Citing influences such as Iced Earth and Nevermore, UK act INTENSE put a dark slant on their style of Power Metal. Soaring Vocals, triple guitars, and a rock-solid rhythm section complete this all English line up.

INTENSE released their first full length album Second Sight mid 2004 on Italy’s Underground Symphony label. It was produced by Karl Groom (Threshold) and J.P. Fournier at Thin Ice Studios.

2004 saw INTENSE playing the Metal Bash and the band opening of the main stage at Bloodstock, warming up the crowd for bands such as Primal Fear, Evergrey, SonataArctica and Children of Bodom among others.

INTENSE shot their first video, using the track “War of Angels”. The video gained TV airplay, being shown regularly on Scuzz TV on Sky.

2005 brought INTENSE to the 13th Day Festival in Birmingham UK, playing alongside Sonata Arctica, Finntroll, Norther, Epica and Dragonland, among others and also playing the first ever Dominion Festival in Hull, alongside Skyclad, Human Fortress and a host of other UK talent, as well as Germany’s Dong Open Air Festival with Skyclad, Elvenking, etc.

To the bands surprise, INTENSE became the UK’s entrant in the Heavy Metal Eurovision song contest placing 7th among 41 entries. Despite limited promotion Second Sight gained critical acclaim worldwide.

As Our Army Grows is INTENSE’s 2nd full length album and was again recorded at Thin Ice Studios with Karl Groom (Threshold), who produced it together with Richard West (Threshold). The album was mastered at Fine Tune in Holland and the artwork was provided by Mattias Noren, who has previously worked with Evergrey, Jag Panzer and Kamelot, among others.

In late 2006, INTENSE began negotiations with NAPALM RECORDS. The band signed to the label in Jan 2007, confident that NAPALM RECORDS would promote the band to the fullest.

2007 set out to be a busy year seeing INTENSE out on the road both in the UK and Europe, and also shooting a video for “Fear is Not Enough” from the new album.

As Our Army Grows shows how the band’s playing and writing abilities have grown since Second Sight, and will certainly spotlight the talent that the band has to offer.

INTENSE is:
Neil Ablard: drums
Stephen Brine: bass
Sean Hetherington: vocals
Nick Palmer: guitars
Dave Peak: guitars