Finnish metal giants AMORPHIS have finally finished recording their upcoming new studio album, entitled “Queen Of Time”. The record is scheduled for a May 18th release.
In comparison to its predecessor, “Under The Red Cloud” (2015), the album will include the use of real strings, flutes, orchestral arrangements and even choirs! In addition, this will be the first time that people will be able to hear their lyricist Artist Pekka Kainulainen on the album as he contributes a speech in Finnish.
The album was once again produced by the famous Jens Bogren(OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KREATOR, and many others).
The cover artwork, which was created once again by French artist Jean ”Valnoir” Simoulin from Metastazis, captures the feeling of the lyrics and the music.
“Queen Of Time” will be also the first album with their old/new bass player Olli-Pekka ‘Oppu’ Laine following the departure of Niclas Etelävuori in 2017.
Esa comments: “I guess »Queen Of Time« turned out as a massive surprise to all of us. During the rehearsing and pre-production we didn’t have any idea that Jens had this huge picture inside of his head about the landscape of the album. It’s a very natural continuation to »Under The Red Cloud« but with steroids. The songs are more aggressive but there’s more dynamics, harmonies and orchestral arrangements present. The result is AMORPHIS as something you’ve never heard before! Essentially, working with Jens worked really well. As a person he is very similar to us – we share the same kind of weird humor and we all like to work hard.”
Nuclear Blast have announced that ACCEPT‘s album “Stalingrad”, which was released in 2012, has been certified Gold! The title track was dedicated to one of the most crucial battles of both WWII and the Great Patriotic War.
Wolf Hoffmann (ACCEPT) comments: “RUSSIA! THANK YOU! SOYUZ! THANK YOU! Our first Gold album for »Stalingrad« in our NEW ACCEPT ERA! We are thrilled and can‘t wait to see you again!”
Tine Stumpp (Head of Licensing, Nuclear Blast) comments: “We‘re really proud of the first gold award for our license territory RUSSIA! It‘s a huge success, it‘s also the first award for a license country in Nuclear Blast history. Many thanks to our incredible band ACCEPT, who have performed fantastically and made it possible – as well as our partner SOYUZ MUSIC! We‘re happy to have such a wonderful partner in Russia and great bands like ACCEPT.”
Alexey Alyaev (General Director, Soyuz Music) comments: “I’m absolutely happy that heavy metal heroes ACCEPT received GOLD for »Stalingrad« in Russia! I’m a metal fan since my school years in the mid 80’s and ACCEPT had always been in the top league in Soviet Union & Russia. I would like to say a big THANK YOU to ACCEPT, for all the music you gave us! Rock on!”
The band is currently on an extensive European tour – 28 shows in 14 countries – in support of their highly-acclaimed album “The Rise Of Chaos” (all dates can be found below). And to celebrate their huge success of “Stalingrad” in Russia, the band will also play five shows in Russia and Ukraine in February:
21.02. UA Kiev – Palace of Sports
23.02. RUS St. Petersburg – Aurora Concert Hall
24.02. RUS Moscow – Glavclub
26.02. RUS Yekaterinburg – Tele-Club
27.02. RUS Samara – Klub Zvezda
ACCEPT is a pillar of German–American heavy metal that has won the hearts of their Russian fans. The band have greatly influenced European heavy metal, and with their albums: “Restless And Wild” (1982), “Balls To The Wall” (1983) and “Metal Heart” (1985) inspired a whole generation of young metal artists.
In the 80’s, ACCEPT became the choice metal band for the Soviet people. Back then heavy metal was banned in the USSR and it took fans great courage to wear merchandise bearing band‘s names, fans could have paid a huge price for it. A person in heavy metal clothing could be picked up by the police “for the improper attire” or fall victim of suburban louts, similar to British skinheads, called “Lubera” as they were residents of a Moscow region town Lubertsy. The authorities turned a blind eye to the clashes between metal heads and “Lubera” which in most cases turned into real fights resulting in casualties. As fans could often not afford to buy original vinyl records, posters and other merchandise, they sometimes created their own DIY stuff. The name ACCEPT was amongst the most popular with Soviet rock fans. All the bags, badges, hand-made labels, t-shirts and jackets had the name plastered on.
Today, 30 years later, those Soviet metal fans, though matured, are still loyal to the icons of their youth. They attend music events, buy CD’s and educate their kids as to the ’right music‘. It was those veterans and the youths raised that way that earned “Stalingrad” its “gold”. Each new album and each new concert tour is enthusiastically welcomed by the fans! Special disk awards have been presented to the members of ACCEPT, their team, managers and official representatives of Nuclear Blast.
