Masterplan (DE)

About

Formed in Hamburg after guitarst Roland Grapow and drummer Uli Kusch were fired from Helloween in 2001, Masterplan quickly carved out their own corner of the power metal world. Their self titled debut, produced by Andy Sneap and released in 2003, made enough of a splash across Europe to earn them a European Border Breakers Award from the European Commission. Norwegian vocalist Jørn Lande turned out to be the voice the band needed, and his presence on that debut and the follow up Aeronautics gave the band a distinctive identity in a crowded genre. The lineup has shifted plenty over the years. Lande came and went twice, Mike DiMeo stepped in for a stretch, and the 2007 album MK II saw Grapow take the production reins at his own studio in Slovakia. Later records like Time To Be King and Novum Initium kept the band active through lineup changes involving members from acts like Cradle of Filth and At Vance. In 2017 they released PumpKings, a collection of re recordings of Helloween songs that Grapow had written during his time in that band. After a period of hiatus, the band signalled a return to activity heading into 2024.