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Anneke van Giersbergen unveils music video of first new track “My Promise” – pre-order for “The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest” album starts today

Anneke van Giersbergen recently announced the release of her new solo album ‘The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest’. Today she is happy to reveal “My Promise” as the album’s first single. The track premieres alongside an accompanying music video.

Anneke comments: “I wrote ‘My Promise’ when I imagined what life after divorce would really entail. The lyrics deal with a determination to fight for love. The song starts off with an acoustic Arabo-Spanish Gypsy vibe and gradually builds towards a euphoric ending. Ruud Peeters wrote a hauntingly melancholic string arrangement.“

Anneke continues: “We shot the video in Radio Royaal, one of my favourite restaurants in my hometown Eindhoven and it shows a few defining moments in a relationship, represented by different couples.“

You can watch the video here: 


Additionally, ‘The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest’ is available for pre-order starting today. The album will be available as eco-friendly CD Digipak (plastic-free), as 180g Gatefold LP (incl. the album on CD) & as digital album. It will be released on February 26th, 2021.
Click here to pre-order the album: 
https://annekevangiersbergen.lnk.to/TheDarkestSkiesAreTheBrightest  

(“The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest” – cover artwork)
“The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest” – Tracklist:
01. Agape
02. Hurricane
03. My Promise
04. I Saw A Car
05. The Soul Knows
06. The End
07. Keep It Simple
08. Lo And Behold
09. Losing You
10. Survive
11. Love You Like I Love You

The album’s title, ‘The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest’, refers to the idea that, when facing personal challenges, we are forced to find answers to life’s biggest questions. But, at this point in her near-three-decade-long music career, this solo album – and, crucially, the heartbreak that inspired it – was not something Anneke van Giersbergen ever anticipated writing.
In 2018, Anneke began working on new material for her metal band, VUUR. Although their debut album, ‘In This Moment We Are Free – Cities’, was met with a mixed reception, fans were warming up to their heavy, progressive sound. Therefore, a rapid follow-up album would surely establish Anneke’s return to fronting a metal band. However, behind the scenes, these were troubled times.

Anneke shares, “My belief in VUUR saw me spend all my savings on recording VUUR’s debut album and taking the band on the road. After completing our first touring cycle, I realized that more VUUR would mean yet more, huge financial risks.“

To make matters worse, in 2018, her long-lasting marriage, which had always been wonderful, unexpectedly saw a storm approaching. Anneke adds, “I instantly knew I needed to write music about fixing my life. This creative endeavour would be far too personal for a VUUR album. And it would also require solitude.“

With just her acoustic guitar and basic recording gear, Anneke retreated to a small house near the woods, just outside her hometown of Eindhoven. She let go of the pressures of what VUUR’s future might be, and fell into the meditative process of writing a solo album. In 2019, work continued on the new songs. In 2020, Anneke asked her friend and producer, Gijs Coolen, to help finish the album.

Throughout the completion of the album, Anneke’s fragile, acoustic song-stories were fused together with an alchemy of panoramic strings, horns, and percussion. The resulting 11-track record has all the intimacy of Anneke serenading an audience of one, combined with surprising departures into swampier, foot-stomping grooves.

The Japanese art of kintsugi has inspired Anneke to use a repaired heart as the album’s symbol. Kintsugi teaches that bringing together the pieces of a broken object – with the use of a precious metal – adds value and uniqueness to it. And, instead of giving up on their marriage, Anneke and her husband decided to take the time to mend their bond. They now cherish the repaired heartbreak as something profoundly valuable. 

Their journey through this personal storm, and the album that Anneke created in the eye of it, proves that the darkest skies truly are the brightest. 

About Anneke van Giersbergen:

‘The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest’ is Anneke’s 23rd career album. It proves, once again, that the award-winning Dutch artist defies being pigeonholed by any genre. 

After thirteen years as the front woman for melancholic metallers, The Gathering, she struck out on her own in 2007. Since then, her creativity has known no bounds. Anneke quickly solidified a successful solo career (initially under the moniker Agua de Annique), and has recorded and performed with Canadian metal genius Devin Townsend multiple times. She has also lent her serene yet powerful voice to the likes of: Anathema, Icelandic folk group Árstíðir, Within Temptation, Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen, Amorphis, and prog legend John Wetton.

2012’s ‘Everything is Changing’ was something of a milestone in Anneke’s solo career. The album, which was the first to be released under her own name, received two Edison Award nominations – Holland’s most prestigious music prize – in the categories ‘Best Female Artist’ and ‘Best Album’.
In 2015, Anneke van Giersbergen and Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) released their collaborative album ‘The Diary’ under the name The Gentle Storm.
In October 2017, Anneke’s progressive metal outfit VUUR released their much-anticipated debut album. ‘In This Moment We Are Free – Cities’ entered the Dutch Album Top 100 at number 2, Anneke’s highest-ever chart position.

