CD Review: Lyra's Legacy - Lyra's Legacy EP (2014)

A great first EP combining sharp guitars with a lot of fine melodies, a excellent rhythm section and many vocal variations. It's the tension between the heavyness of the guitars and rhythm patterns on the one hand and the harmony of the voice on the other that makes this band so special.

Short Introduction

Lyra’s Legacy was founded in 2008 and consists of five musicians from North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. Every band member brought in their individual musical experience from previous bands like Heavenfall and Frozen Fire.

Since 2011 Lyra’s Legacy is playing gigs and festivals e.g. “Metal for Mercy On Stage”, “Realms of Metal” or “Brotherhood of Metal” and shares the stage with bands like The Name, Gloryful and Ivory Tower.

Lyra’s Legacy represents sophisticated and melodious metal and inspires the audience with their melodies, musicality and power. They've put out a three track EP under the title "Lyra's Legacy".

The cover of the Lyra's Legacy EP, (c) by Lyra's Legacy, used with kind permission

Summary

A compact and razorsharp three track EP is what we have here. All songs go straight into your ears and will make you headbang to them all the way. On the contrary there's lot's of room for emotions and slower sections with keyboards giving it a silker touch. The vocalist uses a wide range of variations for his performance which makes the tracks even more enjoyable. There are surely not only some high pitched notes in the vocals but also a lot of midtone as well as some sing-along choruses to be found.

Player and Purchase Link

The whole release is up for a free listening session on the Soundcloud service so there's no need to buy the stuff without testing. If you like what you hear you can purchase a copy on a silver disc for 5 Euro plus shipping and handling. A band shirt is available for 10 Euro plus shipping and handling.

You can order these goodies through the band's Facebook page, through the band's contact Email form or contact Andreas Denz at his Facebook account to order your copy.


EP Overview

Mirror Of My Life
Powerfull compact starter, very riff packed, few keyboard inserts. The fine outworked vocals show much variations in them and the refrain invites to sing along,

Breath Of A Winter Night
A epic beginning but it changes quickly to faster riffing, free power riffing follows. It's a very direct number going all on it.

Utopia
The final song starts slow and then goes over straight into a pure powerfull riff rollercoaster providing the listener with sharp, straight, hard, powerfull and intense moments.

The band Lyra's Legacy, (c) by Lyra's Legacy, used with kind permission

Links

Check in to the band's website for all the latest tourdates and also tune in to Facebook for even more regular updates.

CD Review: June 1974 - Atlantide (2014)

I've seldomely ever heard that someone managed to change between various styles in such a cool way. But this instrumental one man project of Federico Romano really gives me hope that breaking barriers between various genres isn't that hard to get by. Read now what I've found out while listening to the "Atlantide" EP.

Short Introduction

June 1974 is the musical project created in late 2009 by Federico Romano,an underground writer of poems and short stories.His kind of music is indefinable because every song embraces different styles from dance to rock to classic/ hip hop  music. So June 1974 is 360 music degree only for open mind listeners.Till now June 1974, has published more than 250 songs(singles+ep+albums) available on all digital stores worldwide thanks to Visionaire Records (his record label) .

Atlantide is the title of this EP published in November 2014 that cointains two songs in rock electro classic post shoegaze style mastered in Iceland by Birgir Jon Birgisson at his Sundlaugin studios ( Sigur Ros / Alcest / Mum ) available on all digital stores worldwide by Visionaire Records. Meanwhile June 1974 has published other singles in 2015 and now is working hard on the new album that will be avalaible in middle of 2016.

Cover artwork by Soey Milk (c) by June 1974, used with kind permission

Summary

The EP is a cool surprise item if you're looking for a gift to someone you know that is completly open to all sorts of music or just yourselves if you like to listen to all possible styles of music. This said it's sure that this release contains a good potion or Rock music with slightly heavier parts in it as well as soft parts of the more ambient direction.

