Jacksonville, FL based Rock band FORTUNE CHILD has released their debut single, “Far.” Featuring heavy, classic rock guitar riffs, funk basslines, and soaring vocals, “Far” is the first single off of the band’s upcoming, Kevin Elson (JOURNEY, MR. BIG) produced, debut LP, Close to the Sun, due out in early March.
“It’s a fusion of what we’ve heard in the past and what we hear in our heads. An homage to the pioneers of Rock n’ Roll and also our way of bringing it into the modern age.” – FORTUNE CHILD
Deprive a person of something, and they will surely go out and find it. In an age where Rock N’ Roll has fallen by the wayside, few have heeded the call to preserve its integrity and importance in most of the music we hear today. It’s time to put the question to rest: Rock N’ Roll is here to stay, and Fortune Child will be manning the ship.
Founded in Jacksonville, Florida in 2021, it is no secret that these lovers of good ol’ fashioned Rock were inspired by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd,Alice in Chains, The Black Crowes and so many more. The four-piece band plans to take the Rock N’ Roll scene by storm, and to remind the people of what truly matters: the music itself.
The band is comprised of Christian Powers on vocals, Buddy Crump on lead guitar, Melanie Jo on drums (previously of Billy Gibbons and the BFGs), and Jon Ward on bass and has quickly garnered significant support from the Southeast US Rock N’ Roll scene opening for national touring acts such as Blacktop Mojo. They will continue to do so as they leave crowds wanting more and more after each show. It’s loud, it’s dirty, and it’s down-right badass. Fortune Child is a force to be reckoned with. For 2022, the band has partnered with legendary rock producer Kevin Elson of Journey, Mr. Big, Europe, and Lynyrd Skynyrd to produce their full length debut album Close to the Sun,__ due out in early March. It’s one you won’t want to miss!
10 YEARS and Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group have presented a visualizer for the band’s “Déjà Vu” from the album Violent Allies. Guitarist Brian Vodinh shares, “’Déjà Vu’ is a song about trying to tune out the monotonous stuff we face in our everyday lives, and find inspiration in new ways. This relates to our songwriting process, but also to our personal lives as well. We can get stuck in the repetitive cycle of reading the same news, looking at social media, and hearing a rehashed version of the same stories over and over. Sometimes it feels good to check-out, turn off your brain, and connect to other aspects of life.”
The lead single from the Violent Allies album, “The Shift,” has been streamed over 9.1 million times on Spotify, with 15.9 million collective plays across all platforms. Repertoire from Violent Allies has been streamed 15.8 million times on Spotify, while collective streams across all platforms exceeds 28.6 million. To view the official music video of “The Shift,” click here: https://youtu.be/yo-7PuzG97Y.
The band will return to the road this Spring with an extensive run of the U.S. that will play 33 markets. Prior, 10 Years will appear on ShipRocked 2022 from January 22-27. On April 8, the Official Fan Summit will be staged in Las Vegas at 24 Oxford, where the band will perform their Feeding The Wolves album in its entirety, featuring the prior singles “Fix Me” and “Shoot It Out,” for the first, and likely only time ever. A complete itinerary follows below. Black Map has been confirmed as direct support with VRSTY opening.
ABOUT 10 YEARS: For nearly two decades, 10 Years have quietly pushed themselves and modern rock towards evolution. Building a formidable catalog, the group’s gold-selling 2005 breakthrough The Autumn Effect yielded the hit “Wasteland,” which went gold, infiltrated the Billboard Hot 100, and clinched #1 at Active Rock Radio and #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart. They landed three Top 30 entries on the Billboard Top 200 with Division [2008], Feeding the Wolves [2010], and Minus the Machine [2012]. (How to Live) As Ghosts, released in 2017, marked a reunion between Jesse, Brian, and Matt and achieved marked success. Not only did the album bow in the Top 5 of the US Top Hard Rock Albums Chart, but it also yielded the hit “Novacaine.” The single ascended to the Top 5 of the Billboard US Mainstream Rock Songs Chart and tallied 22 million Spotify streams, alongside 39 million streams across all dsp’s. The cumulative total for all track streams from repertoire on How To Live (As Ghosts) exceeds 69.3 million plays. Along the way, they sold out countless headline shows and toured with everyone from Korn, Deftones, and Stone Sour to Chris Cornell and Linkin Park. The band’s most recent album Violent Allies has been a global success with streams approaching 30 million plays.
