Phoenix Rising is the creation of vocalist/guitarist George Lopez. Inspired by an accident 
that took his guitar playing ability due to nerve damage, he's back with a song dealing 
with a country at war. - "My intention was to try to capture the anger I was still seeing 
nearly 10 years after the 9/11 attacks. I wanted to reflect how fear mongering gave in to 
hatred, and how this hatred lead to an open ended conflict." ---

George Lopez was the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the pioneering Puerto Rican 
thrash metal band 'Cardinal Sin', which formed in 1984 in the city of Bayamon. He had 
joined Cardinal Sin, becoming its third and final vocalist in September 1987. CS relocated 
to a suburb of Boston, MA (USA) in the winter of 1988, after it was clear that the band 
could not advance musically in an island that had no real metal scene at the time. In 
1989, CS started playing local gigs in the greater New England area, where they quickly 
acquired a following after releasing the 'Infanticide' demo. This demo led to opening 
locally for several national acts and a short lived record deal with Maze Records. After 
trying unsuccessfully to obtain another record deal, CS concentrated on recording follow 
up demos and playing shows in their native Puerto Rico, where a real metal scene was 
starting to happen. Inner turmoil and creative differences led to that band's demise in 
1993. - After Cardinal Sin, George Lopez played with a few project bands to get a feel for 
the changing nature of the metal scene. - In 1995 George Lopez developed vocal cord 
nodules which required surgery. Unfortunately his vocal range was much diminished after 
that and gradually getting worse the more he tried to get back to singing. In 2004 
KHAOSMASTER Records released a CD compilation of demos and rare material from Cardinal 
Sin. In 2008, George Lopez had an accident which tore his left biceps muscle tendon 
completely. After the first surgery, a mistake was made by the surgeon and his median 
nerve became entrapped, leading to paralysis of the hand and permanent nerve damage. 2 
surgeries and a long rehabilitation later, it was obvious that his guitar playing ability 
would be diminished but not impossible.
 - In the Fall of 2009, George Lopez recruited drummer Jim Mazarakis and guitarist Michael Lucantonio to record 'Phoenix Rising' - the last song in which he could sing (by tuning the guitar to a lower key), but chronic GERD disease and voice-box infections would further worsen his hoarseness. - To this day he has no plans of attempting a return to the music business and he continues to deal with health problems, but making progress. He is currently married and residing in Germany.

Phoenix Rising

Song: Pinnacle of Ignorance. Band: Cardinal Sin (PR) Music & lyrics by George Lopez, with final break-down and main solo written by John Dones.
1990/1991

Projekt Phoenix Rises