Chromium is a South African heavy metal band formed in August 2005 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
August 2005, Chromium was born and immediately started working hard on their debut album “Intro Spectre” which was written & recorded within the first six months, and set up their debut live performance for December that year. Their efforts were well rewarded with a full house that nights as well as a label offer that year. They signed to Alter Ego and would continue on that label for 1.5 years.
6 months prior to the birth of Chromium, they leave it all behind to relocate to Johannesburg and have been establishing their name there for 2 years now. Since then they have achieved the following through perseverance & hard work:
Endorsement from Hughes & Kettner Amplification Germany as well as featured twice in their news letter; A Sponsorship from Jagermeister & from Music Connection
It started out as a studio project by Jared Gunston and Matthew Engelbrecht. Chromium’s music can be described as a combination of modern metalcore (Jared’s primary influence) and thrash metal (Matt’s primary influence) genres.
In November 2006, Matt, Jared and Adrian decided to relocate to Johannesburg. During this time they also received an endorsement from Hughes and Kettner and Marshall Music, a leading South African musical instrument retailer. Adrian decided to move to bass guitar and Hannes Matthysen, based in Johannesburg at that time soon joined as the new drummer.
Soon after the release of Confessions of a Hero towards the end of 2008, Shaun Pearson joined the band as the new bassist.
The band has performed at many prominent festivals and cities all over South Africa. Highlights include:
RAMfest (Cape Town)
MotherFUDD
Seasons Wither Rock Festival
Zeplins (Pretoria)
The Doors (Edenvale)
KTV Power Edition (DStv)
MK Studio 1 (DStv)
Nightfall Festival featuring Blind Guardian.
Current Members;
Jared Gunston – melodic vocals & guitar (2005–present),
Matthew Engelbrecht – screaming vocals & guitar (2005–present)
Hannes Matthysen – drums (2006–present), backing vocals (2008–present)
Shaun Pearson – bass guitar (2008–present)
Former Members;
Adrian Basson – drums (2005–2006), backing vocals & bass guitar (2006–2008)
Stilez – bass guitar (2005–2006)
Studio Albums
Intro Spectre (2006)
Confessions of a Hero (2008)
“Intro Spectre” – released through Alter Ego, has been getting great feedback from around the world. “Nice Slice Of American Metalcore - The way it was performed was awesome. Excellent, hard-driving riffs, bookend a nice, melodic chorus.” – Garageband.com Reviewer. The album has been winning many online awards, and has been topping the charts on Garageband, and various campus radio stations around the country.
“Confessions of a Hero” – released through Electromode, is the second studio album that defiantly takes the band to a whole new level finally discovering their sound and enhancing on it. With it only being out now for a month, and with plans to only start promoting it in January 09. “How these boys haven’t hit the international stages is beyond me. Besides their awe inspiring riffs and a combination of heavy and melodic vocals, the lyrical content is brilliant! If you’re a Hard Rock / Metal fan, this is a must have!” – Kalahari.net comment.
