Labyrinth

Labyrinth started in Massa, Tuscany, in the early 1990s around guitarists Andrea Cantarelli and Olaf Thorsen. In the early years several members used English-sounding stage names; Cantarelli was Anders Rain, and Thorsen is the one name that stuck. The debut No Limits came out in the mid-1990s. Singer Roberto Tiranti, then billed as Rob Tyrant, joined in 1997 and became the voice most fans connect with the band.

Return to Heaven Denied (1998), released by Metal Blade, was the breakthrough. Its fast, melodic power metal brought the band international attention, and Frontiers still calls it a milestone for the genre. Sons of Thunder followed in 2000. Line-up changes marked the next decade: Thorsen left in 2002 to work with Vision Divine, and the band carried on with Labyrinth (2003), Freeman (2005) and 6 Days to Nowhere (2007).

Thorsen returned for Return to Heaven Denied Pt. II: “A Midnight Autumn’s Dream” (2010), after which the band went quiet. In spring 2016 Frontiers Music approached Cantarelli and Thorsen about a comeback with Tiranti. The reunited band played Return to Heaven Denied in full at the first Frontiers Metal Festival and, with keyboardist Oleg Smirnoff, bassist Nik Mazzucconi and drummer John Macaluso, released Architecture of a God on 21 April 2017.

Welcome to the Absurd Circus followed on 22 January 2021, with Mattia “Matt” Peruzzi replacing Macaluso on drums. On 24 January 2025 Labyrinth released In the Vanishing Echoes of Goodbye, their third album for Frontiers. The band described it as their heaviest, fastest and angriest record so far, though it keeps the melodic, melancholic side of their earlier work. Apart from the drum change, the line-up has stayed the same since the 2016 reunion.

Current line-up: Roberto Tiranti (vocals), Andrea Cantarelli (guitar), Olaf Thorsen (guitar), Oleg Smirnoff (keyboards), Nik Mazzucconi (bass), Matt Peruzzi (drums)