NEW SEVENTH
WONDER VIDEO AND LINE UP CHANGE
Posted Thursday 2nd September 2010
Seventh Wonder and Lion Music are pleased to announce the
release of the band's debut video for the track 'Alley Cat'
taken from the bands forthcoming fourth studio album
entitled 'The Great Escape, set for release in late 2010.
The video recorded, edited and produced by Johan Larsson is
the perfect backdrop for the mood of the new song which sees
the band deliver their trademark brand of progressive metal.
Seventh Wonder cross the Atlantic for the first time to play
the prestigious ProgPower USA festival along side of Kamelot
and Hammerfall in Atland September 10th. Seventh Wonder will
also perform a special second show on Saturday for Gold
Badge hodlers.
The album 'The Great Escape' is in the final stages of
production and in spite of some delays is scheduled for a
release later this year on Lion Music.
The track list will be as follows:
01.
Wiseman - [5:42]
02. Alley Cat - [6:06]
03. The Angelmaker - [8:29]
04. King of Whitewater - [7:20]
05. Long way home - [4:26]
06. Move on Through - [5:04]
07. The Great Escape - [30:14]
Total running time approx. 68 minutes
Full information on 'The Great Escape' to follow soon.
JOHNNY SANDIN SET TO LEAVE SEVENTH WONDER
The
band have also announced drummer Johnny Sandin will be
leaving the band and have released the following
announcements.
Below is a message from Johnny in connection to him
announcing his departure from the band. Please note that
this will have no effect on already scheduled gigs, in which
Johnny is 100% devoted to participating.
Hello fans and friends!!
After more than 10 years of touring, recording, tons of
laughter and a few tears I have decided to leave Seventh
Wonder and take a break from music indefinitely.
The last few years have been hectic and filled with really
cool events. The Italy-tour which was put together by the
band's best friends Max, Romano and Manuel. The Sweden Rock
gig is also one of the memories I will never let go of. Not
to mention the upcoming ProgPower USA-gig which is a dream
for all of us. I view the release of the fourth SW album and
the gigs to follow as a really good finish for me in the
band!! Now I will get a chance to say goodbye to fans and
friends when we are out playing.
It is damned hard (although mostly fun) to put your entire
soul into Seventh Wonder and at the same time work full time
and also try to be a good father of four (soon five) and an
equally good fiancé. It may sound selfish but I am doing
this entirely for me. The more time I devote to the band,
the more I loose time with my family. It is not worth that
effort any more. I must make different prioritizations right
now but at the same time nothing is ever really etched in
stone. Who knows, in five years time I may have the drive
once more. We will see what happens.
I have had the honor of playing with the finest musicians I
have ever met. They have not only been there for me as band
members but also as my best friends and I know that they
will always be there for me.
Thank you to fans, friends and the band for 10 wonderful
years.
Johnny Sandin.
The band's response:
We are all very saddened by Johnny’s decision. We have lived
with Johnny in one of the most important aspects of our
lives for many years, some of us for over 10 years. At the
same time we feel the utmost respect for Johnny’s decision
which we believe to be a correct one for him. Since the
first trembling steps of the entity that came to be Seventh
Wonder, Johnny has been an integral part of the sound that
is Seventh Wonder. Johnny co-wrote a lot of the earlier
material and his rhythmic patterns, thunderous fills and
poly-rhythmic excursions that he contributes to the music
have challenged fans as well as his band members throughout
this incredible journey. Johnny is the craziest man alive
and has given many thousand laughs and hilarious moments to
everyone around him.
As you can understand it is very hard for us to think of
Seventh Wonder without Johnny, but at the same time we are
all, including Johnny, fully committed to carry on and keep
doing what we have come to love and hold so dear over the
years. This certainly ends one chapter in the Seventh Wonder
book of history, let us together turn the page and see what
the future holds as we let Johnny go towards other
challenges.
We love you Johnny and we wouldn’t have become who we are
with out you!
This does not affect already booked gigs. All scheduled gigs
will be performed with Johnny at the helm, and 100% devoted
to the task!