But it's far more than that. You'll listen to pop elements as well as have your ear on some nice electronic elffects in it. Some sounds give a ghostly feeling while others sound very experimental and it's hard to say how that effect might have come together. Sounds like the composer tries out effect stuff and various set-up's while creating his music. Some melodies will stay in your mind for some time due to it's strangeness or typical melody.

EP Overview

The record starts with the slower and soundwise softer "Follia". It starts out slow but just wait a little and the track moves on and starts to evolve through it's duration. You may not think that it will be very different throughout the whole track but just relax and enjoy. Have you ever listened to something similar like this? I love people who create such soundscapes for all of us.

The second number "Atlantide" is of the more abrassive way of music. It comes with more distortion. You'll easily point it out as a rocking track. It has less of it's haunting moments but takes it's energy more of the heavier riffs that are built in. The rhythm patterns are also chosen in a much heavier way. Nevertheless it has also a outworked song structure which let's us discover various moods throughout the musical journey so it's not just a Rock song all the while.

Player & Purchase-Link

The EP consists of two tracks. That seems not to be much but please keep in mind that those tracks come along with a duration of 24 minutes alltogether. The download costs 2 Euro for the whole EP on Bandcamp but looking at the whole diversity and big musical bandwith it covers should be a good pick for fans of various genres. Enjoy the stream to find out if the EP meets your taste of music.

 

Contact Data

If you enjoyed the music make sure to see the other releases of June 1974 on Bandcamp and make sure to keep a eye on the Facebook page of Visionaire Records for all the upcoming info on this project.

CD Review: Sorrows Path - Doom Philosophy

Band Introduction
 
Sorrows Path was formed by Takis Drakopoulos (bass) and Kostas Salomidis (guitar) back in November 1993. The doom metal band from Greece is inspired by bands like Memento Mori, Solitude Aeturnus and Candlemass. After many ups and downs the band finally found back to it's form and has released the full-length album "Doom Philosopy" in 2014 via Iron Shield Records.

(c) by Sorrows Path, used with kind permission

Summary

The album is a definite fest for all the dedicated fans of the doom metal genre. It offers 11 in-depth studio tracks that have been worked on with love and passion. The songs range from the midtempo open "Tragedy" over to a fast hacking  "A Dance With The Dead" that finally builds a bridge to a slower middle part of the record which consists of a good buch of slower tracks. Finally the record comes to an end from the start of "The Venus And The Moon" with more faster tracks which bring back the more rough edge of the sound. The final instrumental song "Damned (O)fish-L.S.D." is a absolute killer, bringing the technical abilities of the band up to the point.

If you love to listen to your music very closely and intensively you should give this band a listen, it's music coming from the heart and you can hear that the band put much heartblood and effort in making this record a reality.

Album-Overview

As for me personally I prefer the faster tracks of the record since the slower one's can feel a bit lenghty at times. The track "Epoasis" is a good example for that. The longer, slow introduction together with the hard, ripping guitar riff gives the track a special note. It's cool to have two solo sections in there. The same goes for the song "Tragedy". It has a cool rhythm with it that reminds me a lot of the good old Memento Mori. "A Dance With The Dead" hits it very hard, pushing the band's sound to the heavier limit. 

Anyway two songs of the slower part need a special mention in my eyes. First of "Everything can change". It features guest performances by two well known names in the metal universe, you can hear Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Therion, Dream Evil e.t.c.) and Edgar Rivera (ex-Solitude Aeternus) on this one. I like the message of the lyrics. The song is outworked the very well, I think the band added some unique elements to the traditional doom sound on this one.
"Epoasis" will last in your mind for it's longer, slow introduction together with the hard, ripping guitar riff that gives the track a special note. It's cool to have two solo sections in there.

