STRYPER–Second Coming, the new studio album of re-recorded Stryper classics, along with 2 new songs, will be released on March 26th, via Frontiers Records. Check out the EPK (Official) below, as vocalist/guitarist Michael Sweet discusses the new album! Metal be thy name!
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Michael Sweet – Lead Vocals / Guitar
Robert Sweet – Drums
Oz Fox – Guitar / Vocals
Timothy Gaines – Bass/Vocals
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* For more info on STRYPER, click on the links below!
CLUTCH – The brand new studio album, Earth Rocker, from Maryland’s warriors of Heavy Rock, aka CLUTCH, will be releasing tomorrow on March 19th! This will be the 10th studio album from CLUTCH, releasing via Weathermaker Music.
I’ll be heading out tomorrow to buy the physical CD of Earth Rocker, cause there’s nothing like grabbing a hot new release from CLUTCH right off the store shelf. Metal be thy name.
Below is the Best Buy pre-sale link for both CD and Vinyl:
On Record Store Day, April 20, Soundgarden will be releasing a limited edition vinyl of the King Animal demos worldwide. This is the first time these recordings have been available together.
The songs will be pressed on 10″ PINK vinyl and the 6-song package will also include a free digital download card.
The demos were recorded by Chris Cornell & Soundgarden at TNC Studios in Los Angeles, CA and Deke River Studio in Seattle, WA.
BLACK STAR RIDERS, the new band featuring THIN LIZZY members Ricky Warwick, Damon Johnson, Scott Gorham and Marco Mendoza together with drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (Alice Cooper / Megadeth), have announced ‘All Hell BreaksLoose’ as the title of their debut album on Nuclear Blast Entertainment, which will be released Worldwide on the following dates:
May 21st – Japan
May 22nd – Sweden
May 24th – Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Finland, Norway
May 27th – U.K., France, BeNeLux, Poland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Greece
May 28th – U.S., Canada, Italy, South America
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About the origin of the album title, BLACK STAR RIDERS frontman Ricky Warwick states:
“I was watching a documentary about World War II bombers and saw the name painted on the side of one of the aircraft. The name just resonated with me and it seem to encapsulate the turmoil that we, as a society, are currently experiencing. The past few years have been such a wild ride and now with the release of the album, it sounded like a bad-ass album title that summed up what BLACK STAR RIDERS is all about.”
Produced & mixed by the legendary Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Rush), the track listing for All Hell Breaks Loose is:
01. All Hell Breaks Loose
02. Bound For Glory
03. Kingdom Of The Lost
04. Bloodshot
05. Kissin’ The Ground
06. Hey Judas
07. Hoodoo Voodoo
08. Valley Of The Stones
09. Someday Salvation
10. Before The War
11. Blues Ain’t So Bad
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The album will be released as a standard CD and also as a special edition digi-pak featuring a bonus track “Got A Right To Be Wrong” and a “Making of” DVD.
A 24-minute compilation of behind-the-scenes video reports from the band’s studio time in Los Angeles can be viewed on YouTube: http://youtu.be/JEx9gD8RPz8
Confirmed festival appearances for BLACK STAR RIDERS include:
June 1st Hi Rock Festival – Inzell, Germany
June 2nd Hi Rock Festival – St. Goarshausen, Germany
June 8th Sweden Rock Festival – Solvesborg, Sweden
WHITESNAKE – YEAR OF THE SNAKE – Here’s some incredible news updates and tour info on Hard Rock legends Whitesnake for 2013! And it’s all… Stone’s METAL Pick Of The Day! Metal be thy name!
WHITESNAKE – MADE IN JAPAN:
Deluxe 2CD/DVD Edition/ DVD Edition (1 DISC) Blu-Ray Edition (1 DISC)
RELEASE DATES:
JP Release: Wednesday 3rd April 2013
UK Release: Monday 22nd April 2013
US Release: Tuesday 23rd April 2013
Frontiers Records is pleased to announce Whitesnake’s highly anticipated live concert Made InJapan – released on Deluxe 2CD/DVD Edition, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK on Monday April 22nd (North American release is Tuesday April 23rd).
Multi-platinum Rock band Whitesnake co-headlined the “Loud Park” festival on October 15th 2011 at Saitama Super Arena in Japan during their “Forevermore World Tour.”
