Apollo Papathanasio

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SPIRITUAL BEGGARS: New Album Title Revealed

Posted by aliblackdiamond on January 24, 2013
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Source: Blabbermouth.net 

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS — the Swedish band featuring ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott and bassist Sharlee D’Angelo, along with vocalist Apollo Papathanasio (ex-FIREWIND) — is putting the finishing touches on its eighth studio album, “Earth Blues”, for a spring release via InsideOut Music.

The band will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the CD and by playing shows, including a European tour in April.

Commented Amott: “We started the recording process of ‘Earth Blues’ with an eight-day-long session at Fat Guitar Studios (Sweden) with knob-twiddler Roberth Ekholm, a truly great dude who really knows how to capture a band jamming live, sadly a rare quality in recording engineers nowadays! We continued with some overdubs at various studios in Sweden, and it’s all come together super easy this time. We’re finishing up the mixes now with Staffan Karlsson (SPIRITUAL BEGGARS, SHINING, etc.) at his studio in Halmstad, Sweden. Sonically, I think this might be our finest hour yet. It’s a raw, heavy and honest record.”

In order to promote this upcoming release as well as the band’s anniversary, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS have confirmed a European tour for April with support by German rockers ZODIAC, as well as some European summer festivals.

European tour dates:

April 15 – Hamburg, Germany – Logo
April 16 – Köln, Germany – Underground
April 17 – Ludwigburg, Germany – Rockfabrik
April 18 – München, Germany – Backstage
April 19 – Pratteln, Switzerland – Galery
April 20 – Nürnberg, Germany – Rockfabrik
April 21 – Tilburg, The Netherlands – 013 / Roadburn Festival
April 22 – Paris, France – La Scene Bastille
April 25 – Madrid, Spain – Caracol
April 26 – Barcelona, Spain – Apollo 2
April 27 – Erandio / Bilbao, Spain – Sonora

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS in 2011 released a live CD entitled “Return To Live: Loud Park 2010″ in Japan via Trooper Entertainment. The disc features eight songs, capturing the bands high-energy performance at Loud Park 10 at Saitama Super Arena, Japan on October 17, 2010. The live recording was mixed in Sweden by Staffan Karlsson and Rickard Bengtsson at Studio Landgren 5.3 and The Sweet Spot Studio in December 2010. The artwork and design was handled by Hippograffix.

The new lineup of SPIRITUAL BEGGARS made its live debut on October 1, 2010 at Kyttaro club in Athens, Greece.

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS‘s seventh studio album, “Return To Zero”, was released in Japan on August 25, 2010 via Trooper Entertainment Inc. — the label founded by legendary Japanese heavy metal music industry guru Tetsu Miyamoto. The Japanese special edition comes in a glossy paper box with a poster and a sticker of the CD front cover. The Japanese edition also features a bonus track, a thunderous cover of URIAH HEEP‘s “Time To Live” off the legendary U.K. band’s 1971 “Salisbury” record.

“Return To Zero” was released in North America on October 12, 2010 via InsideOut Music. The follow-up to 2005′s “Demons” was recorded at Sweetspot Studio with producer Rickard Bengtsson.

SPIRITUAL BEGGARS 2013 is:

Michael Amott (ARCH ENEMY, CARCASS) – Guitar
Ludwig Witt (FIREBIRD) – Drums
Per Wiberg (OPETH) – Keyboards
Sharlee D’Angelo (ARCH ENEMY, MERCYFUL FATE) – Bass
Apollo Papathanasio (FIREWIND) – Vocals

 

FIREWIND Guitarist Gus G On Changing Singers Again: “I Can’t Think Of Any Other Band That Would Be Able To Get Away With Shit Like This”

Posted by aliblackdiamond on January 23, 2013
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

Source: Bravewords.com

FIREWIND guitarist Gus G. is featured in a new interview with Blastzone Online discussing the recent departure of vocalist Apollo Papathanasio. An excerpt is available below:
Q: Why has there been so many lineup changes in FIREWIND?

GG: “Being in a band is not easy. You need to compromise a lot in order to be in a serious touring band. It’s not a glamorous lifestyle (despite what many think) and it requires lots of sacrifices. We’re not a band that started out like 5 buddies from the same town. I had to build a band with members from different places around the world. Along the way, people want different things and change. So, I think that’s the primary reason why we’ve had so many members in FIREWIND.”

Q: Tell me about your new lead singer Kelly Sundown Carpenter?

