Ne face o mare bucurie să vă anunțăm că, după lungi discuții și analize, atât cu managementul formațiilor, cât și cu instituțiile abilitate din România, noua dată pentru ediția Maximum Rock Festival 2021 a fost fixată pentru 11-12 septembrie și va avea loc la Arenele Romane din București.
Formațiile reconfirmate pentru Maximum Rock Festival sunt: Epica (Olanda), Therion (Suedia), Orphaned Land (Israel), Subterranean Masquerade (Israel), Riot Monk (România), Loch Vostok (Suedia) și Magnetic(Bulgaria).
Din păcate, Devin Townsend și Katatonia nu vor participa la ediția din septembrie a festivalului, urmând ca aceștia să confirme participarea pentru ediția din 2022. Aceste nume au fost înlocuite pe afiș cu Eluveitie și Dirty Shirt, două formații extrem de îndrăgite de publicul din România și nu numai!
Menționăm faptul că Maximum Rock Festival 2021 va fi o ediție mai diferită și, ținând cont de actualele restricții anti Covid impuse de autoritățile abilitate din România, vom limita accesul publicului la 50 % din capacitatea locației.
Abonamentele achiziționate până în acest moment sunt valabile pentru ediția 2021 a festivalului, iar cei care (din diferite motive) nu pot participa la ediția din acest an a festivalului pot folosi abonamentele pentru Maximum Rock Festival 2022. Mai mult, toți cei care și-au achiziționat până în acest moment abonamente și le vor folosi pentru ediția din septembrie 2021 vor primi un discount la achiziționarea abonamentelor pentru ediția 2022.
Deoarece această ediție este una specială (cu o capacitate redusă a publicului), vă sugerăm să achiziționați din timp abonamentele de festival rămase – disponibile (60 de bucăți la preț promoțional!) prin AmBilet.ro – AICI.
Mulțumim pentru răbdarea de care ați dat dovadă și pentru încrederea acordată atât nouă, organizatorilor, cât și formațiilor participante!
Greek modern metal five-piece SCAR OF THE SUN have reached the next level with the brand new release of their otherworldly third full-length, Inertia. The album delivers a fresh take on melodic, atmospheric, often progressively-influenced metal while forging a unique path, and acts as a follow up to their self-titled demo (2005), debut full-length A Series Of Unfortunate Concurrencies (2011) and sophomore offering In Flood (2016).
We sat down with singer Terry Nikas to find out more about this album, music in general, and much more.
Hi and thank you for talking to us.
Hello
there! It’s our pleasure and thank you for your interest!
Congrats on the new album. How are you guys feeling now getting so close to the release?
Thank you very much, hope you enjoyed it! We are very happy to see the album being released finally! It has been ready for a couple of years, we delayed because the deal with Napalm Records took some time to complete, plus everyone is trying to delay their releases due to covid. So after all this wait, we are really thrilled that this album will be out there and we will be able to go forward!
I loved listening to the lyrics and that you had such a story behind
them, albeit a very dark one. What lead you to go down that path and dig deep
for the pain and anger and troubles and put that into song?
I
didn’t choose to write about these matters, these matters chose me really.
These are everyday events that happened not only to Greece, but also in other
countries. The problem is that we are forced to accept them and pretend that
nothing happened! Well, it did happen! When you see 10.000 people jumping of
off buildings, a skyrocketed unemployment that reached 30%, 80 year old people
that used to have a decent life in the past but now they are searching the
garbage for food and many, many more, you cannot be indifferent. We are in 2021
and we are sending spaceships to Mars, but people on earth are starving. This
makes no sense for the “crown jewel of creation” as some believe that the
humans are.
The Quantum Leap Zero trilogy
focuses on real life events from Greece 2015. While it was definitely a
situation and period that affected a lot of people, what drew you to it to put
it into song?
It was a very, very dramatic situation! It
was like war. The European Union shut down our banks, we were searching for ATM
machines with money available and there were queues of people in all of them or
there was
no money left. It was like sudden death, like they were choking us. Then we had
for the first time a government that fought for us and we got punished for
asking the obvious: to breathe! It was a dark period for us that I really hope
we will never get back, but to be honest, we are not out of it completely
yet.
Since we’re talking about such important
and impactful events, what big world
events do you remember from the time you were growing up?
