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They started the band in 1985. |
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All members come from Québec, Canada. Pascal Cliche and Patrick Gravel are from Beaupré. They've been friends since their childhood days. Laurent Imbeau was born in Château-Richer while Sylvain Trembley was born in Quebec City. |
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Jean-François Fillion played the drums from 1985 to 1990 and was then
replaced by Luc Guay until 2005. Sylvain Trembley is the actual drummer. |
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 Origin of the band's name. The name Hanker was found on a Saturday afternoon after a brainstorming and a deep search for a name had been done. A friend of Hanker's came up with the name taken from the dictionary and the meaning of the word seemed to well define the vision of the guys at the time and today still. This means «craving for something». Read more info at The American Heritage dictionary of the English language. They were previously called Cobalt! |
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 Pascal is the lyrics writer of the band. |
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They were opening acts for such bands as Helloween, Gamma Ray, Edguy, Nightwish, Angra, Jag Panzer, Kataklysm, Martyr, Quo Vadis, Anvil, Lee Aaron, Big House, Slik Toxik and Soothsayer. |
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 Their first 5 song demo released in May 1991 sold 2000 copies. This fact contributed to motivating them to continue writing songs. They made a video-clip of the song Disturbing The Brain that MuchMusic in Canada played a number of times while their local music TV station didn't play it at all...  |
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 Their first CD In Our World was released in 1994. |
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A rave album review that was written in Toronto's M.E.A.T. magazine got the attention of two music businessmen. These men imported hundreds of In Our World CDs to sell through their German networks. |
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They signed a contract with the German label Art of Music in 1996. They re-released In Our World with two new songs under the name In Our World Revisited. |
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 Their second opus The Dead Ringer was released in 1997. |
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In 1998, the band has appeared on a compilation: «Laermbelaestigung»
(Fanzine from Germany). |
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 In the summer of 1998, The Dead Ringer album was #1 for 6 weeks in a row on Audio Aggression/Neckbreaker (88.9 WNYO, Oswego) in New York (USA)! |
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Martin Jones played bass from 1985 to 1998 and was replaced by Denis Cossette in November 1998. |
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 Here are some facts and figures about Denis Cossette. He played in many bands before Hanker like in a tribute band to Metallica. He has played bass for over 20 years! Denis Cossette had a premonitory dream that the band would hire him! Pascal knew Denis Cossette before he joined the band, and his style of play fits in superbly. When the band auditioned him, he was very nervous but all went very well and he got to be the chosen one! His favourite Hanker songs are The Clown, Holy Screen and Staring At The Rain. Like Martin Jones, his number one hobby is snowboarding! |
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 March 1999, You Won't Live Eternally was track number 4 on the Alliance CD compilation. «The Alliance» is a single CD containing 8 Heavy Metal and Hard Rock bands from around the world.
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 Hanker's long awaited third album, Snakes And Ladders was finally released on November 8, 2000. The album is released by Metal Disk Records. |
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 In January 2001, Hanker have signed a distribution deal for Canada with PHD. The Snakes And Ladders album was thus made easily available throughout the country. |
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June 2001 marked the 5th anniversary of The Official Hanker Web Site, that's huge! The Web site opened on June 19, 1996. Hanker have had their own domain name (www.hankermetal.com) since September 9, 1999. |
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August 2001, Hanker signed a Greek distribution contract with Cult Metal Classics Records to distribute In Our World and Snakes And Ladders... in vinyl format!!! They are available since March 2002. |
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September 2003, German base Hellion Records released in Europe the second Hanker album, The Dead Ringer, in vinyl format. The release is limited to 500 copies with a bonus track (250 copies in red and 250 copies in yellow 180 g. vinyl). All three Hanker albums are therefore available in vinyl format (Cult Metal Classics released the other two last year). |
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 October 2003, Hanker sign with Skyscraper Music! Hanker will make its debut recording on Skyscraper in the spring of 2004. The Power/Heavy quartet has nothing to envy younger talent, the band is here to stay and work their way through today's international Metal scene. |
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May 2004, The Official HANKER Web Site has now more than 100,000 visitors since its beginning on June 16, 1996! |
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They played in Europe (in Germany) for the very first time at the Headbangers Open Air festival, as one of the headliners on July 9, 2004 and at the Headbangers Ballroom on July 11, 2004. |
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 August 17, 2004, Hanker release Web Of Faith through Skyscraper Music. Here's the complete tracklisting for their fourth album: 1- Empower (4:38); 2- Inside Me (3:35); 3- Stigmata (5:14); 4- Let Me Out (4:43); 5- Do Or Die (5:05); 6- Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (4:11); 7- The Search (4:44); 8- Under Cover Of Darkness (4:18); 9- Face To Face (6:23); 10- Point Of No Return (5:07); 11- The Huntsman (4:57); 12- Web Of Faith (7:34). |
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 November 2004, Denis Cossette left Hanker. He was a band member for 6 years. He joined Hanker in November 1998, replacing Martin Jones (Hanker's first bass player). |
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February 2005, Hanker's newest album Web Of Faith is now available in double vinyl format from Hellion Records in Germany! The album contains 2 unreleased bonus tracks, the 1998 demo versions of Ad Patres and Behind The Curtain from Snakes And Ladders released in 2000. The double album is available in blue and clear vinyl, and each version is limited to 250 copies. Hanker's 4 full studio releases are therefore all available in vinyl format! |
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After more than 3 months of search and several auditions at their rehearsal room, Hanker finally found their new bassist. Laurent Imbeau, a 19 years old bassist, has replaced Denis Cossette. He is native of Château-Richer, a town near Beaupré (Hanker's hometown). |
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 Less than a month after commencing their search, Hanker found their new drummer. Sylvain Trembley, 37 years old, has replaced Luc Guay. He was a member of the metal band Ice Vinland. |
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On November 22, 2005 Hanker celebrates their 20th anniversary! |