SEVENTH WONDER is looking for a NEW DRUMMER
We
envision that any applicant is a drummer with a well enough
developed technical proficiency to be able to play through
just about any song from our back catalogue. This should
also work in a live setting with a metronome in a reasonably
relaxed and steady manner. You who apply for the position
should have a passion for the music we create and the genre
in which we are active. The ability and will to sing back-up
vocals during live sets is a plus. The band is active in
Stockholm and that is also where the studio is, -a fact to
be considered by all applicants. Previous live show
experience is a plus, a drum set of your own is a must.
To apply:
1) Record a video of reasonable quality of yourself playing
two Seventh Wonder songs from Waiting In the Wings and/or
Mercy Falls
2) Record a video of yourself playing anything else that you
feel shows your drumming and your skills in a good way
3) Describe yourself, your musical background and
activities, life situation and visions. You may either write
this in the e-mail itself or in a file that you attach.
4) Send links to videos (for either download or streaming)
and text according to bullet no3 above to: drummer@seventhwonder.nu
5) You do not have to be Johnny –be yourself
Thank You!
//Seventh Wonder
JULY 2010 IS
GUITAR VIRTUOSO MONTH
Posted Thursday 1st July 2010
July
2010 sees the release of two of the most anticipated
instrumental albums of the year with new releases from
George Bellas and Alex Masi. To celebrate these
releases we felt it was a good opportunity to show some more
appreciation to some of the labels wealth of guitar talent
with some spotlight features and new interviews. Amongst
these players are a range of styles and individual musical
personalities and all are recommended. Keep checking back as
new features/interviews will be added every couple of days.
As a special tie in we have a number of instrumental titles
all packed full of stunning guitar work on sale this month
only at incredibly low prices. All deals for the respective
artist will be shown on the artists page but if you can't
wait head on over to the Lion
Music store now.
VARIOUS ARTIST
UPDATES
Posted Thursday 24th June 2010
IRON MASK GRASPOP INFO Due to vocalist Valhalla Jr
requiring emergency surgery the band have brought in
Evidence One vocalist Carsten "Lizard" Schulz to
perform vocal duties at their appearance at Graspop this
Saturday (26th June).
A
couple of other line up changes to announce Rhythm beast
Rami Ali (Freedom's Call / Evidence One) is the bands
new drummer. Last but not least Phil Giordanna (Magic
Kingdom/ Fairyland) will handle the keys as Andreas Lindahl
is tied with other work engagements.
Important - Be there early Iron
Mask play at 11:45am in the Metaldome.
The
band will also be holding a signing session from 13h20 till
13h50.
TWINSPIRITS RELEASE
"MAKING OF THE FORBIDDEN CITY" VIDEO
After many requests from fans the band have put together a
video of the making of last years "The Forbidden City"
album. The video which shows all band members
recording various aspects of the album can be viewed by
clicking the screen shot below or at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTMeAYQ257k
.
Twinspirits
recently completed a successful 2nd leg of their "Italy In
Progress" tour and are currently in the studio putting
together their 3rd album.
SUN
CAGED FINALISING "THE LOTUS EFFECT"
Critically acclaimed Dutch progressive metallers Sun Caged
are mixing their third album "The Lotus Effect".
The album sees the band retain the same line up as on
"Artemisia" with the addition of new bassist Daniel Kohn
and promises to show a more mature version of the band.
Guitarist Marcel Coenen comments, "The majority of songs
on this album were written in the rehearsal room together as
a band and it will show the chemistry we have as a group".
DREYELANDS
TO SUPPORT QUEENSRŸCHE Hungarian progressive
metallers Dreyelands who have seen tremendous press reaction
to their debut album "Rooms Of Revelation" are
confirmed as the support act for Queensrÿche in Budapest,
Hungary on July 12th 2010.
MISTHERIA "DRAGON'S FIRE" ALBUM PERSONNEL CORRECTION
A slight mix up in last weeks Mistheria news info, bassist
Alberto Rigoni is in fact handling all bass duties on the
album.
ANTHRIEL SIGN
TO LION MUSIC
Posted Friday 18th June 2010
Lion Music are delighted to announce the signing of
progressive metallers Anthriel.