ACCEPT live:
“The Rise Of Chaos” – World Tour 2018 German shows presented by:
Rock Hard, Rocks, Rock It!, musix, Start, piranha, metal.de & Wacken Radio w/ NIGHT DEMON
30.01. F Saint-Étienne – Le FIL
01.02. F Paris – Elysée Montmartre
02.02. D Saarbrücken – Garage
03.02. CH Lausanne – Les Docks
04.02. D Frankfurt – Batschkapp
06.02. NL Eindhoven – Effenaar
07.02. B Antwerp – Trix
08.02. UK London – Koko
09.02. D Oberhausen – Turbinenhalle
11.02. DK Copenhagen – Vega
12.02. N Oslo – Rockefeller
14.02. S Gothenburg – Trädgår‘n
15.02. S Stockholm – Cruise
17.02. FIN Turku – Logomo
18.02. FIN Helsinki – The Circus
More ACCEPT dates:
05.05. BR Fortaleza – Festival Ponto.CE
02.06. CZ Pilsen – Metalfest Open Air
21./22.06. D St. Goarshausen – RockFels
22./24.06. F Clisson – Hellfest
23.06. B Dessel – Graspop Metal Meeting
30.06. D Dischingen – Rock am Härtsfeldsee
06.07. N Kvinesdal – Norway Rock Festival
12. – 14.07. D Balingen – Bang Your Head!!!
21.07. D Fritzlar – Rock am Stück
22. – 28.07. SLO Tolmin – Metaldays
02./03.11. D Weissenhäuser Strand / Ostsee – Metal Hammer Paradise
Over seven years, deathlike silence has filled the halls of the world’s biggest black metal forge, DIMMU BORGIR, whilst powers have been gathering to resurrect the band right in time for their 25th anniversary. Now they finally mark their return with a vicious work of art that can be defined as timeless in the truest sense of the word: “Eonian”.
The songwriting core of DIMMU BORGIR furthermore consists of charismatic vocalist Shagrath, as well as the string wizards Silenoz and Galder, but other familiar faces also emerge from the darkness: Drummer Daray and keyboarder Gerlioz are still part of the team, and Gaute Storaas helped with the choral arrangements for the majestic voices of the Schola Cantrum Choir.
The cover artwork was designed in fascinating detail by Zbigniew M. Bielak (GHOST, BEHEMOTH, MAYHEM).
This tenth full-length record will see the light of spring on May the 4th, and it will contain 10 new tracks, produced by the band itself and engineered by Jens Bogren. Emerging from the dark minds of the three songwriters, “Eonian«”follows a philosophical concept, dealing with the illusion of time:
“Time, when not approaching it from the construct we’re used to can’t be defined and thus it is illusory”, explains axemaster Silenoz. “There’s only an ‘eternal now’, which the album title is already hinting at. When we travel between the worlds seen and unseen, the perception of time ceases to exist, it has no function. Our energy is our torch and our compass when we make rifts and pierce through the veil – when we go beyond.”
Vocalist Shagrath adds: “»Eonian« represents the illusion of time, everything that is and always has been. For us, it also marks the 25th anniversary of DIMMU BORGIR and the album itself is a tribute to our own history and the Norwegian black metal history.”
On February 23rd, DIMMU BORGIR will unveil their first single ‘Interdimensional Summit’, that will be released as a 7” vinyl EP, providing a first taste of the upcoming album.
You can pre-order the EP here. The pre-order for the full-length album starts on the single’s release day, February 23rd.
The following re-released LPs are already available in our shop: »Death Cult Armageddon« (2 LP black vinyl) »Death Cult Armageddon« (2 LP silver – mailorder exclusive!) »For All Tid« (2 LP black vinyl) »For All Tid« (2 LP orange vinyl) »Enthrone Darkness Triumphant« (black vinyl)
While these LPs will see the light of day a little later, on February 23rd: »Spiritual Black Dimensions« (black vinyl) »Spiritual Black Dimensions« (mint vinyl – mailorder exclusive!) »Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia« (2 LP black vinyl) »Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia« (2 LP blue vinyl – mailorder exclusive!) »Stormblåst« (LP + 7” EP, black vinyl) »Stormblåst« (LP + 7” EP, clear vinyl – mailorder exclusive!)
So far, DIMMU BORGIR announced the following festival shows for 2018:
22. – 24.06. F Clisson – Hellfest
05. – 07.07. E Barcelona – Rock Fest
02. – 04.08. D Wacken – Wacken Open Air
16. – 18.08. N Horten – Midgardsblot Metalfestival
When melancholic progressive metallers AMORPHIS released their 2015 studio album “Under The Red Cloud”, it reached great chart results all around the world, including their first ever entry in United Kingdom and Australia, as well as their highest ever entries in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Following this success, they released their “Under The Red Cloud Tour Edition” in February 2017, including the entire album with two bonus songs as well as the live tracks of their “An Evening With Friends”-Shows @ Juhlaviikot – Huvila.