I remember many events such as the
Chernobyl case, the fall of the Soviet Union and the impact of it, the first
war in Iraq etc, but to me the two most important cases happened in the USA and
I only remember the second because I was born -the first one though is equally
significant. The first one was the killing of JF Kennedy and the second was the
fall of the twin towers in New York City. To me, these two are extremely
important because they show where humanity is going. JFK was a problem for the
big financial interests, and they killed him in his own country! They did a
huge cover up because they just could and because at the time there were no
cameras in every phone, internet etc, so they managed to cover their traces.
The twin towers also had a huge cover up after the event and the American
government used it in order to force new rules that changed the financial
balance overnight. All these, but also what happened to Greece in 2015 are
coups. There is no democracy, elections are just fancy events to show that we have
a saying. Well, we actually don’t!
What are some of the causes you not just
believe in but are actively involved in, outside of the band and album?
I see myself as an ecologist, so whenever I have time I am trying to be involved in actions. I am not an activist, but I would love to have the time and the financial stability to be. I also love dogs, I have been involved many times in saving stray dogs and in several actions about stray dogs. I would also love to be able to have a huge farm to host stray dogs and just go every day there to take care of them and play with them. This is how heaven seems in my eyes.
What are the events or experiences you think build you guys the most as a
band and made you stronger together?
First
of all, we have the same line up for the last 11 years. We did all our tours
together, so this and the condition of our first tours bonded us together. The
main thing that made us stronger together was the endless rejections we got
until we managed to get this deal with Napalm Records. Most bands quit, for us
this was not an option. Every time we had a serious rejection it was taking us
down, but then we were gathering up our strength and we were going forward
trying to be stronger and better. As you can imagine, the fact that the same 5
people insisted and persisted all these years, through some very difficult
situations, both in the band but also in our personal lives, made us strong
together.
When did you decide you wanted to pursue music seriously? Were there
moments when you almost gave it up?
I always wanted to do that and be a
professional musician. I loved music since I was a kid. When I formed the band
though, the plan since day 1 was to do it on the top level. No compromise and
many sacrifices until we make it. After one point there was no other option for
me really, I felt that if I don’t make it, I will be a failure in my
life. There were times that I thought I should quit. I was thinking that if we
will release 2-3 more albums without doing steps forward then there would be no
point of trying, in a sense that you cannot reach a certain age and still send
demos to record labels in order to take you seriously. It would be a matter of
dignity you know. But I am really happy we managed to do the next step right on
the right moment, so all good, hahaha…
What is your favourite town among the
ones you’ve toured in?
I don’t have always time to go around on
tours unfortunately.
Sometimes
you cannot even move around because the venue is in an area that is far away
from the area you can go out and have a coffee and walk a bit. I would say that
Porto was an amazing place to have a day off on a tour because you can walk
around and just sit in a very beautiful scenery, especially if it’s close to
summer that you can sit outside. Barcelona is another city I really like, and I have a good time
every time I have the chance to go around. I would definitely love to have more
time to see many places better.
Most people I know, me included, absolutely hate hearing their recorded
voice because it sounds nothing like it sounds in their head. How do you deal
with that as a singer?
Hahahaha…
I know what you mean. Well, many huge singers had that problem like John Lennon
that absolutely hated his voice and he was doing anything he could in order to
hide it under production tricks. Many people also don’t have the opportunity to
record their voice on high quality equipment, let alone mix it nicely. Most people
listen to their voice on the phone sometimes, recorded on a phone recorder. I
don’t have any of these problems. First of all, I can record on expensive and
high quality equipment and mix it nicely but anyway I like my voice a lot, even
if it’s recorder on a normal phone, hahaha…
What do you do to spark your
creativity? What does being creative mean to you in particular?
Lyrics come to my mind all the
time! I have much more to write about than just ten songs every time we make an
album. I am inspired by everyday life and the planet goes so wrong, so I get
endless inspiration. Also, when I listen to music my brain directly reacts in a
positive way and I get ideas about songs. Outside of the band, I have many
things that I love doing and I could do much more if I had time. For example, I
love working with wood and make treehouses and structures. I find it so
creative! I don’t do something to spark my creativity, I guess I am lucky that
this thing comes naturally to me. Creativity means being alive! I couldn’t just
have a 9-5 job without any purpose in life other than the weekend and the 3
weeks holidays during summer! I would die if I had to work to a bank, hahaha…
Something very particular to
the last year was having to deal with a lot more “me time” in lockdown. How do
you deal with boredom?