British Heavy Metal legends SAXON have released the second single, “Remember the Fallen”, from their upcoming album, Carpe Diem – set for release February 4th via Silver Lining Music.
“I wanted to write a song about Covid, about the people that have died, and give my perception of how it seemed to happen” offers Biff Byford. “Certain aspects of it all are quite mysterious, and of course, it hasn’t finished yet, has it? We should all remember those who have died as a group of people not really knowing why they died, because the information wasn’t there.”
The release of “Remember the Fallen” is also accompanied by a reportage-style video montaged with footage of the band’s individual recording sessions. Listen To/Watch the recently released “Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)” at this location
Produced by Andy Sneap (Judas Priest, Exodus, Accept and Priest guitarist) at Backstage Recording Studios in Derbyshire with Byford and Sneap mixing and mastering, Carpe Diem strikes the ear as one of the most essential British metal statements of the last few years and not lacking in pace or bite, an album which will ignite the joy in stalwart supporters and attract a whole new legion to the Saxon fold.
Sneap, himself a guitarist and producer of some metal repute, ensures that Carpe Diem does not lack one ounce of grit or sharpness.
“Andy’s obviously a very good guitarist,” says Biff, “but he’s not a blues-based guitarist like our guys are, he’s more of a modern style player. And that means the boys (Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt) love working with him because, again, it’s all about the intensity. Andy’s always pushing the envelope, he doesn’t let them get away with anything. They have to play it for real, full speed. He gets great sound, and we want that Gibson/ Marshall ‘80s sound even if they’re not Gibsons and Marshalls. We try and retain that British metal guitar sound that we created for Saxon, and he’s definitely an ‘80s child.”
Despite a career which has spanned 44 years with over 15 million albums sold, including four top 10 UK albums, and having played to hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide, Saxon are revving up for one of their busiest eras yet.
“We’re gonna be quite busy this year,” says Biff. “There are festivals which have been rescheduled from two years ago, we’re looking to go to America, we’re also going to tour UK and Europe later in the year and like everyone really, we’re just keeping our fingers crossed that everything works out and we can do it all. We’re also recording the second Inspirations album, and as we do that, you never know, we might write a few songs for the next Saxon album…”
As you can see, Saxon remain committed to seizing every minute of every hour of every day. Carpe Diem indeed!
Carpe Diem will be available in a variety of formats and pre-orders can be placed at this location
Tracklisting
1. Carpe Diem (Seize the Day)
2. Age of Steam
3. The Pilgrimage
4. Dambusters
5. Remember the Fallen
6. Super Nova
7. Lady In Gray
8. All for One
9. Black is the Night
10. Living On the Limit
Produced by Andy Sneap and Biff Byford
Album mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap
Guitars recorded by Andy Sneap at Backstage Recording Studios, Derbyshire (UK); Vocals recorded by Seb Byford at Big Silver Barn, York (UK); Drums recorded by Jacky Lehmann (Audiosound) at Velbyproductions, Grünenplan (Germany).
All lyrics by Biff Byford. Backing vocals by Seb Byford
Photo credit: Courtney Santos-Awkwardeye Photography
Texas’ electronic rockers CEDARS have just release their new radio hit single, entitled ‘Circles‘, which is about rhythms!
CEDARS’ frontlady Sandeigh on ‘Circles’: “Circles is about rhythms. All of life – everything around – is filled with them. The tides, the moon, the weather, our breath, our blood, you, me. There’s this incredible circular, life-death-life rhythm to everything.
I feel like we get talked out of listening to the wisdom these circles have to offer us. There’s so much knowledge in our bodies and in the natural world and when we tune into those places, they have a lot to say. Sometimes, in order to hear that, we have to be willing to let go of things we think matter, things we might not want to part with, to burn those things down to make room for new growth. That’s part of the life-death-life cycle -that’s part of the cyclical nature of life and growth. Even when it’s uncomfortable or we have to go against popular opinion or maybe the “way we’ve always done things.”
For me, the inner wisdom I hear is often one calling me to a wilder life. She’s asking me to wake up to my true nature and helps me see what needs to die in me to make room for more authenticity. Her voice is wise and daring. (And sometimes asking me to get WAY outside of my comfort zone. But I trust her.)
What circles are you being called to look at in your world? Inside and out…what needs to die and what needs to be tended?”
Furthermore, the band has announced their next shows, see the details below.
