Followers

Thursday, March 29, 2012

OPETH's Founder DAVID ISBERG Recovering After Brutal Assault

David Isberg, the Swedish musician best known for having founded the seminal Swedish progressive metal band OPETH, is recovering at a Stockholm-area hospital after he was assaulted while walking home the night of March 13. David, 37, wrote on his Facebook page on March 24, "For everyone still wondering, I was 12 days ago
beaten real badly. [The] only thing I was trying to do was walk home
frome my work. [I am] now at [a] hospital. Enough said."

The police believe that the assault was linked to a brawl involving several individuals — not including Isberg — that started on a bus that left central Stockholm in the early morning hours of March 14.

One of David's alleged assailants, a 23-year-old man, was arrested and is being charged with attempted manslaughter.
sberg, who also goes by the name DJ Dake, has had a
successful DJ career with independent and electronic music, often
influenced by the so-called "Madchester" scene. He has also DJed
old-school heavy, thrash, speed and death metal from the '80s at Club
Rocks in Stockholm; "Nuit Halloween" in Paris, France; and on various rock cruises on the Baltic Sea.

RUSH: 'Headlong Flight' Single To Be Released To Radio Next Month

According to a posting on the RUSH fan site RushIsABand.com, the first single from RUSH's long-awaited new album, "Clockwork Angels", will be a track called "Headlong Flight". A five-and-a-half-minute edit of the song will be hitting radio on
April 19, with the full seven-and-a-half-minute cut set to appear on the full-length CD, which is scheduled to arrive on May 29 in the U.S. via Roadrunner Records and in Canada through Anthem/Universal Music. The CD will be made available in Japan on May 23 via Warner Music.

RUSH started work on the follow-up to 2007's "Snakes & Arrows" in late 2009 with the production team of Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR) and engineer Richard Chycki (AEROSMITH, DREAM THEATER).

Two songs from "Clockwork Angels" that were previously digitally released, "BU2B" and "Caravan", were reportedly re-recorded for the forthcoming CD due to a record label change in the middle of the making of the album.

As previously reported, "Clockwork Angels" is being turned into a novel by Colorado-based sci-fi author Kevin J. Anderson, who wrote on Facebook, "Most of you are aware of my long-standing friendship with (RUSH drummer) Neil Peart . . . For more than twenty years, Neil and I have wanted to collaborate on something MAJOR, a way we could tie together our imaginations, and
at last that's happening. I'm writing the novelization of RUSH's forthcoming album, 'Clockwork Angels'."

Anderson added that he worked with Peart to "flesh out the epic story told over the course of the music," which
involves "lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a
rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life."

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

PROGRESSIVE ROCK FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENT - FARFEST 2012

A Note From The Creators Of FARFEST 2012:

Farfest is a new prog
rock festival that will concentrate on 70’s and modern 70’s-sounding prog bands. The intent is to showcase legendary 70’s prog bands that a lot of us only dreamed of ever seeing live and bring them all together in one festival. Since the 70’s era of performing musicians will soon be drawing to a close the time is now for such an event so we offer you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see these classic bands perform.

The
inaugural Farfest will take place at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware on October 4th - 7th, 2012.
The website is www.farfest.comwhich has all the details regarding the festival (line-up, tickets, hotels, travel etc…) but here are some highlighted details:
Line-up:
Alphataurus (Italy)
Anekdoten (Sweden)
Atoll
(France)
Cressida (U.K.)
Latte
E Miele (Italy)
Locanda Delle Fate (Italy)
Maxophone (Italy)
Pulsar
(France)
SBB
(Poland)
Shylock (France)
Wobbler (Norway)
2 more
bands will be announced.
Flights –
Nearest airport is Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) which is 20 miles from Wilmington. If you plan on staying in Wilmington the entire festival then you do not need to rent a car and can just take the train from PHL into Wilmington. The Wilmington train station is within walking distance of the hotels and venue. Please see the travel section of the website: http://www.farfest.com/travel.html. *Note that the festival will not start until Thursday evening so you can use Thursday day as a travel day. Monday the 8th is a wannabe
holiday (Columbus Day) so some of you may already have the day off to use as a return travel day.
Hotels -
Doubletree by Hilton, Sheraton Suites, Courtyard by Marriott (please see the
‘hotels’ section of our website: http://www.farfest.com/hotels.html).
Tickets -
Tickets will be sold solely through the Grand Opera House box office. There will
be 1 ticket for the entire festival. All tickets will be sold on a first-come,
first-served basis.
The Patron/Advanced ticket sales will begin April 16th at 10:00 a.m. EST and end April 29th at 5:00 p.m. EST. The
Patron/Advanced ticket price is $350 (+ small box office service fee). We
encourage everyone to consider purchasing Patron tickets as not only will you
get the best seats in the house but it will be a huge support to the festival.
General ticket sales will begin May21st at 10:00 a.m. EST. There
will be 3 levels of ticket pricing - $250, $200 and $150 (+ small box office
service fee) depending on the seat location.
Domestic ticket sales can be purchased on-line (any time) or by
phone and in person during box office business hours.
International ticket sales can be purchased by phone or by email
during box office business hours. Orders will be processed in real
time.
The
Grand Opera House box office phone number is (302) 652-5577 and the hours are
10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. EST Monday - Friday and 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Saturday
& Sunday. The email address is: farfest@grandopera.org.
For
more information regarding ticket sales please see the ‘Tickets’ section of the
website: http://www.farfest.com/tickets.html.
*Note:
To order tickets on-line you must register with The Grand so please go to http://www.ticketsatthegrand.org/to do so. If you plan on ordering tickets the second they go on
sale then you should register in advance.
For
any other questions or comments please contact Greg Walker at progregwalker@sprynet.comor
phone (801) 756-1954.
Thanks
and we hope to see you all there!
Gerry
& Greg