The lockdown was weird! The first
part last year, when everything started, I stopped working (I am a sound
engineer and I have my own studio). All work stopped. For me being a very busy
person, it felt weird at first, but then I was happy because I had time for me
and my family! I was totally stressed about the financial aspect at first but
eventually I started working again after 3 months. I ended up having the busiest
year at the studio, probably because all musicians find time to record and mix.
I had no touring though, so I had more time at home, but there were a few
months that I was all day at the studio. Still I had more time for myself, but
this was good because I have two baby sons, so I had the chance to enjoy them
and stay with my wife at home more than before. Family is number one for me, so
I managed to spend more time with them. Also, being a father of babies is a full-time
job, as a result, I didn’t really have free time, hahaha…
What’s your favorite ’90s jam?
Hmmm.. This is a tough question, simply
because they are too many to choose from! I would say probably the song
Somewhere Far Beyond from Blind Guardian. This is really really hard to say, I
can make you a list of 100 songs from the 90’s and still not be completed,
hahaha…
Forget HELLOWEEN – Here comes HELLOWEEN This is the beginning of a new time calculation: »Please stick together!« This was the ardent wish of thousands of fans calling out to Andi Deris, Michael Kiske,Michael Weikath, Kai Hansen, Markus Grosskopf, Sascha Gerstner and Dani Löble during the PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR – and their dream has come true! With the upcoming album, simply titled HELLOWEEN, the band opens a new chapter after 35 years of a glorious career. The future of one of the most influential German metal bands from now on will feature three singers. Originally planned for the live performances only, it was the birth of a unique seven piece metal alliance.
Dani Löble: „This record is the coronation of the PUMPKINS UNITED journey! Still, until today I am fascinated by the different character traits and facets of the HELLOWEEN history. Per example the legendary voices of Michi, Andi and Kai. To enjoy them now together on one record, under one flag is the ultimate HELLOWEEN experience”. It is therefore not surprising that the pre-release single “Skyfall” (out on april, 2nd), a 12 minute epos written by Kai Hansen, has the long yearned “Keeper-vibe” – even if the long player can by no means be limited to it. “Skyfall” implies the musical arch which will be loved by fans of every era. This first album of a new age is taking the fans from unforgettable memories of the fifteen studio records and four live CD’s to new adventures.
“Skyfall” begins with a bang. The epic track describes an alien landing on earth and a dramatic chase while Kiske, Deris and Hansen duel with each other in a breathtaking manner and create a vocal broadband adventure. Produced by Martin Häusler, it is the most elaborate video clip in the history of the band; shown with 3-D animation and having a cinematic look, this video is a real high end experience.
The base of this milestone album was already erected in the studio: using the original drum kit of Ingo Schwichtenberg, the recording was done with the same modulators at the Hamburg HOME studios where back then „Master Of The Rings”, „The Time Of The Oath” and „Better Than Raw” were recorded. Completely analog and under the eyes of long term producer Charlie Bauerfeind and co-producer Dennis Ward, the UNITED impact travelled to New York and got the final mix in the Valhalla Studios of Ronald Prent (Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Rammstein). „After 30 years with the different line ups of the band I really thought I was well prepared for another extreme challenge, but I was wrong! My expectations were highly exceeded in every way with this super-sized creativity package” tells us Bauerfeind.
Besides all musical competence, it is also the special enthusiasm that defines HELLOWEEN. Michael Weikath characterizes in his own way: „It is the incomprehensible encounter of seven musicians who are working as friends and even family and created something that no one would have thought it could be possible. It is like awaking from a sleep but still being in an incredible dream”. Returnee Kai Hansen reflects: „Being in the studio with my old companions after 30 years was very emotional for me. But at the same time it was a completely different experience with the “new” boys. The collaboration of different songwriters and strong characters made the album very special: a unique mix with reminiscences from all chapters of the band’s history. HELLOWEEN is a big part of my life and I am looking forward to celebrating the songs live for and with our fans”! From another perspective Markus Grosskopf agrees: „For me, being one of the last ‘survivors’ who played every note from the beginning, it was a fantastic experience and a very emotional process. I think everyone can hear it on this album. I love it”.
With all this brand new material an album has been created, an album that is set apart from the digital mainstream and showing the essence of the band was never more solid. This is the beginning of something big – here comes HELLOWEEN.
„HELLOWEEN” will be released on June 18th, the album pre-order will kick off on March 26th.TRACKLISTING „HELLOWEEN“
01 – Out For The Glory 02 – Fear Of The Fallen 03 – Best Time 04 – Mass Pollution 05 – Angels 06 – Rise Without Chains 07 – Indestructible 08 – Robot King 09 – Cyanide 10 – Down In The Dumps 11 – Orbit 12 – Skyfall
—-
The first single “Skyfall” will be available on CD, digitally and in two different vinyl versions.
