Stratovarius

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STRATOVARIUS And AMARANTHE To Join Forces For European Tour

Posted by aliblackdiamond on October 15, 2012
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Source: Blabbermouth.net

 

STRATOVARIUS and AMARANTHE will joined forces for a “double headline” European tour next spring. The “Nordic Nexus Of Nemesis Tour 2013” will kick off on March 20 in Munich, Germany.

Confirmed dates are as follows:

Mar. 20 – Backstagehalle – Munich, Germany
Mar. 21 – Stadtgarten – Erfurt, Germany
Mar. 22 – Masters Of Rock Cafe – Zlin, Czech Republic
Mar. 23 – Club 202 – Budapest, Hungary
Mar. 24 – Majestic Club – Bratislava, Slovakia
Mar. 26 – Szene – Vienna, Austria
Mar. 27 – Hirsch – Nürnberg, Germany
Mar. 28 – Matrix – Bochum, Germany
Mar. 29 – Grünspan – Hamburg, Germany
Mar. 30 – De Pul – Uden, Netherlands
Mar. 31 – La Cigale – Paris, France
Apr. 02 – La Laiterie – Strasbourg, France
Apr. 03 – Le Kao – Lyon, France
Apr. 05 – Razzmatazz 2 – Barcelona, Spain
Apr. 06 – Arena – Madrid, Spain
Apr. 07 – Rock Star – Bilbao, Spain
Apr. 09 – Z7 – Pratteln, Switzerland
Apr. 10 – Alcatrazz – Milan, Italia
Apr. 11 – Rockfabrik – Ludwigsburg, Germany
Apr. 13 – PPM Fest (Festival) – Mons, Belgium

STRATOVARIUS‘s new DVD “Under Flaming Winter Skies – Live In Tampere”, recently entered the Music DVD chart in Finland at position No. 1.

The band in June announced the addition of 24-year-old drummer Rolf Pilve to the group’s ranks.

AMARANTHE entered the studio on September 24 to begin recording their sophomore album for an early 2013 release. The follow-up to last year’s “Amaranthe” is once again being recorded at Hansen studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen.

STRATOVARIUS Singer, Ex-SONATA ARCTICA Guitarist To Release ‘Blackoustic’ Album

Posted by tarjavirmakari on September 19, 2012
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earMUSIC has set an October 19 release date for “Blackoustic”, the first-ever acoustic album by Finnish heavy metal singer Timo Kotipelto (STRATOVARIUS, CAIN’S OFFERING, KOTIPELTO) and guitarist Jani Liimatainen (CAIN’S OFFERING, ex-SONATA ARCTICA). The duo has been working together and playing acoustic shows for a while, and the idea of recording an acoustic album came from the fans.

Comments Kotipelto: “The fans were recording our shows with their cell phones and the’ve been telling us that we should make an album, so they could have better quality recordings of the songs to listen at home. At first, we were just joking about it, but after a while we thought, ‘Why not? As far as we know, not many people have done it before, at least not within the heavier music genre. Our initial idea was to make a self-financed album with a relatively small pressing and then just maybe sell them at our shows.”

But instead of making it a “fan-club release,” the duo has opted to work with the label earMUSIC/Edel, which also releases STRATOVARIUS‘s work since the album “Polaris”.

Most of the songs were chosen from the duo’s live setlist, including familiar STRATOVARIUS covers like “Black Diamond” and “Hunting High and Low”, but also songs like “Serenity” and “Sleep Well” from Kotipelto‘s solo albums have been given the new acoustic treatment; proving that behind great heavy metal song, there’s very often a stunning melody “screaming” to come out. Furthermore, the album includes beautiful cover versions of PETE TOWNSHEND‘s “Behind Blue Eyes” and DEEP PURPLE‘s classic “Perfect Strangers”.

“Blackoustic” also features a brand new composition, “Where My Rainbow Ends”, written by Jani Liimatainen, who says: “I remembered a song I wrote last winter. Originally it was an instrumental track, but after listening back to it I thought that the melody would work very well with vocals. We re-arranged the song into our acoustic format and — as a slave of habit — I wrote the lyrics for it the night before our last day of recording. It turned out surprisingly beautiful and delicate.”