Forever the unpredictable artist, in late 2018, Anneke released ‘Symphonized’, an 11-track live orchestral album. It was recorded at two career-spanning concerts alongside Residentie Orkest The Hague, and features rearrangements of songs from her entire back catalogue.
2019 saw Dutch music copyright organisation Buma Cultuur honor Anneke with the Buma ROCKS! Export Award. This is their award for the Most Successful Dutch Artist Abroad in Heavy Music.
In 2021, the release of her new solo album ‘The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest’ will see Anneke surprise her fans all over again.

ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN online
www.annekevangiersbergen.com
www.facebook.com/annekevangiersbergenofficial
https://instagram.com/annekeannique
https://twitter.com/AnnekeAnnique
www.youtube.com/AguaDeAnniqueMusic

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LEPROUS release new single “Castaway Angels” and video clip!


Norwegian Rock outfit LEPROUS is delighted to release a brand-new single entitled “Castaway Angels” via InsideOutMusic today. The song was recently tracked at Ocean Sound Recordings in Norway and then mixed by Adam Noble (Placebo, Biffy Clyro, Nothing But Thieves).

You can check out and obtain the song here: https://leprousband.lnk.to/CastawayAngels-SinglePR

And watch its video clip directed by Tobias Hole Aasgaarden / South Coast Creative here:
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Ad Infinitum’s Melissa Bonny: “You can do as much as you can handle with the 24 hours of the day”

Ad Infinitum are a band that skyrocketed to the top of my favourite bands after hearing just one single from their debut album, namely “Marching on Versailles”. It was everything I wanted in a song or band I just didn’t know it yet. When they followed that with “See You in Hell”, I was absolutely sold. Their album “Chapter I: Monarchy” was released in April and if you haven’t checked it out yet, what are you waiting for?

One of my biggest regrets with this pandemic is that I couldn’t see them live this year. However, they kept super busy and managed to give us new and new content, including a new acoustic album “Chapter I Revisited”, to be released December 4th. We had already heard 2 songs in acoustic version from the Deluxe edition of the first album and they are worth all the praise, so an acoustic album is exciting and very appreciated.

To tell you more about everything they have been up to and particularly the upcoming album, we had the chance to talk to Melissa Bonny, frontwoman of the band.

Q: What was the greatest challenge and the greatest surprise in doing the Acoustic album?

Melissa: The greatest challenge was to actually find the sound of the album both for the electric version and the acoustic version, because, you know, it’s our first album, the band is just starting and it’s really important to find the right direction. And then when we adapted the album to make it acoustic, it was not just about taking the guitar and singing the same songs. It was really about creating a new atmosphere so that people who already know the album can still rediscover those songs differently.

Q: I saw that you that your favourite reinterpretation was Fire and Ice. After listening to the acoustic version, I could tell why. It had such nice effects added to it.

Melissa: Thank you. Yeah, I think it was my favourite to readapt because I’ve created some different vocal lines that I liked a lot. And it was already one of my favourite tracks. It was the very first song that we finished. So it’s something special for me because when I was working on the original version with Oliver Phillip, it was the first one he worked on with the orchestrations and when the demos came to life and actually became real songs. And that was a very first one. I remember this this feeling very well.

Q: I could hear a lot of flamenco influences on the new tracks. Is that simply because flamenco is traditionally acoustic or is there more to it?

Melissa: Oh, it’s because Adrian is just very good guitar player and he spends a lot of time adopting those songs and putting all his knowledge into it, both with acoustic guitars, classical guitars and electric guitars. He did a lot of things, you know, he replaced the whole orchestration parts with guitars, and he had so many tracks. He’s just a brilliant musician who can do anything.

Q: Have you decided yet which songs you are going to play acoustically and which ones you are going to play electric in a concert?

Melissa: I think it will really depend on how much time we have. So far, we haven’t had any opportunity for headliner shows. I don’t know yet in which circumstances we will be able to have both electric and acoustic songs. But we did this one show in Cologne where we couldn’t have any audience. We just recorded a show to put it on YouTube. So we did an acoustic song which was Tell Me Why.

You can still watch their live show here

Q: We obviously know all the ways this year and lockdown has been bad, but what is one good thing about this whole period for Ad Infinitum? Other than obviously the new acoustic album

Melissa: The good thing is, I think, that when we realized that we would not be able to tour, probably when the first tour was cancelled, we had to brainstorm and think about other ways to connect with everyone. And the good thing about this is that in the end we created this year six videos, one live show, two albums, and this is probably a much better way to connect with everyone in the world and not just people who would have attended those shows.