Today, there are some good news for all fans of AMORPHIS: The band is currently working on a new studio album! The pre-production process is already done and most of the recordings have been finished. But this time, the band didn’t rush at all and took their time to focus on details so there’ll be also some really amazing surprises: additional recordings with real strings and flutes, as well as orchestra arrangements and choirs! In addition, this is the first time that people will be able to hear their lyricist Pekka Kainulainen on the album as he contributes a speech in Finnish!
Jens Bogren (OPETH, AMON AMARTH, KATATONIA, and many others) will be once again the producer of the upcoming album. More details to be announced soon, so stay tuned!
AMORPHIS live 2018:
12.05. N Kopervik – Karmoygeddon Metal Festival
08.06. FIN Hyvinkää – Rockfest
09.06. FIN Tampere – South Park Festival
13.06. J Tokyo – Shibuya Club Quattro
14.06. J Osaka – Umeda Club Quattro
21. – 23.06. D St. Goarshausen – RockFels
22. – 24.06. F Clisson – Hellfest
04. – 07.07. D Ballenstedt – Rockharz Open Air
06.07. FIN Lohja – Rantajamit
12. – 14.07. D Balingen – Bang Your Head!!!
12. – 15.07. CZ Vizovice – Masters of Rock
20./21.07. FIN Laukaa – John Smith Rock Festival
26. – 28.07. FIN Kuopio – RockCock
27./28.07. FIN Oulu – Qstock
02. – 04.08. D Wacken – Wacken Open Air
08. – 11.08. E Villena – Leyendas del Rock
Recently, Nuclear Blast proudly announced the release of the upcoming first MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST studio album! Along with producer Michael Voss-Schoen, the band recently completed the recordings for the record, entitled “Resurrection”, out on March 2, 2018. Besides Michael Schenker and the three M.S.G. singers Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley, you can also hear Doogie White (Michael Schenker’s TEMPLE OF ROCK) as well as musicians Steve Mann (guitars, keyboards), Ted McKenna (drums) and Chris Glen (bass). In addition, there are also some guest appearances from Kirk Hammett, Wayne Findlayand Michael Voss-Schoen included.
Today, Michael Schenker is explaining his idea behind the concept of the upcoming album and tells the story of how it came across that all of these singers take part in this project. Watch the trailer, here:
The band has also already released their first digital single ‘Warrior’ as well as a video including some impressions of the studio recording process. Watch this clip, here:
Pre-order “Resurrection” digitally and get ‘Warrior’ instantly or stream the song here.
The album will be available in the following formats:
CD
CD + DVD-DIGI (incl. Bonus-DVD)
CD + DVD-Earbook (incl. Bonus-DVD & extended artwork)
2LP (black in gatefold)
2LP (clear in gatefold)
2LP (clear + red splatter in gatefold, NUCLEAR BLAST MAILORDER EXCLUSIVE!)
2LP (gold in gatefold, NUCLEAR BLAST MAILORDER EXCLUSIVE!)
BOX (DIGI + Flying V Replica + photo card)
Tracklists:
CD
01. Heart And Soul
02. Warrior
03. Take Me To The Church
04. Night Moods
05. The Girl With The Stars In Her Eyes
06. Everest
07. Messin’ Around
08. Time Knows When It´s Time
09. Anchors Away
10. Salvation
11. Livin‘ A Life Worth Livin‘
12. The Last Supper
2LP (33 RPM)
Side A
01. Heart And Soul
02. Warrior
03. Take Me To The Church
04. Night Moods
Side B
01. The Girl With The Stars In Her Eyes
02. Everest
03. Messin’ Around
04. Time Knows When It´s Time
Side C
01. Anchors Away
02. Salvation
03. Livin’ A Life Worth Livin’
04. The Last Supper
Bonus DVD
01. Warrior (video clip)
02. Michael Schenker Fest – The Documentation
03. Michael Schenker Fest – Interview
04. Michael Schenker Fest at Loudpark 2017
MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST LIVE 2018
featuring 3 original M.S.G. singers Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet and Robin McAuley plus Doogie White (ex-RAINBOW, Michael Schenker’s TEMPLE OF ROCK)
03/06 USA Silver Springs, MD – The Fillmore
03/07 USA Pittsburgh, PA – Carnegie Music Hall
03/09 USA Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center
03/10 USANew York, NY – Irving Plaza 03/11USA Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of Living Arts
03/12 CDN Montreal, QC – Club Soda
03/14 USA Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre
03/16 USA Cleveland, OH – Agora Theatre
03/17 USA Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall
03/18 USA Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
03/19 USA Minneapolis, MN – Cabooze
03/22 USA Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
03/24 USA San Jose, CA – Events Center
03/25 USA Anaheim, CA – The Grove 03/26USAPhoenix, AZ – Marquee Theatre
03/27 USA Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues
03/29 USA Denver, CO – Cervantes Ballroom
03/31 USA San Antonio, TX – Vibes Event Center
04/01 USA Dallas, TX – Bomb Factory
04/03 USA Tampa, FL – The Ritz
Michael Schenker is one of the most significant rock guitarists in the history of music. He has mesmerised the rock community since the 70’s with his characteristic guitar play and constructed himself a monument during his time in UFO by writing hits like ‘Doctor Doctor’ and ‘Rock Bottom’, as well as SCORPIONS classics such as ‘Lovedrive’, ‘Coast To Coast’ and ‘Holiday’, among others. His playing has influenced several generations of guitar players enormously.
