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SAINTED SINNERS Release Official Video ’40 Years’

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 19, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: SAINTED SINNERS. Leave a comment

SAINTED SINNERS cannot be stopped nowadays and with “40 Years” they publish a video for a song that is very important to them – it’s a reminiscence of the “good old days” in which they are not only grew up musically.

Frank Pané (also Bonfire and Dark Blue Inc.) seems to have found his dream cast. For the third album “Unlocked & Reloaded” the line-up was changed again significantly. He is enthusiastic about the individual creativity of the new band members, who should keep the #theessenceofrocknroll lifestyle alive in the future.

The album is released on CD and digitally (https://backl.ink/143153606) and as a strictly limited collector’s box only available at El Puerto Records https://el-puerto-records.com/SaintedSinners

Tracklist “Unlocked & Reloaded”

  1. Same ol’ song
  2. Standing on top
  3. Early light of day
  4. 40 years
  5. The hammer of the gods
  6. Free to be
  7. I can’t wait
  8. Stone cold sober
  9. Call it love
    10. Wall of sound
    11. Farewell to kings

GRETA VAN FLEET Share Ethereal New Music Video “Heat Above”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 19, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: GRETA VAN FLEET. Leave a comment

GRETA VAN FLEET present a brand new music video for the song “Heat Above” from the band’s upcoming sophomore album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate, produced by Greg Kurstin (Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, Adele) and due out April 16 (Lava/Republic Records).  According to the band:

“‘Heat Above’ is theatrical, eloquent, and exaggerated.  This is a dream in the clouds, a moment of peace in the storm.  Thematically, we are dead center in the cult of Heaven, surreal, strange, alive and free.”

The band debuted the song last week in an interview with Zane Lowe, who said, “You aren’t ever going to hear anything like this today and probably in the near future, Greta Van Fleet doing it like nobody else.”

The Battle at Garden’s Gate, has an elevated elegance unseen yet from the young band.  With string orchestras, explorative songs, and the band building a visual story with every track, it explores the boundaries of the group’s artistry.

DVNE Launch Live Video For New Single “Towers”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 19, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: DVNE. Leave a comment
Photo credit: Calum McMillan

On March 19th, DVNE will release their sophomore album, Etemen Ænka, via Metal Blade Records. For a preview of the record, a live video for the new single, “Towers”, can be viewed here:

Dvne comments: “Live music is something that we are all dearly missing, so it is amazing to be able to share this live session with our fans and introduce them to ‘Towers’. It’s a track that captures different elements of our music than what people have heard with ‘SI-XIV’ and it is a particularly fun song to play live. We recorded and filmed this session with our producer Graeme Young at Chamber Studio in a room packed with amps and lights. It was definitely a fun loud session, and we can’t wait to do more of these until touring becomes a possibility again…
The epic light show was put together by Sam Jones, and while we couldn’t work with our usual filming team because of Covid’s travel restrictions, we had the pleasure to shoot this one with Calum McMillan who did a terrific job. The video was edited by our own guitarist Daniel Barter.”

A video for the first single, “Sì-XIV”, can be seen at: metalblade.com/dvne – where Etemen Ænka can also be pre-ordered in various formats.

Dvne are a band of great contrasts, weaving titanic heaviness and intricate gentleness together, complex lyrical ideas with engaging storylines, and this has only been expanded upon and concentrated on second album Etemen Ænka. “It’s an album that has a narrative musically, and we hope that will encourage the listener to explore the universe we’ve created around it,” states guitarist/vocalist Victor Vicart. “It is a very dense and layered album which will reward multiple listens, and while this is becoming a recurring aspect of our music, we feel that we went further with it this time. It’s also a very polarizing album, emotionally speaking. The heavy sections are, well, very heavy, while the clean sections are much more intricate and delicate – and in a way wouldn’t be out of place in a Studio Ghibli anime soundtrack.” Exploring everything in greater depth in every way, it is a profound step forward from 2017’s Asheran, starting an exciting new chapter in the existence of one of the most thrilling and imaginative metal bands active today. “We knew we wanted to include keys and synths in the equation. We wanted to be able to add new textures and new sounds that weren’t on our previous releases, and we felt that this was something that will give us more options creatively. Looking back, that was a great decision because we’ve used synths for everything, with ambient sounds, heavy subs and actual leads, which really added a new dynamic to this album. We’ve also kept this balance between down-tuned heavy riffs and clean movements, which were already present in ‘Asheran‘, but we really wanted to make sure we could capture more details and subtleties once recorded,” explains Vicart. Synths are in fact so present, and at times so unapologetically 80s, that they sound like the soundtrack to a classic sci-fi, which may well surprise fans, the band confident in every step they took musically.

