The Dutch band Arabesque may seem new to most readers but followers of the metal scene in the early nineties may already be aware of them. Formed back in 1989, Arabesque first made their mark with a debut instrumental CD on Shark Records called "Beyond the Veil" in 1995. The style on this CD could be described as instrumental hard rock with jazz and progressive rock elements. The line-up that recorded this CD consisted of Joop Wolters (guitars), Marc van Mierlo (drums) and Barend Tromp (bass).

With the addition of female vocalist Nicole de Serriere du Bizournet, Arabesque's music evolved into more accessible form of guitar-oriented mid tempo power metal with elements of symphonic progressive metal. Early 1996, a demo entitled "Pathways to Ecstasy" was recorded which showcased four exceptional songs and included the epic "Captured."

Barend Tromp left Arabesque in 1998 to concentrate on his other band Lemur Voice. Since then Arabesque have been busy incorporating the new members Frank de Groot (bass) and Thijs Cuppen (keyboards) into the line-up. Finally in 1999, a four song promo demo entitled "Naked" was released. This showcased the new-found diversity in their music. The progressiveness of the older songs has made room for an emphasis on a heavier sound. The versatility of the guitar-playing shifts from heavy Tad Morose style crunchy riffs to delicate picking and soloing. The drummer and bass player weave their complex rhythms around the keyboard melodies, and Nicole has a pleasant mid range voice. The music is diverse: from the energetic up tempo opener "Afraid to Fly" to the more relaxed "Heal me" to the brilliant "Naked" to the acoustic ballad "Artificial Reality". Although the demo is not as great as "Pathways to Ecstasy" in my opinion, it still warrants enough attention. On an extremely foggy Thursday evening in November I travelled to Weert, where I met up with Joop Wolters (JW), Marc van Mierlo (MvM), and Nicole de Serriere du Bizournet (NdSdB) with the intention to do an interview. As it turned out it was more akin to a walk down memory lane tracing back Arabesque's history and relations with the musicians of other past and present bands from this part of the country such as Lemur Voice and Elysion.