NIGHTWISH Mainman Says Rehearsal Studio For Next Album Has Already Been Booked

 

Metal Hammer TV conducted an interview with Tuomas Holopainen, keyboardist and main songwriter of the Finnish symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH, and the band's current touring lead singer, Floor Jansen, prior to NIGHTWISH's November 5 concert at O2 Academy Brixton in London, England. You can now watch the chat below.

On the split with NIGHTWISH's most recent singer, Anette Olzon, in the middle of the band's North American tour:

Tuomas: "I'm sure it came as a shock to everybody. We came out with a statement [regarding the split], which pretty much says it all. It still is a
private matter, and that's all we wanna say about it, like, ever. It was an amicable divorce, so to say, and made in good spirit, and we are
just looking to the future. There really is no reason to go back into
all the details and all that. I mean, this is not politics, this is a
rock band."

On Olzon voicing her displeasure over the fact that NIGHTWISH played a concert without her when she was in the hospital, writing in an online posting, "Rihanna wouldn't ask Britney Spears to sing for her if she was ill":

Tuomas: "Like I said, we don't wanna go back into those days anymore. I mean,
we really don’t want to talk about that issue at all. Once more, we made a statement and if people can read in between the lines and see the big picture, that's all that matters at the moment. So let's leave it at
that."

On NIGHTWISH's decision to carry on even after parting ways with Anette mid-tour:

Tuomas: "The way I see is that NIGHTWISH is like a carousel that nees to go on spinning, no matter what. It's
more than just five persons doing music. It's just an institution. It's a thing that needs to keep on going no matter what. The last thing you
want to do in this band is to cancel any shows, cancel any tours; you
just have to keep on going — for the people, for the spirit, for
ourselves, for everybody."

On whether there is a chance that Floor will become the official new NIGHTWISH lead singer:

Tuomas: "The way that we have decided is that we're gonna continue with her
until the end of the festival season in 2013 — just have fun, just do
the shows the best we can. I mean, the atmosphere in the band is so good at the moment, [we want to] just enjoy this what we have right now.
They try not to think about NIGHTWISH at all for a few months.
Everybody take a little vacation. And we already have the rehearsal
place for the next album booked in 2014 — from July to September. So
that's how far we have planned. But when we do the last festival show
next August, after that, it's gonna be total nothing for a few months.
So I would say everything is possible, but that's really not the thing
that we want to be thinking about right now, because there's absolutely
no reason to."

INTO ETERNITY Continues Demoing New Material, Plays Album Fundraising Show

 

Regina, Saskatchewan-based Canadian extreme progressive metallers INTO ETERNITY earlier in the year tapped Amanda Kiernan of the Edmonton, Alberta-based metal band THE ORDER OF CHAOS as their new touring vocalist. Kiernan took over from Stu Block, who was hired away last year by American metallers ICED EARTH, leaving INTO ETERNITY without a full-time singer.

Commented INTO ETERNITY founder and guitarist Tim Roth: "We have been demoing new music at Justin Bender's home studio and things are sounding really epic! Stu was over recording some killer death vocals and harmony vocals to a new song called 'Devoured By Sarcopenia'. Amanda will be recording on the new song when she gets down as well, so we are excited to hear her on all the new songs! So far the new track is over
seven minutes long and will go down as a personal favorite."

INTO ETERNITY played a special, hometown new-album-fundraiser show yesterday (Sunday, November 18) at The Exchange where they performed a special early set
of old and new material.

Kiernan made her live debut with INTO ETERNITY on February 24 at the 11th edition of the Manitoba Metalfest at The Zoo in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

INTO ETERNITY's signature sound has often been described as a hybrid of latter-day DEATH and CONTROL DENIED, combined with the technical stylings of DREAM THEATER.

INTO ETERNITY's last album, "The Incurable Tragedy", came out in 2008 via Century Media.

OPETH Guitarist Discusses 'Heritage' Album 'Controversy' In New Interview -

 

Mark Holmes of Metal Discovery conducted an interview with guitarist Fredrik Åkesson of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH on November 12 in Nottingham, England. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Metal Discovery: There was initially a bit of a stir caused by [the latest OPETH album] "Heritage" last year amongst longstanding OPETH fans with the absence of death vocals but album sales and glowing
reviews didn't reflect that. Do you think some people lost sight of the
fact that OPETH are a genuinely progressive band who actually progress?

