SAINTED SINNERS have releasedtheir new official video for the single “One Today”!
The track is taken from the band’s upcoming album “Taste It” that will be released on November 26, 2021 via ROAR! Rock of Angels Records! Digital single of “One Today” is now available across all digital and streaming platforms! Pre-save the album, here: https://bfan.link/taste-it
“Taste It” will be released on November 26 as digipack CD and digital streaming/download format and as limited 300 copies Whiskey marbled vinyl on February 25, 2022.
Sainted Sinners tour dates: 08.04.2022 Lindenkeller Freising Germany 09.04.2022 Mo.Xx Graz Austria 10.04.2022 Bluesiana Velden Austria 16.04.2022 Swissrockcruise Switzerland 15.07.2022 Miteinand Festival Radfeld Austria 09.09.2022 Legends Lounge, Olching Germany 10.09.2022 Metal is forever Festival Obertraubling, Germany
HOLLIS BROWN’s upcoming album, ‘In The Aftermath,’ is the deliciously depraved outcome of an all-night rock n’ roll riot. The Queens, New York-based quintet escaped to the Poconos to record with a few handles of whiskey, and, in one 24-hour session, ran down the Stone’s seminal first album of all originals, 1966’s ‘Aftermath.’ Tracked live in the studio with minimal overdubs, ‘In The Aftermath’ is potent proof the five-piece group is one of the last great American rock n’ roll bands. The album will be released on February 4th via Mascot Label Group/Cool Green Recordings.
“It was a whirlwind recording session—we were on no sleep, and getting liquored up. You can definitely hear the looseness on that final track, ‘Going Home,’” singer-guitarist Mike Montali recalls, laughing. He continues: “We weren’t focused on cleanliness—we were after a feeling.”
Coming on the heels of their most successful studio album to-date – 2019’s Ozone Park, which earned rave reviews from Rolling Stone, Billboard, Paste Magazine, Pop Matters, Relix, and Goldmine – ‘In The Aftermath’ was an artistic inevitable for Hollis Brown. Previously, Hollis Brown issued, ‘Gets Loaded,’ saluting Velvet Underground’s ‘Loaded.’ The five-piece band enjoyed doing the VU album so much they began to joke about doing a “Hollis Brown presents…” series, covering formative records in their artistic continuum.‘
‘Aftermath’ became the Stones album to dive into for a myriad of reasons. For one, it’s become something of a lost classic as it’s the first album to contain all Stones originals, including the defining track, “Paint It Black.” Also, many of the songs are concise ultra-catchy rock n’ roll rave-ups that mine similar blues and country roots to Hollis Brown’s own signature aesthetic.
Yet, on ‘In The Aftermath,’ Hollis Brown doesn’t try to out-Stones the Stones. Instead, they find clever ways to salute the Stones legacy. For the first album single, “Under My Thumb,” they distill the track down to a punky snarl inspired by the lean and mean ‘Some Girls’ album. Hollis Brown turn in a faithful reading of “Dontcha Bother Me” replete with Muddy Waters-approved slide guitar, seething vocals, and lonesome harmonica. The guys bravely tackle “Paint It Black,” and harness the ominous power of the track through swapping its classic, world-music perspective for a muscular guitar-rock approach. Here, the drums are essentialized down to an infectious garage-rock beat that perfectly aligns with the burly guitar riffage.
Hollis Brown has amassed an engaged fanbase through touring tirelessly, making its way through the U.S. and Europe, both on their own and supporting the likes of Citizen Cope, Counting Crows, Jackie Greene, Jesse Malin, and the Zombies, among others. The guys pinched the band name from the Bob Dylan song, “Ballad of Hollis Brown,” and its moniker neatly epitomizes the group’s commitment to melding a signature Americana blend with fine song-craft. Hollis Brown will perform select sets of ‘In The Aftermath’ on its upcoming February and March tour – and inspiration from the album’s freewheeling recording sessions will definitely impact the band’s next album of all originals which is mostly written.
“Making this record sent us back to the drawing board,” Mike reveals. “It was about going back to the essence of American roots music—blues and country—which is a tradition our band was founded upon.”
Track list Paint It Black Stupid Girl Lady Jane Under My Thumb Doncha Bother Me Think Flight 505 High and Dry It’s Not Easy I Am Waiting Goin’ Home
British husband and wife blues rock duo WHEN RIVERS MEET return to the music fold with their highly anticipated sophomore album Saving Grace released by One Road Records on Friday 19th November 2021. The album is now available from www.whenriversmeet.co.uk. Today is also the day they release their new single Never Coming Home.
