User:The Creative Nothing/sandbox

Helion Prime is an American heavy metal band from Sacramento, CA, currently signed with AFM Records. The band has been often described as "science based power metal".

Band History
Helion Prime was founded when Jason Ashcraft persuaded Heather Michele Smith to start a side-project with him in 2011. Ashcraft and Smith had the concept of a power metal band with themes based on scientific theories and science fiction. This idea inspired the band's overall lyrical content and the band's name, which is borrowed from the film "Chronicles of Riddick", wherein a planet by the name Helion Prime is featured. In June 2014, Ashcraft and Smith recorded their first demo "The Drake Equation", eventually leading to an EP release by the same name in February 2014. The band lineup would be completed with the recruitment of Jeremy Steinhouse and Justin Herzer.

The band released their self-titled debut album in February 2017. In preparation for its release, the band released it's first music video in April 2016, featuring the track "Life Finds a Way".

In 2016, co-founder of the band Heather Michele Smith departed to focus on her band Graveshadow. The band would recruit Kayla Dixon to fill in the gap left by Smith's departure. Dixon went on to sing in the band on tour and record the single "Remnants of Stars". However, Dixon would part ways with the band in August 2017.

Seeking to fill the need for a vocalist, the band held an open audition which requested that interested vocalists write their own lyrics and vocal melodies for the single "Remnants of Stars". Shortly thereafter, in November 2017, the band announced Sozos Michael as the band’s new vocalist.

The band is set to tour North America with Canadian metal bands Unleash the Archers and Striker in 2018.

Helion Prime
The self-titled debut studio album was recorded with Jason Hywell Martin at Omega Mediacore Studios in Richmond, BC and was released independently on February 15th, 2016. The album would be the only release to feature the original lineup before the exit of Smith and Herzer. Niklas Isfeldt of Dream Evil appears as guest vocals on the track "Live And Die On This Day". The album cover features the band’s mascot, a tyrannosaurus rex named "Saibot", the name of which is a reversed rendering of the name of Ashcraft's dog Tobias..

Terror of the Cybernetic Space Monster
Helion Prime’s second album is set to be released in late August 2018. The album was mixed and mastered at LSD studio by Lasse Lammert, and will be the the first album to feature Sozos Michael, Chad Anderson, and Alex Bosson. As with the debut release, the album features Saibot, but with a different aesthetic approach.

Current members

 * Sozos Michael – lead vocals (2018–present)
 * Alex Bosson – drums (2016–present)
 * Jason Ashcraft – guitar (2014–present)
 * Jeremy Steinhouse – bass (2014–present)
 * Chad Anderson - guitar (2016-present)

Previous members

 * Heather Michele Smith – lead vocals (2014–2016)
 * Kayla Dixon – clean vocals (2016–2017)
 * Justin Herzer – drums (2014–2016)

Studio albums

 * 2016: Helion Prime (Independent)
 * 2018: Terror of the Cybernetic Space Monster (AFM Records)

EPs

 * 2012: The Drake Equation (Independent)

Videography/singles

 * 2016: "Life Finds a Way" taken from Helion Prime (video)
 * 2017: “Remnants of Stars” (single)
 * 2018: "Silent Skies"
 * 2018: "Spectrum"