over the band’s vocals. The climax of this phase was reached when the band played with the acclaimed U.S. thrash metal band Megadeth in a sold-out presentation made to more than 5,000 people.

In 2013, the band went through profound changes again. The two original guitarists Ericsson Marin and Luiz Maurício invited the keyboard player Everton Marin, the vocalist Flávio Mendez, and the talented singer Olívia Bayer, forming a strong vocal duo. This new vocal arrangement provided greater versatility to the Heaven’s Guardian songs. In 2015, Heaven’s Guardian signed with the famous music producer Marcello Pompeu – Latin American Grammy for “the best rock album” in 2010 – to record the third full album “Signs”, also released by Megahard Records in 2016. The CD was distributed in more than 23 countries by the German record company Pure Steel Records, receiving excellent comments from specialized critics about the band’s evolution and maturity.

In 2019, the band completed its most audacious project since then, the DVD “Live at Gyn Theater” with the Youth Symphonic Orchestra of Goiás. This was the first DVD recorded by a heavy metal band with a symphonic orchestra in Latin America. The production of the concert was signed by the renowned producer Paulo Baron from Top Link Music, recognized for having worked with bands such as Scorpions, Nightwish, Symphony X, Rhapsody, Megadeth, Dream Theater, etc. Renowned musicians such as Eduardo Ardanuy (Dr. Sin), Ricardo Confessori (Angra, Shaman), Alirio Netto (Shaman), and Marcello Pompeu (Korzus) also participated in this mega event. The DVD also marked Carlos Zema’s return to the band, who joined Olívia Bayer to sing songs from the band’s entire career. It was voted the second-best DVD by the Roadie Crew magazine, the largest rock magazine in Latin America. In 2020, the band released the double CD “Live at Gyn Theater” containing the audio of this concert.

In 2020-2021, when Heaven’s Guardian was preparing an unprecedented tour in Brazil and Europe with the Youth Symphonic Orchestra of Goiás, the world was surprised by the pandemic of COVID-19. As the musical performances were suspended/canceled, the band started composing songs for the fourth studio album Chronos with two important line-up changes: Francis Cassol on the drums and the sublime Russian singer Natalia Sarsgård replacing Olivia, who left the band for personal reasons. With Chronos, the band made history again, featuring not only an orchestra in studio but its entire choir. A super production with more than 100 musicians participating together for the first time in Latin America. The chosen music producers were the renowned Roy Z (Bruce Dickinson, Rob Halford) and Addasi Addasi (Black Oil, NervoChaos), who accepted the band’s invitation to produce the album in Los Angeles. Released in 2023 by the reputable european label Sleaszy Rider Records, Chronos effectively confirms the band’s new symphonic style and promises to lead Heaven’s Guardian to paths not yet explored. To confirm this, the album has already been voted the best metal album in Brazil in 2023 by several independent critics and the top 5 by Roadie Crew magazine, the largest in its segment in Latin America. In June of 2024, Heaven’s Guardian and the Youth Symphonic Orchestra and Choir of Goiás completed the first metal tour with a full orchestra of history. In terms of musicians and crew traveling together across a country, “CHRONOS – THE TOUR” recorded the largest metal tour in the world, with approximately 100 people involved in this superproduction.