When a band is formed, things usually go with the flow naturally, as the time goes by. However, having an objective, a previous planning is something that can help effectively. This is the case of Vougan, band which had its base formed in July, 2005 by former members of Dark Avenger, Acácio Carvalho, G Zus e Hugo Santiago. The line-up was fulfilled in September the same year and set up with Acácio Carvalho (drums), G Zus (bass), Hugo Santiago (guitars), Rafael Galvão (keyboards, ex-Dark Avenger) and Carlos Zema (vocals, Heaven's Guardian).
About the music, the musicians set as a main goal to work towards the highest versatility, without setting limits in the creative process. Thus, the search for a unique sound was determining. In search of a free style away from the labels Metal owns, the band attempted to add Heavy Metal, Melodic Metal, Brazilian Music, Classical Music, Power Metal, Progressive Rock and even Thrash Metal elements to their music. Though, the most important thing in this process was the freedom of writing spontaneously, without any worry about trends.
After the rehearsal time, the band has recorded the song "Silent Souls" for the release of their official web site. During this time, Rafael Galvão ended up being replaced by the keyboardist Felipe K.. Then, Vougan have decided to record the other songs and the result was the single "Silent Souls", released in 2006 and produced by Gustavo Vazquez.
Even containing only 5 tracks, this EP got the best reviews from the especialized press worldwide, becoming the highlight of several magazines and webzines in 2006 and 2007.
When they started touring, Vougan has settled down and played gigs which provided them more consistency, being the opening act for the Dutch band After Forever, on October 11th 2006, in Brasília (BR) the highlight of the tour.
At the end of 2007 the band released their first album, called "Mind Exceeding". This album has written a new page on brazilian heavy metal history, getting excellent reviews and reaching horizons that less heavy metal bands had gotten till then. The album was also released in Japan by the record label "Soundholic" in july 23rd 2008.
I spoke to Acacio at soundcheck...you guys were ready to ROCK! You should be onstage now... Kickin Ass as you guys do best! Still can't wait for your return back home!