Photo credit: Claudia Chiodi

Q: Have you been watching any live shows that other bands have been putting out for streaming? How do you feel about them as a viewer, as a fan?

I’ve watched the show of Illumishade and I liked it very much. They created something beautiful, a nice stage, nice songs. They had kind of the same situation as us, because they released their first album this year. And they were not able to tour, I think. I think they played a festival, an online festival, and I’m not sure what else, but they had kind of the same situation. They started their career as a band during the lockdown. So yeah, they did this way before us actually, this live show that they recorded, and it was really well done and loved it.

Q: Hoping that the tour is still happening, it will surely be adjusted with safety precautions. How do you personally feel about going on tour? Even with less transmittable illnesses, once someone got sick on a tour bus, usually everyone got sick.

Melissa: Yeah, that’s right. I don’t know what, actually. I don’t really think about this right now because I assume that when we will be able to tour again, you know, people would have a vaccine and it, the whole planet, it will be safer. I mean, that’s, maybe we will not be allowed to tour if we’re not vaccinated. So I don’t know. I just wait to see how it’s going to be.

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Photo credit: Claudia Chiodi

Q: In this magical post-corona world where tours do happen, one of my worries is that all the shows and tours within one year will battle for the same slots and there will be a clash there. Is that an actual concern?

Melissa: Oh, yeah. I mean, you, you could see her already this year. When we started to cancel the shows for the beginning of the year, everyone was taking the slots of September, October, or beginning of next year, but mainly September, October. So yeah, I, I fear that people will try to go on tour as soon as we are allowed to.  I guess the fans will have to choose.

Q: On the upcoming tour with Serenity you are a support act and hopefully soon enough we’ll see you on a headline tour as well. What something most people don’t know, I think, is how financially unstable touring is. What would it take for you to have a profitable tour?

Melissa: I would say that we are already very careful with what kind of tours we accept for now and, as you said, we try to only take support tours. Because it’s a good way to get known, to get our name known. And and you know, if we tour with bigger bands, then we can profit of their fans in terms of audience, and then we can hopefully sell a bit of CDs and merchandising. This is something that is interesting for us right now.

Q: Let’s talk about DIY in the music scene. You have obviously been very hands on in every step of the way. How much can you do yourself and be thrifty about?

Melissa: Oh, you can do as much as you can handle with the 24 hours of the day. But yeah, we’ve been doing a lot of things and, you know, we have four band members, but we’re in four different countries. It’s sometimes difficult to just separate the work into four people when it’s like sending shirts, because then it’s a little bit more complicated. We’ve tried to balance it. Like okay, this time it’s Adrian and me; next time, it will be the two others. Or how Nick has been working a lot on the records and now I have more time, so we try to balance it a bit. And so far, it’s works pretty well.

Ad Infinitum_photo credit_Claudia Chiodi.jpg
Photo credit: Claudia Chiodi

I mean, sometimes it’s definitely a little bit tiring because, you know, we do what other bands have a crew to do, and we have to figure out what’s the best way to do it. Because for example, when it comes to the merchandising we’re not used to handling a shop, so we have to really figure out how to do it, and on top of this, with the pandemic right now, the conditions with the post offices are more complicated. It’s just more small problems that we must figure out. But yeah, I guess, I guess it really depends on how much time you have, how many band members you have, and your motivation.

Q: You have built quite a large community of fans around the band and already have fangroups and fanpages. How do you see the role of fanclubs when it comes to Ad Infinitum and what kind of relationship do they have to the band?

Melissa: We are super thankful, super grateful for all the people following us and supporting us. I see everyday people sharing our content when we have new interviews, it’s shared by the members of the fan club. And it’s so encouraging to see that people are so enthusiastic about our music and it plays a big role for us because it’s really motivates us. You know, when we have a new album to write, we think about how well the first album was received and how much encouragement we’ve received. And, and it’s just, yeah, it’s just this extra motivation that we need sometimes. And also, it plays a big role when, when it comes to spreading the word of what we’re doing, you know?

Q: The pandemic has given us quite a lot of time in a way. What do you do when you’re bored? Maybe something non-musical.

Melissa: I love baking and I also, I mean, baking, cooking, I also like sport a lot. I like to explore the nature or just have nice to walk by the beach. And I like I like a lot of TV series.

Q: Have you watched The Crown?

Melissa: Oh yeah. I’ve watched the two first seasons. And I think that the third one just came out that seen something about this. Yeah.

Q: If I am not mistaken, you recently moved to Denmark.  How is it living in a country with a monarchy?

