Ophan

Ophan (which translates to “wheel” in Latin) is an experimental metal band hailing from Sofia, Bulgaria. The band was formed in Stara Zagora by bassist Martin Tonev and guitarist Plamen Roussev. The band’s official birthday, however, celebrates the addition of Constantine Gentschev (phyX) on February 20th, 2011. Constantine became Ophan’s main songwriter, contributing music, lyrics, arrangements, and programming.

Тhe band’s current lineup is completed by Iskren Asenov on guitar and Tihomir Roussanov on vocals. Detelina Savova is the featured keyboardist and vocalist on recordings.

Ophan approaches songwriting from a conceptual standpoint, creating and capturing sounds and emotions that form a multi-layer storyline. The band breaks the mold by coming up with unique ideas that are designed to carry a strong message in support of the overarching theme of their songs and albums. This gives their music a cinematic quality. Ophan employ uncommon writing techniques, such as linear progressions, with very few repeating riffs and melodies. The band’s sound is likened most often to Djent and Progressive Metal, replete with polyrhythms and unusual time signatures.

Ophan’s debut EP, The Wheel of Fortune, was released on streaming platforms and Youtube on April 3rd, 2017. The story follows the main character’s journey through the different stages of grief, which he struggles against in the face of his own imminent and inevitable demise. This is but a taste of a larger and developing storyline that will be explored further in Ophan’s future releases.

Ophan has become known for their elaborate and theatrical live shows: imagery and movement come together to reinforce the dark themes of their work. The band is currently developing multimedia screening to accompany their live performance and bring their work to even fuller effect.

2017 has been a very good year for Ophan. As the winners of the W:О:А Metal Battle Bulgaria, Ophan had the pleasure and privilege to represent their home country at Wacken Open Air, where they performed on the Headbanger Stage alongside other Metal Battle winners from over 20 countries around the world. Their presence on the regional stage was marked by a trip to Greece, and as local support for the American modern metal band The Devil Wears Prada in June of 2017.

Ophan's first full-length album nears completion and the band has already released two songs from it - "THE FOOL" and "THE MAGICIAN", which can be found on the Ophan's YouTube channel and Spotify. With the turn of 2022, Ophan has added to its roster Stoyan Orsov and Alexander Alexandrov of Hecktic as new guitar players which brought about an unseen before surge of creative energy within the band.