Hungarian Group After Forever Splits Up

From the After Forever website at http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=53082666&blogID=468767487

Dearest fans:
After nearly 15 years and with heavy hearts, we have decided to call an end to a great and exciting time as After Forever.
We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished, and especially of the road we took to get here. After Forever has never been a band that repeated itself; we always tried out new things, even though many of them were certainly done at a risk. We think that that has been one of the reasons we’ve always enjoyed enormous support from all our loyal fans.
The break we took in 2008 made us appreciate all the more what we’d experienced. Now more than ever, we can look back on so many fantastic moments, something we never would have expected to be part of when we started the band all those years ago.However, that break also made us aware of the fact that we can only continue After Forever with the energy, the full 110%, that we have always put into it and we’ve noticed lately that there is something missing.
We have always been musicians who create music with lots of passion, and during the break we built up our own lives again and have been musically active and experimenting in several genres.
Although After Forever is very special to us, we feel that we have reached the point where we need to explore the world of music in each of our own different ways. Thus, we’ve decided to quit while we’re ahead.
We are sincerely proud of every CD; each album represents a unique period, and all comes together in our last album "After Forever," which made all of our dreams possible.
We hope After Forever will continue to be a source of inspiration for new bands and musicians alike so that our music can live on.As band members, but also as friends, we’ve experienced so very much; highs and lows, good times and bad. We'll keep supporting each other in all of our various individual projects and continue inspiring one another in making music.
Our MySpace page www.myspace.com/afterforever will be used for updates on all of these projects and of course After Forever-related news, as well.
You can be sure that this is not an easy decision for any of us. We'd like to thank all of our fans for their support, also during the break
We know that this will be a big disappointment to you, dear fans, and it makes it that much harder for us. You have always given us your all and it was our pledge, in turn, always to give at least as much back to you for as long as we exist. In this moment, that’s unfortunately just not possible, so we'd rather leave you all the albums and gigs we achieved with maximum input.
We'd also like to thank Nuclear Blast, TEG and MOJO for their patience and enthusiasm, the live crew, the fan club, the fan sites and everybody who's helped in every way possible.
We'll miss you all.

Most Sincerely,

Floor, Sander, Joost, Bas, Andre and Luuk

After Forever

PRIMAL FEAR, VANDEN PLAS To Co-Headline PROGPOWER USA Showcase

German power metal giants PRIMAL FEAR return to Atlanta to co-headline this year's ProgPower USA showcase on September 10. Progressive metal
stalwarts VANDEN PLAS will co-headline the evening with an exclusive U.S.
performance. Support will be provided by New Jersey's SUSPYRE and
California's FUTURE'S END (featuring SADUS/ex-TESTAMENT bassist Steve DiGiorgio).

The 10th anniversary of the ProgPower USA festival features the following acts:

FATES WARNING
ANDRÉ MATOS
BRAINSTORM
ROYAL HUNT
PAGAN’S MIND
ORPHANED LAND
SABATON
CIRCUS MAXIMUS
DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA
TOMORROW'S EVE
POWER QUEST

The annual "Mid-Week Mayhem" on Wednesday, September 9 will feature an
exclusive acoustic show from PAGAN MAXIMUS (featuring members of both PAGAN'S MIND and CIRCUS MAXIMUS), QUEENSRŸCHE tribute band MINDCRIME (with vocalist Chris Salinas of ZERO HOUR, Shane DuBose and Eric Halpern of KRUCIBLE) performing the classic "Operation: Mindcrime" in its entirety. Live QUEENSRŸCHE karaoke will follow.

Tickets for the main event go on sale March 7 via all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets for the showcase will go on sale June 1.