Back in 1979, the “German Wunderkind” decided to be his own boss. He founded the MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP aka M.S.G. and released the masterpieces »Assault Attack« and »Built To Destroy«, the live legacy »One Night At Budokan« as well as the McAULEY SCHENKER GROUP pearls »Perfect Timing« and »Save Yourself«. M.S.G. also became the home of great vocalists, most notably Gary Barden, Graham Bonnet (ex-RAINBOW etc.) and Robin McAuley. Those guys were also a part of the comprehensive MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST, whose celebrated Tokyo show was released as live CD, DVD and Blu-ray this March recently passed. Now the time has come for Michael Schenker to move another step forward: by releasing the new MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST studio album, he fulfils the long-awaited dream of all hard rock fans!
The war rages on! Old school death metallers, MEMORIAM, are set to unleash their second album, “The Silent Vigil”, on March 23rd, 2018 through Nuclear Blast Records. Just one year after the release of debut album “For The Fallen”, the band returns with an authentic, raw flood of old school Death Metal destruction!
The album’s impressive artwork was created again by Dan Seagrave (BENEDICTION, DISMEMBER, HYPOCRISY, SUFFOCATION,…).
MEMORIAM stated on the cover artwork: “Following the success of working with Dan Seagrave for our debut album For the Fallen, we decided that we had to get Dan involved for the next album cover.
Initially we used Dan as we were all very impressed with the art that he has created for bands over the decades and Scott in particular wanted to have an album cover designed by Dan Seagrave, as part of the things he wanted to achieve with Memoriam.
Dan really encapsulates the Old School Death Metal feel to the album covers that he creates; they are full of detail and very atmospheric. We gave him a brief for the For the Fallen debut cover and he did a great job.
We briefed Dan and asked him to create an image which followed on from the first album; the first album features a funeral procession, the coffin of the fallen leader paraded across an ethereal battle scarred landscape.
The Silent Vigil represents the next phase of the journey where the coffin is lying in state with the followers standing in silence almost like terracotta soldiers. The cover has an overall solemn feel to it, with the ravaged landscape in the background and burnt out wrecks of military hardware in the foreground.
The tree in the centre of the album cover is symbolic of life – that continues on.
We are really pleased with what Dan Seagrave has created for us once again and we are proud to have his artwork on our album cover.
We already have an idea for the next album cover and we hope that Dan will be able to do this for us too.”
“The Silent Vigil” – Tracklisting:
1. Soulless Parasite
2. Nothing Remains
3. From the Flames
4. The Silent Vigil
5. Bleed The Same
6. As Bridges Burn
7. The New Dark Ages
8. No Known Grave
9. Weaponised Fear
MEMORIAM was primarily developed to fill the void that was left following the tragic death of Martin “Kiddie” Kearns, the drummer from BOLT THROWER, back in September 2015. BOLT THROWER subsequently placed all activity on hold for the foreseeable future which gave Karl Willetts an opportunity to develop a new project with friends that had expressed interest in forming a band for some time. MEMORIAM are an old school death metal band, maintaining the high standards set by their previous bands, focusing on the themes of death, loss and war. Initially the band members got together to play covers of songs that had influenced them throughout their careers within the death metal scene, however it soon became apparent that the new songs that they created were of a superior standard.
MEMORIAM are: Karl Willetts – ex-BOLT THROWER | vocals Frank Healy – BENEDICTION, SACRILEGE | bass Andy Whale – ex-BOLT THROWER | drums Scott Fairfax – ex-LIFE DENIED, BENEDICTION (live) | guitars
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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