Power Quest was formed in March 2001 by keyboardist Steve Williams after he left London based power metal heroes Dragonforce. Former DF colleague Steve Scott was immediately recruited on Bass along with Southampton based guitarist Adam Bickers. Showing there was no ill feeling following the split from DF, Sam Totman assisted with guitars and would continue to do so right up until the Neverworld album had been recorded.
2001: The Demo
The band entered Thin Ice studios in late 2001 to record demo versions of two tracks that would appear on the Wings of Forever album, namely Glory Tonight and Follow Your Heart. At the time the band had still not found a suitable vocalist so ZP agreed to handle vocals and thus continued the DF connection. The demo was very well received amongst the power metal community and led to the band signing a deal with Italian label Underground Symphony for the release of their debut album.
2002: Wings Of Forever
In April 2002 vocalist Alessio Garavello was recruited to the Power Quest ranks. Alessio was one of about 10 vocalists recommended by Maurizio at Underground Symphony and once the band had heard his abilities the decision was made to bring him into the band. In July 2002 Italian guitarist Andrea Martongelli accompanied Alessio to England while he recorded his vocals for "Wings of Forever" and put down a couple of guest solos. The band was impressed with his ability and creativity and offered him the chance to join the line up shortly afterwards. This was the genesis of the Anglo/Italian line up which would last until 2009.
2003: Neverworld
In January 2003 drummer Andre Bargmann joined the Quest. "NeverWorld", the follow up to "Wings of Forever", was recorded at Thin Ice studios in the summer of 2003, with production handled by Karl Groom, with additional input from Clive Nolan (Arena) and Richard West (Threshold). The album would go on to become one of the most popular records with the fans, containing the live favourites Edge of Time, Neverworld, Temple of Fire, Sacred Land and For Evermore. The album was released in Japan by Marquee/Avalon in the Autumn of 2003 to an amazing reception. This year also saw the band undertake their first ever UK tour, culminating in the first of three appearances at the Bloodstock Festival which at the time was still an indoor event.
2004: Touring and more recording
Neverworld was finally unleashed to the rest of the world in March 2004. The band celebrated by joining Threshold for a couple of UK shows which exposed the band to a completely new audience. Threshold of course feature Karl Groom and Richard West who had become good friends of the band at Thin Ice studio. In November the band teamed up with Dream Evil and Labyrinth for a triple threat power metal night at Camden Underworld before heading back to demo three new songs for what would become the next PQ opus..."Magic Never Dies".
2005: Magic Never Dies
Francesco Tresca joined the band, replacing Andre Bargmann, in February 2005 as the new drummer. He only had a few days before embarking on the recording of “Magic Never Dies” but the performance he turned in was stunning despite this. Francesco was a friend of Alessio, who recommended him as the perfect fit for the band. The album was released to great critical acclaim with awesome reviews coming in from all around the world. In support of MND, the band hit the road for 5 UK headline dates in November before finishing the year with an appearance at the Firefest festival in Nottingham.
2006: Touring
2006 began with Power Quest being chosen as special guests of Helloween on their UK tour. This included shows in Bradford, Glasgow and London and was a resounding success. Following this was a 5 date co-headline tour with Norwegian progressive metal masters Pagan’s Mind and an appearance at the Progpower UK pre-show party where, yet again, PQ blew the roof off the venue and enhanced their live reputation even further
2007: Touring & Napalm Records
In February 2007 the band headed to Europe for 3 week tour supporting Angra and Firewind. This was the first foray into Europe for PQ and the tour ran through France, Spain, Portugal and Italy. Again the band made an immediate impression and gained a whole army of new fans in the process. A new recording deal was negotiated with Austrian label Napalm Records and the band hit the studio in October 2007 to record their 4th album. In a break from convention the band decided to record drums, guitars, bass and vocals in Italy before returning to the UK to record keyboards and undertake post production duties.
2008: Master Of Illusion
"Master of Illusion" was released worldwide in 2008 and received a great response from media and fans alike, containing fan favourites "Cemetery Gates", "Human Machine" and "Civilised". Bassist Steve Scott announced that he would be moving back home to New Zealand and consequently would not be able to continue with the band. A sad day for the band but totally understandable as Steve had been away from NZ for over 10 years. Oliver Holzwarth (Blind Guardian, Tarja) stepped into the breach for the show at Hard Rock Hell festival towards the end of the year.
2009: End Of An Era – Start Of The New Quest
After successfully headlining the second stage at Hammerfest in April, vocalist Alessio Garavello decided to quit the Power Metal genre and started what would become a full line-up change. Alessio wanted to pursue a more alternative metal/rock direction which he still does to this day with his band "A New Tomorrow".