It’s been an amazing year for Grace and Aaron Bond of When Rivers Meet. In May 2021, they were first band to win four awards at the UK Blues Awards including “Blues Band Of The Year”, “Blues Album Of The Year” (for their 2020 debut album “We Fly Free”), “Emerging Blues Artist Of The Year” and “Most InspirationalOnline Performance Of The Year”. They also won “Best New Band” award at Planet Rock’s”The Rocks”.
As a warm-up to their 2022 UK tour, on Saturday December 18, 2021, WRM will perform songs from Saving Grace at a sold-out concert at Hunter Bar in Bury St. Edmunds.
Saving Grace follows the band’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 year has been a non-stop thrill-ride for WRM, who are comprised of Grace Bond (lead vocals, mandolin, violin) and Aaron Bond (guitar, vocals).
In October 2021, WRM toured the UK as King King’s special guest, and received rave reviews.
“As they walk out on stage to a massive cheer from an already capacity crowd, it is evident they are very popular, and it is easy to see why.” – The Razor’s Edge
“With the heavy bluestones and the incredible vocal harmonies, When Rivers Meet bring back the grit of classic blues rock in a traditional way for a modern audience.”– Rock N Load
“Bags of noise and bags of power… there’s certainly plenty that will appeal to both hard rock and blues fans in terms of this duo’s highly original output.” – Get Ready to Rock
With Saving Grace, WRM have set out to produce a blues rock album with a more upbeat, punchy, and exciting sound.
“We were very conscious that our debut album We Fly Free was a step up in production from our two EP releases previously The Uprising EP and Innocence of Youth,” says Grace. “We also wanted to keep a live, authentic vibe to the new album to retain the energetic feel in the music.”
Says Aaron, “We wanted the album to have more of an upbeat rock feel. We knew exactly what we wanted before we set off to record Saving Grace. We set our expectations high. We’re so pleased with the result and just hope everyone else loves it as much as we do.”
As with their debut album, We Fly Free, a lot of care and attention given to the detail, not only went into the song-writing, but also went into the production on each track, and telling a story from start to finish.
“Although we wanted to do something different from our previous work, we still wanted all the same elements that make our music distinctive and recognisable as When Rivers Meet,” says Grace.
As with their previous album and two EPs, the new album Saving Grace was recorded at the Boathouse in Suffolk with producer and engineer, Adam Bowers.
“He just gets everything we do and want,” says Grace. “As Adam says, ‘Bring me a drawing, and I will colour it in’, which is a great analogy of how we work together.”
SAVING GRACE – TRACK LIST
1. I Can’t Fight This Feeling (2:56) 2. Never Coming Home (3:30) 3. He’ll Drive You Crazy* (3:35) 4. Don’t Tell Me Goodbye (3:52) 5. Do You Remember My Name (3:10) 6. Have No Doubt About It (3:58) 7. Eye of A Hurricane (Friend of Mine Pt. 2)* (5:34) 8. Testify (3:24) 9. Shoot The Breeze* (2:51) 10. Lost & Found (3:45) 11. Talking In My Sleep (4:20) 12. Make A Grown Man Cry* (2:28)
The new album is mastered by Mike Curtis. Says Aaron, “the mastering is always the most exciting part of the process. We always look forward to receiving the mastered tracks from Mike.”
As with all their previous recordings, Grace, Aaron, and producer Adam have massive input with instrumentation. Aaron plays guitar and sings vocals, Grace sings vocals, plays mandolin and fiddle, while Adam plays bass, drums, and keyboard and pretty much anything else that Grace and Aaron need added including trumpet on specific songs.
“It’s a case of going into the studio with a song,” reflects Grace. “Aaron will play it on guitar, I’ll lay down the vocals, whilst Adam adds the drums. We start to get a feel as to what the song is and what it means, it then grows from there into the direction we think it should go.”
Continues Grace, “Sometimes it can take a while before we get the right feel for example the drums or the tone of the song. But we always have a clear plan for each song going into the studio and a good idea on the feel that we want to create. Our ethos is that we keep it sounding authentic, whether that be vocals, instrumentation, or any effects. It’s always got to sound organic and real.”
After the success of their debut album, We Fly Free, how does the sophomore album Saving Grace differ?
