CROSSNAIL is the band formerly known as TEODOR TUFF.
After a long hiatus Teodor Tuff resurfaced with its self-titled debut album in 2009. The album was well received and entered the Norwegian charts. The album had clear references to the ’70’s, both in the music and in the lyrics. The band subsequently did support shows for both Whitesnake and Deep Purple. Teodor Tuff is, however, a band in constant change. Upon the departure of three members in 2010, the band was joined by Christer, Rayner and Terje Harøy, lead guitarist, bass player and vocalist, respectively. Christer and Rayner are brothers, and also happen to play in Divided Multitude. Terje is their cousin. The band’s sound has now changed dramatically, and Teodor Tuff came across as a pure metal band with its own distinct sound; guitarist Knut Lysklætt’s inspiration from classical music, rock opera, musicals and even Middle East folk songs, mixed with the Harøy clan’s thoroughbred metal.
The band´s second album “Soliloquy” was released in Norway in 2011, and Europe and the USA early 2012. The album received a great reception from all over the world, and was followed by an European Tour with legendary Jorn in 2012. 2013 was a year where the Harøy-brothers was releasing a new album, and touring with Divided Multitude, and Christer Harøy and Lysklætt started to write for the next album. So the album is recorded late 2014/ early 2015, set for a release in May 2015. As a teaser, the single “Sands Of Time” from the album is being released on 19th December 2014, featuring Elize Ryd from AMARANTHE on guest vocals.
The b-side of the single is a cover version of the monster hit from Gotye “Somebody that I used to know”.
Following three sold-out shows in Sweden for AT THE GATES last weekend together with label mates GRAVE and MORBUS CHRON, it’s now time for one of the most anticipated and ambitious touring packages of this year to begin its course through European stages. The tour, which starts today, December 4th in London, features Swedish melodic death metal pioneers AT THE GATES promoting their comeback release ‘At War With Reality’, Swiss avant-garde extreme metal act TRIPTYKON showcasing their second album ‘Melana Chasmata’ as well as Swedish progressive death metal hopefuls MORBUS CHRON introducing their latest album release ‘Sweven’.
Here is a complete list of the European tour dates, which will see Code Orange added as additional support to some of the UK dates:
AT THE GATES, TRIPTYKON, MORBUS CHRON:
Presented by Visions, Metal Hammer, Metal.de in Germany and by Rock Tribune in the BeNeLux
04.12.2014 – London (UK) – Forum *
05.12.2014 – Manchester (UK) – Academy 2 *
06.12.2014 – Glasgow (UK) – Garage
07.12.2014 – Birmingham (UK) – The Oobleck *
08.12.2014 – Cardiff (UK) – The Globe *
10.12.2014 – Essen (Germany) – Turock ** Sold out!
11.12.2014 – Hamburg (Germany) – Markthalle
12.12.2014 – Eindhoven (The Netherlands) – Eindhoven Metal Meeting
13.12.2014 – Leipzig (Germany) – Conne Island
14.12.2014 – Wien (Austria) – Arena
16.12.2014 – Aarau (Switzerland) – Kiff
17.12.2014 – Munich (Germany – Backstage Werk
18.12.2014 – Antwerpen (Belgium) – Trix
19.12.2014 – Cologne (Germany) – Essigfabrik
20.12.2014 – Berlin (Germany) – Postbahnhof
* + Code Orange / ** Sold out!
A special European tour trailer can be seen here:
The show on December 10th in Essen, Germany was just recently announced as sold out, so better grab your tickets quickly for any of the other dates if you don’t want to miss this high-class package…
German metal titans ACCEPT have posted a thank you message to their fans on completion of their “Blind Rage” tour for 2014. The message was posted on the band’s official website and also their official Facebook page. Check out what they had to say:
“THANK YOU ACCEPT FANS! #1 ALBUM, 45 SHOWS, 20 COUNTRIES, PLAYED FOR NEARLY ONE MILLION FANS, SOLD OUT SHOWS IN 9 COUNTRIES. SEE YOU IN 2015!”
ACCEPT have been touring constantly for the last few months following the release of latest album “Blind Rage” and will be on the road again in 2015. To check our recent interview with mainman Wolf Hoffmann where touring was one of the topics discussed, visit here.
Continuing the promotion of his Century Media Records solo album debut “I Am The Fire”, for which a special and limited expanded edition CD+DVD Digipak version was released last month, Ozzy Osbourne / Firewind guitarist GUS G. is now announcing a next string of European tourdates. The run of headlining dates in February and March 2015 has now been expanded by 3 shows in Italy as well as a special London show supporting Kamelot.
