Friday, January 23, 2015

No New PT Album Says Steven Wilson


With rumours flying all over the internet that Porcupine Tree will reform after Steven Wilson's latest album launch and tour are completed, the man himself decided to weigh in publicly during an interview with FaceCulture.

Here is the video, via Youtube.


 
 
To hear and see more I invite you to follow the link above to FaceCulture's website.

New Day Rising for Von Hertzen Brothers


The follow-up to Nine Lives (2013), New Day Rising, by the Von Hertzen Brothers is slated to be released on March 23 2015. You can pre-order it on Amazon (in the UK) or through the Von Hertzen Brothers' own shop here: http://www.backstagerockshop.com/en/shop/vonhertzenbrothers/new+day+rising+presales.

The brothers – Mikko, Kie & Jonne Von Hertzen – entered the studio, The Farm in Vancouver, British Columbia, with Grammy-nominated Canadian producer Garth ‘GGGarth’ Richardson (Biffy Clyro, Rage Against The Machine, etc.), plus regular drummer Mikko Kaakkuriniemi & keyboard player Juha Kuoppala, and the result is their most ambitious release to date.


The official track-listing for New Day Rising is as follows:

1. New Day Rising
2. You Don’t Know My Name
3. Trouble
4. Black Rain
5. Hold Me Up
6. Love Burns
7. Dreams
8. Sunday Child
9. The Destitute
10. Hibernating Heart

And the title track is available for sale as the first single here:
Spotify:
http://bit.ly/VHB-NewDayRising-Single-Spotify
iTunes: http://bit.ly/VHB-NewDayRising-Single-iTunes
Google Play: http://bit.ly/VHB-NewDayRising-Single-Google-Play
Deezer: http://bit.ly/VHB-NewDayRising-Single-Deezer
On the live front, VHB have confirmed an extensive tour of Finland followed by three dates in the UK.

20.03.2015 Kerubi, Joensuu, Finland
21.03.2015 House of Rock, Kouvola, Finland
27.03.2015 Tavastia-klubi, Helsinki, Finland
28.03.2015 Tavastia-klubi, Helsinki, Finland
02.04.2015 Finlandia-klubi, Lahti, Finland
03.04.2015 Henry’s Pub, Kuopio, Finland
04.04.2015 Lutakko, Jyväskylä, Finland
05.04.2015 Suisto-klubi, Hämeenlinna, Finland
08.04.2015 Kerava-Sali, Kerava, Finland
10.04.2015 Pakkahuone, Tampere, Finland
11.04.2015 Rytmikorjaamo, Seinäjoki, Finland
16.04.2015 Ravintola Piste, Ruka, Finland
17.04.2015 Hullu Poro Areena, Levi, Finland
18.04.2015 Klubi, Turku, Finland
22.04.2015 Sellosali, Espoo, Finland
23.04.2015 The Dome, London, England
24.04.2015 Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, England
25.04.2015 Slade Rooms, Wolverhamton, England
22.05.2015 Tulisuudelma, Tikkurila, Finland

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

The Gentle Storm Premiere First Track 'Endless Sea'


Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One, Guilt Machine) & Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Devin Townsend Project) are set to release the debut album The Diary from their new band The Gentle Storm on March 24, 2015, and now they are pleased to reveal the first music to be taken from the record. You can watch the lyric video for the track Endless Sea (Storm Version).

  
"Endless Sea is the album opener and it serves as an introduction to our story-based album. Susanne, the main character, sings about her busband Joseph, who has just sailed out on another long voyage to the Far East. We are very excited to offer everybody a first taste of our forthcoming album with the release of these lyric videos. This is such a special album to the both us."

The album concept is a tale of love, loss, and separation told through the story of two fictional seventeenth-century lovers. A Dutch sailor embarks on a two-year voyage, leaving his wife at home in Holland. The only way for the couple to communicate and keep their love alive during the long separation is through letters. These letters form the basis for the songs on the album.




The Gentle Storm will also be performing full band shows, and Arjen will join Anneke for a select few European live acoustic dates in what will be quite a rare and special occasion.


17/2/15 Planetarium, Budapest, Hungary
19/2/15 Hard Rock Café, Bucharest, Romania
20/2/15 tba, Sofia, Bulgaria
22/2/15 K17, Berlin, Germany
28/2/15 Pod Minoga, Poznan, Poland


As previously mentioned, a full all-star band will go out without Arjen in March and April, and the confirmed dates and band line-up can be found below.


