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©Alex Mari
©Alex Mari
ABOUT US
Ophiura
“ Life is always made of choices”
Ophiura is an Italian progressive metal band formed in 2007.
Ophiura’s sound blends melodic metal with elements from various genres, especially orchestral and progressive influences.
Ophiura was born from the ashes of O.D.U., a hard-rock band with a female singer—just like Ophiura’s first line-up.
O.D.U. was formed in November 2002 by Alex Mari and Gianluca Pisana (Night Pleasure Hotel). Their goal was to create rock songs with Italian lyrics.
The first line-up was: Gaia Gottardi (vocals), Alex Mari (vocals and guitar), Gianluca Pisana (vocals and drums), and Andrea Maietti (bass).
Over the years, the band went through many line-up changes, and in 2005 O.D.U. recorded their demo Sospiri Ancestrali with a new line-up: Alex Mari (vocals and guitar), Tommaso Vezzali (guitar), Gianluca Pisana (vocals and drums), and Francesco Succi (bass).
At the end of 2005, Anna Bertelli (vocals) joined the band.
In 2006, Gianluca Pisana left the band and Simone Vancini became the new drummer. It was time for a change: O.D.U. became Ophiura.
The band decided to re-record their songs with English lyrics, creating Ancestral Whispers.
In Jenuary 2007, just before the recording of the EP Ancestral Whispers, the first line-up change took place—also marking the band’s “second birth”: Anna Bertelli and Francesco Succi left the band and Matteo Checcoli and Igor Gallerani joined Alex, Tommaso, and Simone.
After recording at Zenith Studios with Frank Andiver—well known in the 1990s as the drummer of Labyrinth—Ophiura started a promotional tour, playing around 60 live shows in about two years. The EP received positive reviews from many webzines.
The interest of Alkemist Fanatix Europe led to the production of the first full-length album, BeMind, and a deal with Copro Records (UK).
In March 2009, the band returned to Lucca to record the new tracks.
After that, another line-up change followed: drummer Simone Vancini left the band and Rudy Mariani became the new drummer. In 2010, Ophiura began the promotional tour for BeMind, with the debut album released in winter 2010/2011.
In early 2011, the band decided to add a second guitarist, Sebastiano Barbirato, to strengthen the live performances.
In 2012, Ophiura left Alkemist Fanatix Europe’s roster.
In 2015, Ophiura took a short break from musical activities.
In 2022, Alex announced that something would happen soon.
In January 2024, Ophiura announced they were working on a remake of their first album, Ancestral Whispers (2007), recording the first drum session with Gianluca “Pisu” Pisana (Night Pleasure Hotel).
In September 2025, Alex decided to make a change. He launched his solo project and continued recording the Ancestral Whispers remake without the band. This means that, in practice, Ophiura has become a solo project. However, he feels it makes no sense to restart Ophiura without the friends he played with for so many years and to whom he is deeply connected—maybe in the future.
The new version of Ancestral Whispers will therefore be released as the first album under the name Alex Mari.
“This is the third stage of the metamorphosis of this project: from O.D.U. to Ophiura, and from Ophiura to Alex Mari.” (Alex Mari, 2025)
In 2026, the Ancestral Whispers remake will be released. You’ll find all the details on Alex Mari’s social channels and in the News section.
Ophiura Line-Up
Alex Mari: Vox
Tommaso Vezzali: Guitar
Sebastiano Barbirato: Guitar and Vox
Igor Gallerani: Keyborad and Vox
Rudy Mariani: Drum
Ex Members
Simone Vancini: Drum
Luca Marchini: Drum
Matteo Checcoli: Bass
Anna Bertelli (Vox)
Francesco Succi (Bass)
More info
YouTube
https://www.facebook.com/ophiuramusic
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/ophiura.band/
https://twitter.com/OphiuraMusic
e-mail: ophiuramusic@gmail.com
