The Lion roars again – The Narnia story so far… the first 20 years.
Vocalist Christian Liljegren and guitarist CJ Grimmark met for the first time in 1993, in Jönköping – a town in the south of Sweden. At this time Christian and his band Modest Attraction were just about to release their first album, The Truth in Your Face, and CJ was active as bandleader, vocalist & guitarist in a local band called Sentinel. They remained in steady contact during the years that followed.
In 1996 Modest Attraction released its second album Divine Luxury. At that time Liljegren phoned Grimmark and asked him whether he was interested in working together on a musical vision Liljegren had in mind. Since the late 80´s Christian had had a huge passion for bombastic, melodic, neoclassical hard rock & heavy metal, which he was not able to explore in the band Modest Attraction. CJ was instantly interested. After having seen the animated movie about the The Witch & The Lion, Christian figured “Narnia” would be great name for the new band.
A few months later, as Modest Attraction guitarist Stephan Mohlin had to turn down a German tour for personal reasons, Christian phoned CJ and asked him to temporarily replace Stephan, which he did. Stephan soon left the band all together, and Grimmark was asked to become a full-time band member. Grimmark accepted.
During the time with Modest Attraction Liljegren and Grimmark kept working on their vision of the new band. They took a few old songs from Borderline, Modest Attraction & Sentinel, altered them to their own preferences, and added a couple of new songs. In September 1996 they settled in Topz Recording Studio to record their debut album.
The recording, the mix, and the mastering of the debut album Awakening was finished in the spring of -97.
Magnus Söderkvist, at that time at MTM Music, became Narnia’s agent and presented their album to 10 different Japanese labels at the MIDEM Festival in France. No less than nine of these labels immediately wanted to sign Narnia. Narnia decided to team up with Pony Canyon Inc., a solid label that worked with Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Joe Lynn Turner among others.
Press Release: Today, Narnia releases ‘Ghost Town’ – The band’s ninth studio album Stockholm, Sweden. March 17th, 2023 Twenty-seven years into a career that continues to grow, Swedish metal band Narnia takes huge steps into an exciting chapter with the new...
Press Release: Today, Narnia releases ‘Hold On’ – The second single from the new studio album ‘Ghost Town’ Stockholm, Sweden. March 3rd, 2023 The Swedish metal band Narnia today (March 3rd) releases the single ‘Hold On’, the second single from the upcoming record...
Ghost Town
Studio Album
(2023)
Sverigetopplistan (The Swedish national record chart), week 12
#12 Physical Sales
“Like a compilation album, but with new songs… It’s an energetic record and it belongs among the band’s harder releases.”
Sweden Rock Magazine, Sweden
10 Best Albums of 2023: #3
“A masterpiece of melodic metal”
Santuario Rock, Argentina
“Again, I never thought they’d surpass ‘From Darkness To Light’, but ‘Ghost Town’ leaves it in the rear-view mirror!”
PowerPlay, UK
“It’s not power metal, it’s not progressive, it’s not neoclassical, nor is it AOR; It’s Narnia, and for better or worse, nothing sounds like Narnia!”
The Dark Melody, Chile
“This is not a neoclassical metal album or a power metal album, although those elements are very much present. There are also parts that are progressive, modern, heavy or just creatively different and every now and then you take the music down a notch and let the listener catch their breath. Stylish, smart and elegant.”
Den melodiösa bloggen, Sweden
“‘Ghost Town’ is Narnia’s finest album to date. In a word—it’s a masterpiece.”
Pure Metal Fan Magazine, USA
“‘Ghost Town’ is simply a monumental record, where technique and feeling, aggression and melody go hand in hand, establishing itself as a touchstone in the melodic metal field.”
“An inspired album, without any filler, with each song boasting its own identity, despite being attributable to a unique style.”
Metal Head, Italy
“Overall, a heavy hitting hard rocking album of melodic metal with sky high levels of energy and infectiousness.”
Metal Gods / Frenzy Fire, United Kingdom
“The new work simply shows the extremely great musical class and technical diversity of Narnia.”
Metal Factory, United Kingdom
“In summary, ‘Ghost Town’ is a musical marvel from the first track to the last, the compositions are incredible, the sound is perfect and musically they have gone a step further, possibly this is one of the best albums to date by this Swedish Hard & Heavy band.”