Etemen Ænka is also Dvne‘s second collaboration with producer Graeme Young in Edinburgh’s Chamber Studio, having developed a great working relationship with him on Asheran – “he acts like an extra member of the band and really pushes us to do better takes.” This made for a smooth and productive recording process, the challenging part coming before they entered the studio. “The composition was challenging because we second guess every riff that gets written. We want to keep things fresh, and we want to keep the energy high too, so the initial creative stage can become intense. Then, because our tracks are pretty big and dense with ideas and movements, we didn’t finalize each track structure until we started laying down the drums. But I think it’s what made the whole recording process so much fun too, because it allowed us to really think about the different options available without committing to a final structure too early in the process.” The record also features guest vocals courtesy of Lissa Robertson, who sings on “Omega Severer” and “Asphodel” and contributes spoken word on “Weighing Of The Heart” – her voice adding yet another depth to the heavily layered collection.

Etemen Ænka track-listing
1. Enûma Eliš
2. Towers
3. Court of the Matriarch
4. Weighing of the Heart
5. Omega Severer
6. Adræden
7. Sì-XIV
8. Mleccha
9. Asphodel
10. Satuya

Album artwork by: Marald Art

LORNA SHORE Announce Digital Release Of “Immortal – Instrumental”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 19, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: Lorna Shore. Leave a comment

Since many fans were keen on hearing instrumental versions of LORNA SHORE’s last album “Immortal” the band is finally making them available on March 5th, 2021 on all digital platforms. Mark your calendars for “Immortal – Instrumental”.

The New Jersey extreme metal band recently released a drum playthrough of drummer Austin Archey of the song “Death Portrait” that was a 1st taste of how an instrumental version of their songs sound like:

“Death Portrait” is off the band’s latest full-length, “Immortal”, which came out in early 2020 via Century Media Records to rave reviews.

Formed in 2010, LORNA SHORE is quick to surpass expectations with 2012’s “Bone Kingdom” EP and it’s follow-up, 2013’s “Malificium” EP. Through each release, LORNA SHORE continues to prove themselves to be an increasingly formidable force and a ferocious live proposition. 2017’s sophomore LP, “Flesh Coffin” showed a band that had moved beyond mere “deathcore” trappings and had evolved into a modern metal band, as uncompromising and accomplished as any of their contemporaries or influences. Topping their previous output with their third full-length and Century Media debut, “Immortal” was refined and perfected over a two-year period and marked the next stage in LORNA SHORE’s development as America’s newest extreme metal powerhouse.

Split Screen Management – born out of the abrupt change in the Entertainment world!

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 18, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: Eugene O'Connor, Kimmo Kuusniemi, Roberto Risso, Sakari Heiskanen, Split Screen Films, Split Screen Management, Tarja Virmakari. Leave a comment

Split Screen Management was born out of the abrupt change in the Entertainment world. We realised that future of entertainment is to take the existing and putting it together in a new way: adapt or perish.

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.” -Frank Zappa

The Pandemic has changed everything. The challenge is to step back and look hard at how to change the formula to remedy the damage the pandemic has done. 

It’s very clear that we are not going back to how things where before the world changed forever!

With this in mind, we at Split Screen Management and Production have been working hard to find new solutions and ideas  for our clients, to help them prosper and allow them to be able to do what they love.

The show must go on; world needs entertainment more than ever

Split Screen Management – part of Split Screen Productions

To create new you have to let go of the old; so with this in mind we, Tarja Virmakari and Roberto Risso, have departed from their old management and join forces with Kimmo Kuusniemi, Eugene O’Connor and Sakari Heiskanen.

Kimmo Kuusniemi: “The Entertainment business has always been a hard world to survive in and Covid 19 has made it exponentially more challenging.

Tarja Virmakari asked us to join forces with her and Roberto Risso to form a new kind of Artist and Band Management company. At Split Screen Productions we thought this would be an interesting challenge to use our combined extensive experience in music and media productions in a new way.”

