Finnish bashers STRATOVARIUS will be holding a listening party for their new album, Nemesis, in New York City on January 21st at Idle Hands. It will take place from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. This event is open to the general public, Frontman Timo Kotipelto and keyboardist Jens Johansson will be in attendance. Go to this location for more details.
Nemesis will include the following tracklisting:
‘Abandon’
‘Unbreakable’
‘Stand My Ground’
‘Halcyon Days’
‘Fantasy’
‘Out Of The Fog’
‘Castles In The Air’
‘Dragons’
‘One Must Fall’
‘If The Story Is Over’
‘Nemesis’
Check out samples of the title track and ‘Unbreakable’ below:
EarMUSIC will release the long-awaited new studio album by STRATOVARIUS called Nemesis, as standard 11-track edition as well as 13-track special edition on February 22nd. Prior to that, the band are seeking fan assistance before they film the first video. Check out more details here and watch singer Timo Kotipelto explain the contest below:
Nemesis will include the following tracklisting:
‘Abandon’
‘Unbreakable’
‘Stand My Ground’
‘Halcyon Days’
‘Fantasy’
‘Out Of The Fog’
‘Castles In The Air’
‘Dragons’
‘One Must Fall’
‘If The Story Is Over’
‘Nemesis’
Check out samples of the title track and ‘Unbreakable’ below:
During a recent interview with BW&BK scribe Carl Begai about the KOTIPELTO & LIIMATAINEN debut, Blackoustic, STRATOVARIUS frontman Timo Kotipelto commented on replacing drummer Jörg Michael, who opted to leave the band on friendly terms after 16 years behind the kit. Finnish drummer Rolf Pilve, age 24, was tapped as his replacement:
“It’s actually been amazingly easy,” Kotipelto says of the transition. “Jörg was a character, a great drummer, and he’s still one of my best friends. Rolf’s style is different from Jörg’s but it’s been really easy getting used to having him in the band because we’ve done some festival shows with him. He’s a very easygoing guy but his playing is very technical. He’s an amazing drummer. I’ve played with a lot of different drummers but I can honestly say that this guy is one of the best. Very fast but very groove-oriented. He’s as good as Jörg was at the peak of his career.”
One of Michael’s last gigs with the band was released on CD/DVD and Blu Ray back in June. Entitled Under Flaming Skies – Live In Tampere, it features hits and classics like ‘Under Flaming Skies’, ‘Speed Of Light’ and ‘Hunting High And Low’ as well as exclusive bonus material (30 min 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 miss.
Tracklist CD:
CD1
‘Under Flaming Skies’
‘I Walk To My Own Song’
‘Speed Of Light’
‘Kiss Of Judas’
‘Deep Unknown’
‘Guitar Solo’
‘Eagleheart’
‘Paradise’
‘Visions’
Bass Solo
‘Coming Home’
CD2
‘Legions Of The Twilight’
‘Darkest Hours’
‘Burn’
‘Behind Blue Eyes’
‘Winter Skies’
Keyboard Solo
‘Black Diamond’
‘Father Time’
‘Hunting High And Low’
Tracklist DVD / Blu-ray:
‘Intro’
‘Under Flaming Skies’
‘I Walk To My Own Song’
‘Speed Of Light’
‘Kiss Of Judas’
‘Deep Unknown’
Guitar Solo
‘Eagleheart’
‘Paradise’
‘Visions’
Bass Solo
‘Coming Home’
‘Legions Of The Twillight’
‘Darkest Hours’
Encore I
Jörg Speech
‘Burn’
‘Behind Blue Eyes’
‘Winter Skies’
Keyboard Solo
‘Black Diamond’
Encore II
‘Father Time’
‘Hunting High And Low’
Bonus:
Documentary: Rewinding from the past to 2012
5.1 mix of Elysium (taken from the album Elysium) – only on Blu-Ray
Each of the formats (2CD / DVD / Blu-Ray) includes a different booklet – the same cover and interview with Jörg but different rare pictures.
Blackoustic, the new album by STRATOVARIUS frontman and solo artist, Timo Kotipelto and Jani Liimatainen (formerly of SONATA ARCTICA) has reached number 13 in the Finnish music charts.
Kotipelto commented: “Blackoustic straight to number 13 on the official Finnish charts! Brilliant! Thanks to all of you wonderful people who bought the album and support our dynamic duo strange mystical journey through Finland!”
Blackoustic was released earlier in the month via earMUSIC.
Tracklisting:
‘Sleep Well’
‘Out In The Fields’
‘Black Diamond’
‘My Selene’
‘Behind Blue Eyes’
‘Hunting High And Low’
‘Where My Rainbow Ends’
‘Speed Of Light’
‘Perfect Strangers’
‘Coming Home’
‘Serenity’
‘Rainbow Eyes’
‘Karjalan Kunnailla’
Check out a Blackoustic track-by-track video feature below:
earMUSIC recently announced the release of Blackoustic, the first ever acoustic album by STRATOVARIUS frontman and solo artist, Timo Kotipelto, joining forces with Jani Liimatainen (formerly of SONATA ARCTICA). Audio samples are now available for streaming at this location.
Tracklisting:
‘Sleep Well’
‘Out In The Fields’
‘Black Diamond’
‘My Selene’
‘Behind Blue Eyes’
‘Hunting High And Low’
‘Where My Rainbow Ends’
‘Speed Of Light’
‘Perfect Strangers’
‘Coming Home’
‘Serenity’
‘Rainbow Eyes’
‘Karjalan Kunnailla’
The duo has been working together and playing acoustic shows for a while, the idea of recording an acoustic album together came from the fans, and so Blackoustic will see the light of day on October 19th, as Kotipelto explains:
“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 set-list, 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 has been on the sea, performing at the Radio Rock-cruise on the Baltic Princess on September 8th.
Tour dates:
October
19 – Nokia, Finland – Bar Pinta
20 – Helsinki, Finland – On The Rocks
November
10 – Kaarina, Finland – Old Texas
17 – Parikka, Finland – Parikkalan Asema
23 – Tampere, Finland – Amarillo-Tampere Sokos Hotel Ilves
earMUSIC has announced the release of Blackoustic, the first ever acoustic album by STRATOVARIUS frontman and solo artist, Timo Kotipelto, joining forces with Jani Liimatainen (formerly of SONATA ARCTICA). Check out the official album trailer below:
The duo has been working together and playing acoustic shows for a while, the idea of recording an acoustic album together came from the fans, and so Blackoustic will see the light of day on October 19th, as Kotipelto explains:
“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 set-list, 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 has been on the sea, performing at the Radio Rock-cruise on the Baltic Princess on September 8th.
Tracklisting:
‘Sleep Well’
‘Out In The Fields’
‘Black Diamond’
‘My Selene’
‘Behind Blue Eyes’
‘Hunting High And Low’
‘Where My Rainbow Ends’
‘Speed Of Light’
‘Perfect Strangers’
‘Coming Home’
‘Serenity’
‘Rainbow Eyes’
‘Karjalan Kunnailla’
Tour dates:
Tourdates:
October
19 – Nokia, Finland – Bar Pinta
20 – Helsinki, Finland – On The Rocks
November
10 – Kaarina, Finland – Old Texas
17 – Parikka, Finland – Parikkalan Asema
23 – Tampere, Finland – Amarillo-Tampere Sokos Hotel Ilves
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