“The Work of the two singers is good, often alternate in the same song to emphazise the duality of the lyrics ("Scriputral Truth" and "End of the World"). The guitars riffs chasing each other in efficient powermetal mode, the efficient and precise rhythm section always ready to make the changes of time required by the songs . An ambitious work, well produced, that presents us with a sparkling group , full of ideas and ready to rule the modern metal scene.”

"Distant Past succeeded to produce a high quality heavy metal album, which has a really great sound and features very capable and convincing musicians. The record probably needs some runs more than usual, but thanks to the existing variety, it has many things to be discovered and is definitely a successful Metal Album . "

“This is all about melodic Power Metal, with loads of balls and class shining through from the first note to the very last. It is passionate, it is powerful, and overall it is just great fun.They have the potential to be a quite stunning act." Kev Rowland”

“Musically, it's flawless: Julmy's vocals are rich and resonant, soaring with the grace of an eagle over the solid rhythms of drummers Al Spicher and Jan Zweibel and bassist Adriano Troiano, who has a style which is very much akin to that of Steve Harris! The twin guitarists of Alain Curty and Christof Schafer are as effective as any operating in this style of music, switching neatly between crunching riffs and massive melodies, with some pretty impressive solos thrown along the way.”

"Dramatischer Melodicmetal dem Leidenschaft, Powergroove und Abwechslungsreichtum keineswegs fremd sind, erwartet sein darauf eingeschworenes Fanklientel." ONLINE HERE Der Name Adriano Trojano sollte geschulten Klassikmetallern von seiner Tätigkeit bei den ebenfalls aus der Schweiz kommenden Metallern EMERALD geläufig sein. Kraftvoll dröhnen mir gleich die ersten Klänge von „A Day of Darkness“ in die Ohren. Dramatischer Melodicmetal dem Leidenschaft, Powergroove und Abwechslungsreichtum keineswegs fremd sind, erwartet sein darauf eingeschworenes Fanklientel auch bei DISTANT PAST. Stilprägenden Einfluss beim Eidgenossenfünfer hinterließen IRON MAIDEN, HELLOWEEN, GAMMA RAY, EDGUY oder FREEDOM CALL, was jederzeit bei Nummern vom Typus „A Day of Da

“Free downloads Order CD Youtube Reviews from "Utopian Void" Review Metal Temple 17.12.13 - Posted in Utopian Void reviews http://www.metal-temple.com/site/catalogues/entry/reviews/cd_3/d_2/distant-past-utopian.htm "As for me, I can only recommend the album and can only hope that DISTANT PAST will bring back the past to the present for you as they did for me."-Itzik Rubin "Utopian Void", the new album by Swiss Heavy Metal band DISTANT PAST was great listening to and I enjoyed doing this review. What I relished the most is that Distant Past is a very versatile band that brings back the glory days of 80’s Metal, and the past sounds very good. The album opening track “A Day Of Darkness” starts with a verse from the Old Testament (from Zephaniah 1:17(. The song reminds me of 80’s Metal bands like DOKKEN. The following tracks “Sceptre” and “On The Edge” issue the vibe of early days Thrash mixed with 80’s classic Metal. On “Faces” DISTANT PAST resemble GRAVE DIGGER”

“...Klasse auch das überaus geschmeidige "Trial & Error" sowie das abschließende "The Serpent With The Double-Edged Tongue", bei dem DISTANT PAST beweisen, dass sie sie auch spannende und hochwertige Longtracks in der Lage zu schreiben sind. FAZIT: "Alpha Draconis" ist eine echte Underground-Perle, die mit Anspruch und Musikalität bei der traditionell veranlagten Zielgruppe punkten dürfte. Das Album kann über die Homepage oder über den Shop von Pure Steel Records als auf 333 Exemplare limitiertes Digipak bezogen werden. Wertung: 11 von 15 Punkten ”

“Studio project from former Emerald bassist Adriano Troiano, this Swiss group live for the late 70’s to late 80’s traditional, NWOBHM and power movements. Songs like “The New Lordship”, “The Interrogation”, and “Trial & Error” among others convey a love for twin harmonies, spacey guitar bends and Angelo Schafer’s heartfelt, mystical vocal presence. Bands like Domine, Iron Maiden, and early Hawkwind come to mind- the spirit and energy flows through Distant Past and they write with a pure heart. “Alpha Draconis” proves for many musicians, the early metal years will continue to live on. www.distant-past.ch Rating: 4 / 6 ”

“Although the promo package came without the lyrics I think this is a concept album dealing with those who have allegedly come from the Alpha Draconis star system (I do not want to get 'deeper' on this), hence the story-telling feeling one gets during the listening of the album. Also I believe that the (almost) 13 minutes of "The Serpent With The Double-Edged Tongue" is the best way to conclude this story; this track comes with a catchy main melody and nice guitar double harmonies that once again look over MAIDEN's side. Despite the fact that DISTANT PATH might confuse you with the not so defined musical ID, "Alpha Draconis" is a well written album featuring mature compositions that give to the listener something to sink his teeth in and if more CD spins are provided this will grow and reveal its potentials. As you might have noticed this is a 'self release' so go ahead and check them out at their MySpace page and - who knows? - you may learn more about the strange star system…”

“Songs wie das geile „Single Warning“, das mit einem Superriff gesegnete „Trial & Error“oder der Zwölfminüter “The Serpent With The Double-Edged Tongue” sind weitaus mehr als der übliche 08/15-Stoff, den man sonst so gewohnt ist. Vor allem die ausgetüftelten Gesangspassagen und Hooks haben es mir angetan. Eingängig ja aber nicht easy listening. „Alpha Draconis“ - ein guter Tipp für alle, die es metallisch und dennoch nicht vorhersehbar mögen. Die Schweizer hätten soundtechnisch noch mehr herausholen sollen, da wäre sicher noch mehr Power drin. Die Songs allerdings überzeugen vollends und das ist die Hauptsache. ”

