German rock band Unisonic were founded in 2009 by ex-Helloween frontman Michael Kiske and the Pink Cream 69 rhythm section of bassist Dennis Ward and drummer Kosta Zafiriou. The three musicians, who had already worked together in the AOR project Place Vendome (which has resulted in two albums, 2005's Place Vendome and 2009's Streets of Fire), then recruited ex-Gotthard guitarist Mandy Meyer and began their first tour in June 2010, playing at the Sweden Rock Festival and the Masters of Rock Festival in the Czech Republic. The band gathered some steam when former Helloween guitarist and co-founder Kai Hansen joined the lineup in March 2011, turning Unisonic into a Helloween reunion project of sorts (even though Kiske had already guested on two albums by Hansen's band Gamma Ray, 1995's Land of the Free and 2010's To the Metal!). After the release of a four-track EP titled Ignition in January 2012, the group released a self-titled full-length album two months later. ~ Christian Genzel