Three chapters

False Reality began its journey in December 1998. Silviu Stan - guitars, Marius Moga (R.I.P.) - guitars, Cătălin Bota - bass and Adrian Irimie - drums (all aged 16-17) were at the time members of a hard rock band called ART, formed at the Music Workshop of the Pupils' Club in Brașov (many thanks to professor Pancea Ioan).

Influenced by the music of Dream Theater, Samael, Crematory, Anathema, Lake of Tears, Theatre of Tragedy, Therion, Cradle of Filth and many others, the four young musicians chose Ioan Alexandru Crișan as vocalist and began rehearsing under the name False Reality, picked from a list of possible band names. At first their genre was gothic-melodic death metal, but gradually things moved more towards melodic death metal.

The first lineup change came relatively soon: Adrian left his spot behind the drums to become the band's keyboard player, while Cristian Tîrsan was welcomed as the new drummer. The first songs were composed and the band played its first gigs in Brașov and Sfântu Gheorghe with a three-song set: The Sentence, Escape from Doom and Confused Sunset. The summer of 1999 brought the first appearance at a big event, the SAMUS ROCK ALIVE festival in Satu Mare. The first demo was also recorded, with just one track - Escape from Doom.

Because of the new, more aggressive direction, which was not to his liking, Adrian left the keyboards in the autumn of 1999 and was replaced by Lucian Popa, a friend and colleague of the other members from the Pupils' Club in Brașov.

After this change the band went through a period of both gigs and composing, and recorded five songs: Confused Sunset, Escape from Doom, The Sentence, Virgin's Curse and Under Waters, with the composing shared between Cristian, Marius and Silviu.

In the autumn of 2000, after personal issues and health problems, Marius also left False Reality. His replacement was Alexandru Iuga, but only for a short time; False Reality became a one-guitar band in the spring of 2001.

By then the band had gathered a number of gigs, radio and even TV appearances. Still, lacking a permanent rehearsal space, only three more songs came to life: Andromeda - Journey to the Stars, Bewitched and The Lost Place, with Cristian and Silviu doing most of the composing and Lucian writing the lyrics.

In 2001 False Reality signed its first label contract, with Sidekick Records from Norway, who took the five songs recorded earlier and released the band's first EP - “Tales of Eternity” - online only, on www.mp3.com. Sadly, the label ceased to exist shortly after, and so did the collaboration with False Reality.

During 2002 the first major lineup problem appeared. Cristian decided to leave the band to follow other musical directions. It was a big blow for False Reality, as Cristian was the engine of the band at the time, handling most of the management (promotion, gigs, website, contracts) and being one of the main composers.

False Reality tried to replace Cristian with pre-recorded drums and even played one gig this way, during which the first and only live cover in the band's history was performed (Death in Fire - Amon Amarth). That gig showed it wasn't the right path, and since other members were going through difficulties in their personal lives, the band decided to go on hiatus.

From 2003 until 2005 False Reality was on a complete time-out, apart from sporadic rehearsals with an incomplete lineup. It was during this period that the idea of starting again with Lucian as second guitarist emerged.

It happened in 2005, when Lucian bought an electric guitar and Alex Berekmeri got behind the drum kit. This time the band had no keyboard player, and after a short period of rehearsals Alex quit.

Until 2010, Lucian did his mandatory military service (2005-2006) and a number of musicians joined and left the lineup: George Bratoșin - drums, Adina Răducanu - keyboards, Mihai Pușcașu - drums, along with Adrian Irimie - keyboards and Cristian Tîrsan - drums, who temporarily rejoined False Reality. Even with all the new members, the band played no live shows, not considering itself ready for that step.

In the autumn of 2009, Radu Grosu became the band's new bass player, replacing Cătălin, who had started working abroad.

The last lineup changes came in the autumn of 2010, when Codruț Costea took the spot behind the drums, and in February 2011, when Vlad Amariei became the keyboard player. Another song quickly took shape - Rapture and Pain - and the long-awaited moment finally arrived: the first live show in eight years, on 28 May 2011, at Rockstadt club in Brașov. As a novelty, Luci took over the clean vocals.

With this new beginning, the members of False Reality chose to play only a few shows and devoted their time to rehearsing, composing and growing together musically. They played in Brașov, Râșnov, Bucharest, Ploiești and Turnu Măgurele. With a stable rehearsal space (thank you Cocu Marian and Fritz), new songs came into existence: Requiem into Darkness, The Silence Within, Rih al Khamsin, Dear Friend and End of Eternity.

On 30 August 2013, False Reality played the biggest event in the band's history so far, the first edition of Rockstadt Extreme Fest in Râșnov, Romania, sharing the stage with bands like Gojira, Napalm Death, Carach Angren and many more.

Also, on 5 June, False Reality opened for Arkona at Rockstadt club in Brașov.

The autumn of 2014 was a prolific time for the band. False Reality started recording the first full-length album in its history, and joined Kistvaen's tour promoting their album “Desolate Ways”, with shows in Ploiești, Bacău, Suceava and Brașov, alongside Hteththemeth and Tanin. On 31 May 2015, the band played its first show in Timișoara, at Revolution Fest.

2015 also saw the start of the collaboration between False Reality and Anglo Saxon Booking Agency, a unique project by Graham Robinson, a British man who chose Romania as his home.

The Transylvanian label Loud Rage Music contacted False Reality in spring 2016, and the talks bore fruit that autumn.

In August 2016, Radu decided to leave the band, the first lineup change of the new era. His place was taken by Marc Spedalska, the third bass player in the band's history.

26 October 2016 remains an important milestone in False Reality's history: the official release of the first LP, “End of Eternity”, via Loud Rage Music, almost 18 years after the first rehearsals. A series of shows promoting the album across Romania followed, starting in January 2017.

After only the first two album shows, in Târgu Mureș and Cluj-Napoca, Marc Spedalska left False Reality, as his new position as a resident neurologist in Cluj-Napoca kept him away from Brașov. His replacement was Radu “Snuff” Constantinescu, who had already played at those first two shows, performing three songs not on the album: “Confused Sunset”, “Escape from Doom” and “Andromeda - Journey to the Stars”.

More shows promoting “End of Eternity” followed in March 2017, in Bucharest, Buzău, Târgoviște and Constanța - the last ones with Vlad, who moved abroad in April 2017. His replacement is Judit Toth, a classically trained pianist and music teacher, who made her first live appearance with False Reality in June 2017.

In spring 2018 False Reality welcomed back its first bass player, founding member Cătălin Bota, after Radu decided to leave to follow other musical projects. The changes didn't stop there. As time became an issue for some members, activity slowed down to a few rehearsals, not always with the full lineup. In autumn 2019, Codruț Costea decided to leave the band due to a severe lack of free time, being involved in other musical and artistic projects, holding a couple of jobs and keeping a healthy family life. His replacement is Alexandru Stănică.

The Covid-19 pandemic thwarted the band's plans, but they still made it back on stage in 2021, at Flex Fest in Arad. In 2022, at Rockstadt club in Brașov, they presented their first composition since “End of Eternity”: “The Memory of Time”.