Single 1: Vinyl, CD, digital: ‘Skyfall’ (single edit) + ‘Skyfall’ (exclusive alternative vocals mix). Both are exclusive single versions and will not be on the album. Around 20 minutes playing time.
Single 2: Vinyl only ‘Skyfall’ (single edit) + ‘Indestructible’ (exclusive album track). This is a strictly limited version of the new single with one exclusive album track.
Pre-order the singles here in the format of your choice: Watch the teaser trailer here: https://youtu.be/O_ZbYRkYPLs
Disclaimer: God Is An Astronaut is probably one of the first post-rock bands I’ve listened to. Even more so, one of the bands with whom I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage a few years back (Torsten, Niels and Lloyd are the most down to Earth artists I’ve ever met). So what you’re about to read is unapologetically a biased review of their upcoming album, Ghost Tapes #10.
Adrift, the first song on the album, sets the tone for what I would call a God Is An Astronaut you never knew ever existed. 90’s grunge riffs, dirty delayed guitar leads and distorted bass lines, followed by the atmospheric trademark the band is known for. Right from the get-go, I can definitely say that the Production is perfect. A lot of work has been put into capturing every detail on what the band is expressing on Ghost Tapes #10. And this song clearly establishes the vibe that we are going to experience throughout the entire album.
Burial is the song that the band chose to announce the album through, releasing it as the first single. And I think it’s safe to say that they made the right choice: dark melodies, deep piano chords and a constant state of anxiety, all tailored in a way to make you nod your head at the same time.
If there’s something I think more post-rock genre bands should embrace more is experimenting with odd time signatures and groovy drum beats, rather than the usual (and overdone, at this point) crescendos and reverb-driven lead parts. I think In Flux is doing just that. The song starts off with a dark synth pad part, followed shortly by a 7/8 time signature beat. I could definitely hear this song in Quentin Tarantino’s next action movie’s soundtrack.
Photo Credit: Brian Meade
Spectres picked up from where In Flux left off, in a similar odd time signature beat and a fear inducing soundscape . This gem is one of the best examples on how the band have distanced themselves from albums like All Is Violent, All Is Bright or Helios / Erebus. I’m pretty sure that more than 16 years ago they wouldn’t have had a clue that they would put out an album such as this one. An album I cannot wait for all of you to listen to.
Fade is God Is An Astronaut’s second single off Ghost Tapes #10 and it clearly doesn’t disappoint in maintaining the solid feeling the entire album’s been built upon. However, unlike the 4 previous songs, we’re listening to a more melody oriented song, rather than the riff based songs like Burial and Spectres.
Barren Trees is probably my favourite song on the album! It managed to encapsulate all of my expectations from this long awaited release: groovy drum beats, courtesy of Lloyd Hanney, Torsten’s airy vocals and riffs and Niels’s amazing bass lines, all wrapped up in a reinvented grungy God Is An Astronaut.
Luminous Waves is the closing song and it’s something I was waiting to hear from the GIAA crew in a long time. I strongly think that, if they would try to write Fragile once again, this song would definitely sound like it.
Conclusion: The album clearly represents a departure from Epitaph, Helios / Erebus and basically, most of what we’ve been used to hearing from God Is An Astronaut. Of course, that’s not a negative aspect. It’s actually quite the opposite. If there’s something that I respect the most in a band is their ability to innovate their sound and re-invent themselves, over and over again. Ghost Tapes #10 does just that and I cannot wait to listen the s**t out of it on repeat.”
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.
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).
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.
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.
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!
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.
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)
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
Dragi prieteni, în primul rând dorim să vă mulțumim pentru sprijin și răbdare în toată acestă perioadă de incertitudine.
În ultimele săptămâni am primit de la voi multe mesaje pline de speranța că Posada Rock se va ține în 2020, în ciuda contextului care a scos festivalurile muzicale din programul acestei veri. Și noi am sperat până în ultimul moment că vom primi o veste bună care să ne permită să păstrăm neîntrerupt șirul edițiilor de la reluarea festivalului, în 2011. Din păcate, acest lucru nu s-a întâmplat, ceea ce ne obligă să amânăm pentru vara viitoare ediția care ar fi trebuit să aibă loc anul acesta, în august.