Melissa: Well, you know, you don’t really feel it because it’s less pronounced than in England, for example, where the Monarchy is very, very much present in the society. Here, from what I’ve experienced, there’s a Queen and I’ve seen her apartments in Copenhagen, but then there’s the vice-presidents in charge of all the official matters. So I would not say that it makes a big difference for me going from Switzerland to Denmark in that sense.

Thank you so much to Melissa for her time and answers and we cannot wait for the new album to hit all the streaming services! Do make sure to listen to it because it’s gonna be a good one!

AdInfinitumCover_RGB.jpg
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Interview: Richard Sjunnesson (The Unguided)

Swedish melodic death metal formation THE UNGUIDED hit hard with their full-length album Father Shadow, released today. The explosive full-length breaks down the barriers between melodic death metal, metalcore and fitting electronic sounds. Clean hooklines explode in classifying screams, leading up to a unique symbiosis of pure harshness. 

Their albums always tell intricate stories and come up with incredible concepts. About all that and much more we had a chance to interview Richard Sjunnesson.

Teen Art Out · Interview: Richard Sjunnesson(The Unguided)

Listen to the interview to find out more about the album, the band, their incredible stories and lore, why this album has some Sonic Syndicate covers, how they are dealing with Covid and much more!

(note: the interview was recorded on Oct 7th)

K1600_The Unguided.JPG

Release Date:
09.10.2020

Tracklisting:
1. Childhood’s End
2. Never Yield
3. War of Oceans
4. Breach
5. Where Love Comes to Die
6. Crown Prince Syndrome
7. Fate’s Hand
8. Stand Alone Complex
9. Lance of Longinus
10. Seth
11. Gaia (feat. Erik Engstrand)
12. Jailbreak (Bonus Track)
13. Denied (Bonus Track)
14. Jack of Diamonds (Bonus Track)

Photo Credit: Patric Ullaeus

The Unguided are:
Richard Sjunnesson – vocals
Jonathan Thorpenberg  – guitar / vocals
Roger Sjunnesson – guitar / keyboard
Richard Schill  – drums

The Unguided online:
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
NAPALM RECORDS  

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“We wanted to tell our fans that we are not a band from whom they can expect what comes next” – Interview with Beyond the Black’s Jennifer Haben

Beyond the Black have just released their newest album, HØRIZØNS. The singles released so far painted a different picture for this album, with quite a strong change of direction. For older BtB who weren’t feeling it yet, I have to say hang on. There will be something there for you. For those feeling open to change, this is a very positive and uplifting album, and you might like it.

I want to start by sharing their brand new video for Humans, which is by far my favourite song of the album. It is one of the most symphonic ones, which mixes their old style with the new elements. And in an album full of “let’s be positive” of course I would pick the song that says
“We’re born to die, we are human in the end // Cause after all we are born to die, my friend” . I am more of a cynic and I do love the darkness of it all… and so does Jennifer: “That is very good to hear, it is one of my favourite songs. We did a lot more of this in our previous album. I know people who are thinking like that as well, but I try to maybe get them into the boat, to see that you can change your mind as we changed our music and lyrics. Maybe people can take that journey with us and change as well.”

The album as a whole is not as heavy as their previous work and with more electronic influences. That would surely make it more radio-friendly and mainstream, but it’s not in a genre that takes that very well. Symphonic metal fans are not the nicest, to put it kindly. Nor are they able to deal with change. According to Jennifer, “we wanted to tell our fans that we are not a band from whom they can expect what comes next. I think this is something I love about other bands as well, even if in the beginning I am also… An example is Paramore. They did something totally different in the beginning and then they came with that modern stuff. My first thought was the same – oh, I expected something totally different, I don’t know if I like that – but I was open enough to actually love it in the end. So this is something I had to learn for myself. I hope that our fans are open enough to listen to the songs and maybe love it in the end. “

Their first single was Misery, a song they also played live on the previous tour. It did get a reaction from the fans at the time for being different, but by now most critics came around.

