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Cage

Sound description

Progressive classical metal.

RIYL

Monarch, Battalion of Saints, Wovenwar, Nukem, Psychotic Waltz, Prong, Benedictum

Influences

Godsmack, Halford, Slayer, Dio, Whitesnake, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Kataklysm, Savatage, King Diamond, Mercyful Fate, Metal Church, Malice, Iced Earth, Queensryche

Discography

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Cage singer Sean Peck previously led the band Nomad, while guitarist Dave Garcia and former bassist Mike Giordano previously played in the metal group Crusher.

After Cage played a show headlined by Germany's the Scorpions at the Universal Amphitheater on November 26, 2004, L.A. Loudness magazine reported, "Singer Sean Peck does his best to channel Rob Halford, even shaving his head and sporting a properly Satanic goatee, but his vocal chops are hampered by an inability to hold a note without wavering like Laura Petrie bemoaning 'Rob!' The songs from last year's Darker than Black CD (their third), in the context of the Scorpions gig [Cage played an outdoor stage close to the Amphitheater], seemed well suited to the evening due to their Germanic bombast and brevity."

Similar to their feelings for David Hasselhoff, Germans love Cage. The German rag Heavy Odor placed Darker than Black at number one on their Soundcheck chart list for March 2003, ahead of more established acts like Anthrax, Krokus, and Biohazard.

According to Peck, “It started in 1998, when we were named best new band by the largest metal magazine in Germany called Rock Hard. Some European metal journalist discovered our album [the self-produced Unveiled] on his own. European fans voted us best over 700 other bands. The prize was to play the Dynamo Festival in Holland in 1999, which also had Metallica and System of a Down. That led to a record deal with Omega, out of Germany, which gave us an opportunity in 2002 to play the Wacken Festival...the largest heavy-metal festival in the world.”

Other European festivals followed. The band moved on to a larger German label, Massacre Records, which released their third and more successful album, Darker Than Black. That led to an appearance at the Bang Your Head Festival in Germany in 2004, headlined by Alice Cooper and Skid Row’s Sebastian Bach.

Cage's Hell Destroyer was released May 18, 2007, in Western and Eastern Europe via MTM Music; May 22 in the USA and Canada via Destroy All Records Entertainment/BCD Music Group; May 18 in Mexico via Asenath Records/Iguana Records and May 21 in Central and South America via Dynamo Records.

In August 2007, Cage lost drummer Mikey Neilsen, replacing him in September with Norm Leggio, formerly with prog metal rockers Psychotic Waltz and owner of Blue Meannie Records in El Cajon. Leggio was also the co-host of the metal radio show Another State of Mind on Rock 105.3 FM for many years.

Their 2009 CD Science Of Annihilation was re-released as a limited edition double gatefold vinyl LP in 2010 by Pure Steel Records in Germany.

in April 2010, founding bassist Mike Giordano and lead guitarist Anthony Wayne McGinnis left the band, with Mike citing "medical reasons" and Anthony "family reasons." They were replaced by Steve Brogden (lead guitarist/vocalist for the aggressive power thrash metal band Howler) and lead guitarist Garrett Peters (of the melodic death metal band Climhazzard and punk metal band Sayaka). Bassist Pete Stone soon joined as well.

On October 23, 2010, Faith Factor’s singer Ski joined the band onstage to perform the Cage song “Kill The Devil” at Iron And Steel Fest II in Reading, Pennsylvania.

In early 2011, TheRightToRock.com interviewed Peck, for their podcast episode #110. Soon after, they released a 2-disc DVD The Rise to Power featuring their Progpower X show in Atlanta Georgia, while disc 2 includes footage from various festivals and five unreleased audio tracks.

Their 2011 full-length Supremecy of Steel, featuring cover art by Marvel Comics painter Marc Sasso, was followed by around 18 months of inactivity while Dave Garcia worked on a solo album, Hellscream,, with former Imagika singer Norman Skinner.

When Cage reconvened, Garcia and Peck were joined by three new members: Casey Trask (formerly of Monument), Sean Elg (Nihilist), and Dwight Hoy aka Dwight Magic (Detonated). Says Peck, “An old metal warrior once told me it was good to feed off the soul of the young. We have a whole new level of enthusiasm with these guys.”

In summer 2013, Cage announced plans to record a concept album inspired by HP Lovecraft and set in 1869 London.

When released in November 2015, Cage's seventh album Ancient Evil was revealed to be a 19-track horror-metal concept album recorded with a lineup featuring Garcia, Peck, Elg, Trask, and Magic. After its release, bassist Magic left the band and was replaced by Alex Pickard, of Oceanside-based Monarch (not to be confused with the later Encinitas band named Monarch).

In early 2018, Pickard updated the Reader on the next Cage-related project, indicating the eighth Cage album had already been recorded, although it may be released under a different band name. “Sean [Peck, Cage lead singer] wanted to do something different this time. Three different power-metal vocalists are singing lead. We got Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, who filled in for Rob Halford for a couple years in Judas Priest, and Harry Conklin of Jag Panzer to each sing lead vocals.”

Pickard says the music tracks were sent to Owens and Pickard, who then added their vocals in their own studios, and then sent them back to Peck. “I think they both live in Texas. Each song will have three power-metal vocals. This will shake the metal community.” A short film was released for the track "Across the Sea of Madness."

A reissue of their fifth album Science Of Annihilation, released November 2019 and retitled Science Of Annihilation Re-Annihilated, was expanded, remixed, remastered and partially rerecorded, with two unreleased bonus tracks and drum parts re-recorded by current drummer Sean ELG. Their Darker Than Black album was also reissued, for the first time as a vinyl double LP, with 500 units pressed in two colors: Darker Than Black Black and Blood of the Innocent Red. They spent late November and early December on a short tour of Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

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