Dioses del Metal, Spain
“… there are few releases that really grab you, those that … make us stop everything we are doing and focus our attention only what we will hear. That’s exactly what happened to this editor when he received the files of this pearl of Swedish Power Metal, ‘Ghost Town’ the ninth work of unpublished Narnia.”
Rebel Rock, Brazil
“Overall, a heavy-hitting hard, rocking album of melodic metal with sky-high levels of energy and infectiousness.”
Metal-Roos, Australia
“NARNIA’s new album Ghost Town is very versatile, which I really like right now.”
Nightshade Magazin, Germany
“Twenty-seven years of career will mean something and Narnia prove it in this new work.”
Metal Shock, Italy
“As before, the Swedish quintet delivers high-class hard rock/power metal with finesse, heavy guitar riffs, technique, strong melodies and razor-sharp lyrics. All this is seasoned this time with progressive and modern influences that are happily received.”
Pingst, Sweden
“Ghost Town is just as rocking as it is spiritual. Whether it’s due to the modern production, the lyrics, or the musicianship, the album is a breath of fresh air in a world with so much darkness and hate.”
Metal Express Radio, USA
“The 25 years of experience effortlessly speak for themselves.”
Earshot, Austria
“This album could be labeled as honest as possible or as honest as Narnia could make it.”
Metal Addicts, Bosnia and Herzegovina
“With “Ghost Town” NARNIA are cementing their good reputation and should also win new fans from the Melodic / Power Metal camp!”
My Revelations, Germany
“With their ninth studio album, NARNIA present a great album.”
Metal.de, Germany
”Ghost Town has something for every fan and can rightly count itself among the great albums of our time.”
Streetteam Berlin, Germany
Soli Deo Gloria
Compilation Album
(2021)
“For those who have not yet discovered these masters of melodic hard rock, this is an excellent introduction. But a warning must be issued: It can become addictive!”
Sweden Rock Magazine, Sweden
(85/100)
BURRN! Magazine, Japan
“The band’s repertoire can just as easily attract the attention of fans of melodic Heavy and Power (with some epic touches), as well as of Hard licked, why not AOR”
Metal Integral, France
From Darkness to Light
Album
(2019)
Sverigetopplistan (The Swedish national record chart), week 32
#1 Vinyl #3 Hard Rock #3 Physical Album #17 Album
#1 POSITION in Sweden Rock Magazine’s “The Jury”. (4 reviewers on 9 international releases.)
“After all these years, Narnia really has nothing to prove. But they do it anyway.”
Sweden Rock Magazine, Sweden
We Still Believe – Made in Brazil
Live Album
(2018)
“It was worth every second”
Metal Na Lata, Brazil
“‘We Still Believe’ is in short a fantastically good record and without a doubt one of the best live records ever released!” Noizegate Music, Sweden
“(Narnia) … went the extra mile to provide the listener with a true live experience”
Angelic Warlord, USA
“This is definitely a must-have for power metal fans of all breeds”
The Pure Metal Fan, USA
“Narnia shows on numerous occasions being virtuous live”
viriAOR , Spain
“We Still Believe: Made In Brazil is a solid showing of all the band’s individual talents and their ability to bring the message of faith to their fans”
Hardrock Haven , USA
Narnia
Album
(2016/2017)
“Narnia The Lion roars again!”
Metal Na Lata, Brazil
“It’s all killer with no filler”
Dangerdog, USA
“This is arguably the BEST Narnia album to date.”
The Pure Metal Fan, USA
“Thanks for coming back, Narnia!”
Sweden Rock Magazine, Sweden
“Pleasant surprises”
FFM-Rock, Germany
“Love to press the repeat button”
Rock it, Germany
“They continue to ram it home with force”
The Metal Resource – Mauce, The Netherlands
“(Narnia) … truly kick started as they re-visit their melodic roots, but with an updated sound.”
Ravenheart Music, England
“A strong new life mark”
CrossFire, Germany
High resolution press photos & images
Press photo 2019: Mats Vassfjord
Live photos 2019: Jeffry Heijnen
Photo-edits: Jonatan Samuelsson
Press photos 2019: Mats Vassfjord
High resolution images
High resolution images
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