Motivele care au dus la această decizie sunt, evident, legate de incertitudinile provocate de pandemia de coronavirus.
În primul rând, nu știm dacă autoritățile ne vor permite organizarea festivalului la amploarea pe care ne-o dorim cu toții.
O altă necunoscută se referă la trupele internaționale, mai ales cele de peste Ocean, care, pe legislația din acest moment, ar trebui să intre în carantină imediat ce sosesc la noi în țară, ceea ce ar face imposibilă susținerea unui concert.
Nu în ultimul rând, cel mai important lucru este siguranța spectatorilor noștri și, la cum arată lucrurile în aceste zile, e posibil ca numărul de cazuri de COVID-19 să crească și, odată cu el, riscul de infectare.
Ca și cum nu ar fi fost de ajuns, de săptămâna trecută, ca urmare a unei erori tehnice din partea Facebook, eventul Posada Rock Festival 2020 nu mai poate fi accesat. Sperăm să-l putem recupera cât mai curând.
Acestea au fost veștile proaste. Acum, veștile bune!
Posada Rock va avea loc între 13 și 15 august 2021 pe Stadionul Municipal din Câmpulung Muscel, iar prima veste bună este că SKID ROW rămâne unul dintre headlineri și va susține un show memorabil în seara de vineri, 13 august 2021. De altfel, anul viitor se vor împlini 35 de ani de la primul festival Posada Rock, iar acest lucru va fi marcat de o ediție aniversară care le va depăși pe toate celelelalte ca amploare și ca sonoritate a numelor de pe afiș. În acest moment mai avem confirmată încă o trupă de peste Ocean și suntem în discuții cu formații cunoscute de pe aproape toate continentele, din America (de Nord și de Sud) în Australia și din Europa în Orientul Mijlociu. Abia așteptăm să vă dăm detalii!
În privința abonamentelor, evident că cele achiziționate pentru acest an rămân valabile pentru anul viitor și sperăm să ne vedem cu toți posesorii lor la Câmpulung în august 2021.
Suntem însă conștienți că pandemia asta a lovit greu și economia, astfel încât mulți oameni au greutăți financiare. Așa că am decis ca cei care, din motive obiective, nu mai pot participa la ediția de anul viitor să aibă posibilitatea de a primi banii înapoi pe abonamente.
În același timp, suntem o mână de oameni care organizăm acest festival din pură pasiune pentru rock, și pe noi ne-a lovit criza din punct de vedere financiar, așa că, dacă doriți să susțineți festivalul, o puteți face prin păstrarea abonamentului pentru ediția 2021.
Pentru cei care își vor păstra pentru la anul abonamentele deja achitate, pregătim o serie întreagă de surprize exclusive, printre care tombole cu premii în tricouri de la edițiile anterioare, reduceri la merchandise pentru ediția din 2021, reduceri la bilete pentru alte evenimente organizate de noi, tombole pentru pass-uri VIP și sesiuni exclusive de meet & greet cu trupele de anul viitor etc. Amănuntele vor veni în curând.
Cei care doresc totuși returnarea contravalorii abonamentului pot solicita acest lucru direct către iaBilet.ro, până la data de 1 august 2020. După această dată, toate abonamentele pentru care nu s-a solicitat returnarea banilor devin automat valabile pentru ediția din 2021. Din cauza faptului că, pentru a putea returna banii pe abonamente, e posibil să fim nevoiți să contractăm un împrumut bancar, procedura de rambursare s-ar putea să înceapă abia anul viitor. Vom reveni cu detalii legate de acest subiect.
Începând de azi, 7 iulie 2020, prelungim perioada de presale pentru abonamente la Posada Rock 2021 până la sfârșitul anului. Astfel, mai sunt disponibile 1000 de abonamente la prețul de 170 de lei/buc până la 1 ianuarie 2021. După această dată prețul abonamentelor va deveni 200 de lei/buc.
Biletele pentru o zi se vor pune în vânzare cu o lună înainte de eveniment, la prețul de 100 de lei/buc.
Dacă evenimentul nu va fi SOLD-OUT, la intrarea în festival, prețurile vor fi următoarele:
ABONAMENT: 250 de lei/buc.
BILET PENTRU O ZI: 150 de lei/buc.
Avem planuri mari pentru ediția aniversară din vara viitoare, la care vrem să ne vedem cu voi în fața scenei într-un număr cât mai mare, sănătoși și în siguranță, cu mare chef de rock!
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 andacoustic 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.