Here is a complete list of the dates:
GUS G. – “We Are The Fire” European Tour 2015:
19.02.2015 Cambridgeshire (UK) – The Corn Exchange St Ives
20.02.2015 Nottingham (UK) – Rescue rooms
21.02.2015 Manchester (UK) – Academy 3
22.02.2015 Southampton (UK) – The Joiners
24.02.2015 Hamburg (Germany) – Logo
25.02.2015 Flensburg (Germany) – Roxy
26.02.2015 Rotterdam (The Netherlands) – Baroeg
27.02.2015 Mannheim (Germany) – 7er Club *
14.03.2015 London (UK) – O2 Academy Islington + Kamelot *
20.03.2015 Modena (Italy) – Borderline *
21.03.2015 Bosco Marengo (Italy) – Live 23 *
22.03.2015 Muggia (Italy) – Macaki *
* Newly announced dates!
Italian group Arthemis will support the shows from Feb. 19th – March 4th as well as the Italian dates from March 20th – 22nd. For the Swedish dates Jeff Scott Soto and Tara Teresa (who both appear on the “I Am The Fire” album) will join GUS G. and his band, which will feature Henning Basse (ex Brainstorm / Metalium, Sons Of Seasons) on lead vocals for this tour, for a very special set.
In related live-activity news, please take notice that GUS G.’s previously announced appearance as part of the “Metal All Stars” tour for Nov./Dec. is not taking place anymore. The complete tour has been postponed and more details can be found here: http://www.metalallstars.com
And a drum-cam video for the album track “Vengeance” filmed at GUS G.’s recent show in Las Vegas can now also be seen here:
On “I Am The Fire”, GUS G. handles all guitar, bass as well as keyboards and is joined by a roster of friends and guests that helped bring his musical vision to fruition: drummers Jeff Friedl (A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, Devo) and Daniel Erlandsson (Arch Enemy), bassists David Ellefson (Megadeth), Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Marty O’Brien (Tommy Lee, We Are The Fallen), and vocalists Mats Levén (Candlemass, ex Yngwie Malmsteen/Therion), Blake Allison (Devour The Day), Michael Starr (Steel Panther), Alexia Rodriguez (Eyes Set To Kill), Tom S. Englund (Evergrey), Jacob Bunton (Adler) and Jeff Scott Soto (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, ex Journey). The album showcases a well-balanced mix of active rock, classic hard rock, traditional metal and guitar-driven instrumentals, taking listeners on a diverse journey through GUS G.’s soulful playing.
The expanded CD+DVD Digipak version of “I Am The Fire” features 4 bonus tracks and a 62-minutes bonus DVD (Including 4 video clips, 3 live tracks, 6 guitar tutorials as well as an EPK and Track-By-Track Commentary features).
Despite the name, SYLOSIS‘ forthcoming release “Dormant Heart” is not a peaceful album: It’s about a powerful force unleashing anger against everyday injustice and a sleeping society that lets these things wash over them, which frontman Josh explains further in the first official track by track clip for the new album.
Watch Josh explain how the tracks ‘Where The Wolves Come To Die’, ‘Victims And Pawns’, ‘Dormant Heart’, ‘To Build A Tomb’, Overthrown’ and ‘Leech’ came about, here:
The official video for ‘Leech’ can be watched over on Vimeo.
The video was animated by Oliver Jones of Better Feeling Films in the UK. It took five hours to film the band and story footage and roughly 60 days to animate. Oliver was the only person working on the project, from shooting the live action footage to animating the entire video. The process he used is called ‘rotoscoping’, which involves tracing over footage, frame by frame. Frontman Josh commented: “Leech is the second single off the new album. I would say the album is probably our heaviest to date but this song showcases a more melodic and stripped back side to what we do. It’s a really dark, sinister doomy sounding song and we thought it would be cool to try something a bit different for the video and have it reflect the vibe of the music. We’ve always wanted to have an animated music video and it allows for a bit more creativity and makes it stand out.”
The second album trailer was posted online a few weeks back and sees Josh explaining the artwork for the new album, including where the idea came from and how much he was involved being an artist himself: http://youtu.be/tiy7Y9RbzEM
The artwork was created by Bristol based artist BONFIRE (Opeth, Satyricon, Kataonia), who has previously designed some t-shirts for the band. On the theme of the artwork, Josh comments: “The cover relates to sacrifice (the sacrificial lamb is more of a symbol than something to be taken literally) but also the looming, oppressing figure in the background represents corruption and being forced into something against your will.”
Album trailer #1: Josh discusses the title of the new album, where it was recorded and who was involved: http://youtu.be/XyIrAEHgrFU
Despite the name, “Dormant Heart” is not a peaceful album: It’s about a powerful force unleashing anger against everyday injustice and a sleeping society that lets these things wash over them.