26/3/15 Melkweg, Amsterdam - Netherlands
28/3/15 ROCK Ittervoort Festival, Ittervoort - Netherlands
3/4/15 Hedon, Zwolle - Netherlands
3-5/4/15 Paaspop Festival, Schihndel - Netherlands
11/4/15 Paard van Troje, Den Haag - Netherlands
22/4/15 Divan Du Monde, Paris - France
23/4/15 The Garage, London - UK
24/4/15 The Musician, Leicester - UK
25/4/15 The Roadhouse, Manchester - UK
26/4/15 Prog-résiste Convention Festival, Soignies - Belgium


The Gentle Storm live:
Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) - vocals
Merel Bechtold (Purest of Pain, MaYaN) - guitars
Ferry Duijsens (Anneke van Giersbergen, ex-Dreadlock Pussy) - guitars
Ed Warby (Hail of Bullets, Ayreon, ex-Gorefest) - drums
Johan van Stratum (Stream of Passion) - bass
Joost van den Broek (producer, ex-After Forever) - keyboards
Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion) - background vocals


The Gentle Storm online:
www.facebook.com/TheGentleStorm/ www.twitter.com/gentlestormband

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Lonely Robot Launch Please Come Home Teaser


Lonely Robot, the new project masterminded by producer, guitarist and vocalist John Mitchell (It Bites, Frost*, Arena), recently announced the release of its debut album Please Come Home on 23rd February 2015. A teaser has been launched in advance of the records release, welcoming listeners into the Lonely Robot world, and you can check that out here:




Backed by the storming rhythm section of Nick Beggs on bass and Craig Blundell on drums, the album also sees guest appearances from Peter Cox (Go West), Nik Kershaw, Steve Hogarth (Marillion), Heather Findlay, Kim Seviour (Touchstone), Jem Godfrey (Frost*) as well as narration provided by British actor Lee Ingleby (Master & Commander, Harry Potter).

John Mitchell had this to say about the project:
"I'd long thought about doing an album where I could have total control from start to finish with the music, lyrics, production, and choosing who I wanted to contribute - expanding from the idea of just a solo album. Musically, this album is very proggy, but more about atmosphere than technical expertise, inspired by my love of science fiction and interest in the evolution of the human race."


The track-listing for the album is as follows:
1. Airlock
2. God vs. Man
3. The Boy in the Radio
4. Why Do We Stay?
5. Lonely Robot
6. A Godless Sea
7. Oubliette
8. Construct/Obstruct
9. Are We Copies?
10. Humans Being
11. The Red Balloon

Lonely Robot online:
www.facebook.com/johnchristianmitchell

Friday, January 16, 2015

Riverside Working on New Studio Album


Following up on 2013's extremely successful Shrine of New Generation Slave release, Polish prog masters Riverside are now working on a new studio album, to be released August/September 2015 via InsideOutMusic.

Riverside just finished composing all material and announced Love, Fear and the Time Machine as the title of their sixth album, further commenting:
"Our sixth album, six words in the title, sixty minutes of new music, that's about how long the new release will be. And we won't be playing hard rock any more", Mariusz Duda laughs. "There will be many more melodies dressed in completely different shades. We're changing and evolving as a band, we're growing up but most of all we want to keep recording different albums which are simply great to listen to. And the new one will be like a deep breath of fresh air, very different to what we'd done before."
"Love, fear and the times that have shaped us have the biggest influence on our life choices. The lyrics will be about everything that pushes us to make the most important decisions in our life."

The band are going to start recording the new material in March and it will be possible to follow the progress of their work on a special Instagram profile: www.instagram.com/riversideband.pl
Some of the new songs will already be played at this year's summer festivals. Here is an overview of all upcoming Riverside festival appearances announced so far for 2015:

Riverside Live 2015:
11 July 2015 - Barcelona (Spain) - Be Prog! My Friend -
http://www.beprogmyfriend.com
18 July 2015 - St. Goarshausen (Germany) - Night Of The Prog X - http://www.wiventertainment.de/projekte/21-notp.html
26 July 2015 - Maidstone (UK) - Ramblin' Manfair - http://www.ramblinmanfair.com
12 September 2015 - Atlanta (USA) - ProgPower USA XVI - http://www.progpowerusa.com

More dates coming soon!

Riverside online:
http://www.riversideband.pl
http://www.facebook.com/Riversidepl
http://www.instagram.com/riversideband.pl