Many of the songs follow the positive and uplifting message, which couldn’t have come at a better time. Jennifer Haben (lead singer) says that “At this moment a lot of people need positive energy and positive music as well.
I am a very positive person and I am watching myself become more positive than before, so I think this is something I wanted to do in our lyrics, as well. We always try to show a little bit of hope. For me, that wasn’t enough anymore, I wanted to make more of a positive change. Something that I felt in our band as well the last two well when we trusted ourselves a lot more. This is a whole step in a direction where we know we will break out of everything that the people want us to be and we just be.“

The change within the band was visible with the last tour, when they felt more united and the live show took another level. “Last year and the year before we came more and more together. Since 2016 we are in this format and we have gotten to know each other. It didn’t feel like it does now, so of course you can see on stage that we know each other a little bit more. Of course, this is something that shows in our songs, that we feel we know each other and work well together. For all the aspects around Beyond the Black, this is really really good to see. “

With all this change for the better, I wanted to see what gives Jennifer personally self-esteem. Her response truly says a lot about who she is: “I care a lot about other people, especially the people around me. I think I am not selfish and this is something I think is very positive and I am proud of that. I learned that very fast during the last 4 years. I think it’s normal when you’re growing up and you’re 24 that you learn a lot. For me this is something that feels amazing and that I really like about me“

***

The songwriting was definitely a different process this time around. The pressure was on to deliver after the last album and tour and many people expected more of the same, which we certainly didn’t get. But it shows growth and belief in themselves, which can only be good. Jennifer adds that “On The Heart of The Hurricane or on the other albums we have much less time than we had for this one. We had a much better situation, having 6 months of just writing songs and after that we went to our label and said – okay, this is what we would put on our album -, and they said they loved all the songs. Then we went to our producer and recorded the songs. These 6 months were so important for us because we wanted to change something and you cannot change if you don’t try things out. We never had that amazing situation of meeting 2 or 3 times and if nothing comes of it, then it’s cool. We don’t have to have it now. We always had to create stuff instantly for previous albums. Now we could say let’s just write a song like Misery, which we knew was different from what we did before. We wanted to free our minds of what we did and to break these chains and then continue with what we did with this song.“

Another single we knew from the album was Wounded Healer, featuring Elize Ryd. This would have been so lovely to see on the co-headlining tour with Amaranthe, which unfortunately got postponed. But I am sure it’s gonna be a great production and tour and hope to see it.

I want to give a shoutout to Marching On, which is another one of my favourites. It was great to see Chris step up and join for lead vocals and do an actual duet. It was a nice surprise for me seeing him the last tour that … he can really sing. Jennifer of course agrees “yes, he can, he can. He has been practicing a lot and I think he is getting better and better. He didn’t sing before Beyond the Black ever on a stage. Not main vocals. He is just experiencing all of that now and I think he is doing a really good job. He was nervous at first doing the first main vocals on stage but now he’s a pro.“

Last but not least, I want to mention I Won’t Surrender Feat. Tina Guo – beautiful ballad and Tina is bringing such a great nuance to the song and frankly album. She knows how to play the strings of my heart (pun intended). BtB have produced many ballads I loved so far and I was waiting for another one on that level, and it seems it just came.

***

We’ve talked about how the band is more united and has grown, but I am curious to know what is something specific to each of the band members for this album. Whether they liked or disliked something more and came up with an idea, what is their unique view. “First of all, everyone is super happy with the result. Chris very much likes Marching On because he likes to sing now and he wrote it with me, so I know that. Kai likes most … maybe I Won’t Surrender or Golden Pariah. I am not sure but he said these are his main songs. Not sure with the other boys. But I know of thing that was interesting for me was that I was in love with Humans with just acoustic guitar and vocals from the beginning, but all the boys said – fuck, that’s so boring- and I thought what?? this has so many deep things inside. I am super happy that I said no, we do that song, if you don’t like it, then don’t like it, but this song is really amazing.” Jennifer added and she was definitely right with that one.

Sometimes less is more. One of the quotes I like is Coco Chanel’s “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off”, which I find that sometimes can be applied to music as well. Not as much for symphonic metal, where, as Jennifer says, “it’s usually a lot of orchestra and stuff, but I think that especially when you do a balld it’s better to just have acoustic piano and acoustic guitar and less is more. On these points. When it’s not symphonic, this is something that can also be good. “

***

All in all, this is a bold new step for Beyond the Black and it will be exciting to see where it takes them. A little more positivity was so badly needed and BtB delivered it! There is enough diversity in the album for fans to find something for themselves. Let us know what your favourite songs from the album are.

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AD INFINITUM Chapter I: Monarchy – album review

There is nothing like new music to lift our spirits during these times. I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of AD INFINITUM’s upcoming album Chapter I: Monarchy, and I am excited! They already released a couple of bangers singles and absolutely over-the-top videos (in the best way possible) for Marching on Versailles and See You in Hell. However, the first sample of what was to come was I Am The Storm, with a video released in November 2018.

The whole album has a lot of fire and power. It’s bombastic and symphonic, which makes it harder to create a new and specific sound, but they managed it gracefully.

Infected Monarchy is a perfect intro, so dramatic, symphonic, and bombastic, and yet very soft. I love how there is a such a common sound and concept tying the album together.

