German metallers PRIMAL FEAR are putting the finishing touches on the material for their next studio album, to be recorded during the summer for an early 2014 release via Frontiers Records. The band states: “After collecting more than 30 song ideas, we will finally strip the list down to 12 tracks and we’re going now into the details. [We are] totally thrilled about the riffs and melodies, plus [we are in the process of] planning the recordings.”
Frontiers and PRIMAL FEAR in January announced that they have renewed their partnership for another multi-album deal, which will include two more studio releases and one live CD and DVD.
PRIMAL FEAR‘s latest album, “Unbreakable”, sold around 600 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 44 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
Released on January 24, 2012 in the U.S. via Frontiers Records, “Unbreakable” was tracked in part at House Of Music studios in Winterbach, Germany with producer/bassist Mat Sinner and engineer Achim Köhler (EDGUY, MASTERPLAN).
BLACKMORE’S NIGHT, the renaissance-inspired rock band formed by Ritchie Blackmore and his wife Candice Night, will release a new album, “Dancer And The Moon”, on June 11 in North America on Frontiers Records. “Dancer And The Moon” will be released in two editions — as a CD and a digipak deluxe edition with a bonus DVD that includes music videos of “Dancer And The Moon” and of “The Moon Is Shining (Somewhere Over The Sea)”, plus an extensive interview with Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night.
Anticipated by the digital release of the first single “The Moon is Shining (Somewhere Over the Sea)” on May 6, “Dancer And The Moon” is the band’s eighth original studio album, with each disc topping the European and American Billboard‘s New Age charts.
Each album that BLACKMORE’S NIGHT has released has been awarded Best Vocal Album or Album of the year for their respective charts on NPR and college radio. BLACKMORE’S NIGHT performed on PBS, had specials on CNN and the History Channel. The group has songs on the soundtrack of Germany’s “The Magical Story Of The Rings: Die Nibelunger The Ring Of The Nibelungs” and the theme song “All For One” for Japan’s popular TV show “Third Watch”. Their song “Olde Mill Inn” is featured in Jim Carrey‘s movie “Yes Man”.
Night and Blackmore began working together first in Ritchie‘s previous group RAINBOW, when Candice co-wrote a number of songs, most notably “Ariel” and “Black Masquerade” for RAINBOW‘s 1996 album, “Stranger In Us All”. The following year, the two formed BLACKMORE’S NIGHT, and after seven studio albums, two live DVD/CDs and one holiday release, the group’s latest album, “Dancer And The Moon” follows the band’s eclectic/jam/folk rock/new age/neo-Celtic/neo-Medieval/progressive rock/chamber pop/world beat styling. Take your pick from the songwriting team of Candice and Ritchie: the acoustic “Somewhere Over the Sea (The Moon Is Shining)”, the rocking track “The Moon Is Shining (Somewhere Over The Sea)”, which you can dance to, along with the title track “Dancer and the Moon”, the nature-inspired “The Last Leaf” and the Russian-influenced “Troika”.
BLACKMORE’S NIGHT own their versions of classic rock chestnuts: RANDY NEWMAN‘s “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”, URIAH HEEP‘s “Lady In Black”, and “The Temple Of The King” that Ritchie and the late Ronnie James Dio collaborated on originally for their band RAINBOW.
“Dancer And The Moon” is made complete with its inspiring instrumentals, including the waltzy “Galliard” and the DEEP PURPLE-esque “Carry On… Jon” that Ritchie wrote as a heartfelt tribute to his former bandmate, the late Jon Lord.
“Dancer And The Moon” is a distinctive album, that is both melodic, rhythmic, and full of classic influences led by the dynamic and signature alto vocals of Candice Night and the phenomenal fret work of Ritchie Blackmore.
“Dancer And The Moon” continues to establish the band that has been growing its following steadily in the jam, pagan/wiccan scene, new age, folk and progressive worlds, as well as the classic rock community.
“So much has happened since our 2008 marriage (and the 2010’s release of the duo’s ‘Autumn Sky’ album),” says Candice, as she and Ritchie have been musical and emotional partners since 1989. In 2010 daughter Autumn Esmeralda was born, and then in 2012, their son, Rory.
Candice says: “We find that the ‘Dancer And The Moon’ is visually and emotionally representative of how we feel about our music. We have always had a very strong pull to the mystery of the Moon. Her magic, her power, her legend… She affects us so deeply that we have named many CDs after her and she is almost always represented in our songs. The dancer gives herself completely, unabashedly and whole heartedly moved by the intensity of the music she feels within her soul.”
