Symphress :
Sergiu Botezatu – Vocals
Andrada Hofmeister – Vocals
Alina Rus – Keyboards
Ioana Roșca – Bass
Mihai Brici – Guitars, Vocals
Alex Titieni – Drums
Vlad Țimbolmaș – Sound
Symphress was founded in 2015 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, initially as an acoustic/ambient music project, by Mihai Brici (guitars) and Evelin Bodea (vocals). Later on, in the spring of the same year, foundations were laid for the development of a progressive rock/metal band. New members were brought in – Marius Petriman (drums), Andrei Roșca (bass), and Lucian Cioba (keyboards). Eventually, flutist Flavia Herdlicska joined as well and Cioba was replaced with keyboardist-singer Dragoș Leonte.
In 2016, not long after Flavia’s departure due to personal reasons, the band’s live debut came in the hometown of Cluj-Napoca, being hosted in the Flying Circus Pub. After the concert, vocalist and founding member Evelin Bodea was replaced by two new singers: Réka Kertesz (Puls) and Raluca Marinscu; Andrei Roșca left as well, being replaced as bassist by his sister, Ioana Roșca; with her joined also Vlad Țimbolmaș, brought in as sound engineer. It is with this updated line-up that the first song, Mortua Est, sees the light of day in 2017 – it represents but a small part of the Symphress sound. After this release, the band began taking part in a number of festivals in Romania, such as Celtic Transilvania Fest, Bucovina Rock Castle and Valea Străjii Motorfest. In the meantime, the instrumental piece Sequences of Longing was released in 2018.
During the following three years the line-up of the band continued to change at great pace, with Raluca leaving the band and being replaced by Hunor Szabo (Illusion of Control); Alina Rus was then brought in as keyboardist to replace Dragoș Leonte, who decided to stick to vocals only. One release followed with this line-up – Evenfall (2019), a tribute for the victims of the Colectiv nightclub fire in Romania, which brought the deaths of over 60 peole. After that, Hunor Szabo was replaced by Sergiu Botezatu (GAV) on vocals and Dragoș and Marius left Symphress after being with the band for almost 6 years each. In Marius’s place, Alex Titieni (EMP) was brought in. With the updated line-up, Symphress released the single The Passion of Possession (2020), the song best representing the sound of the band, a mixture between symphonic and progressive metal. In 2021, the two-piece suite The Moment, made up of the songs Carpe Diem and Kairos, was released on all the platforms. This was the last song to feature Réka on vocals, who decided to quit shortly after.
The band’s activities were temporarily suspended during the pandemic, but were resumed in the summer of 2021, with rehearsals, new songs, as well as concert plans all being on the band’s radar. Solstice was released in 2022 and is the first Symphress song to feature a complete virtual orchestra. A few months later the line-up was completed with Andrada Hofmeister joining on vocals. As of 2023, the bad is working on their debut album, yet unannounced.