ProgPower USA began in 2001. The first festival was held in Lansing, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, at J.J. Kelley's. The subsequent events have been held in Atlanta, Georgia, at Earthlink Live (formerly and again Center Stage Atlanta). The festival has a wide reputation for high quality and a laid-back atmosphere. Band members frequently socialize with fans, and numerous artists have been known to attend even when not playing, including D.C. Cooper, Matt Smith of THEOCRACY, Jon Oliva of SAVATAGE fame, Lance King, members of EVERGREY, Dustin Mitchell and Curtis Morrell of KATAGORY V, Nick Van Dyke of REDEMPTION, and Urban Breed (BLOODBOUND, ex-TAD MOROSE).

ProgPower USA continues to reach new fans and artists, because it is a great opportunity for both bands and fans. Many European bands have made their first (or only) North American appearances at the festival. Many fans who cannot (or do not) travel to see those bands in Europe have a unique opportunity to see them closer to home at ProgPower.

Katagory V Project Falling Apart, To Break Up

Bassist Dustin Mitchell of the Utah-based progressive/power metal band KATAGORY V has issued the following update:
"It has been a long time since there has been any news or updates in the KATAGORY V camp concerning the next album, so I felt it was time to shed some light on what's been happening over the past few months with the band.
"As previously mentioned, co-founder and drummer Matt Suiter announced back in November that he had left the band. Since his departure, everything in KATAGORY V seemed to fall apart very quickly, as we have already been struggling with several personal and financial issues which have been plaguing the band internally for a long time, and finally these issues came to full fruition after Matt's departure.
"As of December 11th of 2009, KATAGORY V had pretty much broken up. Curtis (Morrell; guitarist and co-founder) pulled me aside just before a rehearsal session that evening and told me that he was leaving the band as well. He had also fallen victim to the wares of the business, and felt that he gave all he could and was creatively and emotionally drained. He was my business partner and my other half concerning songwriting. With Curtis now gone, it had left the band homeless and destitute, and to add insult to injury, with material for the next album 90% complete up to that point, he had decided that if the KATAGORY V were to continue without him, he did not want the band to record the next album using any of the material he had written for it. He deemed his contributions to be subpar and unworthy to be recorded and released, thus eliminating half of the songs already written. Although I disagreed with his feelings on this, as a friend, I agreed to honor
his request. Following close behind Curtis in leaving the band would also be guitarist Mike Thiriot who had only been in KATAGORY V less than a year. At this point, I felt that after all the lineup changes, especially over the last year, and losing two core members in the span of two weeks, that the band was over with.
"I am going to go on record and say that I personally had high hopes for this band over a decade ago, but low expectations at the same time. In fact, I was impressed that we made it to a second album, let alone create four albums that would generate a loyal following worldwide. Being in a band from the geographically forsaken state of Utah? Especially one that plays a fairly underground and traditional style of metal? Who would have thought it possible!? Over the years, I have learned many lessons, and one of them being that the music business is everything that I feared it would be — a giant pit of empty pockets, fleeting dreams and broken promises. However, being that I was well aware of this when the band was formed, I learned to eventually swallow these fears and keep going, while over the years, others in the band let these fears consume them. Playing original music, especially the type that KATAGORY V plays, puts a lot stress on your personal
life, as well as sucking your hard earned money out of your bank account with no return in sight. With these problems, it is easy to lose sight of your initial goals and what is important — and that is making great music for others to enjoy and having fun while doing it.

"As the sole remaining original member, songwriter and founder of KATAGORY V, I was now in a band that had been reduced to a shell of what it was over a year ago in as little as two weeks, and also lost half an albums worth of material that was scheduled to be recorded at the beginning of February. Discouraged and depressed, I now had to make the hard decision of keeping what little remains of the band going, or drag up shop and call it a day for good. Before making that decision, I took the remainder of the holidays off to clear my thoughts and do a lot of soul searching. During this time, I struggled very hard with the idea of breaking the band up after all the work that was put into it, but was also finding it difficult to keep it going being that after 10 years and four albums, it seemed to me that the band did very little in making any impact or contributing anything noteworthy in our scene. Maybe I don't know when to quit, or maybe I enjoy the
punishment and stress? Or possibly it is due to having this feeling that there is unfinished business that I need to see completed. In either case, I decided that I would keep the band going and do my best in keeping true to what KATAGORY V has done over the last ten years, while forging ahead with a fresh new lineup for the next album. Whether this means the band will be a studio project or a live band, is still up in the air at the moment.