GG: “Kelly is an amazing singer and will be singing for us on our upcoming US tour with TURISAS, as Apollo decided to quit recently. We jammed with Kelly recently and he did a great job on our songs. Looking forward to playing some gigs with him and we’ll see what happens.”

Q: How have the FIREWIND fans reacted to Carpenter?

GG: “I expected it to be a lot worse. Apparently there are lots of fans out there who are looking forward to the change for various reasons. There’s some that took it really bad which was expected, but to be honest even with Apollo in the band, we had to recruit replacement singers for our tours. In 2007 Apollo missed the whole second leg of the Allegiance Tour and that was a whole around-the-world run! Also in 2011 he missed our European headline tour which was also important cause it was FIREWIND’s first tour since 2009 when I joined Ozzy. So, changing singers is not a new thing for us!
But it’s amazing cause I can’t think of any other band that would be able to get away with shit like this. I think we do, because our fans come to the shows to listen to the songs, they connect with the music first and foremost and that’s a very strong thing. And that means a lot to the rest of us in the band.”

Go to this location for the complete interview.
The band issued the following statement regarding Apollo‘s departure:

“We are in the unfortunate position to announce that Apollo has decided to step down permanently from the vocal duties in FIREWIND. For the past few years it was evident that Apollo could not keep up with FIREWIND‘s ever growing and demanding touring and promotional schedule. Several times we’ve had to recruit replacements in order to continue touring the world and keep playing for our fans. We’re lucky enough to have worked with some of the best metal singers out there!

Although we’re sad to announce Apollo‘s departure and we sure will miss him, at the same time we feel that the show must go on! FIREWIND is a band that has gone thru lots of ups and downs the past 10 years, but is still going strong! With that said, we’re happy to announce that Kelly Sundown Carpenter will be singing for us on the upcoming North American tour with TURISAS! This guy’s a phenomenal singer and we can’t wait to get out there and rock!

We’re looking forward to our return in America. See you all soon!”

More on Firewind, including their tour schedule, at this location.

 


FIREWIND: Parts Ways With Singer APOLLO PAPATHANASIO, Announces Replacement

Posted by aliblackdiamond on January 15, 2013
Posted in: Int. News. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment

Source: Blabbermouth.net 

Vocalist Apollo Papathanasio has left Greek melodic metallers FIREWIND and has been temporarily replaced by American singer Kelly Sundown Carpenter (pictured below; BEYOND TWILIGHT, OUTWORLD, DARKOLOGY, ADAGIO).

Even though Papathanasio has been temporarily replaced for some touring activities in the past, he has appeared on all FIREWIND releases since 2006′s “Allegiance” album and the band’s upcoming live CD will feature recordings from his recent final shows with the group.

Commented FIREWIND: “Today we are in the unfortunate position to announce that Apollo has decided to step down permanently from the vocal duties in FIREWIND.

“For the past few years, it was evident that Apollo could not keep up with FIREWIND‘s ever-growing and demanding touring and promotional schedule. Several times we’ve had to recruit replacements in order to continue touring the world and keep playing for our fans. We’re lucky enough to have worked with some of the best metal singers out there!

“Although we’re sad to announce Apollo‘s departure and we sure will miss him, at the same time we feel that the show must go on!

“FIREWIND is a band that has gone through lots of ups and downs the past 10 years, but is still going strong! With that said, we’re happy to announce that Kelly Sundown Carpenter will be singing for us on the upcoming North American tour with TURISAS! This guy’s a phenomenal singer and we can’t wait to get out there and rock!

“We’re looking forward to our return in America. See you all soon!”

FIREWIND — which features in its ranks current OZZY OSBOURNE guitarist Gus G. (real name: Kostas Karamitroudis) — will kick off the “Guards Of Glory – North American Tour 2013″ with TURISAS and STOLEN BABIES on February 2 in Jacksonville, Florida.

FIREWIND successfully wrapped up the calendar year 2012 with four packed club shows in their native Greece (two nights in Thessaloniki and two nights in Athens), commencing the celebration of the band’s 10th anniversary. Additionally, and right before the end-of-the-year festivities, FIREWIND entered the studio in order to mix recordings from last year’s “Few Against Many” tour for an upcoming live album, to be released before the summer.

FIREWIND‘s new album, “Few Against Many”, entered the official chart in Greece at No. 42 and in Germany at No. 90. Released in Europe on May 21, 2012 via Century Media Records and in North America on May 22 through DisManic, Inc. via eOne Distribution, the CD was mixed by Jason Suecof and Eyal Levi at Audiohammer Studios (TRIVIUM, ALL THAT REMAINS, DEATH ANGEL) in Sanford, Florida.