“For me this was a first acquaintance. And it turned out to be an pleasant acquaintance. The music is a mix of heavy/power metal with here and there a dose of thrash metal. There are also influences from symphonic rock. And despite the fact I’m not a fan of clean vocals – which sound to tedious most of the time – it works very well on this record. What is also a good thing, is that the band don’t try to show off with endless solo’s and difficult structures, like bands like Dream Theater tend to do. This whole combination makes this record one which is very nice to listen to. It is surely not a record to bang your head to, but it is one you can put up the morning after when recovering from a hangover. This band could address a bigger audience. One has to be able to put his mind to it, because it is not easy to put the band in a specific genre. For people how like the aforementioned genres it is certainly worth to give this record a try. ”

“Swiss progressive/melodic heavy metal band Distant Past are on their third full-length release, Alpha Draconis. They have a cool sound but is hard to pinpoint or compare exactly who they sound like. But their influences run deep with classic metal, ’70s progressive rock, NWOBHM and ’80s metal. There are progressive parts, spacey parts and thrashy parts. It’s a well-blended concoction of all the great components of hard rock and metal. There’s elements of IRON MAIDEN, HAWKWIND and THIN LIZZY thrown together, while still remaining fresh and creative enough to not be a clone of any of their influences. They have a lot to offer and I hope this album’s greatness spreads to more global metalheads. ”

“... the feeling that you get when you listen to this album is how this group managed to sound so 80’s like and yet be innovative and fresh. To be more specific, “Alpha Draconis” is an album that has the same way of creative thinking as IRON MAIDEN’s “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”. DISTANT PAST actually manage to fuse in their sound their N.W.O.B.H.M. influences (trust me there are so many) with the structures of 70’s progressive rock and the result is more than impressive. This is an album that you can listen to again and again. I think they also have an interesting science fiction concept, but I will learn more in the interview that I will do with them. I know that recently I have given too many big marks, but this is an album that the more I listen to, the more I like and by no means I can’t give them less than….9/10 Nick "Verkaim" Parastatidis ”

“Review: ....Adriano applies a progressive structure in parts of the songs and the odd deathmetal sounds and rhythms make an appearance. The almost 13 minute long closing track “The Serpent with the Double Edged Tongue” that catapults the album duration to 54 minute.with its rather aggressive rhythm section and amongst the heavier guitar barrage there seems to be so much more drama and attention to the storytelling. Adriano does have staying power and the release of his third album is testament to that fact, but if can capitalize on the music of the closing track and hopefully finds some funding to give the production a little boost, I can imagine Distant Past to become the Near Future!”

“DISTANT PAST ‘ALPHA DRACONIS’ (INDEPENDENT) DISTANT PAST is a band from Switzerland, already 2 albums released before this ‘Alpha draconis’, which took the band 2 years to finish. One of the bandmembers of DISTANT PAST is also a member of the band EMERALD, of whom we reviewed several CDs in the past. Anyway, with DISTANT PAST he goes also in the Classic Melodic (Power) Metal direction, yet a little heavier and rawer here and there, as well as a few growls here and there, but after repeated listens this 3rd CD of DISTANT PAST is a great piece of Melodic Metal (a la WOLF, DOMINE, CAULDRON, CELTIC LEGACY and WHITE WIZZARD), with as highlights “The new lordship”, “Trial and error” (awesome-o!) and “Spare my life”. However, also the instrumentals are pretty good and that’s where the band’s strength is hidden, because instrumentally speaking they are excellent, belting out some awesome Melodic Metal riffs. Check them out at: www.distant-past.ch (Points: 8.4 o”

“Mensch, was eine geile Demoscheibe. Und mittlerweile die dritte. Und zwar von „Distant Past“ aus der Schweiz, die hier richtig coolen und abwechslungsreichen Heavy Metal mit extremer Progschlagseite spielen und dabei mit einer Menge Elan und Spielfreude um die Ecke kommen. Dazu besteht die Band aus zwei richtig gute Vokalisten und einer fetten Truppe an den Instrumenten . Echt Respekt. Das die Jungs dabei noch richtig coole Songs schreiben, hört man an Nummern wie „Trial & Error“, „The Powers that be“ und dem Zwölfminutenmonstrum „The Serpent with the Double-Edged Tongue“. Besonders letztere fräst sich irgendwann in die Gehörgänge. Geiles Kopfkino, was das Stück bietet. Das einzige Manko ist die doch recht drucklose Produktion. Mit etwas mehr Saft wäre das noch einige Tacken besser. Aber nichtsdestotrotz, die fünf Schweizer haben hier echt geile Musik am Start. Sollten mal einige Progmetalfans definitiv antesten. Lohnt sich.”

“INTERVIEW distant past (suiça) 2 basically says that the band's lyrics? Apart from Lyrics about the greed of people and secret societies leading the world to ruin, there’s a lot of modern myths and legends: The Hollow Earth Theory, The Code. I like these Conspiracy-things, as they open people’s minds to other than just what you see. There is more than meets the eye. The new album’ theme is a bout the reptilian race, who enslaved the earth population and they started in the distant past. So I totally believe tin Erich von Daniken saying that they came from the stars and created humanity. Hey, they cannot rebuild the great pyramid with nowadays techniques, doesn’t that say it all ”