“Dancer And The Moon” track listing:
01. I Think It’s Going To Rain Today
02. Troika
03. The Last Leaf
04. Lady In Black
05. Minstrels In The Hall
06. The Temple Of The King
07. Dancer And The Moon
08. Galliard
09. The Ashgrove
10. Somewhere Over The Sea (The Moon Is Shining)
11. The Moon Is Shining (Somewhere Over The Sea)
12. The Spinner’s Tale
13. Carry On… Jon
Former SKID ROW vocalist Sebastian Bach‘s brand new CD/DVD package, “ABachalypse Now”, was released in North America on March 26 via Frontiers Records. The “ABachalypse Now” Ultimate CD/DVD Edition includes never-before-seen footage from last year’s Graspop Metal Meeting festival in Dessel, Belgium, the full never-before-seen Hellfest set from France and the fully-remixed and remastered Nokia show from Los Angeles (originally broadcast on AXS TV), as well as bonus music videos. The DVD contains a running time of nearly 160 minutes. “ABachalypse Now” is available in two configurations: the Ultimate CD/DVD Edition (2 CDs + DVD) and a standalone DVD.
In a new post on his Facebook page, Bach writes: “I want to eliminate some confusion right now about what you are getting. I made the stupid mistake of reading some comments online, and I would like to address some confusing comments that I have read.
“‘ABachalypse Now’ contains three separate concerts. Originally, ‘ABachalypse Now’ was going to be a DVD-only release. Then the record company came to me with the idea of accompanying the DVD with two CDs of the audio, for the collectors. After thinking about it, I agreed to put out the audio onto CDs, along with the DVD. However, this changed the whole nature of the project.
“If this was to be a DVD-only release, the audio would not have been such a major concern. But releasing CDs of the audio made the audio portion of the concert a big concern to me. Since I was now going to release the concerts on CD, I had to pay full attention to every detail of the audio recording of both concerts. Two of the concerts, Hellfest in France and Nokia in Los Angeles, were digitally recorded on 48 tracks. This allowed us to go into the studio and fix anything we wanted to musically.
“My favorite live albums of all time are JUDAS PRIEST ‘Unleashed In The East’ and ‘Kiss Alive’. It is very well-known and common knowledge that both of these records are made to listen to for all time. Which means every note is perfect, and every detail was paid attention to.
“I did not invent the music industry. There are no live albums in existence, at all, that are 100% live on stage. If there are, chances are that they are not very good. But… and this is a big BUT… the third concert of the DVD, Graspop [Metal Meeting] in Belgium, was recorded on only TWO tracks. This meant that we were NOT allowed, AT ALL, to fix ANYTHING, in the studio, on the Graspop show.
“If you want to see a fully live performance, with no repairs made at all in the studio, whatsoever, you can watch the Graspop show. The Graspop show is 100% live. Zero overdubs. Zero repairs. That is why it is not part of the CD bonus.
“My favorite song of the whole DVD to watch is probably ‘Dirty Power’ from the Graspop show. The Hellfest and Nokia shows are indeed made to sound perfect on CD. But we did not have that luxury with the Graspop show. So the answer is, yes, I most certainly made sure that each and every note on the CDs are perfect.
“When a comment is made online that my voice sounds ‘too perfect,’ I do not take that as an insult.
“I don’t want to burst anybody’s bubble, but the original version of ’18 And Life’ was not recorded while I was running across from left to right on a stage the size of a football field. It is a delicate ballad, sung by me, when I was 20 years old. I will be 45 next month. The fact that I can still sing ’18 And Life’ in the same key that it was recorded in when I was a teenager, and I can still hit the same screams at the age of 44 that I recorded when I was 20, is something that I feel very blessed to be able to do.
“When I am making a CD, I definitely want every note to sound perfect. This does not make me a bad person. This is merely the example set by ‘Kiss Alive’, ‘Unleashed In The East’, and every other great live album that I own.
“If you want to watch a 100% live performance, please enjoy the Graspop show on ‘ABachalypse Now’. If you want to listen to a CD, please enjoy Hellfest, and Nokia, which are made to sound as good as I could make them sound.
“And for those of you thinking that it was all re-recorded in the studio, the answer is, no, it was not. Pretty much every high scream of the Hellfest show and the Nokia show is on the CD live, as it was recorded, in concert. The stuff I fixed up was mostly me running around during a verse or chorus or something. The fact that I was able to go in the studio and sing standing still made a big difference when I was listening back to the final product.