“Jani‘s new song is a beautiful ballad,”, adds Kotipelto. “We have quite a few ballads on this album, as even the more rock oriented songs tend to sound more ballad-esque when performed by a duo.”

“Blackoustic” was recorded at Kotipelto‘s cottage at Lappajärvi and mixed and mastered by the STRATOVARIUS guitarist / studio wizard Matias Kupiainen.

The duo will also hit the road in Finland in support of the album, although the first show was on the sea, performing at the Radio Rock cruise on the Baltic Princess on September 8.

“Blackoustic” track listing:

01. Sleep Well
02. Out In The Fields
03. Black Diamond
04. My Selene
05. Behind Blue Eyes
06. Hunting High And Low
07. Where My Rainbow Ends
08. Speed Of Light
09. Perfect Strangers
10. Coming Home
11. Serenity
12. Rainbow Eyes
13. Karjalan Kunnailla

Source: Blabbermouth.net

STRATOVARIUS Working On New Album: Video Message Available

Posted by aliblackdiamond on September 4, 2012
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A new video message from Finnish/Swedish metallers STRATOVARIUS about the progress of the recording sessions for the band’s new studio album can be seen below.

STRATOVARIUS‘s new DVD, “Under Flaming Winter Skies – Live In Tampere”, recently entered the Music DVD chart in Finland at position No. 1.

The news of drummer Jörg Michael‘s departure from the Finnish melodic metallers STRATOVARIUS in September 2011 was a shock for all of the band’s fans.

To say goodbye to a friend, hero and member who characterized STRATOVARIUS‘ sound for over a decade, the group embarked on a five-show farewell tour of Finland in November of last year.

Before coming back with a brand new studio album in 2013, STRATOVARIUS released a two-hour DVD filmed and recorded in Tampere, Finland on November 19, 2011. This is one of the very last shows the band played with Michael.

Released on June 29 via earMUSIC, “Under Flaming Winter Skies – Live In Tampere” marks the end of an era as well as a new beginning. Hits and classics like “Under Flaming Skies”, “Speed Of Light” and “Hunting High And Low” as well as exclusive bonus material (30-minute documentary about the band’s history, exclusive interviews with each member as well as a special comment from Jörg Michael about the reasons to leave the band) makes it a must-have for every fan and a real collector’s item not to be missed.

STRATOVARIUS in June announced the addition of 24-year-old drummer Rolf Pilve to the group’s ranks.

 

Source: Blabbermouth.net

STRATOVARIUS Singer, Ex-SONATA ARCTICA Guitarist Putting Finishing Touches On Acoustic Album

Posted by tarjavirmakari on July 23, 2012
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Finnish heavy metal singer Timo Kotipelto (STRATOVARIUS, CAIN’S OFFERING, KOTIPELTO) and guitarist Jani Liimatainen (CAIN’S OFFERING, ex-SONATA ARCTICA) are putting the finishing touches on an acoustic album, “Blacoustic”, to be released later in the year under the KOTIPELTO & LIIMATAINEN banner. Timo says, “Matias [Kupiainen, STRATOVARIUS guitarist] mixed the album in his studio and now he is mastering it (final tuning, making each tracks into a complete album). It sounds veeery good! We still need to work on the artwork, etc. Jani and Matias did a brilliant job!”

CAIN’S OFFERING, the band featuring Kotipelto and Liimatainen, released its debut album, “Gather The Faithful”, in 2009 via Frontiers Records.

Liimatainen was previously in SONATA ARCTICA and ALTARIA. In 2007, Jani parted ways with SONATA ARCTICA, a band he co-founded in 1996 and to which he devoted his time and energy for more than 10 years.

 

Source: Blabbermouth.net

New STRATOVARIUS Drummer’s Video Introduction

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 25, 2012
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A five-minute video clip in which Finnish/Swedish melodic metallers STRATOVARIUS introduce their new drummer, 24-year-old Rolf Pilve, can be seen below.