Hailing from Finland. Anthriel's music can be described as
sort of a neo classical band with metal and progressive
influences. Formed in 2004 by Timo Niemisto
(guitars), Antti Hakulinen (keyboards), Jari
Kuokkanen (drums) and Klaus Wirzenius (bass), yet
it wasn't until vocalist Simo Silvan joined in 2008
that the band really found their true direction.
With a style that is sure to appeal to fans of the likes of
Symphony X, Adagio and Yngwie Malmsteen the bands debut
album "The Pathway" is an absolute monster offering,
possessing an exceptionally high standard of songwriting
from start to finish with first class performances from all
musicians, the final icing comes in the guise of an ultra
powerful production which puts many of the genres leaders to
shame.
"Anthriel - The Pathway" is set for release on
October 15th 2010.
More information on the album to follow soon. In the
meantime check out the band myspace profile where 2 samples
can be heard from the debut album.
ASHENT NAME
NEW VOCALIST
Posted Friday 18th June 2010
Silence doesn't mean
inactivity: Titta Tani
is the new
singer of Italian progressive metallers Ashent.
The band report:
After a short but intense period of transition, the new
Ashent line-up is finally completed. Titta Tani
(Claudio Simonetti - Daemonia, Goblin, ex DGM and ex
Necrophagia) officially joins the band, replacing the bands
dear friend Steve Braun.
After 5 years spent together, we friendly decided to follow
different musical adventures, hoping to continue to improve
ourselves as men, musicians and song-writers, with honesty
and genuine passion. We wish Steve all the best, in order to
reach new goals with his new band. Now, we are fully focused
on the next gigs and we're continuing the composition of our
3rd album that, with reasonable certainty, will be recorded
during the next fall-winter period.
Steve's statement: "Today is a very bittersweet day for me. My Ashent family
and I have regretfully decided to part ways. Due to the
economic problems in the world it was getting increasing
harder to get over to Italy. After quite a few discussions
we decided that the only way for Ashent to move forward is
for them to look for a new singer. My wife Tara and I love
our Ashent family and are sad that this period has to come
to an end but we love Ashent too much to let it suffer
because I couldn't be a part as much as was needed. With
this being said I couldn't be happier that Titta has joined
the Ashent family. He is an awesome singer as well as a
great guy. We met last May when we did a few shows together
and instantly I considered him a true friend. Thank you all
for the memories and most of all your love and friendship.
God Bless!!!!"
Titta's personal statement: "Ashent welcome me as a family receives a relative who
has been far away for a long time: with friendship and
affection. And it's FANTASTIC. To replace such an impressive
singer as Steve is a challange that cannot be undervalued,
but I will give the best of myself in order to find the way
into the fans' hearts of this amazing band!"
So guys, see you at the next gigs, and stay tuned checking
the official pages.
Ashent.
DAY SIX RADIO
SPECIAL
Posted Friday 18th June 2010
To celebrate the release of their debut album "The Grand
Design" which is already picking up rave reviews, the
Dutch progressive metal band Day Six will be
appearing in the studio on one of Europe's leading
progressive metal shows to discuss and play songs from the
new album.
You can catch the band on the following date/time.
Progressive X Grooves radio
- Sunday 20.06.2010 from 8PM - 10PM (Amsterdam time):
Internet:
http://www.rosafm.nl/
MISTHERIA
STUDIO REPORT
Posted Friday 18th June 2010
All
recordings and mixing are now complete for the forthcoming
solo album from one of metal leading keyboard maestros -
Mistheria. The keyboard wizard has checked in with the
following guest updates.
Mark
Boals (Royal Hunt, Ring of Fire, Y. Malmsteen) has
completed his recordings on the song "Eye of the Storm -
Metal Opera 82". Of course, the song sounds nothing short of
awesome! With a mix between elegant melody and metal power,
Mark’s vocals made the song totally captivating! After long
years trying to make real our collaboration, I’m really
proud to feature Mark, one of the greatest metal singers, on
my new album!
Mark comments, "This song brought back fond memories of
the roots of Neo-Classic Metal. I had a blast recording it,
and working with Mistheria!"
Rob Rock has posted the following statement on his
involvement in the album. "Recording for Mistheria was a pleasure for me. Lies and
Deception is a great song we wrote together and the song is
just full of monster musicians exploding all over the place.