Player  

There isn't a full album stream available but I put the two official videos for the album up here. Those should give you a good first impression on the band's sound. The other tracks can be heard as short previews for instance on Amazon which gives you a 30 second glimpse on each track.
Purchase-Link / Contact Data

You can purchase the album at the band's website for 10 Euro plus shipping and handling as a physical CD or get a digital copy on stores such as Amazon or CD Baby.

Currently (December 2015) the band also has a special offer up and running. It contains the CD along with the official T-Shirt as well as a patch for free altogether going for the price of 20 Euro plus 5 Euro shipping and handling in a registered mail. The package is available through Paypal, orders can be placed through the merchandise-subsite of the band's officlal Headquarter on the World Wide Web.

If you like to stay in touch with them, make sure to see the band's Facebook page.

Happy Halloween with free Freakangel Live DVD

Happy Halloween weekend everyone! Tomorrow night is the night of horror. :-) Have you prepared yourselves for trick or treat? I have done at least a little decoration for my flat. This shows the windlight mummy I've build with simple parts.

My self-build windlight mummy :-)

Here's how to build your own one: all you need is a old and clean sausage glass. Wrap it with a gauze bandage. You'll need to fix the beginning and the end of the badage with some tape. Don't overleap too much or the candle won't shine through enough. Finally take some black paper and make two black dots with a perforator. Cut out two round pieces out of white paper. Affix both on the bandage and put a lighted tea candle inside of the glass.

As for the real metal treat I've found this nice one for you:
It is the full concert DVD of Industrial-Metal artist Freakangel who have released their live DVD "The Show Of Violence" for free. It includes is a 45 minute live performance video that was filmed during Freakangel's "The Ones To Fall" tour in the winter of 2014 in their home town of Tallinn, Estonia. The full DVD-HD recording can be streamed for free via the bands website as well as Freakangel's YouTube Channel. Freakangel states "They have made the video available for free to thank their fans for the many years of support". The video can be found below.

"The Show Of Violence" is also be available as an eleven track live album. It has been released as a digital only album by the Belgium based label Alfa Matrix. It can be purchased HERE. Finally: have a good Halloween party!

80s Thrashers Aggravator stream full album "Populace Destructor"

Do you often browse through your record collection and find yourselves picking the old school thrash albums from back in the 80s? The production on these albums was often done in a much more dirty and rough way. The songs were harder and directer, this feeling of shred coming directly from the speakers was far more present then it is these days.

If you stick to albums like Overkills "Taking Over" then this album "Populace Destructor" from american old school thrashers Aggravator is for you. Listening to it this album took me way back to the time when I discovered this genre and started to liked it more and more. Besides the mentioned reference to Overkill the sound is also influenced by early Sepultura, Kreator and Slayer. Aggravator proudly shared the stage with such gods like King Diamond, Toxic Holocaust, Exodus, Incantation, Suffocation, Autopsy... among others!

(c) by Aggravator, used with kind permission

The cool thing is that we can let you all out there have a listen to the full album right here, so enjoy some classic thrash now.


The album was originally released already in 2014 but has been re-released on 10th October 2015 by Dead Center Productions to extend the distribution on the European side, and to reach all the fans who could miss this piece of thrash. You can buy the full album from the webshop of the band or have a look on the label's Facebook presence.

Concert blast Sylvester 2014/2015

German TV station 3sat will show Rock and Pop concert recordings the whole day 31st 2014 up to new years eve! Here's a link to the schedule:
http://www.3sat.de/programm/?viewlong=viewlong&d=20141231&dayID=ClnDaN31&cx=95 

There's also a livestream available but I don't know if it also shows the conert recordings outside of germany:
http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=live

For all readers from germany here's the direct link to the 3sat internet livestream:
http://www.3sat.de/mediathek/?mode=play&obj=42667

So far it has been announced that this years edition will feature a lot of old recordings from the first days of bands like Queen, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, Genesis and Phil Collins up to presen show recordings from artists like Muse, Depeche Mode and ZZ Top (mostly 2013 and later).