Ripple Music will release Fate is Your Muse from Indianapolis Heavy Rockers DEVIL TO PAY on April 9th. The album will be available on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. Fate is your Muse is an introspective lyrical journey that careens from the metaphysical, to the absurd, to the pragmatic (and back again), all set to bone crushing heaviness wrapped in elaborate vocal melodies and elegant guitar phrases. Exploring topics such as reincarnation, the end of days, and the thin veil between reality and fantasy, the Indianapolis foursome create a rare musical experience; one that will have Heavy Rock fans returning for the primal emotional riffs, as well as the complex and heady lyrical content.
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FATE IS YOUR MUSE – Track Listing:
Wearin’ You Down
Ten Lizardmen & One Pocketknife
Yes Master
Already Dead
This Train Won’t Stop*
Savonarola
Black Black Heart
The Naked Truth
Mass Psychosis
Tie One On*
Beyond The Ether
*CD version only
DEVIL TO PAY released a video for the single “This Train Won’t Stop,” which was premiered by The Obelisk in conjunction with the end of the Mayan Baktun on December 21st. The lyrics are about the continual false prophesying of the world’s end. Check out the video below!
The band is hosting a listening party for Fate Is Your Muse at the Sound Square Brewery in Indianapolis on the 16th of March, which will feature the establishment’s home brews, all of which will be named after DEVIL TO PAY songs for the night. DEVIL TO PAY’s album release party will be held at Radio Radio in Indianapolis on the 12th of April.
Pre-order Fate is your Muse by clicking the link below!
Photo from Ultraviolet recording sessions at The Jam Room
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“UNSPOKEN” MP3 AVAILABLE NOW
Feb. 26, 2013, Philadelphia – Kylesa is set to release Ultraviolet, one of the most anticipated Hard Rock releases of the year and the follow-up to their critically acclaimed album SpiralShadow, on May 28 via Season of Mist (May 24 in Europe).
“Whereas Spiral Shadow was a warm album suggesting concepts of hope, Ultraviolet is a bit colder and darker,” explains songwriter/guitar player Laura Pleasants. “All of our studio albums have their own unique identity and we’ve always been a band who strives for something different than what current fads suggest. With Ultraviolet, we took a step inward and wrote music that we felt we had to write; this album centers around the multiple themes of loss and you can feel it in the music. Everyone goes through it during their lifetime and this record reflects that experience.”
The Savannah-based quintet recorded Ultraviolet at The Jam Room in Columbia, SC with the band’s guitar player/songwriter, and sought-after producer, Phillip Cope (Baroness, Black Tusk) once again overseeing production.
Kylesa released a rarities collection in November titled From The Vaults, Vol. 1, which featured unreleased, new and alternate versions of songs spanning the band’s catalogue as well as one new song titled End Truth. Cope and Pleasants spent over a year going through their archives preparing the release.
The band’s most recent studio album, Spiral Shadow, had the highest Metal/Hard Rock entry on the Village Voice’s 2010 Pazz & Jop album poll, led Pitchfork to say “Kylesa would be a household name” following the release and landed the band on the cover of Terrorizer as well as album of the month accolades from Metal Hammer, Rock Sound and Visions Magazines. In 2011, Kylesa became the first Metal band to perform on Last Call with Carson Daly.
Kylesa will return to the road in May with more details forthcoming.
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(Source: Speakeasy PR & Marketing)
* For more info on KYLESA, click on the links below!
KROKUS – For almost 40 years now, Krokus has stood for high-quality, honest-to-goodness, hand-made power rock. No other Swiss rock band sells albums worldwide like Krokus. The band has already sold over 14 million records, toured the world, and received gold and platinum discs in the USA and Canada. The milestones in their rock career are dotted around the world: from Australia and the USA to Mexico, Russia, Japan, and China.
Today they are back in their classic line-up with Mandy Meyer and are stronger than ever on their new album, DIRTY DYNAMITE. The band spent two years working on the new album under the watchful eye of producer Chris Von Rohr at the legendary Abbey Road Studio. Guitarist MarkKohler has this to add: ‘This is not just another Krokus album. I think we have definitely passed another rock milestone with this record.
