Osculum Pacis is the fourth full-length album from doom death specialists STRATUZ. The album features 11 brand new tracks with a whole range of new sounds, which were composed throughout the Covid-19 pandemic against all odds.
Lyrically, the album’s tracks speak of the abuses of the church and its deafening silence in the face of so many denunciations of abuse, it speaks of the manipulation of the masses, injustice, but at the same time, it also speaks of the awakening of consciousness, of death as a process of transformation, the need to change ourselves in order to rise up and banish our own miseries, it speaks of rising up awareness of who we are.
Stratuz recorded the songs at The Asylum Studio with production being handled by Franklin Berroterán. Mixing and Mastering was by Arturo Banús in Chicago, Illinois. The artwork for Osculum Pacis was created by Eugenia Bathoriya. All music & lyrics for Stratuz are by Gerónimo Egea & Franklin Berroterán.
Osculum Pacis | Released April 26th, 2022 on Sliptrick Records
Track listing: 01. Intro | 02. Morning Star | 03. Father Amorth(e) | 04. Holy Grail | 05. Caelibatus | 06. In The Name of God | 07. Back to the Sun | 08. Sodomized | 09. Dawn | 10. Left | 11. Condemned
“I didn’t used to like The Hollywood Stars, I used to like The New York Dolls. Then I heard The Hollywood Stars play ‘Satisfaction.’ Now I wanna f**k ‘em.” — Iggy Pop
After releasing their album Live On The Sunset Strip in late 2021 via Golden Robot Records, THE HOLLYWOOD STARS returned in 2022 with a brand-new single ‘The Bottom’ and it has been followed up by another new track ‘Will the Lights Go On Again?’ which is now available on all digital platforms.
‘Will the Lights Go On Again?’ features a very 70s-like pop vibe. The song is a metaphor for anyone feeling down and asking themselves the question, will things get better? The track is very in-sync with the state of the world we are living in over the last few years.
It would seem like every nook and cranny in rock ‘n’ roll history has been explored ad infinitum by this point. Countless books and magazine articles have been written, painstakingly excavating the lives and careers of everyone from Chuck Berry to Aerosmith, Wanda Jackson to Arcade Fire. But what if there was a band with deep roots whose story had barely been broached? A band with direct ties to Little Richard, The Kinks, The Mamas & the Papas, The Electric Prunes, The Strawberry Alarm Clock, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Iggy Pop, The Runaways, The Flamin’ Groovies, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Steppenwolf, Meat Loaf and Blue Cheer, among others?
Such a band does exist, and they are THE HOLLYWOOD STARS. Now, after more than 40 years apart, they are performing together again and making new music and ‘The Bottom’ and ‘Will the Lights Go On Again?’ are just the beginning of a new chapter as we move into 2022.
Photo L-R:: Arnel Pineda, Neal Schon, Jonathan Cain
As one of the world’s most beloved rock bands, JOURNEY continues to create new music and thrill audiences night after night in sold out arenas worldwide in conjunction with AEG as their promoter.
Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, Journey have 25 gold and platinum albums, including the fifteen-million selling Greatest Hits collection, with total sales adding up to 80 million records around the world.
Emerging from the pandemic with a supercharged new studio line-up, today, the members of Journey unleash the first single “You Got The Best Of Me” off their forthcoming studio album, Freedom – due out July 8 via Frontiers Music Srl – available for pre-order: https://orcd.co/journeyfreedom.
“You Got The Best Of Me” will be followed this summer by an epic, fifteen-track set of new original songs that brings back the grand scale of the group’s greatest moments, along with updated and bold new directions and sounds.
“I wanted kind of a punky rendition of ‘Any Way You Want It’”, says the group’s founding member, guitarist, songwriter, and producer Neal Schon about the single. “I usually don’t go in saying I’m going to look for something like that, but then it just came to me, like “Wheel in the Sky” did years ago. It just kind of flew out of my mouth.”
While the forthcoming album was made with visions of arena and stadium stages, it started from humble beginnings. In 2020, as COVID swept the globe, Schon was stuck at home like the rest of us. “During the pandemic, there wasn’t much to do,” he says. “I spent a lot of time in my little studio at home, learning how to play keyboards and looping. Some of those ideas ended up being songs. So it kind of came out of nowhere.”