A very interesting song to be a part of. The song is also
very energizing and my vocal performance is high octane,
somewhat like my Wicked Maiden (Impellitteri) and Slayer of
Souls (Rob Rock) vibe in a way. A very "live" vocal take,
with lots of "on the spot" ad-libbing, which added a very
emotional and natural performance attitude to the song. I
really like it!" - RR
Italian Bass player Alberto Rigoni (Twinspirits /
solo) completes the "Dragon Fire" album line-up. Thanks to a
great mixture of perfect performance and powerful rich
sound, Alberto did an excellent job recording whole album
with his fantastic 6-strings Elrick Bass.
The album's personel in full is:
Vocals - John West, Mark Boals, Rob Rock, Titta Tani, Lance
King.
Guitars - George Bellas, Roger Staffelbach, Emir Hot, Neil
Zaza
Bass - Dino Fiorenza, Alberto Rigoni
Drums - John Macaluso
Lion Music can now confirm the track listing is as follows:
01. Dragon Fire.
02. Lies and Deception.
03. Killing the pain.
04. Two of us.
05. Metal Opera (part 1): A.D. 1982.
06. Metal Opera (part 2): Eye of the storm.
07. Now it's never.
08. Fire and Flames.
09. The Prelude of my life.
10. Chopin Fantasy.
11. The power of one.
12. The Beast.
13. A beautiful dream.
Mistheria - Dragon's Fire will see release later in 2010.
VENDETTA - KILLING TIME PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
Posted Tuesday 1st June 2010
Check
out the new promotional video above. In addition
Vendetta are special guests at NWOBHM heroes Blitzkrieg's
30th anniversary gig at the O2 Academy, Newcastle on
Saturday 10th July 2010. Full information at
http://www.vendetta-theband.com
JULY IS GUITAR
VIRTUOSO MONTH
Posted Thursday 27th May 2010.
To celebrate
the release of new albums from world acclaimed guitar
virtuosos George Bellas and Alex Masi on July
16th, Lion Music are celebrating “Guitar Virtuoso Month” in
July 2010.
The whole of July will see exclusive interviews with
guitarists on the labels roster, special offers on releases
from the LM store and a whole host of other goodies.
IRON MASK
CONFIRMED FOR GRASPOP
Posted Thursday 27th May 2010.
Iron Mask have
been confirmed to appear on the bill at one of Europe's most
prestigious metal festivals - Graspop in Belgium. The
band will be appearing onstage on Saturday 26th June 2010.
Full information on the festival can be found at
http://www.graspop.be
The band who
have seen their third album 'Shadow Of The Red Baron'
receive superb praise worldwide are also in the process of
putting together a Barock Heroes tours later in 2010 with At
Vance and label mate Joe Stump.
LION MUSIC
SIGN MINDSPLIT
Posted Friday 21st May 2010.
Lion Music are
proud to announce the signing of progressive/hard rock band
MINDSPLIT to the labels roster.
To celebrate the signing of MindSplit, May 21st 2010 sees a
single and video release of the track ‘NMe - Myself & I’
taken from the bands forthcoming debut album ‘Charmed
Human Art Of Significance’ (C.H.A.O.S.) which is set for
release in the third quarter of 2010.
Musically MindSplit is a mixture of Progressive Metal and
Classical hard rock fronted by vocalist H.B. Anderson
(Fire & Ice / Scudiero /Fatal Smile), guitarist Mathias
Holm (solo artist), bassist Conny Payne (Madison
/ Alien), drummer Jon Skäre and keyboardist Jonas
Lidström.
Their debut album ‘C.H.A.O.S.’ is an enthralling concept
album based on the discovery of H.B. Andersons’ great old
great grandfather Xerxes Anderson’s Artificial Universe
(a.k.a. Prof. Xandau 1807 ~ 1851) notes from his therapy
sessions. Prof. Xandau was a very respected therapist during
the first half of 19th century and had his sessions all over
the world based in both Europe and the U.S. These notes are
the solid ground to this project and are used to tell a true
story about psychological thoughts and human behaviours.