BUCKCHERRY – I’ll call it this way, while I was eagerly anticipating the release of Buckcherry’s sixth studio album, Confessions, I knew it would just have to be really good. Let me say this much, my fellow Metal brethren and Rockaholics: Confessions is really, really, really good. Really. Confessions is this type of good: it’s running through the village square naked, while bellowing hallelujah to the Hard Rock and Rock ‘N’ Roll Gods. Now, that’s what Stone calls good.
My eardrums and whatever part of my brain that’s responsible for absorbing music has been thanking me, ever since I’ve been listening to Confessions. The hooks, rhythms, melodic continuance, psyche-you-out beats, vocals, backing vocals, mellow album closing and irresistibly grand presence of guitar driven songs makes Confessions a measuring stick for all other Hard Rock and Rock albums released in 2013. I’m not trying to bamboozle anyone here. Take my Metal word for it and go cash it in at the Rockaholic savings and loan and tell ’em you were sent by Stone.
* Above: Cover artwork for inside cover of jewel case.
* At top of post is the cover artwork for CD outer sleeve.
Apparently, Buckcherry realizes that there are many Rock, Hard Rock and Metal bands out there all competing for the same audiences and greenbacks. Therefore, obviously, Buckcherry decided to write and record a new album that would stand above the heap and kick the living shit out of my Hard Rock lovin’ ass. Has this new Buckcherry album done the same to you? If so, it feels damn fine… doesn’t it?
It’s like that old cliché of capturing lightning in a bottle; yet with Confessions, Buckcherry captured Hard Rock lightning in a case of bottles. With Confessions being an album of songs that carry the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins, (as seven song titles of Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, Sloth, Pride, Envy and Lust portray), this is an album that is as lyrically potent as its memorable music.
With songs like album opener Gluttony and the mid-tempo Rocker of The Truth, Confessions is stacked and packed with song favorites I could continue to list; only what’s the point when the total package is my favorite? I will note that Dreamin’ Of You is a perfect song to end this album. With its inspiring lyrics and slower vibe, Buckcherry sends a clear message through Dreamin’ Of You; that there is still hope and a spirit of belief in oneself for us to reach for after all. Buckcherry can take a justified Hard Rockin’ and Rockin’ bow and I’m raising the horns to the sky for their accomplishment with Confessions. Metal be thy name.
* Buckcherry – Confessions was released on February 19th, via Century Media.
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BUCKCHERRY:
Josh Todd – vocals
Keith Nelson – guitars & backing vocals
Stevie D. – guitars & backing vocals
Jimmy Ashhurst – bass
Xavier Muriel – drums & percussion
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As you can see by the above promo ad, Confessions is available at many retail locations; therefore there’s no excuse for not scoring the whoop-ass Hard Rock of the new Buckcherry!
Ohio-based trio THE UNCLEAN has this month self-released their sophomore full-length album, in the process unleashing some of the most classic but contemporary, polluted but pristine Rock n’ Roll the underground has to offer.
Known for trolling Akron’s dive-bars and tattoo shops, the members of THE UNCLEAN collective pulled their resources together in 2007. Hailing from predominantly sludge/doom-scene acts including Rue, Fistula, Sofa King Killer, with this act the members crank out solid, no-frills, riff-heavy, Blues-based Rock anthems. With influences and comparisons tracing to classic acts like ZZ Top, Humble Pie, Thin Lizzy and Motörhead, the band self-released their debut album No Excuse Necessary in the Fall of 2008 and have since honed their soulful tunes even further on-stage regionally, alongside other hard-working local and touring acts.
At the end of 2012 the trio shacked-up in the studio to lay down the thunder that would culminate into their second full-length. The drums were recorded at Studio Time in Akron, Ohio (former Black Keys studio) by Jason Tarulli (current mastermind behind Black Keys live sound), and the rest of the album written, recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by the band in their own Unclean Studio. Now completed and available to the public once again in totally D.I.Y. fashion, THE UNCLEAN proudly offer their most honest and lively material yet with The Eagle.
Boasting nearly forty minutes of ballsy, Bluesy, beer-swilling anthems about good times and bad, guitarist/vocalist Bremmy (ex-Sofa King Killer, Honkeytonk Damnation), bassist Burns (ex-Rue, Nailblack, Fistula, Sofa King Killer), and drummer Frank The Tank (ex- Search Block) play it straight from hip, loud and in your face.
