Cellador

Following in the footsteps of legendary European bands like Helloween and Blind Guardian, as well as more recent success stories like Dragonforce, whose self-termed "extreme" power metal provided the fundamental blueprint for their high-speed attack, Cellador was formed in the unlikely location of Omaha, NE, in the summer of 2004. It was there, less than a year into their existence, that the young group comprising Michael Gremio (vocals), Chris Petersen (lead and rhythm guitar), Bill Hudson (lead guitar and keyboards), Valentin Rakhmanov (bass guitar), and David Dahir (drums) opened a show for death metal band the Black Dahlia Murder, who were so impressed that they passed Cellador's demo along to Metal Blade Records owner Brain Slagel. Signed to the label soon after, Cellador got to work on their full-length debut, Enter Deception — all the while touring across the U.S. with the likes of Kreator, Sonata Arctica, and Trivium.