Anthropia

ANTHROPIA is essentially a one-man band and the brainchild of guitarist Hugues "Hugo" Lefebvre.Hugo studied classical guitar and theory at "école de musique d'Antibes" (a music academy in Antibes, France),while in high school he was introduced to Iron Maiden and then bands like Dream Theater and Symphony X and they had a profound effect on him and his music.
Hugo wanted to write an album based on a fantasy story written by his good friend Quentin Borderie.He realized he couldn't capture the many nuances of the story with one album and decided to record a trilogy of albums to tell the tale.Hugo decided to call his band ANTHROPIA(The title of the band references, in part, mankind's awareness of its divine origins -- its place in the grand scheme -- and the beauty and complexity of the universe.) For the first installment,Hugo spent a year writing and recording compositions at his home studio on the French Riviera,the result of which is "The Ereyn Chronicles Part 1".
Here is a brief synopsis of the story line,used from Anthropia's website:
The fictional universe of Ereyn, ruled by queen Lunne, has sunk into chaos and disarray. The old ways have been forgotten, and the road to redemption - an ancient wisdom that has been buried for ages - is lost. (A situation exacerbated by minions of the dark counterworld Empyr.) With aid, the main character, the young Amryl, must search for the all-knowing oracle in order to save his misguided people. However, he soon becomes a victim of a near-fatal shipwreck and is separated from his search party. His boat is in ruins and so is his life: Amryl suffers from amnesia and can't remember who he is. Suddenly, an expansive search for truth and knowledge transforms into a mission of self-discovery. "The hero of the story is not a mighty warrior and doesn't wield a mighty sword," explains Hugo. "He's young and naïve. He doesn't know a lot of things about the world, but by the end of [the story] that all changes."
With some help from drummer Damien Rinaud and featuring guest vocalists,ANTHROPIA released the first chapter in the trilogy,"The Ereyn Chronicles Part 1" in 2006.The album,to quote " buzzes with flashes of IRON MAIDEN'S gritty conceptual metal,Dave Mustaine/MEGADETH lightning-speed riffing,DREAM THEATER'S sweeping storytelling,YNGWIE MALMSTEEN'S neo-classical minor-scale mining,The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway-era GENESIS atmospherics,KANSAS' busy symphonic boogie-rock, classical guitar beauty and flair,and RUSH'S dark '70s sci-fi/fantasy explorations" and is the perfect marriage of classical music,metal and prog.Highly recommended.