After releasing The Eagle this month digitally via all the usual online suspects (iTunes, Spotify, EMusic, Google Play and more), THE UNCLEAN will drop a CD version in the coming months alongside regional shows and sporadic touring in support of the record. Stay tuned for further info in the coming weeks.
As reported on the official facebook of GREAT WHITE (Band):
Bought your tickets to a GREAT WHITE concert and need a ride? Let someone else do the driving while you and your friends get to arrive in style. We will be giving away special prizes to the Rally Bus folks, as well as cool exclusive videos.
Visit the Rally Bus Great White page and check it out!
LOVE.MIGHT.KILL – Releasing on March 8th, 2013, via Massacre Records, is the digital-only release from LOVE.MIGHT.KILL – 10 Mighty Killers. This digital-only offering of 10 Mighty Killers will be available for purchase on March 8th, by clicking the link below. You also can listen to samples of this fabulous compilation of LOVE.MIGHT.KILL songs by clicking the same link below:
Attributes in music are known to be cyclical. Every few years, a band comes along who borrows just enough from the revered past to bring a new infusion of vitality to the musical present. SCORPION CHILD’s sound invokes a time when guitar-driven Rock ruled radio’s airwaves, when being hypnotized by a frontman and his bandmates in a concert arena was one of life’s ultimate main events.
A five-piece from Austin, Texas, SCORPION CHILD have spent the last few years perfecting both their songwriting and stage show. Guitarists Chris Cowart and David Finner deliver their finessed twin guitar attack with experience older than their years; bassist Shaun Avants and drummer Shawn Alvear are steadfast sentinels of their driving rhythm section; and lead singer Aryn JonathanBlack fronts the Psychedelic Rock cavalry with a passion & voice reminiscent of the early eras of Robert Plant and Ronnie James Dio.
“I’ve always wanted to hear new musical ingredients within a classic heavy sound,” states vocalist AJB. “It’s great to witness captivating performances where both the live show and the band’s recorded material can complement one another. The heavy-prog sounds of URIAH HEEP, HAIRY CHAPTER, and the epic delivery of early RAINBOW showcases these crossovers brilliantly and gave us all honest – yet relentless – sonics to aspire to. That’s why it’s important for us as a band to maintain spontaneity while putting a special emphasis into integral hooks.”
This May, Nuclear Blast will release SCORPION CHILD’s self-titled, full-length debut. Produced and arranged by Chris “Frenchie” Smith (THE ANSWER, AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD…), the album uses analog recording technology to organically capture a hybrid of nine, hook-filled chapters of heavy Psych Rock. The goal? To breathe new life into a neglected yet still important musical heritage.
Dangerous guitar riffs, soul-ridden bass lines, and thunderous drums with powerful rock vocals as lead conductor convey the on-stage swagger of SCORPION CHILD and will prepare you for the live experience awaiting you when the band tours the U.S. and Europe throughout 2013.
1. Kings Highway
2. Polygon Of Eyes
3. The Secret Spot
4. Salvation Slave
5. Liquor
6. Antioch
7. In The Arms Of Ecstasy
8. Lover’s Leap
9. Red Blood (The River Flows)
BAND KICKS OFF NEW TOUR THIS WEEKEND IN NORTH CAROLINA
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Philadelphia, Jan. 24, 2013 – ASG, the psych-rock quartet from North Carolina, have named their Relapse Records debut Blood Drive.
The album, which was produced by Matt Hyde (Slayer, Fu Manchu, Monster Magnet) at Sunset Lodge in Los Angeles during the fall, is due out this Spring with an exact date to be announced soon. “Days Work,” a new song from Blood Drive, will be available as a limited edition split 7″ with label mates Red Fang via Relapse on Feb. 19 (pre-order link: http://www.relapse.com/redfangasg).
ASG hit the road this weekend, kicking off a brief Southeastern tour on Jan. 25 at The Soapbox in Wilmington, N.C. The band will be at SXSW with more details to follow.
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Tour dates are:
January 25 Wilmington, NC The Soapbox
January 30 Savannah, GA The Jinx
January 31 Charleston, SC The Skatepark of Charleston
The album stream is accompanied by an interview with all four band members: Mike Patton, Duane Denison, John Stanier and Trevor Dunn.
