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CHITRAL "CHITY"
SOMAPALA - The Asian Voice of
Metal
Chitral "Chity" Somapala was
born into a famous musical
family in Colombo/Sri Lanka on
November 4th 1966. At the age
of 10 he started with guitar
lessons. Just 4 years later,
Chity switched to electric bass
and began singing soon
thereafter. At the young age of
17 Chity was able to hit the
Top 40 nightclub circuit in
Colombo/Sri Lanka, and ended up
gigging with the leading bands
and artists of the
country.
In 1986, Chity travelled to
Europe (Switzerland, Germany,
Austria and Finland) as the
bassist and singer of a Top 40
band called "Rendezvous" (later
named "Friends").The band
supported many well known
artists in those
countries.
After touring for sometime
from club to club playing Top
40 Hits, Chity decided to
change a lot of things and to
concentrate on vocals 100%. In
1996 he joined the popular
German metal underground act
called COURT JESTER and
recorded the album "Forced To
Believe", which received
favourable reviews throughout
the European
press.
In 1998 he contributed
the song "Nadee Ganga" for
television and radio commercial
for the Lion Brewary in Sri
Lanka. It was the first time
that the traditional Sri Lankan
language was combined with a
Rock and Blues
sound.
Shortly thereafter, he joined
AVALON, a melodic power and
progressive band from Germany
as their front man and lead
singer and Avalon was
produced by Charlie Bauerfeind
(who also produced such acts as
Helloween, Gamma Ray, Blind
Guardian, Saxon, etc.).
Avalon's third album
"Vision Eden" received
excellent international press
reviews and Avalon supported
bands like Hammerfall, Uriah
Heep, Metallica, Motorhead,
Royal Hunt, Pink Cream 69, and
many other famous
acts.
In the summer of 2000 Somapala
recorded Avalon's 4th
album "Eurasia" under the
skilful hands of Sascha Paeth,
who was known for his work with
Rhapsody, Kamelot,
Heaven's Gate, Angra and
many others. On Eurasia there
can be heard some of the Asian
musical influences from his
home country Sri Lanka. Besides
the vocal parts on Eurasia,
Chity can also be heard playing
the Chapman Stick. After the
release of "Eurasia", Avalon
started touring through Europe
with Metalium. But this was the
last tour. Avalon disbanded
shortly after returning from
the tour.
In 2002 he wrote the song
"Greenlands"for
the Isipathana International
Rugby Championships in Sri
Lanka with Frank Rohles, who is
the guitarist of the Queen
tribute band Innuendo. After
this great session, both
decided to form a melodic rock
band called FARO. The band
released "Dawn of Forever" on
MTM Music in 2003. In the same
year Somapala completed the
album "Echoes of a Nightmare"
with the Swedish symphonic
metal band MOONLIGHT
AGONY.
At the end of 2003 he was
asked by the young Greek guitar
virtuoso Gus G, who is
now playing with OZZY OSBOURNE,
to join his band FIREWIND for a
headline tour in Japan. After
the successful Japanese tour,
Gus G asked Chity to join the
band on a permanent basis, and
they started sharing ideas for
the 3rd Firewind album. The
result of their collaboration
was the album and Forged by
Fire", which entered the
Japanese TOP 100 and received
excellent reviews all over the
world. The band toured with
Hammerfall during their "Ice
Breaker Festivals". After that
great success Chity decided to
leave the band for personal
reasons in 2005.
In 2006 he released the second
FARO album "Angelost", and also
worked with the producer Markus
Teske on the RED CIRCUIT debut
release "Trance State" &
Later that year Somapala formed
his own group CIVILIZATION ONE
and the following year
"Revolution Rising" was
released. During what was a
busy year, Chity was asked to
join the legendary British band
Rekuiem. This led to the
opportunity to tour the UK with
Gotthard.
In 2008 he was asked to join
the David Shankle Group, led by
former Manowar guitarist David
Shankle. Unfortunately because
of the great distance between
the USA and Europe, Chity
wasn't able to continue
with this musical
project.DSG was where
Chity first worked with Steve
Williams (Power Quest), which
would lead to a further
collaboration in 2010.
Because of his great success
and reputation, Somapala
performed again in his home
country, Sri Lanka, with
Civilization One, making
history as the first foreign
metal act performing for
several thousand amazing metal
fans at the TNL Onstage show in
Colombo.
In 2009 Chity travelled
between Central Europe and
performed with Civilization One
and Rekuiem. Short time later
Somapala was offered to perform
a "Classic Rock" show with the
Luxemburg Philharmonic
Orchestra at "Rock um
Knuedler". The Luxemburg
Philharmonic Orchestra had
performed with Scorpions,
Patricia Kaas and a lot of
other world famous
artists.
In 2010, after disbanding
Civilization One, he was
invited to join POWER QUEST,
one of the leading British
melodic metal bands, by band
leader Steve Williams and is
recording the 5th PQ record in
September 2010. The album is
due for an early 2011 release
via Napalm Records. 2011 will
be the 10th anniversary of
Power Quest so expect some
killer shows when the band
takes to the stage around the
world!
In addition to this, Chity
keeps himself busy writing and
recording for the future,
alongside teaching vocals at
the Modern Music School in the
city of Trier (Germany) where
he is based.
Today he has become one of the
most highly regarded
vocalists/songwriters in the
rock and metal business.
His tireless efforts
continue. |
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