Have fun and have a safe going over to 2014, read you there!

Update 2015-01-03: Happy new year everyone! Hope you had a good start into 2015.
If you missed out on the previous concert event then you may still be in luck.
TV station 3sat has added a lot of the concert footage to their streaming archive.
Just look at the results of the search page 1 and page 2 to find the show you want. Not all have been added but there's quite a lot of the shows online. Better hurry anyway, since it's mostly online for a limited time only.

Morphelia release 3 cam mix video of Northern Prog Festival

Sometimes, yes only sometimes there's a song and band out there that gives you this freezin' chills that make you feel so good. They help you escape from the daily gray, the dark and cloudy winter weather we are currently rolled in.

This little moment has just happened. I saw a live video from the band "Morphelia", a superb and excellent Progrock and progressive Metal band from Lower Saxony, Germany. Maybe this little post can help to reach out and touch some of you out there to make more people aware of them.

The cover of the current album "Waken the nightmare", (c) by Morphelia . Used with kind permission.

They are sort of a band which offers music to let you drift and dream away but never misses this groovy touch so it never feels boring or standing still. One of the bands you could compare them best to is the band Saga. But better than any words could ever do music speaks out for itselfs so please click the play button and enjoy some fine music and video (it's a fine three cam mix done from the guys at the Background Megazine).

I like the detailed work on this one, all of the elements are arranged in such a harmonic way that fits together perfectly. Most of all the atmosphere is supported by the fine keyboards and the whole excitement lasts for the full ten minutes duration of this track. That's something quite few band can come up with.





I've seen Morphelia myselves back in 2011 and they were awesome. A friend of mine made me aware of them and we spontanously drove over to the show. Never forgot that evening. Most of all the bass guitar solo. I've had the honour to see quite a lot of good bass guitar players so far but Renko Rickers is absolute excellent on his instrument.

Don't miss out to see Morphelias website to learn more about this excellent band. They also have a account on youtube as well as a page on myspace if you prefer to connect to them through these pages.

The band is working on a new album at the moment and sends out a newsletter through E-Mail from time to time. It includes information on the the recording process as well as about past and upcoming shows of the band. It comes in both, german and english language. Just enter your E-Mail adress into the proper field on the right row directly at the homepage underneath the Vossphor-Records Logo (please scroll down a little bit to see it).

The band recently played at the Northern Prog Festival in Siegerwoude in the Netherlands on November 1st 2014. If you want to read a detailed live review about the festival as well as some photos of all the bands playing then head over to the Background megazine. They've put together a fine detailed check up of the full festival.

Motörhead 2014 show to be broadcasted by Rockpalast TV show

This sunday in the night from 14. to monday the 15th starting at 00:15h (Central European Winter Time) the next issue of the Rockpalast TV show will air a live recording from this years Motörhead performance at Düsseldorf, Germany at the Mitsubishi Electric Halle. The show took place on 12th November 2014. The shows of both opening acts, Skew Siskin and The Damned will be shown as well.

At the moment you can already check out one full live video from "The chase is better than the catch" at the website of the show. The whole website has been reworked in the last weeks so it comes with a fresh optic these days.

There's also a webstream of the TV station available but I can't tell if the show will be available there as well or if they have a regionlock activated. Anyway, just try your luck I think it will be worth checking out. Maybe they'll also add the show to their archive later. If they do, I'll add the proper link here once it's online.

Update 2014/12/16: Alls shows have been added to the video streaming archive. Just click on the proper band name and enjoy! BTW: you can see the full setlist under the video and also select single songs if you don't want to watch the whole show.

Motörhead

The Damned

Skew Siskin

CD Review: Heartlay - Injection EP

Note: If you have a own band or project that you think might fit in well here for a review or as a presentation / introduction please drop me a line or two in a E-Mail. Please see my profile for my E-Mail adress. I appreciate new suggestions very much so please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm also interested in band news / updates / tourdates so please keep the stuff coming. Thanks!