Tomahawk return to the road on Feb. 12, kicking off a west coast tour at The Showbox in Seattle. The band join the touring Soundwave Festival in Australia on Feb. 23.
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Tour Dates:
February 12 Seattle, WA The Showbox
February 13 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
February 15 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
February 16 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
February 17 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
February 19 Los Angeles, CA The Mayan Theater
February 23 Brisbane, Australia RNA Showgrounds
February 24 Sydney, Australia Olympic Park
February 26 Sydney, Australia The Metro
February 27 Melbourne, Australia Billboard
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March 1 Melbourne, Australia Flemington Racecourse
March 2 Adelaide, Australia Bonython Park
March 4 Perth, Australia Claremont Showground
March 30 Sao Paulo, Brazil Lollapalooza Brazil
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April 2 Buenos Aires, Argentina Malvinas Argentinas Stadium (w/A Perfect Circle)
April 4 Santiago, Chile Teatro La Cupula del Parque O’Higgins
Swedish Melodic Rock legends Treat are celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2013 and announce some mouth-watering news for all their fans. Treat will release a special 30th anniversary edition package, containing a best of-album with two brand new songs and two previously unreleased songs, and their latest album “Coup de Grace”, regarded as a “masterpiece” by Classic Rock Magazine and voted “Melodic rock album of the year 2010” with an extra track.
Treat also plans a big tour, that will kick off with some major festival gigs in the summer, and will see them rockin´on the road in to the autumn. Then it´s over. For good.
”We have a saying in Sweden: You should always leave the party when you have the most fun”, says guitarist and songwriter Anders Wikström who formed the band back in 1983 together with singer Robert Ernlund. Say what? Treat is breaking up! Treat has never been a more tight-knit Rock’n’Roll unit than now, and the band is brimming with creativity and excitement. That´s why the band now chooses to call it a day; they want to, as they put it, ”end on a high note”.
”We´re doin’ it out of love and respect for our fans”, Anders Wikström says. ”We quit before they ask us to get the hell out. We want Treat´s legacy to be pure Rock´n´Roll happiness!”
The decision to close down operation is most amicable, and kind of grew upon the five in the band, but when the decision was made, the band almost immediately started making plans for the farewell party next year.
”We´re going out with a bang and will give our fans a ride they didn´t even knew they wanted.”, says Anders Wikström.
Treat, who released their classic debut album ”Scratch and Bite” back in 1985, now also introduces the new bass player Fredrik Thomander, who’s for years been close to The Band Of Brothers that Treat are: Fredrik has been co-writing songs with the band, mixed ”Coup de Grace” and has already done some gigs as a Treat Brother.
Anders Wikström (guitar and vocals), Robert Ernlund (lead vocals), Jamie Borger (drums), PatrickAppelgren (keyboards and vocals) and Fredrik Thomander (bass and vocals) take Sweden on a turbo charged Rock´n´Roll journey in 2013. There’s many ways to say goodbye.
”We wanna party with our fans”, says Robert Ernlund and adds: “The Treat’s on us”!
MOTHERSHIP – On February 12th, Ripple Music will give worldwide release to the self-titled debut album from Dallas-born heavy rock trio Mothership.
70’s-tinged U.S. Hard Rock with a sound that satisfies like a steaming hot stew of UFO and Iron Maiden, blended with the southern swagger of Molly Hatchet and ZZ Top, Mothership’s goal from the beginning has been to carry on the tradition of the Classic Rock style; updated and amped up for the modern-day. Originally self-released in 2012, Mothership and Ripple Music have joined forces to re-release this stunning debut record on CD (includes lyrics) and LP (packages to include an 11″ x 17″ poster and download cards).
