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Swedish progressive metallers OPETH
will embark on the "Swedish Heritage Tour 2012" in November. The
dates are as follows:
Nov. 29 - KB - Malmo, Sweden
Nov. 30 - Katalin - Stockholm, Sweden
Dec. 01 - Club 700 - Örebro, Sweden
Dec. 02 - Nefertiti - Gothenburg, Sweden
Dec. 03 - Nefertiti - Gothenburg, Sweden
Dec. 04 - Sodra Teatern - Stockholm, Sweden
Dec. 05 - Sodra Teatern - Stockholm, Sweden
Dec. 06 - Maxim - Gävle, Sweden
Dec. 07 - Skandiateatern - Norrköping, Sweden
Metal Hammer TV conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt
of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH at this year's Download festival, which
was held June 8-10 at Donington Park in Leicestershire, United Kingdom. You can
now watch the chat below.
OPETH recently completed a North America co-headlining tour with MASTODON. The
trek kicked off on April 4 in Portland, Maine, and visited more
than 30 cities in the U.S. and Canada before wrapping up at Atlanta's
Masquerade on May 12.
OPETH's new album, "Heritage", sold 19,000 copies in the United
States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 19 on The
Billboard 200 chart. The band's
previous studio CD, 2008's "Watershed", opened with more than 19,000
units to land at No. 23.
"Watershed" was the follow-up to the band's acclaimed "Ghost
Reveries" CD, which debuted at No. 64 on the Billboard chart back in
September 2005 with first-week sales of just under 15,000.
OPETH's 2003 album, "Damnation", premiered with a little over 5,000
copies.
When asked how OPETH planned to deliver the more technical songs from
"Heritage" in the live show, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt said
in a 2011 interview, "I thought that might be a problem. But it's
not been difficult at all. The live versions of the new songs sound
closer to the originals than many of the other songs. We have a new
keyboard player who's really into the different sounds we create and
he's got lots of kit. When he plays, it's like he has four arms. He's
doing a lot to make sure the current live show is something very
special. But we'd never record anything that we didn't think we could
pull off live."
A member of RADIOHEAD's crew who was
killed on Saturday (June 16) when a stage collapsed before the band's scheduled
concert in Toronto
that evening. 33-year-old drum technician Scott Johnson died when the top
portion of the stage fell on him as he was setting up the band's equipment.
Johnson also worked as a crew member for other British bands, including URIAH
HEEP, KEANE and WHITE LIES. URIAH HEEP posted at its web site that they
"were all saddened to hear the news from Canada that Scott Johnson has died
while working on the RADIOHEAD tour. Scott had previously been a member of the
URIAH HEEP technical crew, and we all recognized Scott's consummate
professionalism, and cheerful disposition, as he
effortlessly dealt with life on the road. We are gutted, and our
thoughts are with Scott's friends and family."
Three
other people were injured in the incident, which happened just one hour
before the gates at Downsview Park were scheduled to open and let
concertgoers in. The concert was subsequently canceled.
According to BBC News, a team of inspectors and engineers have begun searching
through the
still unstable wreckage to try and establish what caused the stage to
collapse.
This is the latest in a series of stage collapses that
has happened over the past few years at North American concerts,
including an August 2011 incident in Indiana where five people were
killed while waiting to see SUGARLAND.
British progressive metallers THRESHOLD
have revealed the details of their upcoming ninth studio album, "March Of
Progress", due on August 31 via Nuclear Blast Records. The follow-up to
2007's "Dead Reckoning" was recorded at Thin Ice Studios
(DRAGONFORCE, PENDRAGON) by bandmembers Karl Groom and Richard West, with
additional production at Eightspace Studio (LEAGUE OF LIGHTS, THE MORNING
AFTER). Vocal duties on "March Of Progress" were performed by
THRESHOLD's original frontman Damian Wilson (STAR ONE, HEADSPACE), who's been
back touring with the band since the release of "Dead Reckoning".
Keyboardist Richard West comments on the approaching release: "It's been a
long march but the new THRESHOLD album is finally ready. This is our longest
album to date. We hope you're going to love it!"
"March Of Progress" will be made available in a limited-edition
digipak, including a bonus
track; a standard jewel case edition; as well as in a two-vinyl edition
in two different colors, one of them exclusively available via the Nuclear
Blast mail order.