“Saving Grace has a more upbeat rock feeling than We Fly Free,” says Aaron. “We were very conscious when we started to record this album that’s the direction that we wanted to move in, and it was exactly the kind of result that wanted to achieve.”
Continues Aaron, “As well as being inspired by classic blues including John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, we also draw a lot of influence from classic rock bands that include Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, Cream, and Free. To emulate some of the feel or tone of these legendary blues pioneers and seminal rock bands is something that we strive to do, and hopefully people will hear that in our music and relate to it.”
When Rivers Meet’s passion for blues rock shows through with an underpinning of traditional blues and classic rock. The duo make a concerted effort to keep to a genuine, gritty sound using authentic techniques, including tube tape echo and reverb chambers, which have created a live sound that keeps a truly vintage vibe that not only has energy but is also a true representation of the ever evolving sound this duo produces.
WRM show great delight that a Hammond organ has been introduced into some of the tracks on this album. This classic blues rock feel will transport you back in time while also inducing a contemporary When Rivers Meet twist.
WHEN RIVERS MEET APRIL & MAY 2022 HEADLINE TOUR With special guest Troy Redfern
Sheffield Greystones – Thursday April 21, 2022 Bath Komedia – Friday April 22, 2022 Southampton 1865 – Saturday April 23, 2022 Colchester Arts Centre – Friday April 29, 2022 Newbury Arlington Arts – Saturday April 30, 2022 Leeds Brudenell Social Club – Thursday May 5, 2022 Newcastle Cluny – Friday May 6, 2022 Glasgow Òran Mór – Saturday May 7, 2022 London Garage – Thursday May 12, 2022 Birmingham The Asylum – Friday May 13, 2022 Norwich Waterfront Arts – Saturday May 14, 2022 Manchester Deaf Institute – Thursday May 19, 2022 Bristol Exchange – Friday May 20, 2022 Leek Foxlow Arts – Saturday May 21, 2022 Shoreham Ropetackle – Thursday May 26, 2022 Nottingham The Bodega – Friday May 27, 2022 Edinburgh Blues Club – The Voodoo Rooms – Saturday May 28, 2022
L – R – Magnus Wichmann (Guitar), Jonathas Pozo (Vocals), Francis Cassol (Drums), Pedro Fauth (Bass)
– Photo Credit: Tiemy Saito
RAGE IN MY EYES, hailing from Brazil, have an innovative new EP released this past October, “Spiral”. Now they have their new music video for the second single off the record, “Spark of Hope”, which can be viewed below.
Originally going under the band name “Scelerata”, they released a handful of records and were Paul Di’Anno’s backup band for many years. It was only recently they decided to musically change their direction and name to Rage In My Eyes. This new form took hold in 2018, and the main change to the music was stepping back from the basic traditional/power metal they were used to and showcasing their culture through the inclusion of milonga, a traditional folk music genre from southern Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. The expand on the new musical direction:
“The most curious thing about the band is the addition of the accordion, which is not a common instrument for Heavy Metal bands. The “Gaucho” visuals and the sound of the accordion is, without a doubt, something that separates us from other bands. Plus, the powerful and beautiful vocal tone of vocalist Jonathas Pozo is always a treat to listen to live.”
The single, “Spark Of Hope” is a folk song strongly influenced by the Gaucho culture from southern Brazil, musically and lyrically. It talks about a story during 19th century Southern Brazil, after a decade of war, two men duelled for a matter of honor. One is a rebel Lieutenant and the other, an indigenous tracker known as Missioneiro. Once they fought back to back, now they will cross blades with each other. Lurking their tragic demise, a Lady in white awaits to take them to a final journey as a new sun rises.
“Spiral” is Rage In My Eye’s second release under their new name, following the 2019 full-length “Ice Cell”. As Scelerata, they released 3 full-lengths “The Sniper” (2012), “Skeletons Domination” (2008), and “Darkness & Light” (2006).
Rage in My Eyes is technical and innovative and highly recommended for fans of Helloween, Symphony X and Iron Maiden.
Track Listing: 1. Farewell (1:32) 2. And Then Came The Storm (5:01) 3. Dare To Defy (3:40) 4. Spark Of Hope (5:06) 5. Spiral Seasons (3:54) EP Length: 19:20
EP Band Line Up: Jonathas Pozo – Vocals Magnus Wichmann – Guitar Pedro Fauth – Bass Francis Cassol – Drums
Live Band Line Up: Jonathas Pozo – Vocals Magnus Wichmann – Guitar Pedro Fauth – Bass Francis Cassol – Drums Matheus Kléber – Accordion (special guest)
Japanese music collective VAMPILLIA have announced a number of Japanese live dates in November, including their first ever livestream event on November 25 in Duo Music Exchange Club, Tokyo.