“So if you want to watch the full live show, with no studio repairs, then you can watch the Graspop show. I am not hiding anything. I have made a live CD in the tradition of the live CDs that I personally enjoy to this day.
“Thank you for watching and listening. I really hope you dig it.”
“ABachalypse Now” track listing:
DVD:
* Live at Hellfest in Clisson, France on June 16, 2012
* Live at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California on August 2, 2012
* Live at Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium on June 24, 2012
* Bonus music videos: “Kicking & Screaming”, “TunnelVision”, “I’m Alive”
CD1 – Live At Hellfest in Clisson, France, 2012
CD2 – Live at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California 2012
Setlists:
Live at Hellfest in Clisson, France on June 16, 2012
01. Slave To The Grind
02. Kicking & Screaming
03. Here I Am
04. Big Guns
05. Piece Of Me
06. 18 & Life
07. American Metalhead
08. Monkey Business
09. I Remember You
10. Youth Gone Wild
Live at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California on August 2, 2012
01. Big Guns
02. (Love Is) A Bitchslap
03. Piece Of Me
04. 18 & Life
05. American Metalhead
06. Monkey Business
07. I Remember You
08. TunnelVision
09. Youth Gone Wild
Live at Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium on June 24, 2012
01. Kicking & Screaming
02. Dirty Power
03. Here I Am
04. Big Guns
05. 18 & Life
06. American Metalhead
07. Monkey Business
08. I Remember You
09. TunnelVision
The “18 & Life” performance clip from “ABachalypse Now” can be seen below.
Frontiers Records will release WHITESNAKE‘s live concert, “Made In Japan”, on deluxe 2CD/DVD edition, Blu-ray and DVD in North America on Tuesday, April 23.
An EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for the set is available below.
Multi-platinum rock band WHITESNAKE co-headlined the Loud Park festival on October 15, 2011 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan during their “Forevermore World Tour”. The performance was initially recorded for Japanese TV and future Loud Park promotions, but after three songs were broadcast on a Loud Park highlights program in Japan, WHITESNAKE received unprecedented requests for this performance to be made available for general release.
Having spent most of 2012 editing and mixing the Japanese concert in stunning HD as a multi-format DVD-CD in 5.1 and stereo, just prior to commencing the “Year Of The Snake” 2013 world tour, this exceptional performance is a welcome addition to the history of WHITESNAKE live releases. Now fans can relive the irresistible magic of WHITESNAKE in concert any time their heart and loins may desire!
The “Forevermore” songs alone are worth the price of admission, not forgetting the classic WHITESNAKE songs, “Is This Love”, “Still Of The Night” and “Here I Go Again”, all peformed at the height of their musical powers. It’s all here. This is what WHITESNAKE fans, new and old, have been clamouring for. Highlights include blistering guitar work from the band’s six string guitar slingers, Doug Aldrich and Reb Beach, who both celebrate their 10th anniversary with the band this year.
WHITESNAKE also features the earth-shaking rhythm section, The Wrecking Crew featuring Michael Devin (bass) and Brian Tichy (drums), who anchor the deep and dirty foundation of WHITESNAKE. The band is accompanied by the swirling sonic tapestries of special guest keyboardist Brian Ruedy, and of course, the chest beating, seductive vocals of front man and founder, David Coverdale.
After hearing the sound check recordings from the different Japanese venues, the band decided to include them in the package as special bonus content. They agreed that everything would be related to their 2011 Japanese tour. So, when you think about it, it is appropriate they’ve called the project “Made In Japan”.
