RITCHIE BLACKMORE: 'The People That Talk The Most Say Nothing'

 

Prime Time's Alexandra Obmanets sat down with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT, the renaissance-inspired rock band formed by Ritchie Blackmore and his wife Candice Night, ahead of their June 18 concert in Moscow, Russia to talk about music,
romance, and importance of gazing out the window. Check out the report
below.

BLACKMORE'S NIGHT's new album, "Dancer And The Moon", was released on June 11 in North America and June 14 in Europe in
regular CD configuration and deluxe edition in digipak, including a
bonus DVD featuring a 40-minute "making-of-the-album" documentary and
acoustic versions of "The Spinner's Tale", "Somewhere Over The Sea/Moon Was Shining", "The Ashgrove" and "Queen For A Day". The album was also made available in a super-deluxe edition strictly
limited to 2000 copies packaged in a polyston frame with the cover
artwork printed on canvas and including a black tote bag with BLACKMORE'S NIGHT artwork, four BLACKMORE'S NIGHT pins, a certificate of authenticity and, of course, the CD/DVD edition.

The first single from "Dancer And The Moon", entitled "The Moon Is Shining (Somewhere Over The Sea)", was released digitally in May. This beautiful new song is "based on an old folk Czech melody which Candice [Night, BLACKMORE'S NIGHT singer and Ritchie's wife] and I thought were very melodic and haunting," says Ritchie Blackmore. "We adapted and arranged to suit more of a rock structure. We also
played it as a ballad as it was originally intended. We asked several of our Czech friends what it was called but they couldn't tell us, so it
remains a mystery"."

DREAM THEATER: Third Studio Webisode Available

 

Progressive metal giants DREAM THEATER will release their new, self-titled album — the band's 12th studio release overall, and fourth with Roadrunner Records — on September 24.

The third in a series of webisides featuring behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the CD can be seen below.

Says guitarist John Petrucci about "Dream Theater": "I see every new album as an opportunity to start over. To either build or improve upon a direction that has been evolving over time or to
completely break new ground.

"This is the first self-titled
album of our career and there is nothing I can think of that makes a
statement of musical and creative identity stronger than that. We've
fully explored all of the elements that make us unique, from the epic
and intense to the atmospheric and cinematic.

"We're incredibly excited about 'Dream Theater' and can't wait for everyone to hear it."

The nine-track disc was recorded at Cove City Studio in Glen Cove, Long Island, with Petrucci producing and Richard Chycki engineering and mixing. It's the band's second album with drummer Mike Mangini, and the first one on which he was a part of the writing process from Day One.

In January, Petrucci said of Mangini's work: "When people hear the drumming on this album, they're gonna be
pretty freaked out. On the last album, he did a great job, but he wasn't there for the writing process and he was interpreting drum parts that I had programmed. Even though he used his creativity, of course, to
change them up and do his thing, I feel like now he's just Mike Mangini unleashed. It's all him. It's all his creativity, all his decisions and ideas and man, the guy's an animal."

"Dream Theater" track listing:

01. False Awakening Suite
I. Sleep Paralysis
II. Night Terrors
III. Lucid Dream
02. The Enemy Inside
03. The Looking Glass
04. Enigma Machine
05. The Bigger Picture
06. Behind The Veil
07. Surrender To Reason
08. Along For The Ride
09. Illumination Theory
I. Paradoxe de la Lumière Noire
II. Live, Die, Kill
III. The Embracing Circle
IV. The Pursuit of Truth
V. Surrender, Trust & Passion

"Dream Theater" will be available in a wide range of distinctive versions, including
standard and special edition CDs, 180-gram double LP, and a
limited-edition boxed set. Pre-orders are scheduled to launch in July at the Roadrunner Records webstore.

DREAM THEATER will be on tour in Europe in January and February 2014, and in North America in March 2014.

