Nascence and the Early Years:

The legend of a band with a moniker like GOD goes long way back in time. It first took shape back in 1993, in the city of Iasi, the ancient capital of the medieval lands of Romania, as well as an actual spiritual and cultural pole of the modern country. Life was instilled to the band by the Lapusneanu brothers, Constantin and Eugen.

At that time, three distinctive self-produced demos were released and spread storming into the Underground scene: Iconografic I - Your Eye... (1994), Iconografic II - The Eye Of Superior Knowledge (1995) and Iconografic III - The Antropomorphic Image (1996). It was in fact the latest demo that made the band's name well-known on a larger scale. This provided a very fertile ground for their music, which was rapidly appreciated by the Underground metalheads, while also receiving a magnificent feedback from the mass-media. But these were only the first auspices of the great rising of GOD, which soon after became the very best Extreme Metal band in Romania.

Evolution:

A split EP with the Romanian Black/Deathers from DIES IRAE emerged during the following year of 1997, produced by Eurostar and entitled A Perennial Spleen / Iconografic & Apotropaic. This demo was considered to be the introduction to the first GOD album, edited by the most prestigious Romanian metal label of that time, Bestial Records.

After the live appearances in 1996, the members won some awards, such as "Best Violin Player" at one festival, as well as two more prizes at two other festivals.

The first studio album was mystically entitled From The Moldavian Ecclesiastic Throne, and it saw the light via Bestial Records in 1997. The record came as a complete ravage for the Romanian metal scene, but also for the Eastern European one, as it still manages to maintain the second position in the top of underground metal sales in Romania ever! It was recorded in the Red Moon Mobile Studio in Cologne (Germany) with the producer Alex Perin, as the band's line-up was then comprised of: Constantin Lapusneanu (vocals), Eugen Lapusneanu (guitars), Stefan Nicolau (bass), Elena Doroftei (viola), Manuel Giugula (keyboards) & Adrian Olaru (drums). They included a specific cover version for the song Copycat on this LP, originally composed and performed by the Swiss gothic icons of LACRIMOSA.

It was also appraised as the best album in the national and international mass-media having lots of great reviews in Romanian and European magazines or fanzines alike. It actually fulminated with the review in Rock Hard (Germany), where the opus was rated to a grade of 9 out of 10 points.

In the final classifications of 1997 in Heavy Metal Magazine (the most important Romanian magazine dedicated to Romanian and international metal music of those years), the band with their first full epos From The Moldavian Ecclesiastic Throne was awarded the following qualifications:

- first position for the best Newcomer band
- first position for the best vocalist
- first position for the best keyboard player
- second position for the best Romanian album
- third position for the best guitarist
- third position for the best drummer

The same year, GOD took part in no less than seven contest-festivals all over the country, and was awarded first prize in all of them, plus the best keyboard player and the best vocalist. After all these performances, the band played as a headliner in more than 15 festivals the following year, while the second album was already in progress.

The Genuine Experience:

From this point beyond, the band played in all concerts and festivals only as headliners, and they also organized one of the greatest festivals in Romania, the RockFest in Iasi for two consecutive years. Once again, they had lots of gigs all over the country. With the same line-up as on the first LP, the new material was recorded and mixed with the help of Paul Barzu in Voices Studio in Iasi (Romania), between October 16th and November 21st, 1998. The preparation for the new full-length ended with the release through the same label, Bestial Records, of a new material, bearing the name of Sublime. This was a more compact and emotional product that was showing a different side of the musicians, a matured and more spiritual one. The album was followed by some tourings and by a larger exposure on local and national Radio and TV stations.

In 1999, they came very close to signing a contract with Nascent Frost, a respected American label, but due to some financial problems of its own, the label canceled their offer to GOD.

The Equinox:

The new millennium brings the band back together for the recording of a new album entitled Aura. Unluckily, this one eventually remained unfinished, as their drummer and the violinist departed for the United States of America. A short period of non-activity ensued in the history of the band, which was already looking for new members. In 2001, the band makes a reappearance on the metal stage (with a new line-up), much to the delight of the public who thought the band will actually never recover.

2002 meant a sort of revival for GOD. They had lots of concerts and festivals, and their third album, the self-produced Aura, was finally finished in the same Voices Studio (mastered and mixed in Dream Sound Studio in Arad) towards the end of the year. It was launched with one final concert that took place a week before the departure to Portugal of the vocalist and leader of the band as a tattoo artist with the well-known El Diablo studio. This third CD was also well received by the public, probably because for a consistent period of time it was rumored to be the very last album of the band! The new line-up of the release comprised once again the Lapusneanu brothers and the members from the precedent LPs, but also marked the return of Dan Cozma who replaced Stefan Nicolau as a bass player, as well as the special guest Ioana Doroftei on vocals.