"March Of Progress" track listing:
Digipack
01. Ashes
02. Return Of The Thought Police
03. Staring At The Sun
04. Liberty Complacency Dependency
05. Colophon
06. The Hours
07. That's Why We Came
08. Don't Look Down
09. Coda
10. Rubicon
Bonus track:
11. Divinity
CD
01. Ashes
02. Return Of The Thought Police
03. Staring At The Sun
04. Liberty Complacency Dependency
05. Colophon
06. The Hours
07. That's Why We Came
08. Don't Look Down
09. Coda
10. Rubicon
2LP
Side A:
01. Ashes
02. Return Of The Thought Police
03. Staring At The Sun
Side B:
01. Liberty Complacency Dependency
02. The Hours
Side C:
01. Colophon
02. That's Why We Came
03. Don't Look Down
Side D:
01. Coda
02. Rubicon
"Dead Reckoning" was released in 2007 and featured vocals by Andrew
McDermott, who sadly passed away last year. The album entered the charts at
position No. 64 in Germany, No. 95 in The Netherlands and No. 37 in the
U.K. rock chart.
THRESHOLD's most recent output was the 2009 limited-edition box set
"Paradox: The Singles Collection", a 24-song collection including a
number of unreleased songs and recordings with vocals by Wilson, Glynn Morgan
and McDermott.
THRESHOLD is:
Damian Wilson - Vocals
Karl Groom - Guitar
Richard West - Keyboards
Johanne James - Drums
Steve Anderson - Bass
Pete Morten - Guitar
RUSH's first new collection of original
material in over five years and their first studio release via
Anthem/Roadrunner Records, "Clockwork Angels", sold 103,000 copies in
the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 2 on The
Billboard 200 chart.
RUSH's 18th studio album, "Snakes & Arrows", debuted at No. 3 on
the Billboard album chart in May 2007 with sales of 93,000 copies. The disc was
the first collection of all-new RUSH material since 2002's "Vapor
Trails" and the 27th RUSH release to make the Billboard album chart. The
band's chart peak was in 1993, when "Counterparts" debuted at No. 2.
The recording of "Clockwork Angels" began in April 2010 with Grammy
Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES) — who also
collaborated with the band on their last studio album, 2007's "Snakes
& Arrows".
Lyrically, "Clockwork Angels" chronicles a young man's quest across a
lavish and colorful world of
steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story
features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a
rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.
The novelization of "Clockwork Angels" is being written by science
fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson in collaboration with RUSH drummer and
lyricist Neil Peart.
"Clockwork Angels" track listing:
01. Caravan
02. BU2B
03. Clockwork Angels
04. The Anarchist
05. Carnies
06. Halo Effect
07. Seven Cities Of Gold
08. The Wreckers
09. Headlong Flight
10. BU2B2
11. Wish Them Well
12. The Garden
RUSH's first
new collection of original material in over five years and their first studio
release via Anthem/Roadrunner Records, "Clockwork Angels", is likely
to sell between 85,000 and 95,000 copies in the United States in its first week
of release, according to industry web site Hits Daily Double. The estimate was
based on one-day sales reports compiled after the record arrived in stores on
June 12.
RUSH's 18th studio album, "Snakes & Arrows", debuted at No. 3 on
the Billboard album chart in May 2007 with sales of 93,000 copies. The disc was
the first collection of all-new RUSH material since 2002's "Vapor
Trails" and the 27th RUSH release to make the Billboard album chart. The
band's chart peak was in 1993, when "Counterparts" debuted at No. 2.
The recording of "Clockwork Angels" began in April 2010 with Grammy
Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES) — who also collaborated
with the band on their last studio album, 2007's "Snakes &
Arrows".
Lyrically, "Clockwork Angels" chronicles a young man's quest across a
lavish and colorful world of
steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story
features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a
rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.
The novelization of "Clockwork Angels" is being written by science
fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson in collaboration with RUSH drummer and
lyricist Neil Peart.
"Clockwork Angels" track listing:
01. Caravan
02. BU2B
03. Clockwork Angels
04. The Anarchist
05. Carnies
06. Halo Effect
07. Seven Cities Of Gold
08. The Wreckers
09. Headlong Flight
10. BU2B2
11. Wish Them Well
12. The Garden