Speaking about the album Josh states: “It’s the most pissed-off, aggressive and intense album we’ve done, yet it still retains the epic, progressive and melodic side we’re also known for. It’s a very gloomy and atmospheric album. We’ve been through a lot as a band and individuals and we’ve made our darkest album to date.
“The title refers to people going through life on autopilot and being one of the herd, how a lot of people simply accept the way things are just because it’s ‘tradition’ as opposed to taking a good look at the world around you and thinking for yourself. Sometimes there are catalysts that happen and change our perspective or consciousness.”
The album was produced by Middleton with the help of engineer Scott Atkins and was mastered by TesseracT guitarist Acle Kahney.
SYLOSIS began tracking the new album back in March 2014, working away secretly alongside touring commitments. Drum tracks were recorded in May at Monkey Puzzle House by original drummer Rob Callard, who parted ways with the band last month due to time restraints. After filling in for some live shows during SYLOSIS’ Spring 2014 tour, BLEED FROM WITHIN’s drummer Ali Richardson is now a permanent member of the band.
The band revealed the first track from the new album a few weeks ago, titled Mercy: http://youtu.be/EXPQR22UwO0
Josh has since recorded a tutorial of the track for us and that clip is now up on his YouTube channel where he hosts a variety of other guitar tutorials: http://youtu.be/3SOtk1fhUZ4
“Mercy is the first single off the new album,” states Josh. “It’s got a pretty dark and heavy vibe to it but it’s one of the most melodic tracks on the album at the same time. It’s got a big slow, doomy outro with an octave pedal on the guitars so that’s going to rumble some guts live.”
“Dormant Heart” tracklist:
1. Where The Wolves Come To Die
2. Victims And Pawns
3. Dormant Heart
4. To Build A Tomb
5. Overthrown
6. Leech
7. Servitude
8. Indoctrinated
9. Harm
10. Mercy
11. Callous Souls
12. Quiescent
Bonus tracks:
12. Pillars Erode
13. Zero (Smashin’ Pumpkins cover)
Bonus DVD
The Dormant Heart Sessions – Live in the studio
To listen to our recent interview with Josh, visit this location.
Checking in from Solslottet Studio in Bergen, members of Norwegian progressive extreme metallers ENSLAVED offer the last installment in their seven-part “Diary of Mad Men” series shedding insight into the band’s upcoming as-yet-untitled thirteenth studio album, set for an early 2015 release.
“… Then it was time for me to do some howling, cursing, screaming and singing again,” contributes ENSLAVED bassist & vocalist Grutle Kjellson. “We moved a few meters from Duper to co-producer Iver Sandøy’s own Solslottet Studios and rigged up what we usually do with a set of three microphones: A Shure SM 7B for growls and screams, a RFT CM-7151 (commonly known as “The Leipzig bottle”) for chants & whispering etc., and a Neumann UM-57 for clean vocals. We were fortunately lucky with the energy, atmosphere, and my vocal shape the first day, so we were able to lay down my vocal tracks for half of the songs the first day… that is, with the exception some dubbing I usually do on Herbrand [Larsen]’s vocals. It was also time to lay down some tracks with both the Moog Taurus pedals and with one of ENSLAVED treasures that has been with us since 1991 (!): Ivar [Bjørnson]’s Roland SH-1. A great day at work and an ever-growing confidence that this album will destroy everything we have done prior to this.”
Keyboard player & clean vocalist Herbrand Larsen adds: “This album will be rawer and more direct… more in your face!”
Main recordings for the new album are taking place at Duper and Solslottet Studios in Bergen, Norway with additional recordings done at Conclave & Earshot Studios (presided over by ENSLAVED members Larsen and Ice Dale) and Ivar Bjørnson’s Peersonal Sound Studios.
Additional experimentation and sonic exploration will be conducted deep in the woods of Valevåg south of Bergen where the band took a mobile studio to record the infamous ‘Thorn’ 7” single in 2012.
Album number thirteen is being produced by band members Ivar Bjørnson, Grutle Kjellson & Herbrand Larsen together with Iver Sandøy. Mixing will be done by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden.
Artwork will be illustrated by long-time collaborating artist and “sixth ENSLAVED member” Truls Espedal, who has painted all seven album covers since 2001’s “Monumension”.
2012’s studio release, “RIITIIR”, garnered ENSLAVED a seventh nomination for a Spellemann Award (the Norwegian equivalent of the American Grammy) in the category of “Best Metal Album.” They have won a Spellemann Award four consecutive times for the following four studio albums: “Axioma Ethica Odini”(2010), “Vertebrae” (2008), “Ruun” (2006), and “Isa” (2004).
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
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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
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