As the band’s legend continues to grow larger and their touring gets bigger, Freedom will be the first album of new material to be released in eleven years, since 2011’s Eclipse, and in addition to longtime keyboard player and primary lyricist Jonathan Cain and vocalist Arnel Pineda, one more member was recruited for the upcoming album — bassist extraordinaire Randy Jackson, who had played on Journey’s 1986 album Raised on Radio.
Freedom tracklisting
Together We Run Don’t Give Up On Us Still Believe In Love You Got The Best Of Me Live To Love Again The Way We Used To Be Come Away With Me After Glow Let It Rain Holdin On All Day and All Night Don’t Go United We Stand Life Rolls On Beautiful As You Are
*Freedom will be released by Frontiers Records in Europe, United Kingdom and Japan. BMG will release the album for the rest of the world.
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES 4.27 – Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN 4.28 – Spectrum Center – Charlotte, NC 4.30 – Schottenstein Center – Columbus, OH 5.02 – Allstate Arena – Rosemont, IL 5.04 – Van Andel Arena – Grand Rapids, MI 5.05 – Gainbridge Fieldhouse – Indianapolis, IN 5.07 – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse – Cleveland, OH 5.09 – Capital One Arena – Washington, D.C. 5.11 – XL Center – Hartford, CT 5.13 – Scotiabank Arena – Toronto, ON 5.16 – Videotron Centre – Quebec City, QC 7.15 – Resorts World Theatre – Las Vegas, NV* 7.16 – Resorts World Theatre – Las Vegas, NV* 7.22 – Resorts World Theatre – Las Vegas, NV* 7.23 – Resorts World Theatre – Las Vegas, NV* *with symphony orchestra
Journey and AEG have announced four exclusive Las Vegas show dates featuring special symphony orchestra performances at the new, state-of-the-art Resorts World Theatre.
BLACKMORE’S NIGHT and earMUSIC will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the band’s debut album “Shadow Of The Moon”, being the first of a series of catalogue reissue albums of the band’s full discography on CD, Vinyl and Digital – including surprises for all fans looking for extra tracks and rarities.
We would like you to join the party and contribute to the Anniversary editions: please share your pictures and stories from the shows you have attended, collections of original articles and reviews, concert posters and all you treasure in your collection by sending a good definition picture (or text) to blackmoresnight@ear-music.net. You will have a special mention on the new editions booklet if your contribution will be used.
The Blackmore’s Night 25th Anniversary reissue series will be a celebration of a unique story and musical journey. A quarter of a century of great music, friendship and unique sense of community between the band and its fans.
Please keep following our pages for all details to be revealed in the next months and be among the first to hear about fan competitions, special editions, exclusive merchandise, newly discovered video material on the band´s official YouTube Channel and so much more.
If you want to know more, please subscribe to the Blackmore’s Night 25th anniversary newsletter here: www.ear-music.net/blackmoresnight
Orange County’s BLEED THE SKY have announced that their new vocalist is Rudy Flores. The band released their brand new single “Rot in Flesh” today along with an accompanying music video.
“The lyrics of ‘Rot in Flesh’ represent the choice to overcome negativity from one’s own toxic thoughts and others trying to bring you down. Sonically, this song hints at Bleed the Sky’s new direction and what people can expect from our upcoming releases. This is just the beginning. We are very excited to show you what else this new line-up has to offer,” says the band.
Formed in 2003, California based metal band Bleed The Sky are back with a new single as well as a new frontman. Following two well received albums released on Nuclear BlastRecords, Paradigm in Entropy (2005) and Murder the Dance (2008), the band once again redefined who they are with the Art Is War Records release This Way Lies Madness (2020) and the single The Devil Will See You Now (2020). The lineup consists of Austin D’Amond (drums), Wayne Miller (guitars), Kevin Garcia (guitars) and David Culbert (bass guitar). Now joined by Rudy Flores (vocals). Bleed The Sky returns with the same intensity that is familiar to fans of their previous albums, as well as a new brutality that they are excited to share with the metal community.