A year after Costel’s departure, the guitarist of the band, Eugen Lapusneanu leaves Romania for Portugal as well. This put the band to rest for quite a while - almost two years of complete silence. But the thirst for more was still there, and the two brothers were doing their best to start all over again from the bottom. A new beginning was assembled from scratch, and, slowly but surely, the sun began to shine once more over GODs.

The Mighty Return:

Trying to bring the GOD spirit back to life, the band intended to continue their activity far from Romania with the help of the new Portuguese members - their friends from Barreiro town. In the beginning of 2005, a new horde of “barbarian warriors” gathered under the old GOD name, and started to fight the first battles on stage in the Lusitanian land. In July 2005, the guys “invaded” the Farm Studio in order to record Hell & Heaven, their first EP with a fresh line-up consisting of Portuguese musicians. The sessions lasted until December 2005 (mixing and mastering included). At the end of 2005, the band played in two more locations in Portugal: Tattoo & Rock Festival (November 25th, in Lisbon) and Seixal Metal Fest (December 03rd, in Corroios).

After the new year of 2006, the “horde” drew some fresh “barbarian riders” blood, replacing a few members, and preparing for the release of the EP Hell & Heaven, already presented live and with great impact to the public. Another “battle”, and perhaps the most important of all for the band, was to play at the Lusitanian Northland on February 12th in Guimaraes, at the Warm-up Barroselas Fest.

At some point, the band had to part ways with their keyboard player, Filipe “Lipe” Colombo, who had to leave due to personal reasons. The line-up was renewed shortly after with another guitarist, Nuno M. Silva (ex-OPUS DRACONIS). Therefore, GOD had to cancel two live concerts that were supposed to take place in very short time: one in Club Lua, Lisbon (on June 21st, 2006) and the headlining plot for Wacken Warm-Up Party in Ritmus Bar, Corroios (on June 30th, 2006). Future live dates featured the following line-up: Constantin “Castor” Lapusneanu (vocals), Eugen “Gelu” Lapusneanu (lead & rhythm guitars), Nuno M. Silva (guitars), Paulo Borralho (bass) & Paulo “Paulinho” Silva (drums). The new EP was released on August 15th, 2006 via KHÆOTICA | Productions™ (www.khaeotica.com) from Germany. It contained five new songs with a restyled touch, baptized “Barbarian Metal”. The melodies were impregnated with an unique pagan/viking metal attitude, blended with archaic folk influences.

After the release of Hell & Heaven in 2006, with an overall good press feedback, the barbaric horde forcefully commenced what soon became known as “The Lusitanian Invasion”, a consistent promotional live tour all over Portugal, with ten special dates. One after another, the battlefields were propagating the storm brought upon the Latin audiences, thus helping the name GOD to become greater and much more renowned. The number of those who came to support the band in its battles, to fight and sing along with the warriors on stage soon became a proof for the band’s success and of the great approval of their dedicated fan base! ...And the invasion was just beginning!

On June 29th 2007, the band had its 13th Anniversary celebrated through the concert in Moita, In Live Cafe club (Portugal), with special guests in order to mark this day as a glorious victory upon the vanity of time... This tour marked the return of Filipe Colombo “Lipe” Silva Costa (keyboards) into the band’s folds, but also the departure of the guitarist Nuno M. Silva, who was replaced after a short while by Emanuel Carlos Sousa Baltazar. Later on, as a new acquisition, the band welcomes the young musician of Russian origins, Galina Ievgenievna Belyaeva Ramos (flute).

A brand new studio album carrying the name Forefathers - A Spiritual Heritage is to come out sometime at the crossing horizons between the paths of 2010 E.H.. The GODs shall return for a fulmineous epos of Barbarian Metal with an Epic Ire... Violent visions marked by a sacrificial cult and reshaped under the bloody blade! Speaking of folklore heritage based on Dacian history & mythology, the new effort will be comprised of songs bearing titles such as Adunarea la oaste (The Gathering To The Battle), Imnul razboinicilor – O Hino Dos Guerreiros (The Warriors Hymn), Licoarea zeilor – Hydromel (Nectar Of The Gods - Ayle), Datina mesagerului (The Messenger’s Rite), Strabunii (The Forefathers), Legea pamantului - A Lei Da Terra (The Law Of The Land) and Triburile codrilor infricosatori (Tribes Of The Frightening Forests)!

...and the odyssey shall continue...