Thursday 22 June 2017

ARCH ENEMY reveal cover art and further details for 'Will To Power'



Metal powerhouse ARCH ENEMY are ready to bring their fierce brand of metal to audiences worldwide as they announce details on their upcoming album, "Will To Power", out September 8, 2017 via Century Media Records. The band are excited to reveal the album's captivating cover artwork, as shown above, designed by Alex Reisfar.

Guitarist Michael Amott commented on the artwork: "It was a pleasure working with Alex Reisfar on the 'Will to Power' cover artwork, he immediately grasped the concept and atmosphere we were looking for with this album. We talked about the double edged sword that is human ambition, how it can be outstandingly creative and beautiful but can also be turned into something dark and powerful. Alex proceeded to masterfully paint a strong image that evokes a lot of feelings. The human skull as a central focal point, the flesh sort of falling off into the circular pattern. The snake ouroboros weaving in and out of the mouths and throats of the severed heads of a wolf, a goat and a vampire bat... All representing self determination and a predatory, almost parasitic will to power"

Co-produced by Amott and drummer Daniel Erlandsson, the album was sent to long time collaborator and friend Jens Bogren (Opeth, At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir) for mixing and mastering and marks legendary guitarist Jeff Loomis' (Nevermore) first recording with the band.

Following in the steps of their most acclaimed album to date, "War Eternal", which saw the band reach their highest charts in the US and Germany to date, "Will To Power" will continue to smash records worldwide. While full details and pre-order information on "Will To Power" will be made available in the coming weeks, fans can currently take part in a special campaign which will allow them to sign up and have their name featured in the "Will To Power" Deluxe Box Set Edition. For further details and to have your name included, please visit: willtopower.centurymedia.com.

Having performed over 200 shows in more than 40 countries in support of their previous effort, ARCH ENEMY will continue fervently bringing their show to ever-growing audiences worldwide across the European festival market this summer. They are also excited to announce the first leg of their international "Will To Power Tour 2017" which will commence from September 15 through October 11 across Eastern Europe and will feature special guests, Jinjer. A full list of their upcoming appearances can be found below. There will be a US tour coming this Fall as well. Stay tuned for further tour dates!

ARCH ENEMY live: ARCH ENEMY @ Summer festivals 2017: 06.07.2017 Rock Harz Festival, Ballenstedt, Germany 08.07.2017 Resurrection Fest, Viveiro, Spain 12.07.2017 Rockmarathon, Dunaújváros, Hungary 15.07.2017 Gefle Metal Festival, Gavle, Sweden 04.08.2017 Rock Pod Kamenom Festival, Snina, Slovakia 05.08.2017 Ostrave v Plamenech, Ostrava, Czech Republic 07.08.2017 Festival Di Majano, Majano, Itlay 08.08.2017 Conrad Sohm, Dornbirn, Austria 10.08.2017 Leyendas Del Rock, Villena, Spain 11.08.2017 Vagos Metal Fest, Vagos, Portugal 12.08.2017 Into The Grave, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands 13.08.2017 Bloodstock Open Air, Walton-On-Trent, UK

ARCH ENEMY “Will To Power Tour 2017” w/ special guest Jinjer: 15.09.2017 Music Hall, Innsbruck, Austria 16.09.2017 Posthof, Linz, Austria 17.09.2017 Cvetlicarna, Ljubljana, Slovenia 18.09.2017 Dom Omladine, Belgrade, Serbia 20.09.2017 Quantic Club Open Air Stage, Bucharest, Romania 21.09.2017 Universiada Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria 22.09.2017 Piraeus 117 Academy, Athens, Greece 23.09.2017 Principal Club Theater Thessaloniki, Greece 25.09.2017 Majestic Music Club, Bratislava, Slovakia 26.09.2017 Progresja, Warsaw, Poland 27.09.2017 Loftas, Vilnius, Lithuania 29.09.2017 Melna Piektdiena, Riga, Latvia 30.09.2017 Rock Café, Tallinn, Estonia 01.10.2017 The Circus, Helsinki, Finland 03.10.2017 Re:Public, Minsk, Belarus * 04.10.2017 Aurora, St. Petersburg, Russia * 06.10.2017 Otdyh, Novosibirsk, Russia * 08.10.2017 Tele Club, Yekaterinburg, Russia * 10.10.2017 Yotaspace, Moscow, Russia * 11.10.2017 Zvezda, Samara, Russia * *without Jinjer

Wednesday 21 June 2017

UNKLE Announces New Album THE ROAD PART 1 Out August 18, 2017



After a rollercoaster twenty-five year career as an artist, curator and tastemaker, James Lavelle returns with UNKLE’s fifth studio album, The Road: Part 1 - a collection of fifteen new UNKLE tracks inspired by his curation of 2014’s Meltdown Festival at Southbank, their most successful to date. Following a technical error at the manufacturing plant, The Road: Part 1 will now be released on August 18th.

The Road: Part 1 is a collective creative venture with musicians including London folk-rock artist and poet Keaton Henson, Primal Scream’s Andrew Innes, The Duke Spirit’s Liela Moss, long-time UNKLE collaborator Mark Lanegan and Mercury prize nominee ESKA. Lavelle also found new friends and collaborators in Queens of the Stone Age drummer Jon Theodore and Beck drummer Justin Stanley, who make definitive contributions throughout the record.

Recorded in UK, Europe and Los Angeles’ Pink Duck Studios, The Road: Part 1 is the product of a desire to create something fresh and innovative, that also celebrates the rich history of UNKLE, and showcases a new wave of talent such as Elliott Power, Mïnk and YSEÉ. The album also features long-term collaborators Philip Sheppard, Chris Goss, Twiggy and Troy Van Leeuwen. Lavelle set out to make a record that tapped into the multicultural landscape of modern London. His mission was to unite the eclectic mix of ideas, cultures and genres under the UNKLE umbrella and create something unique.

James Lavelle praises the role of collaboration, and its importance at the core of the project: “I hadn’t made a record in a long time, and the incarnation of UNKLE had changed in that now, it was me on my own. For that reason, I wanted to make a record that I hadn’t been able to before, going back to the roots of where I came from, with a foot in modern London.” In July 2016, UNKLE released their first single in seven years. Lavelle teamed up with Elliott Power, Mïnk and YSEÉ for the gospel infused "Cowboys or Indians". Followed by "Sick Lullaby" in February 2017, his second collaboration with Keaton Henson. "Sick Lullaby" is tender and cinematic, a beautiful lullaby that empowers Henson’s delicate vocals.

The latest track from The Road: Part 1 , "Looking For The Rain", - currently riding high on the BBC 6 Music Playlist - is a call to arms in our turbulent modern world written by Mark Lanegan with string arrangements by Will Malone (Massive Attack, Unfinished Symphony and UNKLE's Lonely Soul amongst others). The video, by visual artist Doug Foster, was created by “filming a variety of subjects from nature, such as water, crystals and plants. The footage was composited in several stages to eventually form a moving tunnel of light that features synchronized repetition and bilateral symmetry.”

http://vevo.ly/cuR2Cb


Creative visual collaborations are a core part of the immersive experience of UNKLE. The importance of the visual experience is an integral part of ‘The Road: Part 1’ and its story. Following the immense success of his critically acclaimed exhibition Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick last summer at Somerset House, Lavelle continued his collaborative relationship with esteemed artists throughout the creation of The Road: Part 1. This includes cinematic and thought-provoking official videos from artists and visionaries including Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones (Cowboys or Indians, Sick Lullaby); Norbert Schroener (The Road), and many more to be revealed.

Watch the official video for the album’s title track "The Road", directed by German filmmaker Norbert Schoerner, The collaboration follows from Schoerner’s involvement with James Lavelle's Daydreaming with Stanley Kubrick exhibition. The footage was filmed by using a drone to explore the stark American wilderness. Norbert Schoerner and James Lavelle have created a film that in Schoerner’s own words “describes the ever present conflict between natural landscape and human progress”. The masterfully curated list of visual collaborators extends to the physical release of The Road: Part 1. The cover art is from a painting by German contemporary artist Jonas Burgert. The 36-page booklet features artwork by contemporary luminaries including Turner Prize nominee Nathan Coley, John Isaacs, David Nicholson, Norbert Schoerner, Doug Foster, Warren Du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones. It was designed by James Lavelle and up-and-coming designer George Stewart-Lockhart.

In the twenty years since UNKLE’s debut album Psyence Fiction, Lavelle has been prolific. He created four studio albums with UNKLE (Psyence Fiction, Never Never Land, War Stories and Where Did The Night Fall), a host of critically-acclaimed film scores, and curated a series of art exhibitions through Daydreaming With... most notably, the hugely successful Daydreaming With Stanley Kubrick exhibition at Somerset House, and his latest exhibition Daydreaming with UNKLE Presents THE ROAD: SOHO. The Daydreaming with... exhibitions are inspired by the desire to marry music and the visual arts and aim to create a unique and multi-sensory experience, unprecedented by museum exhibitions or music festivals.