Fredrik: I can understand that point of view, but [OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt] writes most of the material and he really felt that the band needed to
do something very different to still go on. I think a lot of the fans
probably believed he wouldn't play any more of the death metal stuff…
which we did on the first tour; we didn't play any. But this heavy set
we'll play tonight, I think a lot of the old-school fans will be very
pleased with it.

Metal Discovery: I was at the Birmingham show last year and there seemed to be more controversy about having no
death vocals in the set than the controversy caused by the album, and
you could hear people shouting out, "Play heavier stuff"… which is
where, I think, some people missed the point because some of the tracks
were still very heavy but just lacking the death growls...

Fredrik: That spanned the whole tour, and I'm kind of proud that we fulfilled it and did a step back, because now we're doing an entirely different set. I think that's probably as far as you can take it if you just want to
do a concept. But, then again, on this tour we do a set without the
growls as well when we play the Union Chapel in London.

Metal Discovery: Did you get heckled much during the tour last year with just the clean-vocal set?

Fredrik: No, I think it was very well accepted. There were a few incidents, more in America maybe. Some guy screamed to Mikael, "I challenge you to a duel!" What?! But, overall, a lot of people who listen to OPETH are pretty open-minded and understand. It seems like that. A lot of
people still showed up to the concerts. I mean, of course, it takes a
while, I would say. When we started the "Heritage" tour in America, when the album had just been released, it took people a while to digest this kind of style of the "Heritage" album.

Metal Discovery: Do you think that's the same for each new OPETH album anyway, because the music is challenging and takes time to… like
if the album's released one week and then the next week you're on tour,
people aren't so familiar with the material so it always takes time?

Fredrik: Yeah, and you can clearly notice that later on during the tour as it
progresses, like three or four weeks later, people were more into the
songs because they're more familiar with them.

Metal Discovery: Being as successful as you are, do you think OPETH have helped changed people's opinions about what it should mean to be
regarded as a progressive band in the twenty first century — that is, a
band that actually progresses rather than imitates itself or previous
progressive bands?

Fredrik: Yeah, I think since Mikael is such a huge collector, if he's in different magazines he's very
highly featured in talking about old bands that he's into. So I think
there's a lot of OPETH fans he's opened new musical doors to. Absolutely. And also the OPETH style, if that's what you're referring to, it's definitely prog-ish, but it's still metal as well.

Metal Discovery: Yeah, it's prog-metal in essence. But a lot of so called prog-metal bands just imitate other prog-metal bands, like DREAM THEATER clones and whatever. OPETH are one of the bands, probably one of the few bands, who are genuinely progressive.

Fredrik: Yeah, and when we were working on "Heritage", Mikael wrote songs in the beginning that he felt was starting to imitate himself so that was also one of the reasons why "Heritage" came about.

Legendary Guitarist ULI JON ROTH To Embark On 40th-Anniversary North American Tour

 

German guitar legend Uli Jon Roth will return to North America for a special tour commemorating his 40th anniversary of joining the SCORPIONS.

Uli plans on celebrating this anniversary with a one-of-a-kind show that features an entire set of SCORPIONS material as well as selections from his extensive solo catalog. Every
concert on the tour will be recorded for a live album documenting this
amazing milestone in Uli's career.

The tour is currently scheduled to kick off January 25 in Los Angeles, California and run through March 3.

Says Uli: "Celebrating my 40th anniversary of joining the band, we will play a full set of SCORPIONS songs alongside my more recent material. We will feature several songs
from each of the albums that I played on, including some, which have not been played live before. I'm really looking forward to it. Hope to see
you there!"

Because of his ground-breaking, highly innovative and distinctive trademark guitar work, Uli is widely regarded as being one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

As one of the main founding members of the SCORPIONS, Uli wrote much of the material for the band's first five albums, which include the hugely successful live album "Tokyo Tapes". These early SCORPIONS years with Uli, Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker as the nucleus were absolutely essential in shaping what is now considered the classic SCORPIONS sound.

Uli is regarded as a significant influence by many notable guitar players, including, but not limited to, Slash, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Kirk Hammett, Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen. Having collaborated and shared the stage with the likes of the SMASHING PUMPKINS, DEEP PURPLE, Brian May, Jack Bruce, UFO, and many others, Uli continues to inspire and pave the way for musicians and fans alike.

After his departure from the SCORPIONS, Uli Jon Roth embarked on a successful career as a solo artist, producing highly influential albums with his band ELECTRIC SUN, as well as performing classical concertos with orchestras.

