WHEN RIVERS MEET, comprised of husband and wife, Aaron, and Grace Bond, will perform six headline concerts in October at Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach (Oct 13), Gloucester Guildhall (Oct 16), Huddersfield Parish (Oct 21), York Crescent (Oct 23), Liverpool Arts (Oct 29), and Milton Keynes Stables (Oct 30).
WRM will also perform three Planet Rock “Rocktober” shows with Kenny Wayne Shepherd and King King at Bristol O2 Academy (Oct 15), London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire (Oct 18), and Sheffield O2 Academy (Oct 22).
The tour announcement dovetails the February 25th release of He’ll Drive You Crazy – the band’s third single taken from their critically acclaimed sophomore album Saving Grace.
In 2021, When Rivers Meet were the first band to win four UK Blues Awards including Blues Band of the Year, Blues Album of the Year, Emerging Blues Artist of the Year, and Most Inspirational Online Performance of the Year. WRM also won Best New Band at Planet Rock’s awards The Rocks.
This year the band have received three nominations at the UK Blues Awards including Blues Album of the Year (Saving Grace), Blues Band of the Year, and Blues Vocalist of the Year (Grace Bond).
Saving Grace follows WRM’s critically acclaimed debut album We Fly Free that was released in November 2020, and their previous two EPs, The Uprising, and Innocence of Youth. The past two years have been a non-stop thrill-ride for WRM, who are comprised of Grace Bond (lead vocals, mandolin, violin) and Aaron Bond (guitar, vocals).
On their sophomore album Saving Grace, WRM have set out to produce a blues rock album with an upbeat, punchy, and exciting sound. The album is available from www.whenriversmeet.co.uk.
Dublin based RITUAL EFFECT have revealed a short teaser for their new lyric video ‘Brand New‘ taken from Upcoming EP ‘Too Late to Turn Back’! The lyric video, created by Mohsen “Stargazer” Fayazi (Stargazer MultiMedia), will be unleashed soon.
The band comments: “The song is about being sure you are following the right path but when you reach your destination, nothing is as expected. We can’t wait to finally get a new tune out to the world, and it won’t be long until the rest of the EP is released. Brace yourselves 🙂“
Earlier the band revealed on ‘Too Late to Turn Back’ EP: “This is the “difficult second album” but not in the traditional sense. The difficulty we faced with this one was the crazy amount of lockdowns and lack of in-person contact we had thoughout the whole process.
It’s a pretty different set of tunes to the first album. “Fossils” had lots of fast paced 4 minute rock songs. These compositions are longer and heavier and go in more directions. And unlike the last album, Paul was with us from the very start of the writing process here, and it shows!
The biggest thing we’ve learned through this recording is that nothing can ever be taken for granted. It’s been a year and a half since the last time we got on stage together and this whole experience has just made us hungrier and more determined than ever. We believe that there’s an energy to these tracks that reflects that, and we chose the title “Too Late To Turn Back” because it represents where we stand right now as a band – all in, focused, and ready to seize our moment.
We are very excited to finally have this mini-album ready for the world. Hope you enjoy it!”
‘Too Late to Turn Back’ Tracklist: Brand New Dead Set Ex Crux Broken Record L.H.W.
Coverart was created by Siobhan Feeney and Eadaoin Curtin.
More information TBA, stay tuned!
Dublin based RITUAL EFFECT fuse aspects of grunge and metal together with catchy riffs, fast paced songs, driving choruses and high energy shows. Since the band’s inception in late 2017, they have written a massive amount of songs, clocked up a hefty amount of gigs, and they have been invited back everywhere that they have played, receiving enthusiastic feedback from far and wide. Each band member has previously written and recorded with different ensembles around the country but none could resist the call to join this new family. Each of the members has their own style and very different qualities which have been intricately wound into Ritual Effect. They are professional to work with, fun to hang out with, and awesome to witness. 2019 saw the band enter the studio for their first serious project, their debut album “Fossils”. This 15 track album is a heavy, melodic nod to their past and sets the pace for a high speed, full on sonic assault to the future. With their song bank close to full storage, a follow up mini album ‘Too Late to Turn Back’ will hit the shelves in 2021. There is no limit to what this band is capable of in the rehearsal room, on stage or on tape. Come join the Ritual and embrace the Effect.
Blackened industrial doom collective CULTED is now sharing the official music video for the song “Dirt Black Chalice,” which is taken from their 2019 mini-album, ‘Vespertina Synaxis – A Prayer For Union and Emptiness.’ The band is celebrating the one year anniversary of the release of their full-length ‘Nous,’ which dropped on February 26, 2021. The video can be seen at THIS LOCATION.
CULTED comment: “To commemorate the one year anniversary of ‘Nous,’ we chose to shoot a video for ‘Dirt Black Chalice’ from our previously released EP, ‘Vespertina Synaxis – A Prayer for Union and Emptiness.’ This is our interpretation through sound of a banquet for the damned… Is this a quest for meaning through drugs and arcane ritual, or through abstinence and asceticism? Or both? Culted is all and nothing. This is everything… Celebrate with us.“
Having played and written music for most of her life, a solo album has been brewing in Pia Isa´s mind for a long time. The bassist and vocalist of Norwegian heavy psych and doom act Superlynx, is now gearing up for the release of her debut solo affair, entitled Distorted Chants, on March 25, 2022 via Argonauta Records!