If you're having troubles writing in English please send me a E-Mail in your preferred language or use the free Google Translator to transfer your message to English. I also use that tool, it's of course not perfect but I think it will mostly likely work out for our purposes.

Short introduction

Heartlay is an Alternative/industrial rock band incorporating elements from Industrial rock, Alternative metal, modern electronics and Progressive rock. All the songs are completley conceived and performed by French multi-instrumentalist Aaron Sadrin, writing all the music, from intense vocal melodies to heavy guitar hooks, sonic experimentations, and modern influenced soundscapes. Brought up on piano, switching to guitar, and now, vocal interest has transformed and opened up these visions of music as a whole, without any limits.

The debut EP "Injection" has been released in November 2014.

(c) by Heartlay, used with kind permission

Summary / Player / Download Link

This five track EP contains a very dedicated, unique piece of music with very intensive atmosphere and many, many chilling moments. I love this epicness of the style and sound!

The whole record comes in a very powerfull soundscape. It's from the very beginning up to the last track a very intensive listening feeling you'll have. Somehow it reminds me of a journey - it starts at a very loud beginning, then a lot of things happen which will see you reaching many highs and lows until you reach the end which is a set in a bit more silent way but the last notes give hope that this wasn't the last bit we've heard from the band. I hope the journey can be continued some day!

The sound is set in Rock music style and on various points even Heavy Metal elements come in. Nevertheless you'll hear that it doesn't come along packed in a traditional sound but with a lot of modern ways to produce such a record. Also I'm coming personally from the old-school days I like this modern approach. It brings in a lot of fresh air to the world of Rock music and innovation often comes along with experimentation not with staying the same way all the time in my opinion. It's also very diverse so it won't get boring, the tempo and mood changes quite often in each song.

The record has been set up as a free download on Bandcamp. Since you can name the price for the EP on Bandcamp it would be nice if you could give something back for what you've taken. You know making music ain't free so please consider this. Thanks! The download option on Bandcamp also let's you choice the format and quality. All the fines loseless music file-options this site offers are available with this EP,too.

If you want to keep a eye on what's further going on in the Heartlay cosmos make sure to follow the band on Facebook or have a look from time to time on their official website which also holds more links to other social accounts the band has a presence opened up for.

Track-by-Track Review

1.See You Under
Some soft guitars play some notes before a constant hard and heavy drum pattern gives the track the push movement forward. Haunting, spoken and distorted vocals add a lot to the atmosphere. The refrain kicks in with very dominating vocals and harder guitars. It feels a bit like a phoenix rises from the ashes.
This scenario grows even further as the six-strings go over into a heavy and hard riffing attack which is pushed by a double-bass drum part which makes this the blast part of the song. A slower part follows up which gives some time to breathe before some more intensive but slightly cleaner vocals lead the song back to the heavy style. The drum pattern from the very beginning comes back towards the end of See you under bringing this one to a slow but great ending. A great first track!

2.Leave Them All Behind
A very dark and heavy hitting riff along with pushing drums opens this one up. The tone is very raw and direct. A little change comes in with the vocals. It gets over to a bit more riff- and rhythm-oriented song before a blasting refrain kicks back in again which ends up in the raw tone of the beginning again.   The second verse and chorus go in the same way as the first did but the refrain comes in even more handy which makes this track ringing in your ears for quite some time after you've heard it. The solo section comes a bit softer around playing with the previous elements of melody and riffs in various ways. The refrain is repeated and the riff-hacking part comes back to life. The end reprises the maintheme and refrain and end with distorted guitars abruptly ending the track.

3.It Comes Alive
High peak six-strings open this one up before some softer vocals give a haunting chill to this piece of music. Set in a bit more midtempo structure this one plays around a lot with the various tones and effects of the guitars. While the first half features some vocals they are left oft the second half which goes even further into experimenting with raw and hard noises. This one needs a repeat to get fully through the complex song structure.