"Live At Luna Park", DREAM THEATER's live concert, which was previously scheduled for release in May via Eagle Rock Entertainment, will now drop in North America on November 5 as a Blu-ray, 2DVD, 2DVD + 3CD, Blu-ray + 3CD, deluxe edition with 40-page book, Blu-ray + 2DVD +
3CD, and digital video via iTunes.

"Live At Luna Park" was filmed over two nights in South America — home to one of DREAM THEATER's most ardent fanbases. The DVD was filmed August 19 and August 20, 2012
at Estadio Luna Park in Buenos Aires, Argentina after a 15-month world
tour, hitting 35 countries.

RAINBOW: 'Black Masquerade' 1995 Concert To Be Released On CD, DVD

 

Eagle Rock has set an August 26 European release date for RAINBOW's "Black Masquerade", containing footage of the band's 1995 concert in Dusseldorf, Germany that was originally aired on WDR's (German public TV) series "Rockpalast". Due on Digital Audio, Digital Video, CD and DVD, it's one of the few known recordings of the final RAINBOW lineup, featuring guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, singer Dougie White, bassist Greg Smith, keyboardist Paul Morris, drummer Chuck Burgi and singer Candice Night.

After his departure from DEEP PURPLE in 1993, Blackmore reformed RAINBOW with a new lineup and went into the studio to record the acclaimed "Stranger In Us All" album. The band then took to the road for an extensive tour which included this 1995 live concert in Dusseldorf filmed for "Rockpalast". The set features several tracks from the "Stranger In Us All" album alongside classic RAINBOW and DEEP PURPLE tracks. The band is in blistering form and Ritchie Blackmore shows just why he is so revered as a guitarist. This previously unreleased show is a great addition to any RAINBOW fan's collection.

"Black Masquerade" track listing

01. Introduction
02. Spotlight Kid
03. Too Late For Tears
04. Long Live Rock 'N' Roll/Black Night
05. Hunting Humans
06. Wolf To The Moon/Difficult To Cure
07. Keyboard Solo
08. Still I'm Sad
09. Temple Of The King
10. Black Masquerade
11. Ariel
12. Since You've Been Gone
13. Perfect Strangers
14. Sixteenth Century Greensleeves
15. Hall Of The Mountain King
16. Burn
17. Smoke On The Water

DEVIN TOWNSEND: 'Grace' Performance Clip From 'The Retinal Circus' DVD

 

Renowned multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer and now ringleader Devin Townsend played a special concert October 27, 2012 at the Roundhouse venue in London, England as part of a one-night-only event, dubbed "The Retinal Circus", that was recorded for both DVD and Blu-ray, to be released later this year via InsideOut Music.

The official promo video for the song "Grace", taken from the forthcoming DVD, can be seen below. The clip was produced, directed and edited by Paul M. Green for Cybertech Productions.

"The Retinal Circus" will be released on several formats, including a lavish and bonkers
limited edition befitting of the man himself, and which took months of
hard work to put together. The complete list of formats is below:

* Standard 2-disc DVD
* Standard 1-disc Blu-ray
* Standard 2-CD audio
* Special edition (2 DVDs/1 Blu-ray/2 CDs) box set
* Diehard deluxe fan box including 2 DVDs, 1 Blu-ray, 2 CDs (full details of contents to be revealed soon)

Says Devin: "So closing in on eight months of work, we're almost finished with 'The Retinal Circus'!

"It's
been a huge amount of work for everyone, from the show, down to DVD and
Blu-ray authoring, artwork, logistics (not to mention the show
itself!), but we're almost there, and when watched in its entirety, it's
really a heck of an experience!

"To tie you over until it's out, here's a clip of the song 'Grace'. t's out of context, obviously, but hopefully gives you a vague idea of what's about to come out.

"It's
been a ton of work for everybody and we're really quite proud of it...
When the final products have been produced, we'll let you know!"

