Since the initial announcement, Northern Symphony Festival has sparked great interest on both the British and European symphonic metal scenes among fans and bands alike. With headliners WINTER IN EDEN announced, the festival saw another surge in interest. Now, with a second stage added, which will be hosted at The Riverside (conveniently next door to The Venue) in Selby, Northern Symphony Festival is set to become one exciting festival on the UK scene.
Birmingham-based Apparition have been confirmed as the festival’s special guests and will be joining headliners WINTER IN EDEN on the Femetalism sponsored Steel Opera Main Stage. With support slots for the likes of Delain, Sarah Jezebel Deva and more under their belt, Apparition have become a well-known name in the UK’s symphonic rock and metal scene.
Joining Scandelion on the Infernal Orchestra stage are gothic poets of doom Edenfall and new-comers to the scene A Clockwork Opera, who debuted on the live circuit only last month and fuse symphonic metal with steampunk elements.
Northern Symphony Festival 2015, which is the UK’s first ever symphonic metal festival, will take place on Saturday 4th April at both The Venue and The Riverside on Ousegate in Selby. Advance tickets are a mere £10 and are available from http://northernwyntermusic.bigcartel.com.
Anglo-Swedish modern metal powerhouse SONIC SYNDICATE have posted the official music video for the song ‘Catching Fire’ from the recently released self-titled album. The video includes live footage which had been filmed on the band’s most recent European headlining tour, this past October. You can watch the video here.
The tour led the band through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Czech, supporting their brand new self-titled album, which was released back in June.
The album has hit the official album charts in Germany (#36) and Austria (#74).
Take a look behind the curtains of the tour via this link:
The album includes a total of 11 tracks while the limited edition digipak will feature no less than 3 bonus tracks on top.
“Sonic Syndicate” Tracklist:
01. Day Of The Dead
02. Black Hole Halo
03. Long Road Home
04. My Revenge
05. Before You Finally Break (feat. Speed/SOILWORK)
06. Catching Fire
07. Unbreakable
08. It Takes Me
09. See What I See
10. So Addicted
11. The Flame That Changed The World
LIMITED EDITION BONUS TRACKS:
12. Diabolical Work Of Art
13. What We Shared
14. Another Soldier Down
Last night, MARILYN MANSON premiered ‘Deep Six,’ the first single from his forthcoming new album “The Pale Emperor” due January 19th, 2015. Listen to ‘Deep Six’ here.
A recent interview in The Fader said, “Rock stars went extinct but Marilyn Manson is still here.”
Manson collaborated on the new album, his first in over two years, with noted film composer/producer Tyler Bates (Guardians of the Galaxy, 300, The Watchmen.) Bates will also join Manson as a member of his band on the upcoming US THE HELL NOT HALLELUJAH TOUR, which kicks off January 21st, 2015 in Washington D.C. Manson’s band on the national headlining tour also includes longtime bassist Twiggy Ramirez, Gil Sharone on drums and Paul Wiley on guitar.
THE KILLING LIGHTS have released their new video for ‘Until I Bleed’ online. Check it out below:
Directed by Brad Golowin (Miss May I, Asking Alexandria) the performance-based clip wraps perfectly around the incendiary, very personal song.
“I remember waking up to doctors mumbling about a guardian angel on my shoulder,” TKL frontman Michael Vampire told Alternative Press about the song. “I couldn’t speak. I had no teeth in my mouth and a breathing tube in my neck. I was almost another statistic thanks to a drunk driver. After years of recovery I wrote this song with my best friend and guitarist DJ Black. Thanks to the amazing Brad Golowin for directing this video!”
The Killing Lights released their highly-anticipated, self-titled debut EP on December 2nd. The 5-song release was produced and engineered by DJ Black and Michael Vampire, mixed by Erik Ron (Motionless In White, Escape The Fate) and mastered by Sterling Sound NYC. It is now available through the band’s online store on District Lines and at all major digital music retailers. Limited edition merchandise bundles are also available.
The band has been riding strong the past several months after the release of their debut single and video ‘Lies Spread Like Fire’ which was premiered by Revolver and has since been viewed over 200,000 times.
The band plans to tour heavily in the new year in support of the EP with an eye on releasing a full-length album in 2015.
Only one place in the UK was lucky enough to have a night of metal with the German giants ACCEPT in 2014 and that place was The Forum in London on Thursday 27th November. Even luckier me to be watching the show from the mixing desk, which was an interesting hive of activity throughout.
The venue filled up quite early and a large proportion of the crowd I noticed were middle aged males, long time fans of ACCEPT without a doubt. The floor was pretty full when support act VOODOO SIX hit the stage. I only caught half of their set but thoroughly enjoyed what I saw –stand in vocalist Nik Taylor-Stoakes did a great job and the whole band was full of energy with great music, which went down well with the crowd.
At 9pm the lights went down and ACCEPT exploded onto the stage and didn’t let up for the next action packed two hours! One of the many things that is a constant when the band play live is their pure energy, they have more than most bands half their age! With the combined too many to mention years in the music business, ACCEPT are a very tightly run ship, professional to the nth degree, which works like magic up onstage. Mix that with their classic brand of metal and you’re onto a winner every time.
ACCEPT, The Forum 2014
‘Stampede’, the first single from latest album “Blind Rage” was the opener and I have to say I was really excited to hear the new tracks played live and was not disappointed! The crowd went crazy, demonstrating the fact that many eager fans had been waiting to see their metal heroes in the UK. Mark Tornillo belted out the vocals in fine form, never staying still, flanked by Peter Baltes and Wolf Hoffmann who moved straight to the front of the stage, interacting with fans and looking so happy as always to be playing for them, completed by Wolf’s trademark grin!