January 14th – The Forge, Ben Wheeler, Texas January 16th – Acadia Bar and Grill, Houston, Texas
More shows TBA.
Currently the band is in the studio working on their next full-length album.
The band issued: “We got started on new concepts even as we were gearing up to release Cowards back in June.
While Cowards explores a theme of letting go and shedding what’s no longer needed, this new body of work is a deeper look into what comes alongside that purging, and what can be possible in its place. Cowards really feels like a forest fire. Everything was burning down in our actual lives and that, of course, made its way into the stories on that album and the videos we’ve created from it. But some of the most fertile soil is found after fire removes what’s no longer serving the forest. It makes room for new life.
But first we sit and sift through the ashes.
The new album’s title has a lot to do with the pause in-between the burning away and next season. It will explore themes of shadow work and inner patterns, and how the light needs the dark. And as usual, we’re doing it with an expansive and deep soundscape.
We’re excited. We’ve been in the demo phase for a bit and what’s coming together feels really good, like we’re more settled into who we are individually and as a family.”
Stay tuned for more information!
CEDARS released their latest album “Cowards” on June 11th 2021, via Gruene Records.
The band of the concept of the “Cowards” album: “Cowards, at its core, is an album about choosing yourself, even in the face of great consequences. So often we find ourselves in situations or systems that ask us to minimize ourselves or our desires or even our needs, but there comes a point where we have to make some really tough choices: do we continue to support the system that is crushing us and building itself on our backs, or do we honour our own still, small voice? The album is the story of finding ourselves in a season of life where those choices were very pressing, and very loud, with very real consequences. There are times when death is necessary to make room for the new, the better, and sometimes the knife is in our own hands. The album, though full of heavy moments, is also woven with bright strands of hope and light, the kind that can only come after great loss and struggle. How quietly we go to war.”
CEDARS is an electronic rock band from central Texas whose music incorporates the DIY ethos of bands like The Pixies and PJ Harvey, the haunting atmospheres of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, and the infectious grooves of MuteMath. CEDARS is more than just a band: it’s is a vision of community, a community driven by the idea that beauty can save the world. Led by longtime friends Sandeigh Kennedy and Drew Heaton, they blend industrial and organic textures, drawing together disparate elements to marry complex sonic landscapes with compelling stories. Gritty synths and wispy vocals; hard hitting beats and delicate textures are the tools they use to tell powerful, authentic stories that explore truth and beauty.
Jimmy Kay from The Metal Voice recently spoke to singer Snake and Guitarist Chewy from Canadian progressive sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD about their upcoming studio album Synchro Anarchy, which will be released on February 11 , 2022 via Century Media Records.
Full interview here
How did you go about making the album “This time around we didn’t have anytime (in the studio). But we had a good experience when we did a live stream not too long ago. When we did the live stream recordings we were only the four of us and our producer (Francis Perron) who managed to create a live sound that was perfect. We kind of liked the sound of those live streams so we said maybe it would great for the next record to sound like that, just the four of us, not having multi-layers of stuff. So that is what we did with Syncho Anarchy, we did everything writing and recording in four months. What happened was we had an upcoming tour organized for March 2022 and the record company said it would be great to have something fresh for the tour (new material). So we all sat around the fire by the studio and said to each other can we pull it off can we make a record in 4 months? I said I’m going to give this a try. So we almost killed ourselves on the job. It’s like working under pressure, composing music and lyrics your brain does not go any faster then what it’s supposed to be. ” Snake
What does the music sound like on the new album “We did not have time to sit and think about it and I think we managed to create something special and you can feel the urgency in the music. “Snake “It was so intense to write everything in a short period of time, we didn’t have any perspective writing it. I think it’s a deep album, it’s very honest, it’s dark but I can see some light. There is a depth to it that is different from other albums. There are many different textures on the album, many different dimensions so to speak. I think the album is pretty varied but the core sound of the band is recognizable with the technical, progressive side and sci-fi side” Chewy
Will Voivod be coming out with an autobiography? “It is going to be for the 40th anniversary of the band but i don’t have much detail about it on what’s in it.”
VOIVOD Synchro Anarchy Tracklist: 1. Paranormalium 2. Synchro Anarchy 3. Planet Eaters 4. Mind Clock 5. Sleeves Off 6. Holographic Thinking 7. The World Today 8. Quest For Nothing 9. Memory Failure
VOIVOD is Denis “Snake” Belanger (vocals), Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain (guitar), Dominic “Rocky” Laroche (bass), and Michel “Away” Langevin (drums).
