ULYSSES is a new Progressive heavy-metal group, on a very high caliber. Roughly three years after its creation, the Dutch band recorded its first CD in September 2001. It all started with this mini-CD "Eclectic", which received good reviews. So, the dutch musicians immediately focused all their attention on a full-length album. In february and march of 2003, the band recorded "Symbioses". After its worldwide release in may 2003, the album promotion kicked off and in turn, received overwhelming positive reviews. Shortly after the release of "Symbioses", ULYSSES welcomed a new vocalist (Michael HOS) and later a new bass player (Casper KROON). With the arrival of their new vocalist, the band's songwriting began to take a new direction. The new songs were more Progressive rock-oriented and virtuoso than the songs on the previous record and gave more room for the vocals. Songs for the new album got a deeper meaning. The band wanted to share its view on how we can live our lives more meaningfully. The new album "The Gift Of Tears" has been published on the Musea label in the year 2009. The opening track, "Family Portrait" tells us how we can achieve this by simply listening to the stories that people tell. This enables us to create more understanding and compassion in a society of individualism and selfishness. The tragic story of "Anat" is one such story that ULYSSES just had to share. It portrays the ordeal of two young parents who unexpectedly lost their one-year-old daughter Anat to a brain tumour. This fifteen-minute epic tells their story from start to finish. It is a story that teaches us a valuable lesson, as will the other real-life stories featured on ULYSSES new album. Consequently, it's not merely a representation of their musical and lyrical abilities. It tells real stories about real people. This has enabled ULYSSES to incorporate real emotions into its compositions. To be discovered !