(c) by Heartlay, used with kind permission

4.Hidden
Haunting and chilling fearfull vocals open up this one. The refrain offers a tight, bright wall of sound. This has a strong effect on the listener. The following part feels much more frail and intensive after this treatment. A constant played melody brings back the intense atmosphere from the beginning but in a bit softer way. Then a sharp cut surprises the listener - some piano notes come to life making the follow up instrumental section to a very special one. It mixes up the previous used elements along with some riffs to end up in another sound explosion. Another sharp cut and very soft and slow notes bring this excellent piece of music towards the end. A very special gem, a must listen to all the music lovers out there!

5.White Walls
Ghostly drums start this one. Beautifull, soft notes jammed in with harder piano pieces build a very strong piece of sound again. Some drum variations along with some last guitar vibrations end this EP in a soft but very decent way. 

Desperate Journalist introduce album with emotional and message-filled video

I like videos that have a message. Some even show it with including keywords in their promo videos. This particular one hits the feelings very deep with words and faces expressing closely the songs message. Emptiness and loneliness is what I would describe it with. The refrain sticks in your mind with the vocals going up so intensive that it's hard to ignore. But try it out for yourselves, because everybody has a different view on things.



Desperate Journalist consist of two girls and two boys who have bonded in the abandoned wilds of North London. Jo Bevan (vocals), Simon Drowner (bass), Rob Hardy (guitar) and Caz Hellbent (drums) - for 'tis they – have been hauled together by a fearsome instinct for what makes alternative music actually really properly authentically alternative.

They started their journey at the local Negative Creep grunge club night in Finsbury Park on February 23rd 2013. Since those heady, dark days Desperate Journalist have released one EP and two independent singles and played every other shadowy basement in London Town, displaying a bold musical vigour and an admirably chaotic sense of coherence along the way.

The video is a first taste of the self-titled debut album ‘Desperate Journalist’, which was recorded almost entirely live in Soho’s Dean Street Studios, jointly produced alongside Keith TOTP and mixed by the band itself. If that wasn’t organic enough, Desperate Journalist designed their own artwork, get heavily involved in their videos. You can download the digital version of the record already on the well known places like Amazon or itunes. The physical album is going to be released on 26th January 2015 on CD and LP via Fierce Panda Records.

(c) by Desperate Journalist, used with kind permission

The band has some shows coming up, here are the dates:

NOVEMBER 21ST LINCOLN The Scene
NOVEMBER 22ND BIRMINGHAM Actress & Bishop

NOVEMBER 27TH - LONDON Buffalo Bar
DECEMBER 13TH NOTTINGHAM - The Chameleon

Don't miss out the further band's progress. Head over to Facebook to add them your watchlist or check out the band's own website. You may also have a look at the record company's website from time to time.

Anvil touring Europe in November /December 2014

Sometimes dreams come true. This time Anvil are picked to make one of their dreams come true: a full headliner tour which will see the band play as a headliner in Europe this winter!

So you see there is "Hope in hell", just as the album title of the most recent record of the band told us. If you haven't heard it yet, here's one fine example. It's the new song "Eat your words". The band shot a promo video for that song so I was able to include it here:



Here are the tourdates for the European part of the tour, find more of it on the promo poster below. You can find ticket order links for most of the dates directly on the Anvil tourdates page.

For Updates check back with the Anvil homepage or follow the band through Facebook or Twitter.