"I have currently begun re-writing songs that were already penned for the next album as well as writing new songs to replace what was removed after Curtis' departure. At this moment, the current members helping with the next album will be vocalist Albert Rybka as well as the latest addition to the band, drummer Matthew 'Bizzaro' Lefevre. Concerning guitarists, I am not rushing in to fill that void at the moment, as I am handling those duties myself for writing purposes. However, I will be looking at several talented candidates that may work out perfectly for either helping with the recording of the next album, playing live, or both. One of them might even be a former KATAGORY V alumni returning to the fold, so… nothing is concrete at the moment, and only time will tell. Also, any other guitarists interested in possibly being the next axe-slinger can contact me through the bands official website http://Katagory5.com.

"Although I am sure it will be several months before KATAGORY V has anything to offer as far as news concerning new material or even new members; I am confident that once the band is stabilized and material for the next album is complete and ready to record, I will then post some demo clips for everyone to hear, as well as consider the possibility of taking the band back into a live situation once again. Until then, I want to personally thank our fans, friends and the media, who have helped us over the last ten years, without your support, I doubt the band would have even made it this far. I can only ask that everyone be patient, and I promise that news concerning a new KATAGORY V album will see the light of day in the not-so-distant future."

KATAGORY V's most recent album, "Hymns of Dissension", was released in September 2007 in Europe through Burning Star Records and in October 2007 in the U.S. on Nightmare Records.

YES cancels remaining tour dates

FRIANT, Calif., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- The rock band YES says it is canceling the remaining U.S. dates on its In The Present Tour because founding YES member Chris Squire is recovering from surgery.
Squire had a leg operation Feb. 11. Although the surgery was successful and the musician is on his way to a full recovery, Squire has been advised by his physician that he needs a one-month rest period, hence the reason for the cancellation of the rest of the tour dates, the group said.
"It is regrettable that the band was forced to cancel their remaining shows on this current tour, including the performance scheduled for Tuesday, March 3 at Table Mountain Casino," John Mayewski, president and chief executive officer of California's Table Mountain Casino said in a statement. "All of the guests and employees of Table Mountain Casino wish Chris a speedy, complete recovery, and hope that YES is able to resume their tour in the very near future."
http://yesworld.com

ASIA AND ZAPPA BAND MEMBERS RETURN TO USHER

JOHN WETTON, NEW GRAMMY® WINNER NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK
TO GUIDE PAUL GREEN SCHOOL OF ROCK ALL-STARS
AS ‘GUEST PROFESSORS’ ON PAIR OF NORTHEAST TOURS

Brock to lead All-Stars Feb. 14-22 performing music of Frank Zappa;
Wetton to follow March 3-8 with music of Asia, King Crimson and U.K.

PHILADELPHIA – John Wetton of Asia and newly minted GRAMMY® Award winner Napoleon Murphy Brock of the Frank Zappa band are once again pledging their allegiance to the Paul Green School of Rock All-Stars as “Guest Professors” on a pair of late winter U.S. tours.

Seizing the heat of the moment, Wetton and Brock will kick off the “Guest Professor Series 2009” by helping to take the Paul Green School of Rock into its second decade revolutionizing music education across the nation. The School of Rock All-Stars are comprised of the best and brightest students from 45 schools around the country, an incredibly long distance since Paul Green founded the first school in his Philadelphia garage in 1998.

Since his last tour with the All-Stars in 2006, Wetton has reformed Asia and toured the world several times with the reunited progressive rock supergroup. The former King Crimson and U.K. bassist-vocalist is finding time between overseas winter tours with Asia and Icon (featuring Asia’s Geoff Downes) to lead the School of Rock All-Stars in the music of Asia, King Crimson and U.K. on a weeklong Northeast tour launching Tuesday, March 3 in Downingtown, PA.