Whilst The Road: Part 1 may be their fifth studio album, it is in many ways a new beginning. With shows booked throughout the year in the UK (and hopefully some U.S. dates to be announced) and The Road: Part 2 already in the making, it feels that even after 25 years, the road for UNKLE has only just begun.

Tuesday 20 June 2017

BUCKCHERRY MEMBERS LAUNCH NEW BAND JOSH TODD & THE CONFLICT



Buckcherry's Josh Todd and Stevie D. have launched a new band - JOSH TODD & THE CONFLICT and revealed a powerful new music video for the title track off their debut album, “Year of the Tiger”, out September 15th on Century Media Records. The clip, directed by the renowned Chris Cuffaro (Pearl Jam, George Michael), is the first of three videos shot as a mini-concert this past May in the band’s hometown of Los Angeles. The other two videos will be released over the next few months.

Josh Todd (lead vocals) states: “The album’s title track, 'Year of the Tiger,' was one of the first songs we wrote for the record and also became one of my favorite songs I have ever written. Like most good songs, it came together very quickly. As soon as Stevie sent me the music, the lyrics and melodies poured out of me. I'm a huge fan of Hannibal and the show Narcos, while also being into the big cats. In Hannibal, they had a character that would feed despicable people to his pigs and I thought that was pretty demented and interesting. Also, I am always fascinated with people that have the balls to choose a life or crime, so this track is about a guy living on the edge with a manhunt going on for his life ending in death by tigers." Watch the video here:



“Year of the Tiger” was co-produced by guitarist Stevie Dacanay (Buckcherry) and Stone Temple Pilots drummer Eric Kretz. Speaking about the motivation that led to starting this new project, Josh adds, “I have a lot of storytelling in me and I always wanted to start another band. Something more reckless and off the beaten rock path. A lot of changes had taken place in Buckcherry and I didn't want to go another year without making new music. BC is in a great place; we have a great new line-up and we have a handful of dates to complete this year. However, my full attention is on JOSH TODD & THE CONFLICT and the record dropping on September 15th. We're gonna do a worldwide tour behind this. My goal is to give each band a break, so I can stay consistently making music without over touring and build both situations into something really cool."

ALISON MOYET Performs "The Rarest Birds" on THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW



Flanked by fellow guests Mark Wahlberg, Sienna Miller, Tom Holland, Andy Serkis and Woody Harrelson, Cooking Vinyl recording artist and pop legend ALISON MOYET performed the song "The Rarest Birds" on BBC One's THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW. The song is taken from her critically-acclaimed new album OTHER.

Bursting with clarity, vitality and freshness, OTHER finds Moyet at the top of her game - making exactly the adventurous music she wants to at this moment in time, with her voice and songwriting both intense, poetic and thought provoking. Other was again catalyzed by Alison’s fruitful partnership with producer and song writing collaborator Guy Sigsworth, who (as well as having worked with Björk, Goldie and Madonna) also co-created her last album the minutes, which debuted at # 5 in the national UK charts and won international critical acclaim. TOUR DATES

US/Canada: 11 Sept – Sixth and I: Washington DC 12 Sept – The Trocadero Theatre: Philadelphia, PA 13 Sept – Royale, Boston, MA 15 Sept – Irving Plaza; New York, NY 17 Sept – The Danforth Music Hall: Toronto, ONT 19 Sept – Park West: Chicago, IL 20 Sept – Fine Line Music Café: Minneapolis, MN 22 Sept – Star Theater: Portland, OR 23 Sept – The Showbox: Seattle, WA 25 Sept – The Fillmore: San Francisco, CA 26 Sept – Music Box: San Diego, CA 27 Sept – The Fonda Theater: Los Angeles, CA

Monday 19 June 2017

THE LAST DINOSAUR SHARES NEW SINGLE "ALL MY FAITH"


Photo credit Alexandra Cameron

Poignant, dreamlike, beautiful: The Last Dinosaur’s The Nothing is a record to swim in. The brainchild of Londoner Jamie Cameron, it’s an album that addresses a tragic event from his teenage years, and transmutes that experience into a cathartic work of art.

At 16, Jamie had met kindred spirit James Macdonald at music college and recorded the 2004 album Good Morning Sunshine… and Goodnight with him under the name When I Was a Little Girl, a well-received debut through the independent label Where It’s At Is Where You Are. But a year later, Jamie was in a car crash that tragically claimed the life of his best friend. Out for the day with one of Jamie’s sisters and another friend, the car aquaplaned and hit another car at a junction. James’ injuries were the worst among the passengers, and when he passed away, Jamie was in a state of shock.