The band will be playing two Dallas-area CD release shows next month and is currently putting together a West Coast tour. Confirmed dates are as follows:
February 8th @ Curtain Club – Dallas, TX
February 9th @ Lola’s Saloon – Ft. Worth, TX
March 8th @ Club Red/ Red Owl – Tempe, AZ
March 29th @ Johnny B’s – Medford, OR
MOTHERSHIP:
Kells Juett – Guitars/Vox
Kyle Juett – Bass/Vox
Judge Smith – Drums
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Critical Praise:
“Such a killer find, man. Can’t wait to see them live!” – Dom Lawson (Metal Hammer / Classic Rock)
“Been listening to Mothership all day now and if feels like UFO and Orange Goblin got drunk with St. Vitus, smoked some weed with Blue Cheer and spewed out the tuffest blues-drenched, no frills love child I’ve heard all month. Some ridiculously badass guitars. And heavy above all else!” – Sword of Doom
“Try to resist a band that plays blues-laden metal with heavy guitar riffs that is also hoping for intergalactic travel. Mothership is a three-piece from Dallas that alternates between an almost AC/DC-like sound on a track like ‘City Nights’ and a broader, heavier and more epic sound on tracks like ‘Cosmic Rain,’ ‘Angel of Death’ and the opener, ‘Hallucination.’ – Vue Weekly.com
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Listen to the guitar-driven and heavy hittin’ Win Or Lose below! Win Or Lose is the 5th track off the self-titled debut from MOTHERSHIP.
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MOTHERSHIP – BIO:
Rock n’ Roll history is rife with brothers working together to create their artistic vision. But rarely do we hear about a full-fledged family unit embarking down the treacherous path of a musical career. In the case of Texas-based Mothership, the Brother Juett (Kyle on bass, younger brother Kelley on guitar) enlisted the aid of their father, John Juett, to help get the ‘ship off the ground. Raised on a healthy dose of their father’s 70’s-era record collection, the brothers began crafting songs fueled on the raucous and raw good time vibe when music seemed to know no bounds.
Lifting off the pad for the first time in 2010, the band began to gain momentum and notoriety with their unabashed live shows. Knowing that the service of the family patriarch was temporary, Father Juett actively helped his boys find his replacement, and in late 2011, enter the mighty Judge Smith to hammer away on the skins.
In early 2012, Mothership entered Crystal Clear Studios with Wo Fat mastermind Kent Stump manning the boards and by mid-year, the band self-released their debut album. It was the combination of the 70’s-era heavy rock fuzz and fury mixed with the blistering guitar solos of the NWOBHM-era that drew the bands attention to California-based Heavy Rock label, Ripple Music. In the waning months of 2012, after a successful year of traveling regionally throughout Texas and opening for national acts such as Prong, RedFang, Gypsyhawk, Earthen Grave, and Lo-Pan, Mothership officially dubbed Ripple Music as its Home Port and began plotting a course for their first U.S. Tour in early 2013.
SPIN STREAMING FULL ALBUM ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 22nd
San Francisco – With less than two weeks until Tomahawk’s first album in six years is released (Oddfellows, Jan. 29), Brooklyn Vegan is streaming the title track:
Spin will stream the album in its entirety, accompanied by an interview with all four band members (Duane Denison, Trevor Dunn, Mike Patton and John Stanier), on Tuesday, Jan. 22.
Tomahawk return to the road on Feb. 12, kicking off a west coast tour at The Showbox in Seattle. The band join the touring Soundwave Festival in Australia on Feb. 23.
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Tour Dates:
February 12 Seattle, WA The Showbox
February 13 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
February 15 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
February 16 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
February 17 Santa Ana, CA The Observatory
February 19 Los Angeles, CA The Mayan Theater
February 23 Brisbane, Australia RNA Showgrounds
February 24 Sydney, Australia Olympic Park
February 26 Sydney, Australia The Metro
February 27 Melbourne, Australia Billboard
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March 1 Melbourne, Australia Flemington Racecourse
March 2 Adelaide, Australia Bonython Park
March 4 Perth, Australia Claremont Showground
March 30 Sao Paulo, Brazil Lollapalooza Brazil
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April 2 Buenos Aires, Argentina Malvinas Argentinas Stadium (w/A Perfect Circle)
April 4 Santiago, Chile Teatro La Cupula del Parque O’Higgins
Frontiers Records is excited to announce the release of PRETTY MAIDS anticipated new album entitled Motherland on March 22nd in Europe and March 26th in North America.
After their successful and highly acclaimed 2010 album “Pandemonium”, Danish melodic Hard Rockers, Pretty Maids celebrated their 30th anniversary with their debut visual release “It Comes Alive (Maid in Switzerland)” in 2012. “Pandemonium” showed the world that Pretty Maids were in a creative spring again, with the band in their finest moment. The melodic approach brought a return to the “Future World / Red Hot and Heavy” era of the eighties, but with an updated sound and freshness that consolidated Pretty Maids as strong as ever.