Tarja Virmakari: “I and Roberto Risso have worked together on the band and artist management for years. We realised the old management we worked for was not up to the new challenges, so joining forces with Kimmo and Split Screen Productions was a fantastic opportunity to create something new, something designed for the world after pandemic. Everything falls together in a perfect way.”

Eugene O’Connor: “I have worked for years in the high end of the live music productions with names as Tom Petty, Rush, Madonna, Foo Fighters to mention just a few. This pandemic is changing everything and we need new solutions for the future of live entertainment. We at the Split Screen Production and Management have some tricks up our sleeves to create new solutions for live performances.”

Sakari Heiskanen: “I worked for years in TV broadcasting, it taught me all the ins and outs of live and studio productions. We are now facing a completely new technical landscape for live and recorded performances, which is why I now specialise in streaming productions. Together with Kimmo and Eugene, we have the complete set of skills to create new and innovative solutions for the future streaming productions.”

SPLIT SCREEN MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTIONS ARE HERE FOR OUR ARTIST TO CREATE, INSPIRE, EXCITE AND DELIVER

WHO ARE WE?

Kimmo Kuusniemi – Manager

Extensive expertise in music and film production is Kimmo’s superpower

Kimmo is a self taught in all aspects: as a guitarist, sound engineer, music producer, film director, producer, cameraman, editor… He did it the hard way, learning from his mistakes.

As a musician and filmmaker Kimmo has worked worldwide. He is great at adapting to cultural differences, analysing problems and solving them promptly.

Kimmo is a great motivator, always positive, persistent and enthusiastic!

With his knowledge of ALL ASPECTS of productions and marketing he is the right person to guide and lead any project through avoiding the pit holes in the business.

Eugene O’Connor – DOP, Lighting Designer and Director

As a freelance Filmmaker, Director and Lighting Designer Eugene has worked with many bands and artists including Black Sabbath, Andre Bocelli, Paul McCartney, Prince, Tom Petty, Mumford and Sons, Prince, Alicia Keyes.

For over 20 years Eugene has been Lighting Designer on MTV’s World Stage series with artists such as Lady Gaga, Kings of Leon, Ellie Goulding, David Guetta, The Cure and Snoop Dogg just to mention a few.

As well as shooting and directing many music promos and documentaries Eugene has many long form videos under his belt as director including Tom Petty’s final dvd which was filmed in Seattle in 2017.

Tarja Virmakari – Media Director

Tarja has worked in promotion and journalism around the Europe. She realised early on that while many musicians/bands have valuable skills and fantastic music to share they lack time or skills to promote themselves.

With her positivity and endless enthusiasm she has fine tuned her band promoting skills to fineart; get the music heard and name known. 

She is also brilliant keeping everything shipshape!

Roberto Risso – A/R Manager 

Roberto has developed his skills and knowledge during the years, first of all as drummer and then as A&R, working for important agencies around the world. 

He is best known and appreciated for his attitude, passion, enthusiasm and professionality to recruit new talents and to help them to reach their goals.

Always ready and hungry to new challenges in this fascinating world of music business.

Sakari Heiskanen – Producer, Director and Storyteller

Sakari is a seasoned media producer with background in journalism, TV entertainment and book publishing. Actually, he was born under the table of his art director dad. He is a transmedia veteran: lately he has been working a lot on event streams and podcast production.

He has a BA in media production – with a thesis on virtual reality.

Sakari is now working on several of our future documentary / TV series projects.

We are prepared for everything

Split Screen Management and Production can help you with everything relating to entertainment business: crowdfunding, streaming, music videos, designs, funds, bookings, legal, mixing and mastering, distribution…

More information at
http://www.splitscreen-management.com
https://www.facebook.com/SplitScreenManagement
http://www.splitscreenfilms.com

——————–

More about KIMMO KUUSNIEMI

“I can think of no better person to guide an artist in the business and creative side of the arts – here is a man who has seen it all, from all angles and lives to tell the tale” – Louise Brown, Music Reporter, Ex-Editor of Terrorizer & Iron Fist Magazines UK

Kimmo is a self taught in all aspects: as a guitarist, sound engineer, music producer, film director, producer, cameraman, editor… He did it the hard way, learning from his mistakes.

As a pioneer of Scandinavian metal music, Kimmo is a legendary guitarist and founder of Sarcofagus, band that inspired future generations of metal heads.

From the early days he understood the importance and value of promotion: doing PR and having good media contacts. Without visibility you don’t survive in this business. It is one thing to know “how to play an instrument” and an altogether different game to be known and make a living out of it!

His film career started when he produced a full album length Moottorilinnut/Motorbirds music video in 1981, this video was first of its kind in the world. Since then he has made many films from TV commercials and music videos to TV series and TV documentaries around the world.

Kimmo is a great motivator and problem solver, always positive, persistent and enthusiastic!

He is a keen follower of the latest Technological Developments in Film and Music. Kimmo was the first in the world to develop and release a feature length documentary as an iPhone App. This was confirmed by The Wall Street Journal who made a story of this new Distribution method. He is now very excited about the new applications for the 360 video.

With his knowledge of ALL ASPECTS of productions and marketing he is the right person to guide and lead any project through avoiding the pit holes in the business.

Past corporate clients include names such as: Direct Line, Rolls Royce, Thales, Schlumberger, BOC, EADS (Airbus), Green Flag, Royal Bank Of Scotland, Swiss Life, MSD, Diners Club, Natwest Lombard…

Together with Split Screen’s Eugene O’Connor Kimmo has worked with just artists as Fat White Family, Chaka Khan, Van Morrison, Grace Jones, Madonna, Verve, Terrorvision, Vader…

In 2005 Kimmo produced and directed the International TV Series; “Baltic Sea Adventure” Adventure/Travel documentary (8×48 Min, Sold to over 40 countries).

In 2008 Kimmo produced and presented ”Promised Land Of Heavy Metal”, a Feature Length Documentary about the philosophy & history of heavy metal music… and what happened to make it such a big thing in a small country called Finland? (Currently in International TV and DVD Distribution).

Kimmo is now working on a collective cross-arts project involving music, film, performers and storytellers. This project will result in music albums, but it will also be a series of online films and a series of multimedia art performances involving a full-fledged audiovisual experience.

The touring part of this new project is designed to work in the post covid world. More about this soon.

MARTY FRIEDMAN Announces Global Release Of ‘Tokyo Jukebox 3’, Out April 16th

Posted by tarjavirmakari on February 18, 2021
Posted in: Int. News, News. Tagged: Marty Friedman. Leave a comment
Photo credit: Susumu Miyawaki

MARTY FRIEDMAN will release the new studio album ‘Tokyo Jukebox 3’ via The Players Club / Mascot Label Group on April 16. The record is the third in a series that began with Tokyo Jukebox in 2009, and then Tokyo Jukebox 2 following in 2011.  The trilogy presents Friedman’s inspired performances to Japanese repertoire he’s chosen to cover. He shares, “I’ve been playing stuff from the first two ‘Jukebox’ albums live all over the world, and it’s taken on a life of its own.  Especially in places like North and South America, Australia, Italy, France and even India.  My fan base is very dedicated, and what I have found is that lots of new fans have been introduced to Japanese music and culture through me, which is very gratifying. On the tours it seems like aside from the dedicated guitar fans, the Japan fanatics have been noticeably growing, so now felt like the right time to do Tokyo Jukebox 3.”

Tracklist

  1. Makenaide
  2. Senbonzakura
  3. Gurenge
  4. Kaze Ga Fuiteiru
  5. Echo
  6. The Perfect World (feat. Alfakyun)
  7. U.S.A.
  8. Shukumei
  9. Ikuze Kaitou-Shoujo
  10. Sazanka
  11. Time Goes By
  12. Japan Heritage Official Theme Song

Friedman put a lot of energy into selecting the right songs to cover for the album, He shares, “In Japan, you have to get permission to record and release cover versions, and that can be a very tricky and long process. So, the last thing I wanted to do was to ask permission to do a song, only to wind up not recording it for whatever reason. That would be very impolite. I spent several weeks choosing songs and demoing them to see whether I could create versions that I could get pumped up about, before I even approached any publishers. I came up with a short list of 20 songs, and from this chose about 15 that I knew I could really score with.”

Friedman has also included “The Perfect World,” which he wrote, recorded and originally released in 2018. This is the only track on the album with vocals.  He reflects, “Back then I did the song with Jean-Ken Johnny from Man With A Mission on vocals, and that was used as the main theme for the Netflix series B: The Beginning. On the day of release, the song went straight to the top of the Japanese iTunes chart.” This recording is a new, fresh interpretation with Alfakyun, one of Japan’s premier female J-Pop singers performing the vocals. As Friedman offers, “It’s really a self-cover, so it fits in with the idea of this being a covers album.” 