Marching on Versailles is such a powerful anthem I can only describe it as “!!!!”. I sure am ready to follow Melissa into battle and storm Versailles (eat the rich) This was their first single and it was chosen so well because it defines the album and band and really makes a statement. I loved it. Very curious to see if any new songs will surpass it in my top.

Maleficent is a bit different, starting with a lot more focus on drums, but alternating with very soft parts where clear vocals shine. The drama of it all is still there. And by the end of the song we are treated to some growls as well “Watch me riiiiiise!” – I sure will.

See You in Hell starts so soft like a sad song I just want to wrap myself into. It just gets better and better and then bam SEE YOU IN HELL. A song for my taste. The sound is so good, Melissa absolutely shines and the lyrics are even more powerful. I mean, “Goodbye my love/ May we meet again/ Heaven is closed/ See you in hell!”. Like wow! Chills! Take a moment to take that in. I also have to mention just what a big production the video is! True dedication and investment, bringing a story to life.

I Am The Storm was the first song we heard from Ad Infinitum, with a video released a year ago. It’s a good song and definitely a good first song from a band, but it feels somehow ‘other’ to the most recent songs from the album, as it’s not as over the top with the orchestration.

Fire and Ice is a ballad that is still full of different elements and orchestration but compared to the rest of the album seems more stripped down.

Live Before You Die is back with a kick! It’s the kind of song that makes you wanna move and dance, so I think this one will be a hit live.

Revenge starts with soft keyboard and bells, but I am sure it’s not gonna last. And there it is! the orchestration growing in intensity and dramatism. I love how they know how to mix enough harsh vocals to get just the right effects. The vocals are shining loudly on top of the instrumental. However, for this album I expected more …. hatred …. from a song called Revenge.

Photo Credit: Nat Enemede

Demons is fast-tuned, with slightly less choirs and dramatism than the rest of the album and makes even more use of harsh vocals. We even get a spoken interlude.

Tell Me Why closes the album on a softer touch, mixing “flowy” parts with more powerful ones.

All in all, this is the kind of musical content I want to hear. For a first album, this manages to create not just a specific sound but an identity for Ad Infinitum. It will also skyrocket Melissa as an absolute powerhouse vocalist! This album showcases just how much she can do and how well it all works. She can explore everything she can do, but still knows when to reign it in and not over do it, when to layer tracks and when to use harsh vocals. The instrumental also keeps up with her and helps create a magical and powerful sound.

Fans of symphonic metal will definitely run towards this album. For me,
Marching on Versailles remains the absolute favourite and highlight of the album, with See You In Hell a close second. Within this genre, this will definitely be one of the best albums of the year!

I am sure it will be such a treat to hear it live. So when things calm down and we get the chance to attend concerts again, make sure to buy a ticket and go see them support Serenity, Dynazty, and Victorious!

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Epica, Loch Vostok și Magnetic confirmate la Maximum Rock Festival 2020

Maximum Rock Festival revine în forță cu cea de-a opta ediție, de această dată Open Air, care promite să fie una de neuitat și să depășească toate așteptările. Așadar, între 13-14 iunie 2020 ne vedem la Arenele Romane din București pentru un weekend demențial!

EPICA (Olanda), LOCH VOSTOK (Suedia), MAGNETIC (Bulgaria) se alătură celorlalte formații confirmate până în acest moment: DEVIN TOWNSEND (Canada), KATATONIA (Suedia), THERION (Suedia), ORPHANED LAND (Israel), LOCK VOSTOK (Suedia), SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE (Israel).

În diversitatea uneori ameţitoare de formaţii de metal simfonic, EPICA face cu siguranţă figură aparte. Având ca semn distinctiv vocea maleabilă a frumoasei Simone Simons, ce creează contraste expresive cu vocalizele death-metal ale iniţiatorului Mark Jansen, trupa olandeză te poartă printr-un periplu aventuros presărat cu elemente stilistice dintre cele mai surprinzătoare. După cum scria Eduardo Rivadavia de la baza muzicală de date online Allmusic, atracţia principală a muzicii Epica provine din „explorarea contrastelor sonore dintre lumină şi întuneric”. Cu opt albume de studio la activ (dintre care două în două variante), Epica este un nume demult consacrat pe scena internaţională metal şi în circuitul concertelor. Cronicile foarte bune de pe site-ul Encyclopaedia Metallum confirmă gustul publicului pentru această muzică a cărei dimensiune live merită urmărită cu atenţie.

După ce a făcut un prim pas important spre consolidarea statutului pe scenele internaţionale într-un turneu cu Therion şi Leprous – când a ajuns şi în România – trupa suedeză Loch Vostok a părut să intre, cel puţin pentru spectatorii români, într-un con de umbră. Însă Teddy Möller şi compania s-au ţinut de treabă cu tenacitate şi au lansat, la intervale mari, dar regulat, albume care să le creioneze tot mai clar propria marcă de metal extrem progresiv.
Reîntoarcerea Loch Vostok în România este un prilej, pentru trupă şi pentru public, să recupereze timpul scurs de la o ultimă prezenţă bine primită de rockerii autohtoni.

Bulgarii de la Magnetic aduc în atenția publicului o combinație de nu metal, progressive, crossover. În 2016 formația reușește să lanseze primul EP, iar după câteva turnee naționale trupa ajunge să cânte la Rock Camp Satu Mare Open Air (2018), în calitate de co-headliner alături de Firewind, Jinjer și Majesty, dar și la Rock n Iași Indoor 2018.
În 2019 Magnetic susține, alături de Annihilator, câteva concerte prin Europa.
În prezent Magnetic lucrează la primul LP și la un turneu de promovare ce va include și Maximum Rock Festival 2020.

Vă anunțăm că prima categorie de bilete este deja Sold Out, iar în acest moment sunt disponibile abonamentele la prețul de 249 lei (ultimele bucăți) exclusiv pe www.ambilet.ro.

Reamințim categoriile de abonamente:
300 lei 149 lei – Abonament Earlybird (primele 100) – Sold Out
300 lei 249 lei – Abonament Presale 1 (următoarele 1000 bucăți)
300 lei 279 lei – Abonament Presale 2 (până la data de 12.06.2020)
300 lei – Abonament Regular Access (preţ în ziua evenimentului, atât online cât și la intrare)

Copiii sub vârsta de 7 ani au intrare libere, dar aceștia trebuie însoțiți de un adult.

P.S. Cei care doresc bilete cartonate (pentru colecție), pot preschimba la acces biletele online în bilete cartonate, sau pot achiziționa aceste bilete direct de la sediul Maximum Rock din București – și primesc automat/gratuit o revista Maximum Rock.

Evenimentul este organizat de către Promusic Events & Maximum Rock, recomandat de Rock FM.

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Blazing Desert Metal takes over Bucharest – Myrath and Eleine

Blazing Desert Metal descended upon Bucharest with Myrath and Eleine enchanting us for a night.

Eleine are the perfect opener for Myrath, close enough in style. After all, we do see their frontwoman, Madeleine Liljestam , in a traditional bellydance outfit. And boy does she put on a show! The songs are interesting and it makes for a nice show for those who don’t know them. Very visually pleasing. Unfortunately, the sound was quite bad, with drums cranked all the way up and vocal lines indistinguishable at times. Guitarist Rikard Ekberg deserves some praise for his really great interaction with the public.

Myrath are no strangers to Romania and they packed Quantic Club once again. This was my 4th time seeing them and I was really excited because they have been growing so much and their show has become so much more. It’s not every day that you see a band bring their own carpets and pillows on stage :))

The sound got better for their but not ideal and the lights were a real struggle for photographers, since they never actually light up Zaher and he got a bit lost behind the smoke.

Back to the good parts, the guys delivered! I truly love their attention to detail and their commitment to bring something extra and to do something special. This tour they have been bringing their producer Kevin Codfert on stage to join in on keytar (portable keyboards) for a couple of songs. They have a lovely bellydancer who just kept getting better and better throughout the show.


And as if that is not enough, they even had an illusionist! Yes, imagine floating sticks and tables and even floating Zaher!

They actually put thought into bringing props and creating interesting costumes. So glad to see men be creative about how they dress on stage and not just get away with basic tshirt and jeans combo.

But enough about that, let’s get to the music! That’s why we’re here after all. Their setlist took us through their albums, including all the well known hits such as “Tales of the Sands”, “Endure the Silence”, “Believer” and the very strong songs off their latest album which are already classics: “Dance”, “Born to Survive”, “No holding back”, “Monster in My Closet” and obviously the title song “Shehili”. Though I think I would have liked them to start with a stronger bang to match all the craziness already on stage.
I have to admit I don’t know all their songs that well, but even for those I didn’t know it was such a pleasure to listen and watch!

The whole show is just such a great ride with so many things happening that make it memorable. Truly, it is an experience to take part in more than just a number of songs played. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they filled Quantic and people really joined in for the fun. They also announced that they would be coming back to Romania with their new album, so I am excited! This tour saw them go to Brasov as well, so the future looks very bright!

