Dark Arena was formed in 1996 after vocalist Juan Ricardo left Ritual to pursue a new direction. Juan was approached by guitarist Paul Konjicija, who convinced him to join his new progressive metal band. Originally called Arena, the band also featured bassist Chris Thomas and ex Ritual drummer Emery Ceo. They quickly gained a following and produced a strong demo simply called Arena. Within a year they started to record a full length album but when Thomas decided to move to Japan and Ceo left to join Runt, they disbanded....

Till 2006, when Ricardo and Konjicija decided to reform and complete the album joined by ex Somnus keyboardist Rhiannon Wisniewski. Changing their name to Dark Arena, the album Alien Factor was released to rave reviews and remains a classic.... soon the band positions were filled by ex Somnus drummer Chris Stolle, bassist Brian Glodde and a second guitarist Dale Robertson.

In 2009 Dark Arena entered the studio to record their second album. Konjicija, Ricardo and Stolle were joined by new Keyboardist Ron George, bassist Ryan Tyndall and guitarist Allan Marcus. This formed the nucleus of a more full, complex sound and the result was the album Flowing Black. Once again the critics and fans raved....

In 2012 Dark Arena entered the studio for a third time, this time joined by additional vocalist Amber Osbourne. After a year in production, Ode to the Ancients was released. By far their most involved album, combining progressive, death and symphonic metal. The album showed their musical maturation but the length of the recording session caused the members to begin other projects, including Ricardo, who had started Sunless Sky. Dark Arena did their last live show in 2014.... prior to disbanding the band released Non-Human Contact, a complilation album of all the songs that didn't make the first three albums....

Then in 2018, Konjicija and Ricardo decided to record one last Dark Arena album. Konjicija and Ricardo were joined by new drummer Tyler Martin. The result was the album Worlds of Horror. Clearly the most focused and heavy Dark Arena album.... gone were the experimentation.... Konjicija and Ricardo set out to make the last album the best album.

The recording session went so well that Konjicija and Martin joined Ricardo in Sunless Sky. Together they wrote and were recording the new Sunless Sky album.... When tragically Paul Konjicija died suddenly from severe heartattack caused from diabetic complications....

Ricardo and Martin continue to honor the memory of the friend and brother with the soon to be released Worlds of Horror