Friedman has also included “Japan Heritage Theme Song,” another of his own compositions on which he worked with the Tokyo Philharmonic orchestra. He reflects, “I was asked by the Japanese government to compose an official song to be played at government sponsored events which celebrate Japanese heritage. This was a huge honor, and it was wonderful to be able to work with such a prestigious orchestra which, rather conveniently, my wife plays cello in. Doing this was a little different from what I am used to, because instead of playing a completed track to record company people I had to face Japanese government officials. I recall looking at their stony faces after they heard it and sweating anxiously awaiting their reaction. Thankfully, they liked what I’d done. I felt this was a great, uplifting way to close the album.”

Much of the recording process was done at Power House Studios in Tokyo, with Friedman, who was also the producer on the project, joined by bassist Kiyoshi and drummer Anup Sastry.  He shares, “Kiyoshi has been in my band for about six years now doing all my tours and recordings. She is a powerhouse, and I honestly have never seen anyone hit the bass as hard as she does, especially while keeping up with my kind of challenging music. Anup was a member of Skyharbor (an Indian/American progressive metal band) and has been on my last three albums. He is just plain phenomenal as well.”

The recording process started in January, 2020 and was due to end in March with a release in May. Then the pandemic struck, and everything was pushed back. Friedman had no firm deadline to finish the album within, and he took advantage of the time, reflecting on executing his vision without limitations. He offers, “I kept reworking the music, and improving everything.  In the end it took several months to get the album completed, but it was time well spent. I believe the music turned out so much better because I wasn’t under any deadline pressure.”  The mixing was handled by Jens Bogren at his own Fascination Studios in Sweden. He’s a resource Friedman has the utmost confidence in offering, “Jens has mixed my last three albums and he’s one of the best in the business. He knows what I want, and I know he’ll get it for me.”

Friedman’s remarkable attention to detail on this album goes beyond the music. The cover image presents the guitarist dressed in a traditional Japanese kimono, with make-up that honors authentic tradition.  He offers, “I have to admit that getting this done was a hellish process. It could easily have just looked like a dude in drag and therefore rather stupid. It does take a very serious attitude and approach to pull this off properly. If you look at the covers for the first two ‘Jukebox’ albums, I had on kabuki make-up. There was no photoshop used at all and that’s precisely why they came out so well. This time I brought on the absolute top professionals in the unique field of wardrobe and make-up, and I believe we’ve hit the bullseye. I am actually wearing two kimonos in the photo, as well as padding to fill me out a little like a sumo wrestler. You’d never believe I am this skinny rock dude from the East Coast of America!” 

The latest incarnation of Marty Friedman`s long-selling signature model guitar, Jackson`s MF-1, will be released this month. It is a brand-new Purple Cracked Mirror model, with a stunning design and ultramodern construction.  For more information click here.

Friedman staged a live streaming concert on New Year’s Day 2021 to celebrate the ‘Jukebox’ series.  Plans to tour worldwide are in his sights sharing, “Obviously, we have to wait and see what happens with international travel protocol. But I cannot wait to get back on the road again. I have really missed it terribly.”  In the interim, he hopes The World enjoys the fruits of his labor of love on ‘Jukebox 3’, where Friedman takes J-Pop hits and offers his own charismatic interpretations of contemporary repertoire that includes LiSA’s “Gurenge” and Official Hige Dandism’s “Shukumei,” alongside Da Pump’s dance track “U.S.A.,” Sekai No Owari’s ballad “Sazanka,” and the vocaloid hit “Senbonzakura.” Japanese old school standards, Zard’s “Makenaide” and Every Little Things’s “Time Goes By” are also given Marty`s modern overhaul to round out the album’s track list to cover the full scope of his take on the Japanese music scene.  In closing Friedman offers, “I am so happy with the way this turned out. And I am also grateful for how it’s been received so far. The reaction has been fantastic. It was joyful and cathartic to record, and I am delighted it’s now giving people such a fun diversion.”

Two Tracks Released with Accompanying Videos – View Here:
“The Perfect World” – https://youtu.be/pq3MqusXS-I
“Makenaide” – https://youtu.be/WKrGc-RZDDI

Pre-Order Live Today Here: https://smarturl.it/MartyFriedman-MLG

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