Biography
France's Alkemyst endured repeated setbacks throughout the nineties as an unstable roster and frequent reliance on the moniker Endless hindered their progress. Stability finally arrived in 1998, along with the name they would ultimately adopt. That year the lineup featured singer Fabrice Sollier, guitarists Séverin Bonneville and Arnaud Ménard, bassist Denis Mellion, and drummer Ramon, who laid down the A Path to Heaven demo in 1999. Work on the debut album Meeting in the Mist began the following year once Italian-born vocalist Ramon Messina, formerly of Secret Sphere, joined the group. Disaster struck when studio equipment failure erased the completed recordings, leaving only two tracks intact; these were released as a separate demo that secured strong coverage in France's Rock Hard magazine. The limited silver lining offered little comfort, forcing the members to re-track their melodic speed metal debut Meeting in the Mist from June through August 2002, an effort completed without additional setbacks.