This story line is set to a musically accomplished and
captivating release which will draw the listener in from the
first listen.
Full details on the album to be released soon. In the
meantime check out the bands official websites for more
information.
MATTSSON
RELEASE FEATURED ON CD BABY
Posted Tuesday, 11th May 2010.
"Tango", the latest release
from Mattsson was featured in the CD Baby Metal Discover
Music newsletter that was mailed on April 6. It's now up on
the web for your viewing pleasure!
As highly
acclaimed Swedish melodic rockers House Of Shakira head
towards the start of their third decade in the business; April
2010 marks both the end of an era and the start of a new
chapter for the band with the addition of new lead vocalist
Andreas Novak (Novak/Mind’s Eye) joining the band.
The
arrival of Andreas Novak marks the amicable departure of
vocalist Andreas Eklund. On the reasons behind the change in
personnel bassist Per Schelander
comments, “It’s hard for us to believe that it was thirteen
years ago in 1997 that Andreas Eklund walked into our
rehearsal studio and blew us away with power and high notes.
Back in ‘97 we were dead sure that we would never find a
singer that was able to take on those melodies that Mikael
Eriksson left us with (and continued to write) but Andreas
proved us wrong”.
“However,
when we started to work on the songs for what will be our
sixth album we all felt that these new songs called for
another voice and expression. We also felt strongly that we
needed to work with a singer that wrote his own lyrics. It was
one of the hardest decisions we have had to make to ask
Andreas Eklund to leave the band but there was no way around
it but to part ways. We look back on the last 13 years and
the ups and downs during these years proudly, as well as
integral in shaping the band as it is today. But, life often
calls for tough decisions and as all our fans know, HoS are no
quitters!”
“So we are incredibly proud when we announce that our new
vocalist is Andreas Novak”.
“We first heard Andreas’s wonderful vocals on the magnificent
Mind’s Eye album ‘A Gentleman’s Hurricane’ and it’s a voice
that we all feel is perfect for the material we are writing at
present. Andreas shares the same love for music with melodies
as we do and our expectations on our collaboration are
extremely high and we hope to enter the studio to begin
recording in May”.
The new House Of Shakira
line-up will make its live debut on April 24th
2010 at The Cave in Stockholm and the band invite
all to join them in welcoming Andreas Novak to the fold and
with seeing in the next chapter in the bands history with a
bang!
Lion Music are delighted to have signed
Dutch progressive rock/metal band Day Six for their new album
“The Grand Design” to the labels roster.
Since forming in 2002, Day Six have become a mainstay on the
live Dutch music scene and won two major competitions in the
Netherlands: the Metal Battle and the Aardschok Metal Bash. As
a result Day Six have grown to be one of the most well known
progressive metal bands in the Netherlands and with the
worldwide release of “The Grand Design”, Lion Music
aim to introduce the band to a wider audience.
With a sound that combines elements from across progressive
music’s history, the band have come up with a unique take on
the genre which is equal parts dark and light making great use
of dynamics and textures. Comparisons could be made between a
fusion of Pink Floyd, Rush and Opeth where colossal guitar
riffs collide and intertwine with synthesized textures for a
truly mesmerizing effect.
The bands live show is also winning rave reviews with the four
piece of Robbie van Stiphout
(Guitars/Vocals), Nick Verstappen (Bass),
Dolf van Heugten (Synthesizers) and
Daan Liebregts (Drums) wowing audiences with their
spectacular live show.
“Day Six – The Grand Design”
comprises of 9 tracks and clocks in at over 70 minutes and it
set for release on Lion Music on June 18th 2010.
A preview sampler of the album can be heard at the bands
official websites.
SEVENTH WONDER Seventh Wonder are currently in their new
home studio (Studio Wonderland) recording the music and vocals
for what will be the follow up the universally praised “Mercy
Falls” album. The band are still deciding where to mix the
album after the recording has been completed. More information
on this highly anticipated release to come soon.
SUN CAGED Sun Caged are in the process of mixing their
third album which has the working title “The Lotus
Effect” (TBC) which will mark their first effort
with new bassist Daniel Kohn. Some titles of
new songs include "Shades Of Hades", "Driftwood", "All But
Gone", "Tip-Toe the Fault Line", "On Again / Off Again",
"Lotus", "Seamripper & The Blanket Statement". Guitarist
Marcel Coenen has reported in the following.
“Expect an album with some new influences, one song has a
typically salsa groove throughout the song, an other song has
a real blast beat in it, plus we also recorded a really long
epic song, divided into seven parts (total length about 24
minutes) which will close the album”.
STATUS MINOR Status Minor entered the Studio Audio in Jyväskylä, Finland on
16th of February to begin recording the sequel to their
acclaimed debut Dialog" which was released in 2009. The man
behind the sound will be Torsti Spoof. The new album 'Ouroboros' release date is set for September 2010 right after which
the band will embark on the Metallia Perkele 2010 tour to
promote their new masterpiece all over the Europe.
The band are also immensely proud to announce that the
visiting female singer to make an appearance on 'Ouroboros'
is none other than amazing Anna Murphy of Eluveitie.
She will lend her fantastic voice to the album and play the
part of the female character of the 'Ouroboros' story.
To allow fans to follow the creative process of recording the
album the band have a studio diary running at
http://statusminorsecond.blogspot.com and in addition
video journals can be viewed on YouTube. The first brace
can be viewed below or at the band's YouTube channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/UnledWire
To follow on the from the drum and bass teaser studio
videos the band have released a couple of clips which focus on
guitars and keyboards. Check out the new videos at
http://www.youtube.com/user/Julukki
MISTHERIA
Further studio updates continue to come in from keyboard
virtuoso Mistheria who is piecing together
his all star new neo-classical progressive opus
“Dragons Fire”.
To follow on from the news that drummer John Macaluso
(Ark, Union Radio) has completed all his drum parts we can now
report that John West (ex Royal Hunt,
Artension) is recording his vocals and has checked in with the
following on Mistheria’s website - "After meeting
Mistheria and playing live together in Croatia with Emir Hot,
I knew someday we would make music together. He asked me to
write and sing on his new solo album, and I was very excited.
Now, we are in the midst of the recordings and I must say this
is some of the absolute best music I have ever made to date!"
Also on the vocal side of proceedings Lance King
(Balance Of Power) has finished tracking vocals for the track
“Two Of Us” and commented “The
song is both melodic and powerful, full of harmonisations,
definitely a killer song!”. Rob Rock (Impellitteri,
Rage Of Creation) enters the studio next week to record vocals
on “Lies and Deception” and
Mark Boals (Royal Hunt, Ring Of Fire, ex Malmsteen)
is recording vocals for the track “Metal Opera 82”
which Mistheria describes as a mix between Metal and
astonishing Tenor vocals. Mistheria also reports that
Titta Tani (Astra) did an awesome job on
“Fire & Flames” and the ballad “A
Beautiful Dream”. In addition Titta is going to
record vocals for the title track duet with John West.
On the guitar side of the album George Bellas
(solo, Ring Of Fire, Mogg/Way) has already recorded rhythm and
lead guitar for 4 songs. Roger Staffelbach
(Artension, Angel Of Eden) enters the studio next week to
record his parts. Emir Hot (solo) has also
already recorded his guitar solo on the song “Fire
& Flames” and Neil Zaza will
record next week his tracks for “Now it’s never”.
Bassist Dino Fiorenza has recorded his parts
for 5 songs and 4 more to do.
Track titles for the album (in no particular order) are:
“Fire & Flames”, “Two Of Us”, “Chopin Fantasie”, “The Power Of
One”, “Killing The Pain”, “Dragon Fire”, “The Beast”, “A
Beautiful Dream”, “Metal Opera 82”, “Now it’s never” and
“Lies and Deception”.
Mistheria – Dragon’s Fire is currently slated for a Autumn
2010 release (subject to change).
As highly
acclaimed Swedish melodic rockers House Of Shakira head
towards the start of their third decade in the business; April
2010 marks both the end of an era and the start of a new
chapter for the band with the addition of new lead vocalist
Andreas Novak (Novak/Mind’s Eye) joining the band.
Lion Music are delighted to have signed
Dutch progressive rock/metal band Day Six for their new album
“The Grand Design” to the labels roster.