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Hammerfall, Battle Beast and Serious Black trio in Budapest

This Thursday evening 3 heavy metal bands played in Barba Negra, on the same day as Megadeth and Five Finger Death Punch performed in the Arena. On my way there I was wondering about how many people I will see in the venue when I arrive, but when I saw the queue around the entrance I knew this show would be sold out or at least close to it. (later I learned it was actually sold out)

Image result for battle beast hammerfall budapest

Out of the three bands I was familiar with two, Battle Beast and Hammerfall, having seen each of them twice before.
Based on their name < Serious Black>, I draw the conclusion that they must play in the same genre as Hammerfall and I couldn’t be more right. When I entered the venue, they were just starting the show, the sound and the image of the band was just pure heavy metal, nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes less is more. I looked around and I saw people from all ages already having the most fun, kids, teenagers, parents and even grandparents. This genre, I would say, is the one that closes the gap between generations when it comes to music preferences. The youth loved it because it was catchy, very energetic and the band really knew how to hype the crowd. On the other hand, the older generation, I guess, grew up on this exact sound and this is what they think of when they say music was better when they were younger. Of course, this was true for the whole night, not only for Serious Black. People were enjoying the opening show, they were jumping, they were clapping and singing when asked to J , but the most important part is that they were there, listening to them.
We often go to events where there is considerably less people before the headliner starts and I was happy to see this was not one of those nights. Serious Black are coming back in September and I’m sure there will be many people who will join after seeing them opening for Hammerfall.

The next act on stage was Battle Beast, a band I enjoy a lot! I got into metal by listening to female fronted bands and what I like most about Battle Beast is that they are nothing like them. Not that I would not love those anymore, cause I do, but because of the surprise element they have. I guess everybody, including me expects a high pitched voice or exactly the opposite, some growls when it comes to female singers in metal bands.

BATTLE BEAST

Noora doesn’t meet any of those expectations, she has a very strong voice with a great amount of rasp, no opera style and none of the extreme ends of the spectrum. Hearing her is very refreshing, it feels like something new, when the genre itself is one of the oldest. Battle Beast bring an ‘80s heavy metal sound that still has a fresh vibe to it.
The moment they showed up on the stage, all hands were up in the air and the venue “exploded”.
They started with the opening  song from their most recent album “No More Hollywood Endings”, from which they played quite a few more during the night. Song after song, people were screaming, dancing, headbanging, nobody got tired and to be honest they would not let us stop anyway. The way they interact with the crowd is next level. All the joking, funny moments, speeches between songs add more to the table than we would think. A little disco element in the songs, a little comedy never hurt nobody. After a few songs, Janne brought some disco drums <as he said> on the stage which gave a whole new atmosphere, now that was the 80s vibe we needed from them.
Rock music was always about fun&games, and they did not let us forget this during the night.

After a short break Hammerfall jumped on the stage, by this time, there the venue was absolutely full, which shows that besides modern metal, there is still a huge need for simple heavy metal without adding to much extra elements to it.
The instruments were loud, the singer was loud, but damn, the crowd was even louder at times. Fans were not so busy with moshing, they choose to sing from the very first song to the very last one.

Image result for hammerfall napalm records

It didn’t really matter which album they were playing from, fans knew the lyrics and they definitely knew how to impress the band. In between the songs, they did not stop chanting “Hammerfall”, it was very nice to see that. Besides playing a few tracks from their new release “Dominion” they did not forget to bring their classics like “Any means necessary”, “Last Man Standing” or “Hearts on fire” (probably the first Hammerfall song for 90% of the crowd). Especially on these pieces, the fans not only sang along with the band, but they were let to sing choruses and bridges alone several times.
Some people prefer to hear the singer sing all the way to the end, but I think these are the moments that become unforgettable memories from a show not only for us, but for the band also. My favorite part at heavy or power metal shows is that the crowd not only sings the lyrics but they “sing” the riffs and the melodic guitar solos too. Of course, this also happened here on almost every song, which made this night a very loud and energetic one. Little kids also joined the “OoooOooo” parts and I’m sure they will remember this concert when they grow up.
After “Let the Hammer Fall” the band left the stage for a few minutes. It goes without saying that fans invited them back, so they continued the set with the most successful song from the night (imo) “Hammer High”.
That song is like the anthem of not only Hammerfall fans, but all heavy metal fans. It’s a classic that should be never left out of their setlist, and I’m glad they think the same way.
After this bomb of a song, the new album’s “Sweden Rock” followed which got the best reaction from the crowd from all the played new songs. As for the last one, the riff of “Hearts on fire” started playing and it took us back to some childhood memories when we couldn’t wait for this song to come up on MTV.

Overall, I think this is how a tour line up has to be done. Great quality bands playing in similar subgenres, so fans can appreciate them all, no matter which band made them buy the tickets.

Review by Eszter Kovacs