ABOUT

"Ein ganz unglaublich fantastisches Album!"

- Stormbringer.at

SLAVES TO FASHION is a metal band from Haugesund, Norway. The band was formed by Johannes Støle (vocals, keys) and Torfinn Sirnes (guitars) in 2002 under the name P:O:B. They released their first EP "The Second Monologue" in 2005, which was followed up by the concept album "Crossing Over" in 2007. They were both released on the band's own label FishFarm Records.

"Crossing Over" showcased the band's own twist of progressive metal and told the story of a young man's struggle with the big questions in life. Joining Støle and Sirnes on the album were bass player Rudolf Fredly and session drummers Harald Levang and Daniel Flores (Mind's Eye, The Murder of My Sweet). The album was mixed by Flores in Sound vs. Science Studios in Stockholm, Sweden and mastered by Mika Jussila (Nightwish, Stratovarius, H.I.M.) in Finnvox Studios in Helsinki, Finland. The album received great reviews that encouraged the band to play their first concerts, including their first show abroad at the Simerock Festival in Rovaniemi, Finland.

The band changed their name to SLAVES TO FASHION after aiming for a more permanent line-up in Støle, Sirnes, John Lind (bass) and Vidar Ingvaldsen (drums). They released a self-titled EP in 2009, before the critically acclaimed progressive metal album "Artistic Differences" came out in 2011. The album was released by German label Hands of Blue Records and was supported by three tours in Norway and Germany.

After once again changing key band members in 2013, including getting a new vocalist in Thor Andreas Sjøen, the band released two more singles. "Breath Play" and "The Missing Piece" were modern metal sounding than the previous releases. The band played a string of successful local shows and worked with a new album when Sjøen suddenly left in 2014.

The band then went on hiatus and only occasionally released some of their songs in Norwegian under the name MOTESLAVENE (which is Norwegian for slaves to fashion). Two of those singles charted at the local radio charts.

In 2020 SLAVES TO FASHION returned with the ambitious concept album project "The History of Heavy Metal". As the heavy metal genre celebrated its 50th anniversary, the band released one new original song each month of 2020 that was inspired by and payed tribute to a certain time period or subgenre of heavy metal. Every song was carefully recorded recorded, mixed and mastered at different sessions. Adding to the historic touch of the project, legendary producers Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica), Beau Hill (Warrant, Winger, Europe) and Tommy Hansen (Helloween) mixed the thrash metal, glam metal and power metal song, respectively. The full album was released on CD and digital formats on February 13 2021.

While working on a brand new album, a follow-up single "Rocking Hard (in the City)" was released in 2022, paying tribute to the hard rock of KISS, AC/DC and Aerosmith from the mid-seventies.

Today, the reformed SLAVES TO FASHION is more of a music collective than a traditional band as both the new album project and the live shows feature many band friends and guest musicians. The core of the band, however, is again the line-up that recorded "Artistic Differences": Johannes Støle (vocals), Torfinn Sirnes (guitars), John Lind (bass) and Vidar Ingvaldsen (drums), with the addition of long-time collaborator Stein Arild Grønås (guitars).