DELAIN: 'We Are The Others' Release Date Announced

Dutch female-fronted symphonic metallers DELAIN will release their long-awaited third album, "We Are The Others", on June 1 in the Benelux and Germany; and on June 4 in the U.K. and France through CNR Entertainment and Roadrunner Records. The lead single, "Get The Devil Out Of Me", hits stores on April 13 (April 15 for U.K.) to coincide with the start of the band's European tour.

Commented DELAIN singer Charlotte Wessels: "Getting 'We Are The Others' recorded has been a challenging process.

However, I'm absolutely sure that it forced the best out of us. I'm in
love with so many of the tracks on this record! Our fans have shown
massive support in the run up to the release. Thank you all so much for
that! Now that we've got the date fixed and this great new team behind
us, I can't wait to get onstage and blow your minds with our new songs.
You rock!!"

Described as "the band's most powerful, most atmospheric and intoxicating album to date," "We Are The Others" was helmed by producer Jacob Hellner — renowned for his work with RAMMSTEIN, CLAWFINGER and APOCALYPTICA — while the vocals were tracked with the Epicentre team of Fredrik Thomander and Anders Wikström (SCORPIONS, BACKYARD BABIES).


A new video interview with DELAIN frontwoman Charlotte Wessels about "We Are The Others" can be seen below (courtesy of U.K.'s Metal Hammer magazine).


DELAIN previously stated about "We Are The Others": "As you might expect from us, this album again offers some interesting collaborations, both in musical and visual terms.


"This record features none less than FEAR FACTORY shouter Burton C. Bell as a guest singer, and visual artist Glenn Arthur provided the cover artwork [see below].


"We met Burton at the Wacken Open Air festival a year ago and stayed in touch afterwards. When we were working on [the song] 'Where Is The Blood', we didn't hesitate to contact him for cooperation. He's done such an

amazing job on the song turning the song into a most violent duet; his
exceptional, raw voice fits perfectly to this song!

"The cover artwork was created by Glenn Arthur, a California-based visual artist whose work is inspired by art nouveau design and steampunk imagery. Charlotte [Wessels, vocals] is a big admirer of Glenn's work and she dedicated multiple blogs to his art.


"For the artwork of 'We Are The Others', we gave Glenn the lyrics to the song as inspiration.


"We're incredibly happy with how the cover turned out."


Added Charlotte: "From the first time I saw [Glenn's] work, I've been imagining it as cover artwork; something in the way his work is both esthetically very delicate, but always with a dark

undertone, fits our music very well."

"We Are The Others" track listing:


01. Mother Machine

02. Electricity
03. We Are The Others
04. Milk And Honey
05. Hit Me With Your Best Shot
06. I Want You
07. Where Is The Blood (feat. Burton C. Bell)
08. Generation Me
09. Babylon
10. Are You Done With Me
11. Get The Devil Out Of Me
12. Not Enough

At first glance, some songtitles on "We Are The Others" may sound mysterious and conspiratorial, but there is a very serious

background: The lyrics to the title track were inspired by the hate
crime against a British girl named Sophie Lancaster in 2007. She and her boyfriend were beaten comatose by a gang of youths, because of their goth looks, and Sophie later died from her injuries. This tragedy sent shockwaves throughout the world.

Commented Charlotte: "Sophie's story hit close to home for us, being part of a subculture ourselves

but it's in no way an individual case; people are discriminated against — all the time, to the point of violence — based on their cultural or
ethnic background everywhere.