As much as Pia loves playing with Superlynx and other fellow artists, her ideas for this album seemed more right to work through on her own. Her music is rooted in slow heavy drones but also has a lighter, dreamy and hopeful side. Pia is inspired by massive soundscapes, heavy psych, meditative moods, desert vibes and eastern scales as well as her nordic coastal surroundings. But give ear, as Pia just premiered a second single taken from her Distorted Chants. Following the previously released, first song and video clip for “Follow The Sun” (feat. Gary Arce of Yawning Man on guest guitar), you can now watch a brand new video clip for the haunting track “Quiet Beach” here:
“The theme of Quiet Beach is represented by water – big wild waves, moving towards a quiet beach.” Pia says. “I feel very connected to the sea and a quiet beach to me is a strong representation of peace of mind and the best place I can find myself. I wanted to get a sort of wavy feeling in the song, the sound and video too. This is also one of the first proper videos I have made myself, since becoming more interested in working with video the last couple of years.”
Being open minded and not caring about fitting to any genres but channeling honest and heartfelt music in her own way, the album is deeply personal and been a cathartic process for her, stretching from her inner self and throughout nature. Distorted Chants was recorded in early 2021, and will feature high class guests such as Ole Teigen (Superlynx) on drums and guitarist Gary Arce (Yawning Man, Big Scenic Nowhere) on three of the album tracks.
Distorted Chants will be out on all digital platforms on March 25, 2022, with a Vinyl and CD release to follow via Argonauta Records soon.
UK’s metal death finest KILL ALL THE GENTLEMEN have released their latest video taken from their recent album Black Canvas which was released via Sliptrick Records on February 1st, 2022.
It’s A Sin is the bands take on the Pet Shop Boys classic, but in a more sinful, metal way – chosen by the band’s very own fan base, the decision to cover the song was the result of a poll hosted by Kill All The Gentlemen on their social media.
Nine bone-crushing from Kill All The Gentlemen feature heavy riff-infested tracks, with the addition of intricate arrangements and exquisite song writing which will catapult the listener into a dark, merciless netherworld true to the album’s title. “You could say Black Canvas is about an over-tainted world. You see, when a painting starts off as a blank canvas, that’s the beginning. A perfect concept of nothingness, virgin and untainted.” …read more
Releasing their self-titled debut album this coming April 2022 via Rockshots Records, THEIGNS & THRALLS are sharing their first single “Drinking” with a new music video that will encourage to gather your friends and share some pints!
Band founder Kevin Ridley adds about the track:
“Once I got into the flow of writing and recording the album, things came together quite quickly. Like with this track. When I came across an old poem (by Abraham Cowley) called ‘Drinking’, I thought folk-metal and drinking, what could possibly go wrong? Again, this song has a big chorus and I thought it would be good to ask all the people playing on the album to add some backing vocals and do a little video of themselves recording it so we could make it into a video. This was so successful that I decided to do a different mix of the track for the video. So, you have the ‘Theigns mix’ for the video (which is shorter) and the ‘Thralls mix’ (which is the album version). This mix also contains the ‘drunken guitarist’ intro, which you might witness at gigs. It is a BIG song with lots of players on it, including Emilio (Souto) on guitar, Jonne (Järvelä) on mandolin and Dave (Briggs) on whistle. It’s a bit of a ‘a folk-metal anthem’, hopefully.”
Track Listing: 1. Procession 2. Theigns & Thralls 3. Drinking (Thralls mix) 4. Strive 5. The Lords Of The Hills 6. Life Will Out 7. The Highwayman 8. Today We Get To Play 9. The New Folk Devils 10. Flora Robb 11. Not Thru The Woods Yet Bonus Tracks: 12. Over The Hills And Far Away 13. The Queen Of The Moors 14. Strive acoustic version 15. Drinking (Theigns mix) 16. Life Will Out (KärtsyMegatommy mix)
Theigns & Thralls is the brainchild of Skyclad vocalist and songwriter Kevin Ridley. Originally, it was intended to be an ‘occasional band’ to perform songs from Ridley’s back catalogue of songs from Skyclad and his solo album while working around Skyclad’s touring plans. However, when the 2020 global pandemic struck, his plans changed. Being stuck in lockdown, the project became a collaborative recording project building on a few demo ideas. At first, musician friends were contacted to add a bit of violin here and a whistle there. But then things gathered momentum and friends of friends were also asked and players across Europe joined to contribute. The response was, to say the least, overwhelmingly positive and, in the end, twenty-five musicians from bands such as Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, Cruachan, Waylander, Celtibeerian and Metal De Facto as well as solo musicians (new and old acquaintances of Ridley) contributed everything from drums, bass, guitar, violin, whistles, bagpipes to hurdy gurdy and vocals.
“I think that, because of lot of the album was written and recorded in a fairly short space of time, there is certain feel and continuity to it. There is a blend of Celtic Speed-Punk, Folk-Metal and Classic Rock influences. Added to that, in terms of lyrical content, there is a strong appreciation of history, literature and humanism that comes together.” adds Ridley.
The name Theigns & Thralls (which basically means masters and servants) was settled on and it was also decided to make an eponymous album so that Theigns & Thralls was the band’s name, the name of the album, and the name of one of the songs. This was to help clarify the band’s ’mission’ or ‘raison d’etre’.
As well as putting out the album and videos, the next phase of the band’s evolution will be to put together a ‘touring band’ when permitted, not only to do what was originally intended, but also to perform the new original songs – perhaps with a few guest artist appearances – and to become a force in their own right.
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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