During this show, the band will perform new, exclusive material from the album that will be released via Season of Mist at a later date. The stream will remain online for a couple of days after the concert. Tickets are available HERE.
A full list of shows is available below.
VAMPILLIA live 2021 21/11/2021 – USEN STUDIO COAST – Tokyo (JP) 22/11/2021 – CONPASS – Shinsaibashi (JP) 24/11/2021 – CLUB UPSET – Nagoya (JP) 25/11/2021 – DUO MUSIC EXCHANGE – Shibuya (JP) Online streaming event – Tickets available HERE
A musical conglomerate of over 10 members which transcends any singular genre. VAMPILLIA can be described to include elements of all beautiful emotional music and like a mutant chimera that fuses all genres.
VAMPILLIA has worked with several labels worldwide, including Virgin Babylon Records, Candlelight records and Important records. Counting full lengths, singles and collaborations, the discography of the Japanese entity counts an impressive count of 35 records released internationally. Past collaborations include μ-Ziq, The Body, Lustmord, Attila Csihar (Mayhem, Sunn O)))), Jarboe, and Jun Togawa.
With their unique approach to music and shows, it isn’t surprising that VAMPILLIA is a welcome guest to renowned festivals worldwide, such as Roadburn Festival (NL), Brutal Assault (CZ), Adelaide Fesival with Godspeed you!Black Emperor (AU), SXSW (US), Le Guess Who? (NL), State-X New Forms (NL), Incubate (NL), Concrete&Grass (CN),and Fuji rock festival (JP).
Yet, the endeavors of this group are more diverse than just records and live performances. In the past, they have also provide music for commercials, movie soundtracks and fashion shows. The band are currently working on a self produced, new album which will be released by Season of Mist. Keep an ear out for it!
Iranian Death Metallers SARGAS return with a new song, nihilistic headbanger ‘Labyrinth of Evolution’. Stream it below.
Crushing Death Metal grooves of gloomy roars. Iranian Death Metal quintet SARGAS redefines Death Metal norms with their specific brand of Nihilistic Metal.
Formed in 2018 by Guitarist Salar Alizadeh and Drummer Hamed Sadraei, the Tehran Death Metal/Groove Metal outfit evolved through various line-ups of the initial songwriting stage of their upcoming debut album.
Alongside their approach to the Death Metal genre, Sargas often delve into the realms of Black and Doom Metal for further inspiration, and aren’t afraid to rebel against the clean singing taboo that is always present in extreme metal music.
After their debut single Home premiered on Decibel Magazine’s Website earlier this year with the help of the first Iranian Metal Label Tough Sounds, Sargas just released new music in the form of their sophomore single Labyrinth of Evolution on the 19th of November.
Speaking of the single Sargas vocalist and producer Saleh Rezaei noted:
“Labyrinth of Evolution is structured to be the third song of our upcoming album and mocks humanity’s futile attempts to evolve themselves. The evolution of mankind is completely dependent on human thought patterns, so it stands to reason that the Brain is a fitting symbol of that same evolution. The formation of that brain is started by rotten wombs and ends with worm-infested corpses, and with aging, humans only manage to create a never-ending labyrinth for themselves in their evolutionary process. They tend to lose themselves in their own Labyrinth of Evolution, which local digital artist Keyvan Ariyani-Mehr (Deadk1walking) brought to life beautifully on a visual medium in the form of the Artwork. With this song, we are trying to show the futility of humanity’s creations beginning from the Paleolithic Handprints which are the first cave paintings discovered from prehistoric times to humanity’s newest creation, Artificial Intelligence. The way humanity is acting, this evolution will all come back full circle, with a bloody handprint on a cave wall.”
Musically, the song incorporates Salar Alizadeh’s unique groovy eastern-music-influenced riffing and Hamed Sadreai’s progressive approach to drumming. To contrast their crushing Death Metal sound, the band utilized atmospheric sections that feature Saleh’s clean singing to add some needed dynamics to the song.
Fans should expect heavier songs from Sargas, who are currently finishing their debut album and releasing singles from the album in 2022.
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 ) 