In late spring 2012, the band gathered to finally write the follow-up album. Singer Ronnie Atkins tells: “We knew it was going to be a tough one to follow ! I remember back in the day when we had to follow-up albums like “Future World”, we tried more or less to copy the songs from the previous album to keep the same kind of balance. But this time we just wrote what came natural to us and that’s what became “Motherland”.
The band teamed up again with producer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Amaranthe) for the new album. Ronnie says:
“Jacob was a natural choice since we had a great experience with him producing the “Pandemonium” album. The recordings went smooth to begin with, but then we had to start touring again during the weekends and this created some stress. Though I really feel strongly about “Motherland”. In my view it has all the ingredients of a good Pretty Maids album, maybe even more melodic than “Pandemonium” and absolutely, as far as I’m concerned a worthy follow-up”.
Founded in early 1982 by guitarist Ken Hammer and singer Ronnie Atkins, Pretty Maids soon established themselves as a band to be taken seriously in the early eighties, having their breakthrough with the release – in April 1987 – of the album “Future World”. This record soon gathered a universal recognition as a “Classic”, which endures to date, and allowed the band to perform in front of large audiences thanks to their tour with Deep Purple and their appearances in the “Monsters of Rock” festival. The following album “Jump The Gun” kept the momentum for the band, particularly in Europe and Japan.
Throughout the nineties Pretty Maids continued to release albums, usually followed by European and Japanese tours with the band still maintaining a very high songwriting and production standards. The release of “Wake up to the Real World” in 2006 started the band’s relationship with Frontiers Records.
“Motherland” will include the following tracks:
Mother Of All Lies; To Fool A Nation; Confession; The Iceman; Sad To See You Suffer; Hooligan; Infinity; Why So Serious; Motherland; I See Ghosts; Bullet For You; Who What Where When Why; Wasted.
The release of the new album will be preceded by the release of the single / video “Mother of All Lies” which will hit the streets on January 22nd 2013. A sample of the single can be heard following this link:
Pretty Maids will play numerous festivals this summer such as Wacken Open Air and Bang Your Head !!!, followed by an extensive world tour in support of “ Motherland”.
Pretty Maids are stronger than ever – don’t miss them on tour !!!
“Powerplay”: the title says it all. The 9th album of Swiss Power Rockers SHAKRA, picks up where their last chart-breaking album, Back on Track, left off.
‘Even though it is difficult to top being No. 2 in the charts, we believe that the new album has got what it takes to do just that!’,the band explains in a mix of confidence and sober analysis. ‘We are very satisfied with “Powerplay”. Now it’s up to the public and the fans”.
Even after 20 years of band history, the original band members Thom Blunier (guitar), Thomas Muster (guitar), and Roger Tanner (drums) along with the band’s two young guns, Dominik Pfister (bass) and most particularly singer John Prakesh, have grown together over the years to build a unit that has just one overriding goal: to make good, honest, hand-made Hard Rock.
While SHAKRA had to deal with a few line-up changes over the years, the five-man band now at last has the time to focus completely on what it does best: Rock’n’Roll. The result is Blunier, Muster, Tanner, Pfister, and Prakesh’s “Powerplay”, an album that is utterly irresistible.
The 13-track LP is the most varied SHAKRA album so far. The band has grown and blossomed in this formation throughout the 50 gigs they have played together. Songs such as “Dream of Mankind”, “Higher”, “Wonderful Life” and “Because Of You” display the whole variety of SHAKRA’s sound. The album was once again produced by Thom Blunier in the Powerride studios. “Powerplay” is a high-class traditional but at the same time up-to-date piece of work. What more could a fan ask for?
Check out the Official Album Trailer for POWERPLAY below! WHOA!
Listen to and watch the video for Wonderful Life below! WHOA!
If you’re a band or musician and would like your music reviewed or be interviewed by Stone, please click the link under the “ALBUM REVIEWS ARCHIVES” section below!
Metal Odyssey's Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Hall of Fame! These Are The Rock And METAL Legends Wrongfully Ignored By "The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame"
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