No stopping, the onslaught continued straight into ‘Stalingrad’ and throughout the show. Many classic were played such as ‘London Leatherboys’, ‘Losers And Winners’ and ‘Starlight’, but now with the three most recent albums since the band’s triumphant comeback in 2010, many of the songs from these albums were played and have become firm favourites with the fans. So much so, ‘Teutonic Terror’ from “Blood Of The Nations” was part of the encore.
One of my absolute favourites of the whole night was ‘Final Journey’. I’d been dying to see this played live since I first heard “Blind Rage” on its release. Though the whole album is top class, this track really stood out immediately for me, especially with Wolf’s classical solo fusing Grieg’s ‘Peer Gynt – Morning Mood’ with metal – for me, utter perfection and what a treat to see it performed on stage.
You don’t get chit chat from band members at an ACCEPT show, no time for that when there are so many songs to fit into a blistering set! And to be honest it’s not needed, the band interact fully with the crowd through their facial expressions and gestures and just the occasional moment of speech from Mark, for example when introducing ‘Shadow Soldiers’ as a dedication “to our armed forces” which raised a cheer from the crowd.
ACCEPT, The Forum 2014
The quality of the partnership between Peter Baltes and Wolf Hoffmann over almost a 40 year period, is never in doubt, the harmony they present together onstage is always a joy to see. Peter was full of energy throughout the show, headbanging as he delivered those killer bass riffs and as always Wolf’s handling of and execution of songs on his favourite Framus guitars was second to none. Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann provided a solid background to the show, Herman occasionally coming forward for a couple of solos.
At the end of the set, ACCEPT left the stage to rapturous applause and cheers from their UK fans and were soon back to play three encores, finishing with the epitome of a metal classic, ‘Balls To The Wall’, guaranteed to send the crowd wild! ACCEPT never disappoint their fans, always giving 110% to their performance which creates lasting memories for their fans. I left the Forum complete with buzzing ears and along with the other UK fans, anticipating the next (hopefully not too far away!) visit to these shores.
Show Rating: 10/10
Setlist:
Stampede
Stalingrad
Hellfire
200 Years
Losers And Winners
London Leatherboys
Starlight
Dying Breed
Final Journey
Shadow Soldiers
From The Ashes We Rise
Restless And Wild
Ahead Of The Pack
No Shelter
Princess Of The Dawn
Dark Side Of My Heart
Pandemic
Fast As A Shark
Encores:
Metal Heart
Teutonic Terror
Balls To The Wall
The news that CREED frontman Scott Stapp has threatened to kill President Obama has reached Washington. According to reports, the Secret Service is looking into the situation, reported ultimateclassicrock.com.
Secret Service spokesperson Nicole Mainor told People, “We are aware and we’ll take appropriate action.”
Yesterday, we reported that Stapp’s estranged wife and sister-in-law called 911 to say that Stapp was “cruising around his neighborhood, shirtless on a bicycle” and claiming to be a CIA agent on a mission to kill the President. He was riding around with a book bag containing approximately 600 pages of documents that described his mission.
Stapp posted a since-deleted update to CREED’s Facebook page in which he denies having made the allegations, attacks those who have spread “vicious lies” about him, and maintains that he is sober and in good mental health. The transcript (via Consequence of Sound) is below.
“What’s up everyone, Scott Stapp here. In light of the recent vicious attacks on my character as well as the vicious lies that are being spread about me, I’m left with no option but to address this circus. In no way, shape or form are any of these accusations true. I am 100% sober and 100% mentally sane and stable. Supporting documents validating this will be given to Judge Colin and serviced to the media next week. These documents are being issued by the Hazleton-Betty Ford Center. When these accusations were initially levied against me, I immediately sought refuge within the sober community in Palm Desert, CA, as well as met with senior heads of department at the Hazleton-Betty Ford Center. I did not check in, as I have not been using drugs or alcohol nor have been suffering from any mental health issues. I came to the center for the most credible acknowledgement and support in the world to validate that I was sober and mental stable. After two weeks of meetings with appropriate departments, voluntarily submitting to a clinical diagnostic evaluation, and blood and urine tests, Hazelton-Betty Ford Center is preparing official documents validating what I have been saying all along. I am not, nor have been on drugs or drinking and am not suffering from any mental health issues. Again, everything that is being reported about me is not true. This vicious attack was levied against me after I discovered multiple counts of financial fraud and embezzlement. It is sad the lengths some will go to in an effort to keep themselves from being exposed for the serious financial crimes they have committed. As you might assume, I am very hurt by what has gone on. Again, official reports will be provided next week hopefully ending the circus so the real issues at hand can be addressed. Love you all and thank you to all those who have supported me during this smear campaign.
P. S.
I have nothing but sincere respect, love and admiration for President Obama. The recent report claiming I am delusional, and claiming I’m a CIA agent with evil intent towards our beloved President is a joke. I’m shocked the press even covered such a ridicules story. My history supporting our troops and this great country of ours should speak for itself.
Have a great weekend my friends
Scott Stapp”
Earlier today, we reported that a judge sided with Stapp’s estranged wife in the battle for custody of their three children. It is unknown if he has been granted visitation rights, but he is not allowed to stay in the family’s home.
Fernando Leon, Getty Images
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