Labyrinth

Labyrinth is a metal group from New York, active in the 1990s. It is credited with a line-up made up of Stephen Speelman, and it should not be confused with other acts using the same name.

Italian progressive power metal band

One Labyrinth is an Italian progressive power metal band formed in Tuscany in 1991. The group begins under the name Vision, then becomes Morbid Vision, and adopts the name Labyrinth in 1994. Early on, the members use pseudonyms, often anglicised versions of their real names. Olaf Thorsen is the only member who continues to use a stage name. Former members include singer Fabio Lione, later associated with Rhapsody, and guitarist Olaf Thorsen, later associated with Vision Divine.

The band rises to wider attention in 1998 with its second full-length album, Return To Heaven Denied, issued by Metal Blade Records. The album helps establish the group as a leading name in European metal and leads to extensive touring, including a full European run with Hammerfall, as well as festival appearances at Wacken, Dynamo and Gods Of Metal. After Sons Of Thunder in 2002 and further touring with bands such as Helloween and Iron Saviour, Olaf Thorsen leaves in 2002 and starts working with Vision Divine.

The remaining members continue with a heavier direction and later sign with Century Media for Labyrinth in 2003 and Scarlet Records for 6 Days To Nowhere in 2006. Thorsen rejoins in 2009, and the band works on a follow-up to Return To Heaven Denied. Return To Heaven Denied Pt. 2 - A Midnight Autumn's Dream appears on Scarlet Records as a return to the band’s power metal roots.

Other artists using the name

The name Labyrinth also belongs to several unrelated acts, including an Australian hip hop artist who begins producing in 2003 and writing raps in 2004, releases The Lost Poet and The Philosopher, and performs with Ovahand and DJ Kranky in Dark Matter; an experimental industrial hardcore alias of Djarvi Moris; a Dutch one-off project involving Cesar Zuiderwijk, Jasper van ’t Hof and Julya Lo’ko; an Australian beatsmith/MC from the Dark Matter crew; a soundtrack listing for the 1986 film Labyrinth; and a death metal band from Iowa.