Powerblade

Powerblade is an American power metal band from Westbrook, Massachusetts. Formed in 2004 by six students at the Westbrook School of Performing Arts, the band takes most of it's influence from European style power metal and focus on symphonic as well as video game type sounds to complement fast guitar and drum rifts and clean vocals.

History
The band was formed in October of 2004 by six friends who shared a love of power metal. Being the only power metal band in the entire school, they had a hard time competing with other school bands that focused on either the pop rock genre or death metal. Drawing most of it's influence from European power metal, the band engineered it's sound to replicate the symphonic aspects of European power metal with heavy synthesizer and keyboard use and clean vocals with full band chorus often used. The band also incorporates video game type sounds into their music. They continued playing at their school and at venues around the Boston Metropolitan Area until they entered the New England Musical Exchange Program in 2006 and where sent to attend Bullworth Academy in Bullworth, New Hampshire. So far the band has on completed album with eight songs entitled Blades of Steel in Battle. On the album, Henry's sister Renee sings back up vocals on three of the songs.

Henry Rizzo
Henry is 16 and from an Italian American family in Boston and has loved singing since he was five. Inspired by European power metal bands as a child, he perfected his singing technique after he reached puberty and his vocal cords adjusted. He was accepted into Westbrook in 6th grade after he passed his audition. His parents are both work as insurance agents for a firm in Boston. He has one sister named Renee who is also a singer and an older brother who is in prison. Along with singing, Henry can play the guitar and keyboard to some extent although not as good as his fellow band members. Henry writes most of the songs for Powerblade. Although both of his parents are Liberal Democrats, Henry is a self declared Conservative Republican and a devout Roman Catholic. Henry is loyal to his friends and tries his best to avoid making enemies. Henry is 6ft 2in tall and about 160 lbs. He is skinny and doesn't have much muscle. Henry can defend himself in a fight, but isn't that great of a fighter and isn't too terribly strong. He has long black hair styled after Z.P. Theart's and usually wears black t shirts and stonewashed jeans and sneakers. His singing style is modeled after his favorite singer Z.P. Theart and he uses a distinct accent while singing to not sound American. His favorite band is Dragonforce although he likes most European power metal bands.

Preston Williams
Preston is 16 and from a Scotch-Irish family from western Virginia. He is the lead guitarist for Powerblade and has been playing guitar since he was seven. After moving to Westbrook after getting accepted into the school, Preston became quick friends with the future members of Powerblade. He plays the guitar extremely fast and his style is unmatched by anyone else at Westbrook. As lead guitar, he plays most of the intense solos and rifts and the high notes. Preston is from the south and a Republican and a devout Protestant. He has a southern accent and a loud personality. He and Ivan conflict like no other and are always arguing about something. Preston is 5ft 11in and about 135 lbs. He has a crew cut and is hair style is out of place compared to the other members of the band except for Collin. He dresses like the other members though with black shirts, stonewashed jeans and sneakers. His favorite band is Stratovarius and is a fan of many symphonic metal bands.

Daniel Thomas
Daniel Thomas is 17 and from Manchester, England and is the second guitar for Powerblade. He started playing guitar at the age of 12 and has developed a distinct style that combines the intense style of power metal along with more traditional heavy metal sounds. He complements Preston's intense guitar style with continuous rifts and lower notes. He moved to Westbrook from England in 7th grade and became quick friends with the future members of Powerblade. Although his parents are Catholic, Daniel is Agnostic and doesn't take religion very seriously. He doesn't care about politics and has no formal affiliation. Daniel is extremely wise cracking and always thinks any situation can be funny with the right joke. Daniel is 6ft tall and about 150 lbs. He had long dark blonde hair similar to Marc Hudson of Dragonforce. He dresses the same as the other members of Powerblade. His favorite band is Iron Maiden although he is a huge power metal fan.

Collin O'Neill
Collin is 17 and from an Irish-American family in South Boston. He and Henry are best friends. He is the bass guitarist for Powerblade. He had been playing bass guitar since he was nine and his style is based on fast but low continuous rifts that fits in well with power metal. He plays the low bass rifts and the short bass solos. His bass keeps the music together well. Although being from a poor family, he was accepted into Westbrook on a scholarship. He is an Irish Catholic and doesn't really have any political affiliation. Collin, along with Henry tend to be the voice of reason in the band and keep everyone on track. Collin has a rough South Boston accent and an intimidating appearance complete with a jaw length beard that is the same color of his hair. He is very heavy built and no one messes with him. He is 6ft 1in tall and about 220 lbs. He has red hair and along with the usual clothes other members of the band wear, he always wears team clothes from either the Bruins or the Celtics. His favorite band his the Dropkick Murphys although he is a big power metal and symphonic metal fan.

Patrick Sullivan
Patrick is 15 and from an Irish-American family in Westbrook. He is the drummer for the band and the youngest member. He has been playing the drums since he was eight and has gotten extremely good at it. His style of drumming is very fast and holds the music together with intense drum beats. He is usually quiet and doesn't get involved in many arguments but he is still good friends with everyone in the band. He is an Irish Catholic and a Democrat. He is usually in a good mood and never gets on anyone's nerves unlike other members of the band. He is 5ft 11in tall and about 130 lbs. His drumming style is based on the power metal drumming styles of the drummers of Dragonforce and Hammerfall. His drumming complements and holds together the music well. He has long black hair similar to Henry's and wears the same clothes as the other members of the band. His favorite band is Hammerfall and likes most European power and symphonic metal bands.

Ivan Markovic
Ivan is 17 and from Ryazan, Russia. He plays the keyboard and synthesizer for Powerblade. Growing up in Post-Soviet Russia didn't give Ivan much of an opportunity to learn keyboard. His parents moved to Boston in 1998 and Ivan took up keyboard and synthesizer soon after at the age of nine. Ivan's keyboard and synthesizer play a huge role in the music of Powerblade as his sounds are most of the symphonic and video game elements of the music. His playing is very present in all of Powerblade's songs and creates a very good symphonic sound to complement the intense power metal of the other instruments. Ivan has a very dry sense of humor and finds many things that wouldn't be considered funny to be funny. He and Preston are always arguing about something and Ivan makes fun of him constantly. Ivan is an Agnostic although he doesn't make fun of religion like Daniel does. Ivan is somewhat of a Socialist but other than that isn't really politically affiliated. He speaks in Russian about half the time especially when he complaining about something he doesn't like. Ivan is 6ft 3in tall and about 255 lbs. He isn't too muscular like Collin and is skinny like Henry. He has long black hair similar to Henry's and wears the same clothes as other members of the band. His favorite band is Power Quest and loves any power metal that includes heavy keyboard and synthesizers.