TIR

He invites the guitarist Danilo Antonini, the drummer Fausto D’Eramo, the bassist Tommy Conti and the singer Ulisse Minervini choosing “T.I.R.” as the name of the band, to symbolize the power of the heavy vehicle (later used as an acronym for Total Inferno Rock, later changed to Temple Infernal Rock, even if the band has always preferred the simple acronym).
In the early 80s TIR becomes know thanks to a consistent live activity, playing an energetic heavy metal with a Judas Priest influence. The vocalist Ulisse leaves the band to follow his actor career and Franco “Frankie Force” Palluca (ex-Metal Force as Sergio Bonelli) replaced him. In 1984 the band records the 2-track demo “T.I.R.” The tour also spread outside the region, such as the invitation for “Passaporto per Sanremo”, where the T.I.R. perform live the released demo.
In 1985 T.I.R. is chosen to be one of the best bands for the first Italian hard rock compilation “Metallo Italia” with the song “Amsterdam” (which later became “Nell’Anima”). Thanks to this album, TIR becomes very well know in Italy. Another change of line up with the exit of the singer Franco, replaced by Rino “Gene” Zuppardi.
Danilo also leaves the band and for a short time T.I.R. continue as a quartet until 1986 when, after the singer leaves too, the group later decides to take a brake. Before, T.I.R. plays a great live at the iconic Piper Club in Rome with the Raffs.
In 1989, thanks to the bassist Dino Gubinelli (and Sergio Bonelli), T.I.R. returns to play. The new line up sees, in addition to Sergio and Dino, Gianfranco Tassella on drums and Mirko Crippa on vocals. The band performs at the Teatro Tenda in Guidonia in an important event which also sees the CCCP (historic punk rock band) on the bill and in the nearby stadium, the famous rock star Vasco Rossi.
The band returns playing a new sound, a strong authentic hard rock, deciding to sing the lyrics in Italian language. Historical songs such as Shout, Dark Rebel, Rome are finally born and the band starts concerts around Italy. T.I.R. continue a good live activity until 1997 and then slow down the race, between stops and restarts, performing with alternating frequency until 2005 when Danilo Antonini (returned to the band), Sergio Bonelli and Dino Gubinelli decide to start a next chapter, calling the singer Giuseppe “Ciape” Cialone and the drummer Piero Aironi (both members of the Rosae Crucis).
In 2011, the band signs a solid contract with Jolly Roger Records, releasing later the debut album “Heavy Metal”.
This work (also printed on vinyl) receives a remarkable acclaim thanks to a good distribution; it is also reviewed by many specialized magazines, even abroad, allowing the band to reach a large audience.
Heavy Metal is a well played album. It contains several historical songs of the band (rearranged), along to new compositions. The sound is solid and songs like Vai, Il Volo delle Aquile, Satan’s Ride and the instrumental Fire Sword, together with the mentioned Roma and Shout, have a significant live sound impact.
The band starts again an intense live activity, participating in various national festivals.
From 2014, for live performances, T.I.R. starts the collaboration with other musicians as David Folchitto, Andrea De Carolis and James Rio on drums, Edoardo Taddei on guitar, Flavio Falsone and Giorgio Massimi on vocals.
In 2019, thanks to the a new contract with the Gates of Hell label the band releases, eight years after the previous one, the second album (also on vinyl) called “Metal Shock”.
The members in the studio recording are the same as the previous work and the result is another strong work, based on the granitic job of the guitars by Sergio and Danilo who in this work show remarkable solos and rhythms and the experiment on the first work for the choice of the language is happily repeated. All the song are well composed and equally sung by “Ciape”. Good job also by the solid rhythmic section composed by the column Dino Gubinelli and the drummer Piero Arioni.
The songs of Metal Shock performed live, are immediately enjoyable. Strong double bass songs as Città in Fiamme, Mitra, the articulated La Sfida, the reflective “Dentro il Vuoto” as well as the rock&roll “Crazy Mama” were also well done. The reviews of this album (even from abroad, where T.I.R. have a nice following) are positive and the new songs are included in the historical set list, allowing to put again the T.I.R. among the best HM band.
After the release of the album, the band continues the live activity until the end of 2022 when decides to take a break from live concerts to write new songs and finally find a stable lineup.
The well know vocalist songwriter Enzo Sisma (ESP, Bleedzard, TheWall-PFProject) and the young talent Gioele Sozzi on drums join the T.I.R.
Time to warm up the engines and the band plays an intense first live show with the new members in the province of Latina.
The band is working on the Metal Shock successor.
The story of the T.I.R. continues.