Biography
Biography — Jordi Sandalinas
A guitarist who learned to read music before he learned to shout with it.
Born in Barcelona in 1971, Jordi Sandalinas began studying piano and music reading at the age of nine at the Conservatory of Music of Barcelona. At fourteen he bought Iron Maiden's Powerslave and Live After Death; at sixteen, after hearing Adrian Smith play, he traded the piano for an electric guitar and never went back. In 1992 he began travelling back and forth to New Milford, Connecticut, to study at NGSW with the American shredder Terry Syrek, alongside classes with Rick Emmett and Ronnie Earl.
The Sandalinas project itself started around 2000, when Jordi gathered his early compositions and played them to Andy LaRocque of King Diamond. LaRocque agreed to produce, brought in vocalist Apollo Papathanasio and drummer Daniel Moilanen, and Jordi carried jazz guitarist Xavier Monfort and conservatory pianist Narcís Palahí over from Spain. Two intense months in the studio with engineer Niclas Rudolfsson produced the debut; LaRocque liked it enough to add guest guitars and mix the record himself.
In 2004 the band signed with the Danish agency Intromental Management, and Germany's Massacre Records took the album, having it mastered by Andy Horn with cover art by Thomas Ewerhart. Deals for Russia (Art Music Group) and North America (Nightmare Records) followed. Living on the Edge arrived in early 2005 — a classic hard rock record with Rainbow, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath in its bones and Malmsteen and Uli Jon Roth in its fingers — and Spanish stages opened up alongside Scorpions, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker and Y&T.
What has distinguished the two decades since is a refusal to choose. The metal records grew heavier and more guest-laden — LaRocque, Chris Caffery, Derek Sherinian, Rick Altzi — while in parallel an acoustic body of work grew quieter and more personal, culminating in the Ocean Messiah trilogy: a mythic sequence about origin, longing and arrival.
Guest Artists
Jordi Sandalinas is the guitarist and founder of SANDALINAS, a Spanish/Swedish progressive metal band featuring Rick Altzi on vocals (also with Masterplan and At Vance). Apollo Papathanasio, ex-Firewind and Spiritual Beggars, sang on the debut album Living on the Edge. All of the major releases — Living on the Edge, Fly to the Sun, Power to the People: The Raw E.P, and the forthcoming third album Circles — have been produced by King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque and released in 2005, 2008 and 2013 respectively. As a solo artist, Jordi has released the acoustic/rock album Insight and is in the middle of producing the second acoustic album, Sons of Orion.
His career has shared bills and stages with Scorpions, Michael Schenker, Y&T, Yngwie Malmsteen, Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater), Andy LaRocque (King Diamond), Patrick Johansson (Yngwie Malmsteen), Alex Landenburg (Stratovarius), Apollo Papathanasio (Firewind), Rick Altzi (Masterplan, At Vance), Chris Caffery (Savatage) and James Christian (House of Lords), among others.
In February 2012 SANDALINAS toured Europe supporting House of Lords, covering 17 shows in 19 days across Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. In August 2012 the band returned to Andy LaRocque’s Sonic Train Studios in Sweden to finish the third album Circles, with contributions from LaRocque himself and Chris Caffery of Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Band
Jordi Sandalinas
Guitars, vocals
Rick Altzi
Vocals
Álvaro Svanerö
Drums
Mats Rendlert
Bass
“Determined without ever turning rigid; ambitious without ever ringing hollow.”
Timeline
1971 · Barcelona
Born in Barcelona. Begins piano and music reading at nine at the Conservatory of Music of Barcelona.
1985–1987
Buys Iron Maiden's Powerslave and Live After Death at fourteen; at sixteen he trades the piano for an electric guitar after hearing Adrian Smith play.
1992 · 1995
Travels back and forth to the United States to study guitar at New Milford's NGSW in Connecticut, taking lessons with shredder Terry Syrek, and classes with Rick Emmett and Ronnie Earl.
2000–2003
Gathers his early compositions and plays them to Andy LaRocque (King Diamond), who agrees to produce. LaRocque brings in vocalist Apollo Papathanasio and drummer Daniel Moilanen; Jordi brings jazz player Xavier Monfort and conservatory pianist Narcís Palahí from Spain.
2004
The debut is cut in Sweden over two intense months, engineered by Niclas Rudolfsson. The band signs with Danish agency Intromental Management, and Massacre Records takes the album.
2005
Living on the Edge is released — mastered by Andy Horn, cover art by Thomas Ewerhart — through Massacre (EU/Canada/Australia), Nightmare Records (North America) and Art Music Group. Spanish tours follow supporting Scorpions, Yngwie Malmsteen and Y&T.
2008
Fly to the Sun arrives on Metal Heaven, with guest appearances from Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Kiss) and Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
2009
The solo acoustic album Insight earns ten Enderrock Award nominations; touring alongside Steve Lukather (Toto) and Letz Zep.
2011–2013
The Japan benefit EP No Matter What, a Metal Hammer Spain covermount edition, a 17-show European tour with House of Lords, and the EP Power to the People: The Raw, recorded at Andy LaRocque's Sonic Train Studios.
2016–2018
Sons of Orion (PICAP digital, SPV worldwide) grows into a double-CD Extended Version with Unplugged in Vitoria; the acoustic EP Invisible: The 22 Strings and the single I Tried follow.
2020
Songs for the New Lemuria — mantra-inspired, meditative, and the opening chapter of the Ocean Messiah trilogy.
2025
A dense release year: The Circle of the Cross (two versions, February), the I Would Never Let You Go video (March), Haunted Visions 2025: Echoes of Empowerment (April) and Rise Together: Power to the People 2025 (May), plus the acoustic album Waiting for the Ocean Messiah.
2025–2026
Acoustic Project trio shows in Sant Feliu de Guíxols, and work toward the closing chapter of the trilogy.
Nineteen years of images
Every cover, logotype and visual thread across the catalogue has been shaped with Finnish visual artist Pete Alander, whose work also appears alongside K.K. Downing and Yngwie Malmsteen. The partnership has outlasted labels, line-ups and formats.