Brock launches the “Guest Professor Series 2009” at the conclusion of a week in which he won the Best Rock Instrumental Performance GRAMMY Award with Zappa Plays Zappa for Peaches En Regalia (edging out David Gilmour, Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and Rush.). The sax-playing vocalist’s latest stint with the All-Stars begins Saturday, Feb. 14, hosting a seminar at the School of Rock’s Philadelphia headquarters, followed by a week of all-Zappa shows at clubs throughout the Northeast.

Over the past decade, Green’s dream has become a national phenomenon — a vision that has since produced an explosion of schools nationwide and a number of future rock stars, many of whom have traveled quite far along the trail he blazed when he took music instruction out of the classroom and onto the live rock stage by founding the original and premier performance-based rock music school in the country for kids 8-17 in 1998.

“Even after all this time, all our expansion, and everything we have achieved,” says Green, “the best way to teach kids to play music remains the same: load a bunch of them on a bus and take them out on the road to PLAY music."

The Paul Green School of Rock is well on its way to producing the next generation of rock stars. Among its alumni, drummer Eric Slick became a sought after touring drummer immediately upon graduation, playing shows with Zappa Alumni band Project/Object, Steve Vai bandleader Mike Keneally, and various WEEN side projects. Together with his bassist sister, Julie Slick, they currently tour with guitar legend Adrian Belew (David Bowie, King Crimson) as the Adrian Belew Power Trio. Drummer Branden King, is not only Philly legend Chuck Treece’s go-to drummer, but also played with three bands at last year’s SXSW, and has done two tours of Europe with various projects. Slide guitar phenom Sarah Zimmerman recently signed a management deal with Tor Hyams (Joan Osborne, Perry Farrell, Deborah Harry) and is working with top writers and producers on her debut album. ShredmasterCJ Tywoniak, star of Rock School, is being courted by record labels eager to release his debut EP. He recently sat in with Steve Miller, and dazzled all of those in attendence. Many former School of Rock students also are attending top music colleges such as Berklee and the University of Miami, as well as working their own bands with dreams of stardom.

“I put these shows together with real music fans in mind,” says Green. “Any true rock fan who comes to our show will be delighted by the deep cuts these kids take on, the difficult material they tackle, and the love and enthusiasm they bring to the stage."

THE PAUL GREEN SCHOOL OF ROCK ALL-STARS GUEST PROFESSOR SERIES 2009:

With Special Guest NAPOLEON MURPHY BROCK
Sat., Feb. 14 School of Rock Headquarters Philadelphia, PA*
Tue., Feb. 17 Downington School of Rock Downingtown, PA
Wed., Feb. 18 McGuinn’s Place Trenton, NJ
Fri., Feb. 20 The Garage Wilmington, DE
Sat., Feb. 21 The New Barbary Philadelphia, PA
Sun., Feb. 22 Sullivan Hall New York, NY
*School of Rock Seminar & The Black Lodge

With Special Guest JOHN WETTON
Tue., March 3 Downingtown School of Rock Downingtown, PA
Thu., March 5 B.B. King’s New York, NY
Fri., March 6 Showcase Live Foxboro, MA
Sat., March 7 Bergen County School of Rock South Hackensack, NJ
Sun., March 8 World Café Live Philadelphia, PA