21.11.14 D-Reichenbach – E Werk
22.11.14 PL-Breslau – Klub Liverpool
23.11.14 PL-Posen – Klub u Bazyla
24.11.14 D-Berlin – C Club
26.11.14 D-Nuernberg – Hirsch
27.11.14 I-Audiodron – Turin
28.11.14 D-Burglengenfeld – VA Zentrum
30.11.14 B-Kortrijk – De Kreun
01.12.14 NL-Tilburg – Little Devil
02.12.14 D-Bochum – Matrix
04.12.14 NOR-Trondheim – Blaest
05.12.14 NOR-Haugesund – Skala
06.12.14 NOR-Sandnes – Tribute
07.12.14 NOR-Oslo – Pokalen
09.12.14 FI-Tampere – Klubi
10.12.14 FI-Helsinki – Nosturi
12.12.14 SWE-Borlaenge – Liljan
13.12.14 SWE-Trollhattan – Backstage Rockbar
16.12.14 DK-Copenhagen – Loppen
18.12.14 D-Munich – Backstage
19.12.14 ITA-Brescia – Circolo Colony
20.12.14 D-Karlsruhe – Schwarzwaldhalle/Knock Out Festival

Tour Agency: ITM Agency , Germany

(c) anvilmetal.com, used with kind permission

Senate of Prevail showing Mosh Fest live footage and song playthrough

For years I've struggled to find a way to tell people why I'm so obsessed with gigs of small metal bands. This video that Senate of Prevail just released on Facebook gives some very good insight how it's like to be at a Heavy Metal Underground show.

I like that heavyness, it comes directly from the heart. No overdubs, no big intros but instead it just kicks ass directly from the very first moment up to the very last seconds but without missing out that feeling for vibes and melodies. Few people only know how much these people give to bring you such a fine music. Enjoy!

Update 2014/11/13: The band has announced the next show the band is going to play:

November 26th 2014
Stockholm
Pub Anchor, Sveavägen 90.

For all of you guitar players out there I've got a little extra: if you'd like to know how to play the rhythm guitars in "Abandon all hope" don't worry any longer. Here's a video that shows how to play that song.

Could watch for hours, always fascinates me to see guitar players in Heavy Metal bands. Plus I love to listen to the different sound these playthroughs provide and also some improvisations in this one.

In Flames concert Cologne 2014 to be aired by TV show Rockpalast

Update 2014/11/25: All the broadcasted stuff has been added the online archive of the Rockpalast homepage! So here's your chance to check the stuff out in case you missed it:

In Flames
While She Sleeps
Wovenwar
Papa Roach


The german TV music format "Rockpalast" is a legendary show. Since nearly 40 years the format has become famous for recording live shows from all of the well known artists, amongst them The Who, David Bowie, ZZ Top and many, many more plus a lot of young and unknown bands.
Check out their massive Video archive to see a list of the bands and have a look at some of the material, they stream all of the offered stuff for free!

On 31st of October 2014 the shows of In Flames, While she sleeps, Wovenwar and Papa Roach were recorded by the Rockpalast team at the Palladium in Cologne, Germany. At the moment you can already take a look at some of the stuff at the Rockpalast homepage (interviews with bandmembers as well as single songs of the show).

In the night from 23. November to 24. November 2014 the full concert will be aired at the german TV station WDR starting at midnight. There's also a webstream of the TV station available but I can't tell if the show will be available there as well or if they have a regionlock activated. Anyway, just try your luck I think it will be worth checking out. Maybe they'll also add the show to their archive later.

Free Generation Prog Festival 2014 sampler up for download

In a few weeks the "Generation Prog Festival 2014" will take place over here in Germany at Nürnberg on 15th of November 2014.

The company doing the promotion for the event "Prog Sphere" has set up a free download sampler that features one track of each of the bands of the festival as song
1-5 of the sampler. Tracks 6-10 are bonus tracks by bands that are taken from the Generation Prog Records roster.

For all those who prefer to stream instead of downloading the compilation I've included the player below. The full download can be found on the Bancamp page of Prog Sphere Promotions.

