Israeli Middle Eastern Oriental Metal band ORPHANED LAND is the legendary, flag carrier of the Middle Eastern metal world. They combine ancient folk instruments such as Saz, Kanoon, Oud, Bouzouki, 20 different percussion types, using 6 languages and singing styles from various cultures worldwide, while using and mixing the monotheistic religions,- Judaism, Islam and Christianity with a rainbow full of cultural elements. October 2011 came out the band’s first DVD “THE ROAD TO OR-SHALEM”, via Century Media Records. Orphaned Land is Kobi Farhi – Vocals and growls, Yossi Sassi (Sa’aron) – Guitars & Middle Eastern strings, Matti Svatizky – Guitars, Uri Zelcha – Bass, Matan Shmuely – Drums.
Some days ago MSFinland’s Kostya Aronberg interviewed the band’s guitarist, Matti Svatizky…
1. Hello, Matti! Wellcome to “Metal Shock Finland”!
Hey Metal Shock Finland, this is Matti Svayizky, Orphaned Land’s guitarist. Continue Reading
Finland Kantri magazine recently accompanied Tuomas Holopainen of Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH as he visited the Helsinki Music Centre and sat down to play one of the three instruments making up the centrepiece of Organo Hall: a tempered, 29-stop Fosters & Andrews organ representing English Romanticism, from the year 1892. Check out the footage below.
NIGHTWISH‘s new album, “Imaginaerum”, is due in North America on January 10, 2012 via Roadrunner Records. The CD is the band’s first since 2007’s “Dark Passion Play”, which was then-new singer Anette Olzon‘s debut.
NIGHTWISH will kick off the “Imaginaerum” world tour in Los Angeles. The very first show of the trek will take place at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on Saturday, January 21. This will be the biggest NIGHTWISH show production ever on North American soil and strictly a one-off — there will be no U.S. tour until later in 2012.
In October 2011, Valley reporter Grace Bailey conducted an interview with former JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Kenneth “K.K.” Downing at his home at Astbury Hall in Shropshire, England. You can now watch the entire 16-minute chat below.
Downing, who recently shot down as “inaccurate” reports that he left JUDAS PRIEST because he chose to concentrate on running the 18- and nine-hole golf courses on his property, stated about his surprise departure from the group, “This is the first year that I haven’t been out there with the band for a lot of years… more years than I can care to remember. It’s coming up to about 40, I think, so… It’s been a long, good career.”
He continued, “I’ve been very fortunate, really, to have been able to have achieved all of my goals. And it’s a great life, actually, going through life doing the thing that you always wanted to do as a youngster. I think that’s one of the fantastic rewards and also, obviously, meeting a lot of people.
“It was a set of circumstances that led me to not go out [on the road with JUDAS PRIEST] this year. I was kind of geared up for it, but there was a multitude of reasons. It pretty much came down to an unsettlement on my part with working relationships.
“It’s like anything else. If anybody out there is thinking it’s hard to live with one woman, they should try to live with four guys and hold it together. [Laughs] It gets to be like that, but obviously, with certain things, I just wasn’t completely happy with the way things were, with the way it was, [and I just felt like] it was probably best if I stepped down, and I did.”
When asked if he feels happier now that he made the decision to quit the band, Downing said, “I wish things could have been different, so I could have continued. Obviously, ’cause of the passion [I had for the band]. In the [late] Sixties, I was very instrumental in creating JUDAS PRIEST, and it was a hard bullet to bite. But I thought that if this is gonna be the way that it’s gonna be, then perhaps it’s time to step down.
“It was a massive consideration,” he added. “Obviously, the fans, who I love, and many of them have become very good friends. But I just hoped that they would appreciate that I couldn’t continue with the way that I felt inside for reasons which I’ll… I mean, certain reasons I will never, ever disclose.
“I have been extremely fortunate to have been able to do so many shows and tours and records, and come out of it healthy and well. But I haven’t really spoken to anyone about the inner details [behind my departure from JUDAS PRIEST], really.”
Regarding how he feels not being involved in the music industry anymore, Downing said, “I was wondering how I was gonna take it, but I do do stuff — go to concerts, and I’m actually helping a young band from my neck of the woods. They’re called HOSTILE and I produced their record. But there’s lots to do, really. I have been functioning here [at Astbury Hall] as a golf facility for a couple of years anyway, and everything is fine. I could leave home if I wanted do. But since I’m here, I do what I can when I can as best as I can. Because having Astbury, it’s pretty exciting to see it coming along.”
Downing, who is a founding member of the British heavy metal legends and was part of the group since 1969, announced his retirement from PRIEST in April. He has since been replaced by Richie Faulkner, most recently guitarist in the backing band for Lauren Harris (daughter of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris).
Guitar legend MICHAEL SCHENKER (MSG, ex-UFO) is featured in a new interview with Classic Rock Revisited founder Jeb Wright. An excerpt is available below:
Jeb: I saw you in Oklahoma when you sat in with the SCORPIONS and you and your brother were both smiling at each other throughout the songs. It was not always that easy.
Michael: “I don’t know if Rudolf realizes this as much as I do, but we had two visions. When I was 16, he was already 21, and I knew what I wanted. He also always knew what he wanted. Our visions were slightly different. My vision was to focus on the guitar and his was to focus on the band. The funny thing is that forty years later, we have kept our direction and we have focused on what we originally focused on. That is one of the reasons that we didn’t do our journey together, which I suppose many people would have liked to see. I’m not sure he is really aware of it but I am very aware of it. We could not have fulfilled our visions as accurately as we did if we had not done it that way. It was important for both of us to go our different ways. His vision is very strong but my vision requires different surroundings and a different type of momentum; it is a different journey. It would have been very much torture if we had tried to fulfill our visions together. We would have clashed.”
Jeb: Rudolf told me last year that there will be a Schenker and Schenker album.
Michael: “Yes and the reason for this is because we’ve completed, more or less, our individual visions. Now, since we’ve done what we needed to do, we can relax. We have accomplished what we needed to do and it is now time to do something like that.”
The tracklisting for Michael Schenker’s new album, Temple Of Rock, is as follows:
‘Intro’
‘How Long’
‘The End Of An Era’
‘Saturday Night’
‘Fallen Angel’
‘Hangin’ On’
‘With You’
‘Miss Claustrophobia’
‘Scene Of Crime’
‘Lovers Sinfony-Speed’
‘Stormin’ In’
‘Speed’
‘Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead’
‘How Long’ (Guitar Battle Version)
‘Remember’ (Bonus Track for Japan)
“The Temple of Rock is within me”, says Michael, “where I create since I was introduced to the amazing invention of the distorted guitar which is for me the most enjoyable and the best possible way to express myself. The rock guitar sound that I fell in love with, mostly expressed as lead breaks, is what I have nurtured and treasured all of my life. Combined with the infinite spring from within and the amazing musicians around me I keep expressing an on going development of my art (being).”
“With Temple of Rock”, Michael adds, “I am entering a new stage of my life, a new level of existence enjoying life more than ever, reaping the joy of all sorts of developments from the past. These days I just want to go out there, play and have fun. Also, it seems to me that collectively, with true expressive makers of rock music, we have been building the external Temple Of Rock for many years and have now come to the point of putting on the roofing and celebrating the almost completion of the Temple. All generations of this period are meeting all over the world on one stage it seems celebrating an era of “hand make rock”, which will never be the same again due to invention of new technology but of course New Temples and New Wonders will arise to enjoy expressions in new ways”.
Lineup:
Michael Schenker – Guitars
Michael Voss – Vocals
Herman Rarebell – Drums
Pete Way – Bass
Wayne Findlay – Keyboards
Also featuring:
Schenker Brothers
William Shatner (Captain Kirk from Star Trek)
Leslie West (MOUNTAIN)
Michael Amott (ARCH ENEMY)
Doogie White (ex-RITCHIE BLACKMORE, ex-YNGWIE MALMSTEEN)
Robin McAuley (SURVIVOR, ex-MSG)
Don Airey (DEEP PURPLE)
Paul Raymond (UFO, ex -)
Simon Phillips (TOTO, MSG, ex-JEFF BECK)
Carmine Appice (MSG, ex-Jeff Beck)
Chris Slade (MSG, ex-AC/DC)
Chris Glenn (MSG, ex-ALEX HARVEY)
Neil Murray (MSG, ex-WHITESNAKE, ex-GARY MOORE)
Brian Tichy (Whitesnake)
Elliott ”Dean” Rubinson (Owner of Dean Guitars, MSG, Michael Schenker)
TEAM ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC has issued the following:
Today, French extreme/art metal juggernaut HYPNO5E’s influential debut full length Des Deux L’une Est L’autre is available for FREE DOWNLOAD via HYPNO5E’s BandCamp page: http://hypno5e.bandcamp.com/
Released in 2007, the band’s signature sound has influenced many around the globe. The concept of Des Deux L’une Est L’autre mirrors life’s highs and lows, and is meant to listen from start to finish, as the album plays out as one long track.
Spanish extreme metal band NOCTEM has issued the following update:
The finest art of despair and melancholy put together with their supreme act of hatred, NOCTEM (ES) and COPROLITH (FIN) will devastate the grounds of Finland in December 2011.
This early christmas present for all of you Blackened Death Metal maniacs, presented by Satan himself, will take place on the following locations:
8.12.2011 @ Club Prkl, Helsinki + Chaotech
9.12.2011 @ Soho, Porvoo + tba
10.12.2011 @ The Rock, Kokkola + tba
11.12. 2011 @ Klubi, Turku + Mormânt De Snagov
So get your asses to the shows and be prepared to be mutilated by these acts of brutality and bloodshed!
Hail Murder!!!
The official sponsors of the tour: SSG Management, Metal Shock Finland, Kaaos Zine, Nekronos Promotion Agency, Stigia Promotions & Management, Art Gates records, Rising records, Liszko straps, Mayones guitars and Saluda cymbals.
Noctem was consolidated as a extreme metal band in 2001. One of the most representative extreme metal bands of Spain with a strong representation in Europe and NorthAmerica, which style consists in a mix of death, black and thrash metal.
Represented by a warlike aesthetic, this five pieced combo received an outstanding feedback from the international metal press and metalheads all over the world with their debut album “Divinity”(2009), sharing stage with international acts like Gorgoroth, Napalm Death, Samael, Keep of kalessin, Vader, Krisiun, Entombed, Melechesh, Hate and many more! also peforming in five european tours through countries like France, Germany, Italy, Austria, England, Scotland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Portugal and a long etc.
After a very succesful european tour presenting their new and second album “Oblivion”, which is released through Rising records in Europe and Metalblade records in NorthAmerica, the band is ready to destroy the finnish stages in december of this year.
COPROLITH is a Black/Death Metal viciously combining band from Porvoo, Finland. Raping your eardrums until they bleed Coprolith hits the right spot every fucking time since 2001. The murdering debut album “Cold Grief Relief” was released in June 2010 and it has received good reviews worldwide. This is no surprise as the musical expression is as tight as a nuns vagina. Coprolith is also well known from their killer live shows. They have ear raped and mind slaughtered people at festivals across the Europe, Metalcamp festival and Jalometalli Metal festival, just a few to mention here. They have shared the stages with bands like: Deicide, Lamb of God, Arch Enemy, Textures, Den Saakaldte, Gorgoroth and toured with Pantheon I and Enochian Crescent. Coprolith has finished the song writing for their next album. The yet untitled album carrying a theme HATE will bring more technical and even more aggressive approach to Coprolith´s melancholic art of despair. The forthcoming album is set to be released early 2012.
To read MSFinland’s interview with NOCTEM, please go HERE.
Chief Shock Video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
Ads
Visionary artist KIMMO KUUSNIEMI's ANCIENT STREAMING ASSEMBLY (ASA) have released “Aurora Nuclearis”, a powerful 12-minute audiovisual experience, dedicated to the Late Keyboardist Esa Kotilainen. - Click image to watch the video
Israeli Middle Eastern Oriental Metal band ORPHANED LAND is the legendary, flag carrier of the Middle Eastern metal world. They combine ancient folk instruments such as Saz, Kanoon, Oud, Bouzouki, 20 different percussion types, using 6 languages and singing styles from various cultures worldwide, while using and mixing the monotheistic religions,- Judaism, Islam and Christianity with a rainbow full of cultural elements. October 2011 came out the band’s first DVD “THE ROAD TO OR-SHALEM”, via Century Media Records. Orphaned Land is Kobi Farhi – Vocals and growls, Yossi Sassi (Sa’aron) – Guitars & Middle Eastern strings, Matti Svatizky – Guitars, Uri Zelcha – Bass, Matan Shmuely – Drums.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 