CD track listing:
CD 1
01. Best Years
02. Give Me All Your Love Tonight
03. Love Ain’t No Stranger
04. Is This Love
05. Steal Your Heart Away
06. Forevermore
07. Six String Showdown
08. Love Will Set You Free
09. Drum Solo
10. Fool For Your Loving
11. Here I Go Again
12. Still Of The Night
Bonus CD 2 – Soundcheck
01. Love Will Set You Free
02. Steal Your Heart Away
03. Fare Thee Well (Acoustic Version)
04. One Of These Days (Acoustic Version)
05. Lay Down Your Love
06. Evil Ways
07. Good To Be Bad (Acoustic Version)
08. Tell Me How (Acoustic Version)
DVD and Blu-ray track listing:
01. Best Years
02. Give Me All Your Love Tonight
03. Love Ain’t No Stranger
04. Is This Love
05. Steal Your Heart Away
06. Forevermore
07. Six String Showdown
08. Love Will Set You Free
09. Drum Solo
10. Fool For Your Loving
11. Here I Go Again
12. Still Of The Night
13. Forevermore (fan video)
14. Steal Your Heart Away (fan video)
The musicians:
David Coverdale (vocals) Doug Aldrich (guitar) Reb Beach (guitar) Michael Devin (bass) Briian Tichy (drums)
TIMO TOLKKI’S AVALON, the new metal-opera project from ex-STRATOVARIUS guitarist Timo Tolkki, will release its debut album, “The Land Of New Hope”, on May 17 in Europe and May 21 in North America via Frontiers Records. Guests on the CD include Michael Kiske (UNISONIC, ex-HELLOWEEN), Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION), Elize Ryd (AMARANTHE, KAMELOT), Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X, ADRENALINE MOB), Rob Rock (DRIVER, IMPELLITTERI, M.A.R.S.), Tony Kakko (SONATA ARCTICA), Jens Johansson (STRATOVARIUS), Derek Sherinian (BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION, DREAM THEATER) and Alex Holzwarth (RHAPSODY OF FIRE).
The year is A.D. 2055 and planet Earth has almost been destroyed by a series of earthquakes, tsunamis and natural catastrophes. A small group of survivors leave on a quest to find a sacred place called The New Land Of Hope.
A few teasers for “The Land Of New Hope” can be seen below.
“Bleed & Scream”, the new video from Swedish hard rockers ECLIPSE, can be seen below. The song is the title track of the band’s fourth album, which will be released on August 28 via Frontiers Records.
“Bleed & Scream” comes four years after ECLIPSE‘s acclaimed album “Are You Ready To Rock”, which gained the band a solid reputation and a steady following, thanks also to their live appearances which culminated with dates as the opening act for DEEP PURPLE and a Firefest show in 2009.
ECLIPSE singer Erik Martensson has been busy producing and writing a number of successful songs and records for such artists as W.E.T., Toby Hitchcock, GIANT and Jimi Jamison. Erik and ECLIPSE guitaristMagnus Henriksson also wrote the track “Brothers In Arms” (originally an ECLIPSE cut), which was voted the No. 1 song of the year in MelodicRock.com awards for 2009.
In 2011 ECLIPSE regrouped to write what has now become “Bleed & Scream”. The bar was set high and the initial goal was to top “Are You Ready To Rock”. “We knew we had to do everything better on this album. If we couldn’t have achieved that we never would have released it! But boy did it turn out well! When it was taking shape we realized this was to be a monster of an album,” says Henriksson.
“With ECLIPSE we never think of what other people want or expect from us,” adds Martensson. “We write for ourselves and make the music we love to listen to. If I’d think of a perfect album this is how it will sound! And once the album was written the recording process went pretty smooth as we knew exactly what goal we aimed for. I’d say it’s our own pimped version of the classic hard rock we grew up listening to.”
“Every song has qualities as a single,” concludes Magnus. “Erik‘s vocals are way better than ever. The guitar sound is just awesome! The whole production is just in your face. It has something for everyone in it! We worked so hard at making this record that it drove us nearly nuts and made us wanna scream, but now it’s your turn to bleed and scream.”
“Bleed & Scream” track listing:
01. Wake Me Up
02. Bleed & Scream
03. Ain’t Dead Yet
04. Battlegrounds
05. A Bitter Taste
06. Falling Down
07. S.O.S.
08. Take Back The Fear
09. The Unspoken Heroes
10. About To Break
11. After The End Of The World
The first single, “Bleed & Scream”, will be exclusively distributed in Sweden through Sweden Rock Magazine in the issue that will hit the streets on July 17. This special release will include two exclusive bonus tracks (unavailable elsewhere): “Come Hell Or High Water” and “Into The Fire”.
ECLIPSE is:
Erik Martenssom – Vocals, Guitar, Bass Magnus Henriksson – Lead Guitar Robban Bäck – Drums Johan Berlin – Synthesizers
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s ASA unveil the long-overdue release of "Collective Failure" + first music video for title-track! Check it out and stay tuned for more news! Click image to watch the video
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
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Kimmo Kuusniemi's Ancient Streaming Assembly - 'Perpetuae Memoriae', ft. Tuomas Rounakari + Steve Di Giorgio - Click image to watch the video
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Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 