“I’d had a pretty idyllic life until then, nothing particularly bad had happened,” Jamie says. “That was a difficult experience to comprehend. Despite how harrowing it was, I thought came out of it relatively mentally unscathed, although in hindsight that’s a trick you tell yourself.” Instead, he began recording with another music college friend, Luke Hayden, as The Last Dinosaur. Jamie’s parents split up, he broke up with his girlfriend, and The Last Dinosaur’s debut album Hooray! For Happiness, covered glowingly by the likes of Uncut, The Line Of Best Fit and more, attempted to come to terms with these experiences, while avoiding the real elephant in the room. “I was doing everything to avoid confronting this really big thing that happened at an age when you don’t generally experience death and loss,” Jamie says.

Afterwards, depression took hold of him, but over the course of years, he began writing, recording and amassing songs that addressed his grief and own fear of dying. The powerful The Nothing began to take shape. “It wasn’t an intention of mine to write an album about dying or anything like that, but I realised after I’d written a few songs that they all were about it in some way. It got to a point where I couldn’t really avoid it. I’d done the divorce album and it was all I was left with, trying to make sense of this thing that happened. Halfway through I realised it was profoundly cathartic, it made me felt less scared of dying.”

The Nothing is uplifting, life-affirming. Its lyrics may tackle the subject of mortality, but the gorgeous, overlapping, interlacing melodies are like drifting in a blissful reverie. ‘We’ll Greet Death’, with its strings, piano, saxophone and acoustic guitar is defiant, possessed of an emotional complexity. On ‘Grow’, Jamie’s lovely acoustic plucking forms the basis for a song about the fragility of life, while ‘The Sea’ is a meditative post-rock movement that begins in a hushed place and concludes over five minutes later in a gorgeous string-laden denouement. Although Jamie professes to a childhood love for R.E.M, Tortoise and most of all, Talk Talk, the music here is very much his own, self-penned and performed with close friend Rachel Lanskey providing viola on most of the songs. “I’ve had a very strong sense of never wanting to copy anyone else’s music, I just want to sound like me,” Jamie says.

Created between 2009 and 2016, The Nothing is a stunning, affecting album that is also a touching tribute to Jamie’s late friend. “Someone called it elegiac,” Jamie says. “I quite liked that notion.”

Sunday 18 June 2017

Clutch at The Academy Dublin - Gig Review



Clutch in Dublin at the Academy. Not that this has not happened before but I did not think it would happen again this time around if I judge by the number of class acts bypassing Ireland the last few months. But Thursday 15th of June 2017 was not one of those days and Neil Fallon the emblematic leader of Clutch stormed on stage just before 9.00ish.

Clear sound, great voice and very efficient musicians set the place on fire within the first few notes. It was meant to be a great gig where people would have a great time and so it was.

Neil owns the stage and his charisma overtook the entire venue in a matter of seconds. Self effacing musicians focused on delivering a solid set giving Fallon all the latitude to play with an audience which was smitten from the get go. Neil mentioned it had been too long since the last time he and the crew had been in Dublin and I agree. Not many bands are as unique as Clutch. Is it power blues, hard core country, stoner soul punk or plain rock'n'roll? It does not matter in the end and I think this is the secret of Clutch. Listen, if you cast an eye on the diversity of the audience one wearing a Danzig Tee, one Depeche Mode or the other Metallica or Sick Of It All it is a sure sign that it’s all about good music and catchy tunes.

I am not going to make an inventory or detailed the track list one by one but we had a lot of old titles, some from the last album and some titles they are currently testing on stage with a view to record them pretty soon. Drinking water (and eating peanuts?) the bond between an entertaining Fallon and the audience was obvious. He is enjoying his time on stage alternating story telling, powerful singing or possessed moves. Whatever he did, the public responded accordingly.

Songs were introduced, following one another they were refreshingly played without the mandatory guitar solo moment or drums skills show off leading us nicely but surely to the encore. At that point the "mob went wild" on the first notes of Psychic Warfare which turned out to be the last track to be played.

Lights on, Neil made sure to hand back the mobile phone of a fan who had mysteriously landed on stage earlier. He also spent a few minutes behind thanking and high fiving many and made sure some hard core fans from the first row were awarded a copy of the track list.

A super night from a super band with a super audience in a great venue. A band confident in his ability and a singer (almost a preacher) unapologetic to rock and roll 😊.

Photo & Review by Pascal Derrien