Uli also invented his own instrument the legendary six-octave Sky Guitar,
which is currently on the market as a limited-edition signature model.

In addition to his 40th-anniversary shows, Uli will also be offering his world renowned Sky Academy seminars while he is on the road in North America. These introductory
seminars are not just aimed at guitarists, but fans and even
non-musicians may well find plenty to gain from Uli's unique way of
talking about some of the deeper mysteries of music. For some people Sky Academy has even been a life-changing experience, because Uli's teaching can open up completely new ways of experiencing music.

The aim of Sky Academy is to provide knowledge and inspiration to those who take guitar
playing seriously and to help them reach a new plateau. The seminars are designed to open musicians' eyes to new possibilities and to trigger an awakening of the student's full potential and talent. Special emphasis
is given to inspirational concepts rather than just technical means. Sky Academy is designed to teach particularly those things which are not normally
touched upon in music teaching, but which provide a true gateway to
mastery.

Tickets for the introductory seminars are available through the individual venues and can also be purchased at this location.

Uli Jon Roth live:

Two-day "Sky Academy" seminar

Jan. 21 - Santa Monica, CA @ Santa Monica Playhouse
Jan. 22 - Santa Monica, CA @ Santa Monica Playhouse

Tour dates

Jan. 25 - Los Angeles, CA @ Whiskey (w/ Warren DeMartini)
Jan. 26 - Santa, CA @ Malone's
Jan. 27 - San Diego, CA @ Brick by Brick*
Jan. 31 - Milwaukee, WI @ Shank Hall
Feb. 01 - Detroit, MI @ Token Lounge
Feb. 06 - New York, NY @ Stage 48*
Feb. 07 - White Marsh, MD @ House of Rock
Feb. 08 - Montreal, QC @ Le National
Feb. 09 - Toronto, ON @ The Rock Pile*
Feb. 10 - Toronto, ON @ The Rock Pile
Feb. 12 - Ottawa, ON @ The Brass Monkey
Feb. 13 - Sellersville, PA @ Sellersville Theater
Feb. 16 - Savage, MN @ Neisen's Sports Bar & Grill
Feb. 17 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club*
Feb. 23 - Corona, CA @ Marquee 15
Feb. 26 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Feb. 27 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater

* Denotes shows with Sky Academy seminars

Michael Dunford of Renaissance Passes Away

Michael Dunford, musical composer and guitarist of the progressive rock band Renaissance passed away on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. He had just returned home from the first leg of the band’s North American tour and suffered a massive Instantaneous Cerebral Hemorrhage while dining at his home in Surrey, England Monday night. He was rushed to hospital where doctors declared his condition irreversible and terminal. He passed away at 11:06 pm GMT, surrounded by his family without having regained consciousness.

The fairly reclusive and soft-spoken composer, a mainstay in the world of progressive rock, was born, raised and educated in Surrey.  His first job was selling clothing in a local shop followed by a stint as an airside driver at Heathrow Airport which enabled him to form a “skiffle” group which lead to his first rock band called Nashville Teens in the early 1960s.  Nashville Teens reached #6 on U.K. singles charts with their version of Tobacco Road. On leaving them, he formed several other bands such as The Pentad and The Plebes.  One night he went to see the original band Renaissance perform locally and ended up joining them in the early 1970s.  The original band members were Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo, John Hawken, Keith Relf and Jane Relf.

Dunford and vocalist Annie Haslam first took Renaissance’s reins from former Yardbirds members, Keith Relf and Jim McCarty in 1971 and soon had established the group as a world class recording and touring act, selling out venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London.  They would go on to release over a dozen albums before eventually parting ways in the mid-1980s.  However, they would continue to write new material together and in 2001 reunited the band to record a new studio album, tour the following year, and release a live album. After another sabbatical, the refreshed line-up was introduced to the world and captured for posterity on "Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories Live 2011."

Earlier this fall, Dunford and the band completed recording their first new studio album in twelve years. "Grandine il Vento" was recorded at Studio X in Ridgewood NJ, USA. All the music on the new album except for one track was composed and arranged by Dunford and features him on acoustic guitars and backing vocals.

Michael Dunford is survived by his wife Clare, two sons William (13) and Oliver (10), and  sister Judy Kendall.  Services will be held at Woking Crematorium at a date to be announced.

www.renaissancetouring.com