Flagship was formed in the summer of 2002 by Linus Kåse & Christian Rivel, both of Narnia fame. They both share the passion for symphonic rock in the vein of Kansas, Styx, Buggles & Queen. They realized that very few bands today play this kind of progressive music where melody is the key thing. Lots of ideas came and soon they started to record some demos. They first named the band Windy City, after one of the song titles, but in 2004 it was changed to Flagship. One of the goals for the band is to bring attention and highlight to this kind of music again. The thought is also to keep the band a duo, like the Buggles were in the late 70´s and early 80´s. Together they now wished to bring in new elements into the music that they hadn’t tried out before. To capture the sound they wanted, they now had to pick just the right musicians to bring the right chemistry into the songs. Flagship wanted to create a fresh sound and production with the roots from the late 1970´s but with a touch of the new millennium.
Since the song arrangements are very demanding the line-up had to be top notch, with musicians who’d both understand the feel and essence of the songs as well as technically able to actually perform them. Hence the Flagship team was completed with the help of other proficient musicians.

MAIDEN VOYAGE (2005) METAL HEAVEN (Promo)

Heavily influenced by the melodic prog and hard rock of the 70's, Flagship brings us their debut album. 'Maiden Voyage' delivers music in the vain of Styx, Queen, Slade, Sweet and of course Kansas. Not only do they cover one of the latter bands songs ("Ground Zero"), they also have the legendary guitarist from Kansas as a guest on the track. As mentioned in the bio, Flagship is essentially a duo, consisting primarily of Christian Rivel (Narnia, DivineFire, Wisdom Call, Modest Attraction, Audiovision) and Linus Kåse (ex-Narnia). For this first effort they also brought in noticeable musicians, such as Carljohan Grimmark (Narnia, Saviour Machine, Grimmark, Rob Rock), Kristofer Eng (Brighteye Brison) and Mick Nordström (Modest Attraction). Together they deliver a solid album. 'Maiden Voyage' is a throwback to the more melodic bands of the 70's. Imagine a mix of the dinosaurs of the prog-rock movement, and the 70's glam scene. The songs are long (thus there are only 6 tracks on this CD), and the melodies are the key ingredient. Expect harmony vocals, and choir arrangements, fluffy melody lines, and a Queen-like approach to mixing genres. I have to say that Flagship does this very well. All of the songs lives up to the expectations for such a band, and leaves you wanting more. Christian sounds more at home here vocally then in any of the other bands he is in. And as with every other band and/or project he is in, the lyrics reflects the mans faith. This is not t say that the lyrics are preachy, but rather I find them more worship-like. I really like that, and find them very uplifting. One can only hope that Flagship gets to do more than this album alone. Because they certainly play a form of music that is not common for new bands in this day and age.

Killer tracks: You Are, The Throne, Hold On To Your Dream

Carl Johan Grimmark guest appearances:

Sanctifica - 'Negative B'

Rob Rock - 'Eyes Of Eternity'

Divinefire - 'Glory Thy Name'

Divinefire - 'Hero'

Divinefire - 'Into A New Dimension'

Audiovision - 'The Calling'

Linus Kåse guest appearances:

Audiovision - 'The Calling'

Related artists:

Divinefire, Modest Attraction, Wisdom Call, Saviour Machine, Audiovision, Rob Rock, Grimmark