Sacred Gate

Sacred Gate is a traditional heavy metal band from Mönchengladbach, West Germany, formed by Nicko Nikolaidis (guitars), Jim Over (vocals), both of Greek origin, and Holger Zimmermann (drums) in March 2008, but the musicians were not newcomers. They had been previously playing together in Made Of Iron (formed in 1999), which originally was a cover band of Iron Maiden, but then started writing original material. Still as Made Of Iron they released the first self-titled demo in December 2002 and the second demo "King of All Kings" in March 2003. In October 2003 Anger Of Metal Records released their 7'' EP "Made of Iron" which included the songs "Made of Iron" and "Fight for the Cross... Die for Jerusalem", that are still included in the Sacred Gate live sets. The first and only, again self-titled, full-length album of Made Of Iron was released in December 2004 by the Greek label Sonic Age Records. Three years after the split of Made Of Iron, the band members (except for the bass player) decided to have a fresh start, under the name of Sacred Gate. In October 2008 Peter Beckers joined, responding to an internet announcement of Nicko that the band was searching for a bass player. Christian Wolf joined the band in April 2010 and replaced Holger Zimmermann on the drums. Sacred Gate caught the interest of Metal On Metal Records and offered the band a deal. A few weeks before the "When Eternity Ends" release date Sacred Gate recruited the second guitarist, Rainer Schaffranietz (who played in a traditional heavy metal band Metal Sword in the early '80s). He played three shows with Sacred Gate, but in the end the band decided to part ways with him. At the end of 2012 Sacred Gate recruited another guitar player. Before the official announcement was made in January 2013, he had played two concerts and with this battle test proven to be a the right and fitting choice. Fall 2014 Jim Over left the band. In May 2015 a new singer is announced: Ron Slaets. The band is already working on new material for the next album. September 25th 2015 Sacred Gate did his first performance with Ron, which was his first performance ever. Of course well known songs were played, but also 2 new songs from the forthcoming album. February 11th 2016 Sacred Gate announces that the recording of their 3rd album has started. Also the album title was revealed as Countdown To Armageddon. The new album contains 9 songs and a limited edition will be released with a bonus track. Before the release of the new album, Sacred Gate announced on April 28th 2016 that they have split-up.