About The Paul Green School of Rock
The Paul Green School of Rock is the original and premier performance-based rock music school in the country for kids 7-18. Founded on Green’s original program of weekly, individualized instruction sessions augmented by rigorous group rehearsals, the Paul Green School of Rock effectively motivates students to practice—driven by frequent performances where they discover that hard work leads directly to applause, the most beautiful music of all. In 2009, the 45 School of Rock branches around the country will play 1500 shows in front of 400,000 people, at established venues including The Whiskey, BB King’s and Carnegie Hall and at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Zappanale (Germany) and the third annual SORFest. The School’s All-Stars have performed with Alice Cooper, Eddie Vedder, Les Paul, Slash and Perry Farrell, among others, and have toured with Jon Anderson of Yes and the Butthole Surfers. Founded in 1998, the Paul Green School of Rock Music was the subject of the documentary Rock School, which regularly airs on A&E since its 2005 debut at Sundance. The School also served as the apparent inspiration for the Jack Black hit comedy, School of Rock, soon to spawn a sequel Currently in a period of rapid expansion, the Paul Green School of Rock (http://www.schoolofrock.com) plans to open in more than 60 locations by end of 2009 and 400 before expansion is finished. The Paul Green School of Rock Music Inc has recently launched a new division: School of Rock Media. With Paul Green at the helm, School of Rock Media will oversee all media projects for PGSORM, currently including a series of instructional books, a TV series, a major recording project, the second annual national music festival at historic Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia co-produced with Live Nation, and an artist development division.

www.schoolofrock.com

DREAM THEATER Confirmed For Bulgaria's KALIAKRA ROCK FEST

Progressive metal gians DREAM THEATER have been cofirmed for the Kaliakra Rock Fest, set to take place July 3 in Kavarna, Bulgaria.

DREAM THEATER is wrapping up work on its tenth studio album, due early summer via Roadrunner Records. The band commenced work on the as-yet untitled CD last October. Drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci are once again producing the LP, while engineer Paul Northfield will mix the record.

Portnoy previously stated about the upcoming CD, "Imagine a DREAM THEATER album with 'A Change Of Seasons', 'Octavarium', 'Learning To Live', 'Pull Me Under' and 'The Glass Prison'... all on one album... COULD YOU HANDLE IT?? Excited? I sure am!!!!"

DREAM THEATER's "Chaos In Motion 2007/2008" double DVD set sold just under 9,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 2 on the Top Music Videos chart.

The Syn's 'Big Sky Tour 2009' to be Sponsored by famous PEACE FROGS brand!!!

Peace Frogs to Sponsor The Syn - `Big Sky Tour 2009'
Includes Exclusive Merchandising Agreement

February 11, 2009—Peace Frogs, a leading US manufacturer of
ecologically responsible, sustainable living, and green-themed
clothing joins with multimedia leader Umbrello Music Entertainment,
LLC, LondonNew York, the home of legendary 'Mod Prog' recording
artists The Syn, in presenting 'Big Sky Tour 2009.'

The partnership includes an exclusive merchandising agreement to
create, manufacture, distribute and sell authentic branded Syn
merchandise. The jointly-designed product line will be available for
sale at all of The Syn's live performances, as well as through UME's
own global distribution network. In addition, Peace Frogs will offer
its own signature `Environmental by Nature' merchandise at all of The
Syn shows during this tour.

The Syn plan to launch their highly-anticipated North American tour in
April with performances scheduled coast to coast, including special
in-store performances at key Peace Frogs' retailers nationwide.

One eagerly awaited highlight of the Big Sky tour will be two full
evenings of fund raising performances by The Syn—all proceeds to be
donated to music, education and the arts. These performances will be
held in the Peninsula/Middle Peninsula area of Hampton Roads,
Virginia, very near to Peace Frogs' national headquarters in Gloucester.

Catesby Jones, Peace Frogs' Founder and CEO states that, "We are the
original green. When a product has the Peace Frogs logo associated
with it, a customer knows that they are doing their part to spread a
sustainable philosophy. Part of that green lifestyle is a positive
attitude. Over 3 million people a year visit our website looking for
that Peace Frogs state-of-mind and they will now be able to find The
Syn there too."

Steve Nardelli, Umbrello Music Entertainment's Founder & CEO, and the
lyricist/lead singer for The Syn continues "The association of
Umbrello with Peace Frogs is a natural. We have the music and they
have the visual iconography which complements what we do extremely
well on many different levels. Look for the release of our new CD 'Big
Sky' to feature unparalleled music aligned with some of the most
creative tour memorabilia that this new century has yet to see."

The Syn Big Sky Tour 2009 dates to be announced soon.