Orion Roos - leadguitar and backing vocals

Guitarist with heavy metal band Vortex/MetalBats and melodic rock band Maestro from Groningen, the Netherlands.

Started playing the acoustic guitar when I was eleven years old, after seeing a live show by The Shadows at a local venue.

My dad is a huge Shadows fan and brought me along. After seeing the show I told him “I want to be able to play like that”. My parents seemed alright with that and found me a guitar teacher, the Dutch jazz guitarist Jan Kuiper. He taught me how to play and taught me all about music theory, which I found very interesting. After some time I started listening to bands like Queen and Kiss. They really got me into the electric guitar. I just loved that distorted and powerful sound of electric guitars. A little later I got my first (very cheap) electric guitar and amp.

When I write songs I try to incorporate the things I learned over the years. Not only from my guitar instructor and experience, but also from the musicians I love listening to. I kind of studied some famous guitarists I really liked. Listening to Yngwie J. Malmsteen got me into playing arpeggios and the Harmonic scale. Also listening to Al Di Meola and Vinnie Moore made me aware of playing very precise and neat when playing with a distorted sound. That’s pretty hard when you use a lot of gain. I always loved the combination of lots of melody with the heavy guitar sound. Growing up in the eighties really got me into the melodic rock and AOR music. In 1987 I started my own melodic rock band Maestro with my friend and bass player René van Zonneveld.

At first we made some demo tracks and released them on music cassettes. We did lots of live gigs, but never got around to recording a full album. Professional recording studios were expensive, even back then. People who came to see our shows told us that we have a distinct own sound and that’s of course motivation to go forward. A while ago we started recording some of my songs at the studio of the Prins Claus conservatorium in my home town of Groningen in the Netherlands. The songs were produced by Henk Bulder.

I never found the time before, because I’ve been one of the guitarists of the Dutch heavy metal band Vortex for more than fifteen years. We did, by the way, record some Maestro tracks with Vortex. So I guess I finally decided to make time. So we picked up Maestro pretty much where we left off years ago. In the meantime, I even found the time to record albums with Elmar C. Fuchs for his progressive rock band Eloah. The Maestro album isn’t released yet, because we're still looking for a suitable record label with distribution, but we’re planning to release it next year.

To promote the Maestro album we plan on doing a lot of live gigs. See if people like our melodic rock music. At the moment we're rehearsing a lot, to prepare for the recordings and the following gigs. We're looking forward to seeing you all at our shows. Of course we’ll have Maestro merchandise and I’m also working on that right now. We’re are going to do some radio shows too. In the meantime we’ll be writing new material to record with Maestro. Still got plenty of ideas. Although it’s very hard, I’d like to try to keep it original. There’s so much more than just power chords, you know. All the best, Orion Roos

       Discography and other recordings of Orion Roos:

  • Eloah - The Book of Pain, full album CD (work in progress 2024).
  • Maestro - Get it on!, full 11-track album (work in progress 2024).
  • RVH Project (Rick van Heuzen) - Enter The Machine, very limited blue vinyl gatefold album, Pt78 Records PT78-V2024-001, Netherlands (work in progress 2024).
  • Maestro - 'Black Bishop' single. Released on all digital platforms by Pt78 Records on Saturday the 4th of March 2023.
  • Eloah - Proud To Love You, full CD album. Released on the 8th of Febuary 2023 by Big Bad Wolf and Headbangers Records.
  • Powerplay Rock & Metal Magazine issue #257 (UK) digital compilation: Vortex - 'Horrible Dolls (A Tribute to Martjo Brongers)' November 2022
  • Fireworks Rock & Metal Magazine issue #100 (UK), audio compilation CD's samplers, Disc 1: RVH Project 'Blame' & Disc 2: Eloah 'One Last Time', Oct - Dec edition 2022
  • Fireworks Rock & Metal Magazine issue #99 (UK), audio compilation CD sampler, Maestro single 'Something Else' Summer Jul - Sep 2022 edition.
  • RVH (Rick van Heuzen) Project - Enter The Machine, full eleven track album, Pt78 Records and Wayland Management, Netherlands, released on the 22nd of April 2022
  • Sounds of Hell Series, Volume IV, compilation digipack CD, Release date, the 4th of April 2022, Belgium SOHCD004. One track 'Caught in the Middle' with RVH Project
  • Eloah - The Mondstein Chronicles Part 1: Awaken The Gods, full CD album, release date: Tuesday the 29th of March 2022, Headbangers & Big Bad Wolf Records
  • Maestro - 'Something Else' digital single. Released on the 9th of November 2021
  • Vortex - ‘Horrible Dolls’ 7 inch vinyl single ‘A tribute to Martjo Brongers’. Gates of Hell Records GOH68, Italy, 17th of May 2021
  • Sounds of Hell Series, Volume III, compilation digipack CD, 20th of April 2021, Belgium SOHCD003. One track with Maestro and one track with Eloah.
  • Highway Killer - Vortex cover 'Bastards', guitar solo only, recorded on the 28th of March 2021, Germany
  • Beats and Sounds (Bas de Jager) - digital single 'Change for the Better', released on the streaming sites on the 18th of October 2021, The Netherlands
  • Vortex - Remains LP white marbled vinyl Metal Warrior Records MWR007 release date 23-11-2020, The Netherlands
  • Vortex - Remains LP 2020 black vinyl Metal Warrior Records MWR007 release date 23-11-2020, The Netherlands
  • Eloah - The Mondstein Chronicles Part 2: Ample Jazz CD, released on Thursday the 2nd of July 2020 Big Bad Wolf Records and Metalization, The Netherlands
  • Vortex – Them Witches LP, 20th of  September 2019 label Gates of Hell Records, GOH47 Italy
  • Vortex - Them Witches CD, 20th of September 2019 label Gates of Hell Records, GOH48 Italy
  • Maestro - Double Extended Play, eight-track music cassette 2019 Big Bad Wolf & Headbangers Records, The Netherlands
  • Eloah - The Mondstein Chronicles: Part III - Wood & Bone CD 2019 Big Bad Wolf Records/Metalization, The Netherlands
  • Maestro - On The Run four track EP CD 2009/2019 Big Bad Wolf Records en Headbangers Records, The Netherlands
  • Fireworks magazine (UK) sampler #85 Maestro 2019 track Huntin’ United Kingdom
  • Maestro - Can’t Stop (Thinkin’ ‘Bout You) four track EP CD 2018 Big Bad Wolf Records/ Foundation Metalization, The Netherlands
  • Eloah - Fragile Minds & Heart Of Glass (The End of Wisdom) CD 2017 Big Bad Wolf Records, The Netherlands
  • Keep it Loud! - Volume 1 compilation CD 1x Eloah en 1x Maestro 2015 Big Bad Wolf Records, The Netherlands
  • Eloah - Planet Zargo CD 2015 Big Bad Wolf Records, The Netherlands
  • Fireworks magazine (UK) sampler #73 Maestro 2015 track 'Goin’ Back Home', United Kingdom
  • Vortex - Live at Club Vera DVD 2014, 35th Vortex anniversary, The Netherlands
  • Vortex - Remains CD 2014 Battle Cry Records TX 66202 and Might Monster Records, Germany
  • Vortex - First Bite of the Bats CD – one demo track ‘Nobody’s Fool 2001 version, 2014 Mighty Monster Records MMR 008, Germany
  • Eloah – The Art of Loving CD 2012 not on label, The Netherlands
  • Vortex - Drink Bat Blood LP red vinyl 2012 Metalizer Records MERE002 and Might Monster Records, Germany
  • Vortex - Drink Bat Blood LP black vinyl 2012 Metalizer Records MERE002 and Might Monster Records, Germany
  • Vortex - Drink Bat Blood CD 2010 Mighty Monster Records MMR 666, Germany
  • Royal Pride, track ‘Thumper’ live recorded demo track 2008 guest guitarist, recorded by Tiemen Smit, The Netherlands
  • Danny Hoekstra - 'Wat is er aan het Einde van de Regenboog' digital single 2008 studio guitarist, The Netherlands
  • Vortex - Keep it True IV – Masters of Metal live DVD 2005, Germany
  • Vortex - Welcome to Metalland CD 2005, Hellion Records HE431001, Germany
  • Vortex - Welcome to Metalland LP orange vinyl 2005, Hellion Records HE441002, Germany
  • Vortex - Welcome to Metalland LP white vinyl 2005, Hellion Records HE441005, Germany
  • Vortex - Hammer of the North LP orange vinyl 2003, Hellion Records HE241103, Germany
  • Vortex - Hammer of the North LP black vinyl 2003, Hellion Records HE241103, Germany
  • Vortex - Hammer of the North CD 2003, Hellion Records HE241103, Germany
  • Vortex - Heavy, Oder Was! Metal Crusade Volume V sampler CD. Vortex demo track ‘Riptor’ 2003, Germany
  • Vortex - Hammer Metal Forever, a Tribute to Hammerhawk CD. Song ‘All of the Days’ 2002, The Netherlands
  • Maestro - four track unreleased demo 3 - 1993 not on label, The Netherlands
  • Maestro - three track demo cassette 2 - 1992 not on label, The Netherlands
  • Maestro - four track demo cassette 1 - 1989 not on label, The Netherlands

    For more information, please visit the Discogs database to Orion Roos: https://www.discogs.com/artist/2151134