Unbreakable the forthcoming album on Frontiers Records from Primal Fear
If you’re talking about today’s European top metal acts the discussion is heading straight towards Primal Fear. Former Gamma Ray vocalist Ralf Scheepers and bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner, two of the most respected German metal musicians founded the band in late 1997.
With eight studio albums released, two live products and a best of Primal Fear are certainly one of nowadays most beloved and respected European Heavy Metal bands. Their last studio album “16.6 – Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” became their second highest chart entry in Germany on Pos. 46. The following world tour incl. two headlining tours in the US and Canada with a headlining appearance at the prestigious ProgPower festival in Atlanta.
The world tour was recorded in all continents and released on CD “Live In The USA” and on DVD “All Over The World” in summer 2010.
After a sensational tour through South America in spring 2011, more dates in Europe plus an outstanding appearance on the 2011 edition of the Wacken Open Air, the band was fired up to enter the recording studio to start tracking their ninth album “UNBREAKABLE”. The target was crystal clear - producer & bassist Mat Sinner: “After touring for two years without breaks, the guys realized the fan favourites very well and we wrote an untamed, powerful and crushing album together”.
“Unbreakable” was produced by Mat Sinner, engineered and mixed by Achim Koehler & the House Of Music studios and some more studios in Germany and Sweden between Summer and Autumn 2011.
“Unbreakable” combines the skills of the strongest Primal Fear line-up ever, with a well-balanced “back to the roots” vibe and an ambitious learning process during their longest tour so far. Classic and ultra-fresh Primal Fear riff-rockers like “Strike”, “Give Em Hell” or the high speed track “And There Was Silence” will hit the bulls-eye, like the rhythm paced metal anthem, first single and new video clip “Bad Guys Wear Black”. Less experiments, more rock! But there will be a nine-minute epic journey with a lot prog approach named “Where Angels Die”, a classic wonderful ballad “Born Again” and the melodic power bomb “Metal Nation”. Singer Ralf Scheepers adds: 'The plan was to record an album for the fans with rough metal riffs, screaming vocals and good melodies ...... and finally it became a monster – a tough 'bang-your-head' metal album called “Unbreakable."'
'Bad Guys Wear Black' video link:
Magnus Karlsson and Alex Beyrodt are worldwide respected guitarists – together they are unbeatable! Ralf Scheepers vocal performance shines bright on a new level on all new songs. And what can go wrong if you’re backed by one of the best rhythm sections in metal with Randy Black and Mat Sinner? Plus backing vocals by the “Fantastic Four”: Ralf Scheepers, Mat Sinner, Erik Martensson and Oliver Hartmann.
You can hear the result on Primal Fears new statement called “UNBREAKABLE”!
Don’t miss the German Metal Commando when they’re coming to your town!
Primal Fear Ralf Scheepers – Vocals
Alex Beyrodt – Guitars
Magnus Karlsson – Guitar, Keyboards
Randy Black – Guitars
Mat Sinner – Bass & Vocals
Weblinks:
THE DARKNESS:
SET TO RETURN TO NORTH AMERICA IN 2012
FIRST U.S. TOUR SINCE 2004 TO LAUNCH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1
IN TORONTO, AND WRAP MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21 IN SAN FRANCISCO
MULTI-PLATINUM BRITISH GROUP TO RELEASE THIRD STUDIO ALBUM IN
THE SPRING OF 2012
THE DARKNESS L-R: Ed Graham, Frankie Poullain, Justin Hawkins, Dan Hawkins. Photo credit: Marianne Harris.
THE DARKNESS return!
Continuing their worldwide whirlwind of a tour which started in the U.K. with a critically acclaimed reunion show at the Download Festival in June and has made stops in Sweden, Spain, Japan and Italy culminating this week with 14 sold-out U.K. shows, THE DARKNESS are taking their electrifying and outrageous rock n’ roll to North America.
From Lowestoft, Suffolk, frontman/guitarist JUSTIN HAWKINS says, “We literally cannot wait to hit back in the U.S. and Canada. We loved it last time and we’re sure to love it again. See you there!”
The new tour features all the guitar mastery and wild pyrotechnics that THE DARKNESS shows have become well-known for. The group will perform music from 2003’s multi-platinum album Permission To Land, including favorites “I Believe In A Thing Called Love” and “Get Your Hands Off My Woman”; 2005’s One-Way Ticket To Hell And Back with “One Way Ticket” and “Is It Just Me?”; as well as several new songs off their forthcoming yet-to-be-titled third album.
This marks the band’s first return to the States since their 2004 tour supporting Permission To Land.
THE DARKNESS will hit North America starting February 1 in Toronto and wrapping February 21 in San Francisco (see dates below). Tickets are on-sale this week and Facebook fans of the group will have an exclusive window to buy tickets before the general public:
After their reformation in March, THE DARKNESS have romped, roared and raged through summer and fall with appearances at many of Europe’s most prestigious festivals including a headlining appearance at Sonisphere in Madrid. This fall, they hit the road in Japan and England with new songs and fan favorites to crazed, capacity crowds.
About the sold-out U.K. tour, Alex Lai of Contact Music noted in his review of the group’s Manchester Academy show:
“Frontman Justin Hawkins emerges from a cage structure that houses drummer Ed Graham as the quartet begin with ‘Black Shuck’ and then ‘Growing On Me’, which causes a sing-along that would put some stadium performances to shame. …every track is dynamite, even non-singles such as ‘Friday Night’ and the splendid acoustic rendition of ‘Holding My Own’. Key to the reaction is Hawkins’ impressive vocal control, note-perfect in falsetto and without any cracks in the delivery, a truly powerful audio weapon. …[of the new songs] ‘Best Of Me’ has the crowd clapping and ‘Out Of This World’ already has people singing along by the final verse, but what sticks out about them as a collection is the quality of the guitar work.