Following the release of their debut self titled album, which charted worldwide and garnered praise from both fans and media, ENVY OF NONE, the new project featuring Alex Lifeson (Rush), Andy Curran (Coney Hatch), Alfio Annibalini and singer Maiah Wynne have released the video to their latest single “Never Said I Love You”.
The video, a Blacktide Phonic/Visual Production, Andy Curran describes as having “really captured the spirit of the song. It’s very cinematic and I love all the moody cityscapes. The main character is very free spirited, and the video loosely follows the narrative in a subtle way. I love the picking of the flower petals: ’He loves me, he loves me not? Isn’t that what life’s all about …wanting to be loved or accepted?”
On the song Andy continues “’Never Said I Love You’ is a very special one for me and Alf. It had been kicking around for a while in a demo form and the bed track always felt like it had so much potential. When we wrote the backing tracks we were certainly feeling it had some punk/pop overtones, I think we were channelling late 80’s Brit pop vibrations and I came up with the lyric line “I Never Said I Love You” again inspired by bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Smiths & Ultravox who all wrote about broken hearts on the dance floors around the world ..so I thought it was time to re-introduce that theme but with something that was more upbeat. When Maiah and I spoke about this she liked that lyrical hook and ran with it. The icing was Alex coming in & in the 11th hour adding the awesome middle section that sounds like pedal steel and the acoustic guitars in the chorus just elevate it to the next level. My initial thought lyrically was more of a -back off, I never said I love you. Kinda like, hey were just friends but I love how Maiah turned that into something much different.”
Maiah Wynne adds “This song had great energy from the beginning. Everyone connects and interprets music from their own unique perspective. When I heard the line “I Never Said I Love You” I thought of it more from the point of view of someone who never had the chance to tell the person they love how they felt before it was too late. Maybe a bad fight in a relationship that never had a resolution, or a casual fling that never became a serious relationship despite deeper feelings being there, or friends with romantic feelings that never became lovers. When I wrote and arranged the rest of the lyrics and vocal melodies for the song I wrote it with that sense of connection, tension, loss, and longing in mind.”
Envy Of None, feature Rush’s Alex Lifeson, Coney Hatch founder/bassist Andy Curran, accomplished producer and engineer Alfio Annibalini and singer-songwriter Maiah Wynne, their self-titled 11 track debut album ricochets between various shades of alternative, experimental and synth rock, throwing surprises at every turn, twisting dark melodies against contemporary pop hooks.
“We’ve been working on and off with all these songs for over 4 years so it’s extremely rewarding to finally finish them all and share them with the world. It’s like all these baby birds (our songs) leaving the nest and flying out into the sky …we have no idea where they will go or who else they will meet along the way – it’s exciting. People have been very kind and supportive online and maybe the most rewarding part is hearing die hard Rush fans say they love it. I wasn’t expecting that, same with fans of Coney and my other projects. This is nothing like what me, Alex or Maiah have ever done, so having people comment on social media in such a positive way has really been so cool to see. I’m very proud that we found a home for these songs and have to thank our label Kscope for believing in these songs and stepping up to roll the dice and release it. So fun to be part of this ride.”Andy Curran
Envy Of None’s self-titled album is out now on Kscope.
Envy Of None track listing 1. Never Said I Love You [04:06] 2. Shadow [03:21] 3. Look Inside [04:44] WATCH VIDEO (https://youtu.be/QF-lfYi7DXk) 4. Liar [03:13] WATCH VIDEO (https://youtu.be/vV-IZRh22mo) 5. Spy House [02:23] 6. Dog`s Life [04:36] 7. Kabul Blues [03:12] 8. Old Strings [05:15] 9. Dumb [04:19] 10. Enemy[04:16] 11. Western Sunset [02:25]
The album has been released on the following formats and is available to ORDER HERE
Ltd Edition deluxe version – presented in a gatefold sleeve with a blue coloured vinyl LP, 2 CDs including a 5-track bonus disc, 28 page Booklet with exclusive content.
Golden ticket!! Envy Of None, in partnership with Epiphone & Gibson Guitars, are giving away an Alex Lifeson Axcess Standard Signature Les Paul guitar to one lucky fan who finds the “golden ticket” in the deluxe edition. For full terms & conditions, head to kscopemusic.com/eongiveawayterms
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
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 