Devin previously described "The Retinal Circus" as "a retrospective of my career in music to date, with the central
theme being a metaphor of how life and the adventures therein are a
'circus' of sorts. The show involves a cast of characters and guests
that support this theme through carnival type performances. A story
about how a troubled young man dreams of fantastic scenarios,
(illustrated through the music of my back catalogue), which ultimately
crests in the characters realization that life is all about the
relationships we have with each other. This is the first opportunity I
have been given to make theatrical representations of my music."

This three-hour performance included:

* A retrospective of Devin Townsend's entire career
* Full choir and theatrical cast
* Visual and aural enhancements unlike any show Devin has done to date
* Several special guests
* Circus and carnival performances and cast
* Art exhibit of Devin's albums, including explanations of each album

In an interview with Metal Insider, Townsend stated about "The Retinal Circus": "It's like such a clusterfuck on stage. Whether or not people who're
new to it understand what I'm trying to do, I like the idea that it's
like… When I watch it, I'm, like, 'That's pretty much how I feel it
should look like.' For better or for worse, it's like this crazy chaos."

Regarding what inspired the setlist for "The Retinal Circus", Townsend said: "I tried to get a bit of everything, but at the end of it, it was most important to include the songs that we could illustrate the best.
The show itself had this peculiar story and so that story arc required
me to choose songs that would contribute to that, rather than just elbow it in there. So we missed some stuff. 'Terria' wasn't in there, and whatever, but it leaves room for the next thing."

SIRENIA: 'Perils Of The Deep Blue' First-Week Sales Revealed

"Perils Of The Deep Blue", the sixth studio album from Norwegian/Spanish symphonic gothic metallers SIRENIA, sold around 900 copies in the United States in its first week of
release. The CD landed at position No. 20 on the Top New Artist Albums
(Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and
developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top
100 of The Billboard 200.

"Perils Of The Deep Blue" entered the official German chart at position No. 50 — the band's
highest German chart entry ever — and the Swiss chart at No. 43.

Says SIRENIA mastermind Morten Veland: "We would like to thank all our loyal fans for their support. We're
very happy to see that you enjoy our new album as much as we do. Thanks
for keeping the music alive. See you on tour!"

"Perils Of The Deep Blue" was released on June 28 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was produced by Morten Veland, while the mixing and mastering was handled by Endre Kirkesola at Dub Studios in Oslo.

"Perils Of The Deep Blue" track listing:

01. Ducere Me In Lucem
02. Seven Widows Weep
03. My Destiny Coming To Pass
04. Ditt Endelikt
05. Cold Caress
06. Darkling
07. Decadence
08. Stille Kom Døden
09. The Funeral March
10. Profound Scars
11. A Blizzard Is Storming

Limited-edition-digipak bonus tracks:

12. Chains
13. Blue Colleen

"The writing process has been going on for about two years," stated Veland. "I always have ideas for new stuff, so I started writing even before we had released our previous album, 'The Enigma Of Life'. Most of it has been recorded in my own studio. I love to work there as I always feel inspired — plus we can take our time with whatever we do,
for there is no time pressure. Just like for all of our previous albums, we also dropped by Sound Suite Studios in France — a great place that feels like home, too. This time we recorded the Marseille choir
there that one can always hear on our records, as well as some of my
acoustic guitar parts."

The album artwork was originally painted by Anne Stokes — though it wasn't intentionally created to be used as such, as Morten explained: "came across the artwork on the Internet and immediately
fell in love with it for obvious reasons — it's no secret that I've
always been fascinated by Greek mythology and sirens. So we got in touch with Anne and luckily she granted us the permits to use it for the record. I actually drew the inspiration for the album title, 'Perils Of The Deep Blue', from the artwork. In my opinion, it's the perfect SIRENIA cover — there was no way we could have let that opportunity slip away!"

In 2008, SIRENIA recruited singer Ailyn (born: Pilar Giménez García) as the replacement for Monika Pedersen, who left the group a year earlier after only one album due to "musical differences."

Ailyn was best known as a former contestant on the Spanish version of "The X Factor", the biggest television talent competition in Europe.