Last year Jörg Michael announced his departure from STRATOVARIUS after sixteen years of incredible drumming, countless tours and nine studio albums. Jörg played his final tour with the band in 2011. One of the last concerts in Finland was recorded, and will be released as a live DVD/Blu-ray on June 27. It is titled “Under Flaming Winter Skies – Live In Tampere”. The DVD is the first live DVD the band has ever released, and sadly it is the final for Jörg Michael. It includes two hours of a very powerful live show, plus a 30-minute-long documentary about the band with interviews with all band members. It is a must-have for all STRATOVARIUS fans with lots of inside information, very honest interviews, and the once-in-a-lifetime departure of an outstanding member and friend: Jörg Michael. Even though he will still be working for the band on the management and agency side, it was a dramatic and nostalgic moment when he finally left the stage. As a bonus track, the Blu-ray disc contains a 5.1 mix of the 18 minute song “Elysium” from the last studio album with the same name.

It was not easy to find a new drummer who is not only an excellent musician and a cool guy, but also courageous enough trying to fill the big hole Jörg Michael has left. Pilve from Finland is that courageous and gifted drummer.

Commented STRATOVARIUS singer singer Timo Kotipelto: “Although the competition was fierce, Rolf was clearly the best one of the bunch. His precise playing, sureness and right attitude was there right away. He has an astonishing technique and to top that of he has a very musical way of playing, so he can bring something of his own into our old songs as well. Rolf has played a variety of different styles of metal, so fast tempos or more progressive parts will not be a problem. Whatever songs we might compose in the future — I have no doubt that he will be able to play them.”

Added Rolf: “I had prepared for the audition thoroughly, learning all the songs we agreed on, with the live endings and everything. In addition to that, I had also learned some extra songs just to be safe. Playing with the guys was excellent, and already the next day after the audition I got to hear that I had been the best one of the drummers they had auditioned. What followed was yet another audition where we would play more casually and jam.”

STRATOVARIUS received more than 100 applications, some of them very competent and high-caliber Finns, but also included were some foreign drummers who had already made a name for themselves.

Timo Kotipelto describes the criteria the band had for the new drummer: “He had to be a really good player, but also a nice guy. We were not looking for a Jörg Michael clone.“

STRATOVARIUS has been an influence for Pilve for years, and now he gets to step into the big boots of his idol. Rolf Pilve will join STRATOVARIUS first time on stage at Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland on July 11.

Source: Blabbermouth.net

Interview with ALEX LANDENBURG: “I can’t wait to get out on the road and to play the new stuff as well as the RHAPSODY classics!”

Posted by tarjavirmakari on June 22, 2012
Posted in: Int. News, Interviews, News. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

ALEX LANDENBURG’s first major step into the spotlight was at age 26 when Jeff Waters asked him to join one of Canada’s most important Metal acts ever – ANNIHILATOR. He toured with Annihilator, supporting the record “Metal” which was recorded by none other than drum legend Mike Mangini. Shortly after Uli Kusch himself asked Alex to replace him in the legendary progressive band MEKONG DELTA. In Alex’s musical carreer we can add also the bands, as 21Octayne, Angels Cry, Axxis, Stratovarius, and Timo Tolkki’s Symfonia… Now, in 2012 Alex is super excited about his newest endeavour – playing with Luca Turilli’s RHAPSODY, which he has joined as their new permanent drummer! Alex states: “What an amazing opportunity to join the band together with new singer Alessandro Conti and to start this new chapter together! I can’t wait to get out on the road and to play the new stuff as well as the Rhapsody classics”!

A week ago I had a pleasure to interview Alex, we were talking about his past, present and future, please join our conversation…

1. Hi Alex, I’m Tarja. Welcome to Metalshock Finland! what were the first tunes you listened to today? after your alarm clock, i mean… lol

Hey Tarja! The first tunes were “Game of Life” and “Reach within” from Circus Maximus’ new record Nine.
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