At times it’s as if there is a competition between lead guitarist Dan Hawkins and his brother, with the winner being the audience, as they are treated to some great riffs and solos, boding well for any future album. The aural side of The Darkness live experience is truly still impressive … Welcome back The Darkness” (November 13, 2011).To read the entire Contact Music review, visit: http://www.contactmusic.com/review/the-darkness-live-november-2011.
Elsewhere, The Daily Star exclaimed, “THE DARKNESS are both a spectacle and spectacular…Don’t miss out” (11/20/11) while The Gainsborough Standard added, “On the one hand it feels like they’ve never been away, but on the other you’re thrilled to bits that they’re back… This is music exactly as it should be–fun, huge, proud, and really, really loud.”
JUSTIN and his band mates including brother DAN HAWKINS (guitars/backing vocals), FRANKIE POULLAIN (bass) and ED GRAHAM (drums) have established quite a formidable legacy in less than a decade.
After winning three prestigious BRIT Awards, rocking sold-out crowds across the globe and selling millions of records worldwide, this is a new beginning, and THE DARKNESS, are here to stay.
THE DARKNESS 2012 North American Tour:
DATE | CITY | VENUE |
Wed | 2/1 | Toronto,ON | Phoenix |
Fri | 2/3 | Boston,MA | Paradise |
Sat | 2/4 | New York,NY | IrvingPlaza |
Tue | 2/7 | Philadelphia,PA | Trocadero |
Wed | 2/8 | Washington,D.C. | 9:30 CLUB |
Fri | 2/10 | Detroit,MI | St. Andrew’s Hall |
Sat | 2/11 | Chicago,IL | Metro |
Sun | 2/12 | Minneapolis,MN | First Avenue |
Wed | 2/15 | Denver,CO | Summit |
Fri | 2/17 | Las Vegas,NV | House of Blues |
Sat | 2/18 | Phoenix,AZ | Celebrity Theatre |
Sun | 2/19 | Los Angeles,CA | House of Blues |
Tue | 2/21 | San Francisco,CA | Fillmore |
Introducing from Sweden
A new West Coast style AOR band
--- State Cows ---
After releasing the album "Days in L.A." to rave reviews in 2008, Daniel Andersson and collaborator Stefan Olofsson decided to embark on a full-fledged, no-compromise Westcoast/AOR project.
The project eventually turned into the band STATE COWS and an upcoming album of brand new songs. Smooth guitar lines, half-time shuffles, funky bass lines, slick harmonies, real Fender Rhodes, tight horn sectio...ns and some California sunshine ... it's all in there.
Daniel Andersson is a singer/guitarist from Umeå/Sweden. Together with bass player Peter Starefeldt, he released the Westcoast EP "Strange Ways" under the acronym DP. While an exchange student in L.A. he had the chance to meet David Foster and Jay Graydon as well as do some recordings with, among others, Jason Scheff (CHICAGO) and Jimmy Haslip (YELLOWJACKETS).
In 2008, he released his solo debut album "Days in L.A." based on his experiences in Hollywood.
It was very well received by critics and the listening community.
Stefan Olofsson is a keyboardist/bass player from Umeå/Sweden. He was a session player on "Strange Ways" and "Days in L.A." and released a solo album in 2003 entitled "Story of a Woman" combining elements of jazz, classical, progressive and Swedish folk music.
He has worked with, among others, Jay Graydon and Jeff Richman.
In STATE COWS he's taking a more active role of songwriting and production. He's also a member of art rock band DYNAMO BLISS, who released critically acclaimed "21st Century Junk" in 2010.
Editor's note: I have to tell you folks, if you like slick AOR / Melodic West Coast style sound, ala Steely Dan meets Toto then these guys need to be checked out, by you!
Here, check these samples out:
Official weblinks:
CRASH STREET KIDS 'SWEET CREATURES' ALBUM STREAMING ON AOL LISTENING PARTY
(5 December, 2011 - Phoenix, AZ) Phoenix based glamsters the Crash Street Kids currently have their new album, Sweet Creatures streaming on the AOL Listening Party program. Available for listening throughout the entire week of Dec 5 (5th - 11th) fans can listen to the album in it's entirety or select tracks "on demand" to listen to as they wish.
"This is a great opportunity for an upcoming band like ours to get noticed a bit," says drummer, A.D. Adams. "In the era of people downloading music illegally, you might as give them a platform to check your music out for free legally, for a whole week, right?!"
Sweet Creatures is out though Vanity Music Group in the UK on 16 January and in the US on 17 January 2012.
Crash Street Kids are:
Ryan McKay - Vocals, Guitars
A.D. Adams - Drums
Ricky Serrano - Guitars
Deuce - Bass, Vocals
Recently the band had a chance to hang out with their friends in CrashDiet when they met up in Tempe, AZ at CrashDiet's in store performance at Naked Dave's, as well as before and after their show at Club Red.
Above photo - left to right - Simon Cruz (CrashDiet), Ryan Mckay (CSK), Martin Sweet (CrashDiet), Ricky Serrano (CSK), Peter London (CrashDiet), AD Adams (CSK), Deuce (CSK) and Eric Young (CrashDiet)
Official website:
