CULT OF LUNA to Tour Europe in October with CASPIAN + BIRDS IN ROW

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 22, 2022
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Photo by Chad Michael Ward

In less than two weeks CULT OF LUNA will kick off their October tour through Europe. Make sure to get your tickets now at: cultofluna.com/tour

CULT OF LUNA
+ CASPIAN
+ BIRDS IN ROW
02/10 – LU Esch, Rockhal
03/10 – DE Cologne, Live Music Hall
04/10 – CH Geneva, Alhambra
05/10 – FR Toulouse, Le Metronum
06/10 – FR Biarritz, Atabal
07/10 – ES Barcelona, AM Fest
08/10 – ES Madrid, But
09/10 – ES Porto, Amplifest
11/10 – FR Nantes, Stereolux
12/10 – FR Lille, Aeronef
13/10 – FR Strasbourg, La Laiterie
14/10 – NL Zwolle, Hedon
15/10 – DE Leipzig, Hard Club
16/10 – PL Wroclaw, A2
17/10 – HU Budapest, Durer Kert
19/10 – GR Athens, Fuzz Club

Comments Cult Of Luna: “This weekend we met up in Umeå to practice for the tour. Set lists have been discussed, decided and changed. But, more importantly the first tour for two and a half years starts to feel real! In some senses this forced hiatus has done us good. The urge to play live has never been stronger and that will translate on stage.
Worth nothing is that Thomas is on tour with Phoenix so our brother Christian Augustin will jump in as the lead drummer and our longtime friend Daniel Berglund will play the second kit. Hope to see you out there!“

For over two decades Cult of Luna have forged a sound incomparable to others – ambitious, epic, visceral, and drenched in emotion. Earlier this year Cult Of Luna released their latest full-length; The Long Road North marks as a follow-up to last year’s The Raging River EP. As is the case with every album from the band in recent years, there is a lot of shifting of dynamics and sonic density, and perhaps more so than usual on The Long Road North. “It’s a big and cinematic sounding album. I think one of the reasons why we have been able to be so productive the last couple of years is that we have been consistently writing from the heart. We have let our instincts guide us, and I think it’s getting clearer where we are heading,” reveals vocalist/guitarist Johannes Persson, who has been one of the primary driving forces behind the band since their inception.

Persson continues, “The long road north is a long road home. A direction dictated by a call that penetrates rock and echoes through the forest. It flows over every lake, accelerated by the wind. When it reaches you, you know it’s time. Time to move forward. You don’t know where it will lead but you put the trust in it. With eyes raised towards the midnight sun it pulls you closer. The road is long and the end is uncertain.“

The Long Road North features guest appearances from composer Colin Stetson, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz of French indie band Phoenix, and Mariam Wallentin (Wildbirds And Peacedrums).

Cult Of Luna line-up:
Johannes Persson – Guitars/Vocals
Andreas Johansson – Bass
Thomas Hedlund – Drums & Percussion
Fredrik Kihlberg – Guitar/Vocals
Kristian Karlsson – Keyboards, Vocals
Magnus Lindberg – Production

SWEET Announce Tony Wright, Sari Schorr + Kira Mac as Special Guests on UK Tour

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 22, 2022
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Photo by Laurence Harvey

SWEET have announced their special guests on their November and December 2022 UK Tour.

Tony Wright (Terrorvision) supports the Sweet at Newcastle Boiler Shop (Nov 24), Edinburgh Queen’s Hall (Nov 25), Bury St Edmunds, The Apex (Dec 1), From Cheese & Grain (Dec 16), Wolverhampton KK’s Steel Mill (Dec 17).

Sari Schorr supports the Sweet at Lytham Lower Pavilion (Nov 26) and Holmfirth Picturedrome (Nov 27).

Kira Mac supports the Sweet at London Islington Assembly Hall (Dec 4), Oxford O2 Academy (Dec 8), Northampton Roadmender (Dec 9), Manchester O2 Academy (Dec 10), Norwich, Waterfront (Dec 11), Exeter Phoenix (Dec 15), & Nottingham Rock City (Dec 18).

Tickets for all shows are available from www.thegigcartel.com and www.planetrock.com. 

Sweet, featuring original guitarist Andy Scott, will perform the band’s iconic hit singles including Ballroom Blitz, Fox on the Run, Blockbuster, Hellraiser, Little Willy, Love Is Like Oxygen, and many more.

Sweet are a British rock and roll institution with a pedigree of 50 years of hit singles. They’ve sold 55 million albums and had 34 number #1 hit singles. Hailed by many as a national treasure with a loyal fanbase, their dazzling arsenal of rock music stands the test of time. The music is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago when Sweet first stormed the UK Charts in January 1971. 

BLACKLIST Release New Single ‘In Shadow Light’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 22, 2022
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[Photo: Scott Irvine]

New York post punk/dark rock veterans Blacklist will issue their highly anticipated sophomore studio album, entitled “Afterworld”, on October 28 2022 via Profound Lore Records. The album is available for pre-order via https://linktr.ee/blacklistmusic

Featuring ten brand new tracks packed with the band’s captivating and distinctive sound, “Afterworld” seamlessly picks up where its critically acclaimed predecessor “Midnight of the Century” (2009) left off: Powerful and dark anthems, blending elements of shoegaze and heavy metal with coldwave in a fluid motion. After already releasing the tracks “The Final Resistance” and “Pathfinder“, the band follows up today with the brand new single “In Shadow Light”, a song about desire, alienation, and the ghosts that inspire us out of silent complacency.