"'We Are The Others' is our own 'outsiders anthem' for everybody who, deliberately or not, diverts

from the norm. Whether it's by looking different, acting different, or
choosing a different path in life then is expected from you."

DELAIN recently parted ways with guitarist Timo Somers and replaced him with Bas Maas (DORO, AFTER FOREVER).


DELAIN will embark on a European headlining tour in April with support from TRILLIUM, the metal project masterminded by American singer/songwriter Amanda Somerville.

Believe - preview of "Seeing is Believing" DVD available on YouTube

The second live DVD by Believe will be released on April, 30th in Europe and June, 19th in USA (via MVD) but today you can see its preview. Track “AA” is available on Metal Mind Productions’ official channel on YouTube in THIS location.

Believe - this outstanding art-rock act was formed by guitarist Mirek Gil – the former leader and composer of Polish prog-rock legend Collage. DVD entitled “Seeing Is Believing” was recorded in November 2011 in Wyspianski Theatre in Katowice, Poland. During this unique evening Believe in the line-up: Mirek Gil – guitars, Karol WrĂłblewski – vocal, Satomi – violin, Vlodi – drums, Przemas – bass guitar and Konrad Wantrych – keyboards, primarily presented material from their last studio album „World Is Round” (Metal Mind Productions, 2010). DVD also include bonus video material: Interview with Mirek Gil and Karol WrĂłblewski, Music for One Leg (documentary about the band’s drummer), bootleg gig Live at Progresja, Warsaw, 2011. Other extras: Biography, Discography, Photo Gallery and Desktop images.
Believe
Seeing Is Believing DVD
Tracklist:
1. No Time Inside
2. World Is Round
3. This Bread Is Mine
4. And All the Roads
5. What They Want (Is My Life)
6. Lay Down Forever
7. AA
8. Guru
9. New Hands
10. Cut Me Paste Me
11. Poor King of Sun / Return
12. Silence
Bonus videos:
Interview with Mirek Gil and Karol WrĂłblewski
Music for One Leg (documentary)
Friends for Robert, 2011
Live at Progresja, Warsaw, 2011

Ohmphrey To Relase New Album

OHMphrey, a jam band supergroup, which features three members of the prog rock/veteran jam band Umphrey's McGee (keyboardist Joel Cummins, guitarist Jake Cinninger and drummer Kris Myers), and OHM guitarist (former Megadeth guitarist), Chris Poland along with bassist Robertino Pagliari (a.k.a. "Pag").
OHMphrey's latest effort, the unforgettable, and soon-to-be-classic, Posthaste, finds these five extraordinary artists creating instrumental music with a unified voice – once again. The album's seven original instrumental compositions, and two bonus live tracks never meander. Simply put, Posthaste contains some of the most thought-provoking, elastic and heavy jam band music that has ever been made.
"Composing these songs was something we all did together," says Cummins.
"One of the best analogies I can give is 'Simon Says for Musicians', where we're trying to organize these musical ideas in the moment."
"Everybody contributed to these songs," says six-string fretless bassist, Pag. "Once an idea popped out, it was like, 'Oh, I have a melody…' Or, 'Oh, I have a rhythm part that works with that …' These ideas just molded together, as if we had been working together forever, you know?"
"We all have this kind of synchronicity," says Poland. "It's kind of an overused word, but we have it. Whatever we're doing, it works."

March News Bytes

  • Here are the news about the upcoming Shylock concerts in 2012 :
    April 29th : Gouveia Art Rock festival (15h) - Gouveia, Portugal http://www.gaudela.net/gar/index-e.html
    May 19ht : Prog'Sud (evening) - Jas'Rod, Les Pennes-Mirabeau, France http://www.progsudfestival.fr/
    September 22nd : Auditorium Albert Camus (15h, still waiting for confirmation) - Nice, France
    Between 7th and 9th of October : Farfest - Grand Opera House, Wilmington, USA
  • Robert Berry has a new project called Roan Soul. This project with drummer and fellow songwriter Andi Schenck (Pangaea, The Reckoning) – has two albums out that are starting to gain some serious ground. For fans of Robert's music this is a side of me that you haven’t seen. (Closer to my work with Ambrosia)

    Check us out at: http://www.roansoul.com

  • 3RDegree's first new studio album in over 3 years will be officially released in September
  • Finnish rock-band Overhead signs with a German record label. Progressive Promotion Records will release Overhead's long awaited fourth album titled "Of Sun and Moon" in June. The music ranging from Rock, Pop and Metal, the new album has a fresh and original sound: diverse and intense.