Following powerful latest single “The Last Crossing”, DAGOBA’s brand new track, “On The Run”, marks a melodic moment for the French modern metal upstarts on their upcoming album, By Night, out February 18, 2022 via Napalm Records. A harmonic duet of soothing juxtaposed vocals shows DAGOBA breaking free from genre limitations once more, proving them to be on the cusp of entering the hall of fame of modern metal!
DAGOBA on the new single “On The Run”: “I always wanted to release a track which verses only contain a piano and vocals and now it’s done! The main idea was to create a contrast between the calm of the vers and the huge chords leading to the chorus, where the voice is the main line. From the begining of the writing process, I knew that a female vocalist would join me on that track, and that is also brand new for us. On The Run is a daring track, but it will make you want to play it on repeat!”
After putting their stamp on the metal scene with their unique blend of metal and neckbreaking grooves, and relentlessly touring and sharing the stage with legendary acts like Metallica, Machine Head and In Flames, the French four-piece is gearing up to reach the next level with their most ambitious material yet!
DAGOBA deftly aces the balancing act between harsh breakdowns, dense walls of sound and grooving passages with ease. Even in its hardest passages, the album never gets too overwhelming – one smashing track is followed by the next, moving breathlessly with ease. By Night is a beast of an album showcasing how far DAGOBA can take a multitude of influences and styles and combine them effortlessly. This is a must-have for true fans of searing modern metal!
DAGOBA on the creation process of By Night: “We live in challenging times, and that’s not only because of the strength-sapping pandemic. Sometimes the world seems to be a dark place. We know it’s an ambitious project, but we really want our fans to feel good, and contribute to their happiness. Therefore, we deliver our blend of metal music. During the weeks and months in the lockdown period we had so much time to have a focus on the album production. We could look at every detail in each track, and after all By Night has become our most accomplished album so far. We are really happy with the new record and cannot wait to share it with our fans and the world.”
Catch DAGOBA on their “Ecdysis By Night” European tour with INFECTED RAIN in 2022!
16.02. DE – Munich, Backstage Club 17.02. DE – Trier, Mergener Hof 18.02. (DE) Weinheim, Cafe Central 19.02. (DE) Dresden, Beatpol 22.02. (PL) Warsaw, Hydrozagadka 23.02. (CZ) Brno, Melodka 24.02. (CZ) Prague, Rock Café 25.02. (CZ) Česke Budejovice, Fabrika 26.02. (CZ) Ostrava, Barrák 28.02. (AT) Vienna, Viper Room 02.03. (AT) Salzburg, Rockhouse 03.03. (AT) Graz, Explosiv 04.03. (CH) Lucerne, Sedel 05.03. (CH) Monthey, Pont Rouge 06.03. (DE) Stuttgart, Club Cann 08.03. (FR) Strasbourg, La Maison Bleue 09.03. (FR) Savigny Le Temple, L’Empreinte 10.03. (FR) Bordeaux, Barbey Rock School 11.03. (FR) Niort, Le Camji 12.03. (ES) Billbao, Stage Live 13.03. (PT) Lisbon, RCA Club 15.03. (ES) Sevilla, Sala X 16.03. (ES) Madrid, Caracol 17.03. (ES) Barcelona, Razzmatazz 3 18.03. (FR) Chalon Sur Saone, La Peniche 19.03. (FR) Nilvange, Le Gueulard Plus 20.03. (FR) Chateau Thierry, La Biscuiterie 15.04. (FR) St Germain En Laye, La Clef 17.04. (FR) Fontenay Le Comte, On n’a plus 20 ans * 19.04. (BE) Roeselare, De Verlichte Geest * 20.04. (NL) Breda, Mezz 21.04. (NL) Drachten, Iduna 22.04. (BE) Bree Ragnarock 23.04. (NL) Arnhem, Willemeen 27.04. (DE) Essen, Turock 28.04. (DE) Cologne, Helios 37 29.04. (DE) Hamburg, Logo 30.04. (DE) Hannover, Béi Chéz Heinz 01.05. (DK) Aalborg, 1000Fryd 02.05. (DK) Vanløse, Stairway 03.05. (DK) Kolding, Godset 05.05. (NO) Kopervik, Karmøygeddon Metal Festival * 06.05. (SE) Stockholm, Hus 7 * 07.05. (SE) Gothenburg, Valand * * DAGOBA only
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 ) 