Listen to “In Shadow Light” here:

Joshua Strachan comments:

In Shadow Light is about the turning point in a long period of isolation when solitude becomes loneliness and loneliness breeds longing. I suspect many of us experienced this at some point in the last 2-3 years. I did, and for me it felt like being haunted. Imagery from various films came to mind, the feeling of a presence you can’t see which begins to fill the emptiness of the room. Often this is presented as a frightening thing, something that happens in eerie shadows, but what if the presence is that of someone or something that you desire? That evoked a kind of glow that I felt really matched with how the song sounded to me which was always like a golden autumn sunset. Hence the tension between shadow and light, absence and presence.  

Blacklist lyrics have always centered around the concept of belief, both the positive and negative aspects. For me this song was about taking the negative idea of a frightening malevolent spirit and transforming it into a positive idea, where our existence and our connection with others – maybe even others we haven’t met, or don’t know that well yet – transcends the limitations of the body. It’s about being haunted and possessed, but almost in a romantic way. For me this is a way of turning superstition into something poetic.

Blacklist‘s upcoming record “Afterworld” will be coming out in CD/LP/DIGITAL formats and explores the possible meanings of love in a time of political and environmental collapse. The album was produced by Joshua Strachan at Primal Architecture Studio, Appalachia, VA and mixed by Sanford Parker (Darkthrone, Yob, BLOODYMINDED). 

Tracklist:

  1. Fires Of Black November
  2. The Final Resistance
  3. Nightbound
  4. No Good Answers
  5. Behind The Veil Of The Living World
  6. Pathfinder
  7. Scarlet Horizon
  8. A Stranger In This Century
  9. In Shadow Light
  10. Lovers In Mourning

BLACKLIST are:

Joshua Strachan: Vocals, Guitar, Synthesizer, Saxophone
Ryan Rayhill: Bass
Glenn Maryansky: Electronic and Acoustic Drums
James Minor: Guitar
Chad Dziewior: Guitar

BARABBAS Return with New Album “La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants”, First Single Unleashed

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 22, 2022
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It‘s time to re-open the gates of BARABBAS’s holy redemption riff and find solace, tranquility and joy (not to mention an irreversible tinnitus): Closing an eight-year gap since their first full-length, “Messe pour u n chien”, the French doom metal band BARABBAS returns with a brand new studio album! “La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants” will be released on December 9, 2022 through Sleeping Church Records.

BARABBAS is known for its «take no prisoners» philosophy, both on records and on stages, which they already shared with acts, among many others, such as Windhand, Mars Red Sky or appeared at festivals alike Fall of Summer, Motocultor, Northern Discomfort, Malta Doom Fest to name just a few. So it may come as a surprise that the first album single the band has just unleashed today, is a melodic song with a rather elegiac feel.

“True, it’s quite different from the rest of the new album, proof we’re not a one dimensional band”, says BARABBAS vocalist Saint Rodolphe. “Besides, Emmanuel Peyraud, from the late, great French band Northwinds, agreed to play the keyboards on this track and we are big fans of Northwinds.” 

Autumn is here. The perfect time of the year to take long, melancholic walks through your favorite graveyards. “Cemetery of broken dreams“ might be the perfect soundtrack next time you do so. Stream it here:

“Singing about metaphorical places is a long-standing tradition in rock. Elvis rented a room at the «Heartbreak hôtel», Ricky Nelson wandered through the streets of «Lonesome town»… A cemetary seemed like a mandatory choice for a doom band,” Rodolphe adds, half jokingly.

“La Mort appelle tous les Vivants”, BARABBAS‘ new ode to pessimism, was recorded by Andrew Guillotin (Monolithe, Mauvaise Foi, Arkhon Infaustus, Grist, Clégane…) at Hybreed Studio, and will be released on December 9, 2022 via Sleeping Church Records.

Album Tracklist:

  1. La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants (intro)
  2. Je Suis Mort Depuis Bien Longtemps
  3. Le Saint Riff Rédempteur
  4. De La Viande
  5. Le Cimetière Des Rêves Brisés
  6. Sous Le Signe Du Néant
  7. Mon Crâne est une crypte (et j’y suis emmuré)
  8. La Valse Funèbre
  9. La Mort Appelle Tous Les Vivants (outro)

BARABBAS Live:
03.12.22 (FR) Paris / Le Klub
with many more shows to be announced soon!

ROYAL HUNT Share Video of MATS LEVEN Recording Guest Vocals on New Concept Studio Album “Dystopia. Part 2”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 22, 2022
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ROYAL HUNT have shared a video of MATS LEVEN recording guest vocals on their new concept studio album “Dystopia. Part 2”, out on October 26th via King Records (Japan/SE Asia) and on October 28th via Northpoint Productions (EU/N & S America).

A short pre-view can be found on their YouTube channel:

A longer bonus video is available in Crowdfunding campaign for “DYSTOPIA – PART 2” which is almost completed.

Mats Leven already made a guest appearance on ROYAL HUNT´s previous album “DYSTOPIA – PART 1” where he introduced his character in the story of Dystopia. Watch “The Art of Dying” on YouTube: https://youtu.be/R9yfEw08FnQ

MESSAGE FROM THE BAND:
“We´ve been graced – once again – with a guest appearance by no other but Mats Leven himself. Excellent performance – as usual, mind you – and such a pleasure to work with. Here´s a little video of him spreading the joy over one of the songs from our upcoming album..

Cheers!
RH”

ROYAL HUNT will release their new studio album – “Dystopia. Part 2” – on October 26th via King Records (Japan/SE Asia) and on October 28th via NorthPoint Productions (EU/N & S America). The second and final part of the concept will again feature guest performers: Mats Leven (TSO, Skyblood, Vandenberg), Mark Boals (Y.J. Malmsteen, Ring of Fire, Royal Hunt), Henrik Brockman (Royal Hunt, Evil Masquerade, N´Tribe), Kenny Lubcke (Narita, Zoser Mez) and Alexandra Andersen (Royal Hunt, JSP). “Dystopia – Part 2” will be released in following formats: regular CD, various Deluxe editions/bundles and a gatefold, heavy vinyl double LP (availability date pending).

ROYAL HUNT keep expanding their trademark sound. As the story which inspired the project – Ray Bradbury´s classic novel “Fahrenheit 451” – gets more intense towards the end, the music turns into more dynamic, heavier direction. Once again the guest singers add even more dramatic contrasts to an already cinematic yet solidly rocking soundscape.

Simply a “must have” for any symfo/prog/power fan out there!

MESSAGE FROM THE BAND: “Thinking back to the release date of the “Part 1” back in 2020 makes you realize what a crazy time we all went through just during the last two years: who could have imagined that our “Dystopia” – project would reflect the harsh reality in such detail? And the madness is still ongoing. In any case, “Dystopia – Part 2” is even more relevant today than ever: we followed the general concept yet filled it up with images of current events in order to make it resonate with every person, everybody living through 2020 to 2022 and watching insanity to unfold in real time”.

TRACKLIST:

  1. MIDWAY (RESUMPTION)
  2. THORN IN MY HEART
  3. THE KEY OF INSANITY
  4. LIVE ANOTHER DAY
  5. THE PURGE
  6. ONE MORE SHOT
  7. SCREAM OF ANGER
    a) Hit and Run b) The Thrill of the Chase
  8. LEFT IN THE WIND
  9. RESURRECTION F451

CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
ROYAL HUNT run a crowdfunding campaign for “Dystopia – Part 2” – one gets access to bonus videos, listening parties and early access to the album – by pre-ordering the deluxe edition of the album or any bundle at royalhunt.com

ROYAL HUNT line-up
André Andersen – keyboards
DC Cooper – vocals
Andreas Passmark – bass
Jonas Larsen – guitars
Andreas HABO Johansson – drums

CASEY & SOETEMAN’s First Transatlantic Collaboration “Nonstruct” Coming November 1st

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 22, 2022
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CASEY & SOETEMAN consist of USA bassist Jim Casey and guitarist Hans Soeteman from the Netherlands. They play and produce their own brand of highly commercial music they call “Groove Rock Fusion“. Call or email us now to hear about this incredible story. 

Jim Casey is best known as the bassist from KLIK, Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Hottest Unsigned Band“, and bass gear titan Larry Hartke’s pick for “Hartke’s Hottest Unsigned Bassist“.

Bryan Beller, Bassist for Steve Vai, Joe Satriani & The Aristocrats says: “Jim Casey combines a rock steady groove, a sticky-sweet and thick tone, and an abundance of slinky funk chops for any tune he gets his hands on. You just can’t help but move when he’s laying it down.”

“When Casey first e-mailed me a track I will never forget that day. No more than I could forget the first time I heard Jimi Hendrix or Jaco Pastorius. Everything this guy plays is mind blowing.”- Larry Hartke

Hans Soeteman, the explosive guitarist from the Netherlands, is best known for his acclaimed progressive rock band Dasinu and has been hailed all over the Netherlands for his live performances, heady compositions and elite productions.

America’s largest source for bass music news, Bass Musician Magazine exclaims: “The album is a high-energy display of Groove Rock Fusion at its finest; think Funk meets Progressive Rock. There are giant-sized helpings of lip-curling bass groove and astronomic guitar shredding in eight original tracks“. – Raul Amador, Editor, Bass Musician Magazine

All tracks on NONSTRUCT are composed, produced and performed by Hans Soeteman & Jim Casey. NONSTRUCT has been remastered and mastered by acclaimed engineer Peter Doell, known for his work with Miles Davis, Toto, Marcus Miller, Marilyn Manson & Céline Dion.

NONSTRUCT will be available on all streaming platforms (except Spotify) and in all digital music stores on November 1st.

Photo courtesy of http://www.grooverockfusion.com