Find out more about the Generation Prog Festival 2014:
www.generation-prog.com

Order your festival tickets and affordable hotel packages here:
www.generation-prog.com?page_id=1172&lang=en

Fresh Thrash with new song from upcoming Cripper album

German thrashers Cripper have recently revealed the first preview track from the upcoming record "Hyëna" and it's a killer track if you ask me. Very, very straight thrash going directly from the very first riff up to the climatic ending this one takes no prisoners no question. Fine stuff that makes you bang your head from the first time you hear it.


In Europe the album will be released as a limited CD+DVD Digipak package. The DVD will have the full Metal Days Open Air show from 2014 on it so it sounds well worth checking out. Besides that a vinyl release in different colours has been announced,too. For album will be released through Metal Blade Records.


In addition some tourdates have already been confirmed so make sure to see the band live. They are well worth checking out, saw them in December 2013 in Lingen (Germany) on a tour with Hate Sphere so I had the chance to see how the band takes the stage and how the people react towards them. They ruled the stage!

18.10.14 Kiel (DE) - Rockcity Festival
07.11.14 Echsenbach (AT) - Rock on Schindler
12.12.14 Eindhoven (NL) - Eindhoven Metal Meeting
13.12.14 Genk (BE) - Iron Steel Fest II
31.12.14 Nürnberg (DE) - Aqua Ruction MS Franconia
31.01.15 Gronau (DE) - Monster Metal Festival

Relapse Records handing out free Sampler with unreleased songs

Do you remember the good old Relapse Records Label? It's the legendary label that brought some classic records to you. One example I remember very well is one of the very first Amorphis albums, Tales from the throusand Lakes. The album really brought some progressive elements to the realm of Death Metal and it made me more aware than ever of this musical style in the Heavy Metal world that I mostly ignored before.

Happily the label is still around and active and provides us this fall with a fresh, annual label sampler that's been set up for free download. You can listen to the full 26-tracks big pack below. Besides already released stuff you'll also get to hear some tracks that give a first impression of upcoming releases of the label featuring Gruesome, Publicist UK, and Ecstatic Vision. If you want to download the songs just go to the Bandcamp site of the record label and do so.

Classic Rock band Wild Smiles giving first taste of debut album

One of the big origins of metal is the Rock 'n' Roll music. The british band Wild Smiles reminds me a lot of the straight and direct way that musical style used to be back in the day. I would compare them the most with The Ramones to give you a idea of what to expect from them.

The band is going to release their debut album, "Always Tomorrow", on Sunday Best Recordings on 27th October. As a little teaser some weeks before the album hits the shelfs the band has set up the single "Girlfriend" which you can listen in the stream below.

For further informations about the band and their first album see the band's website or check out Facebook to make sure you won't miss out about their upcoming activities. The Facebook page also offers a free download of the album track "Fool for you" if you decide to give the band the famous "Like" click beforehand.

A Place To Fall stream first full song from upcoming EP

Support local bands! This band is from Meppen/Lingen (that's located in Lower Saxony, Germany) and they stream one full song from the upcoming EP. Check it out if you like bands in the style of Trivium.

They convinced me when they played at a small Open Air festival this year in Lingen called "Rock at the Church", a fine festival with no entrance fee nearby a church in the town of Lingen. They support the local band scene so it's well worth going there plus the atmosphere is nice.

The current line-up:

Vocals + Bass: Sebastian Molleker 
Lead Guitar : Malte Hornung Rhythm 
Guitar: Oliver Aepken 
Drums: Daniel Lübken

You can follow the further band activities by checking out their Facebook web presence.

Full new Threshold album For The Journey available for streaming

So it's nearly one week left until Progmetal veterans Threshold will put out their newest record "For The Journey". I guess a lot of you guys out there can't wait to hear it. The band already released one full songs as a stream and two track-by-track commentary videos to give a idea of the new album.

But now they've given the british Prog Mag the honour to set up a prelistening stream of the full album on the megazines website. So without any further ado head over to them to find out how the new music sounds.

In support of this event the band is going to tour europe this fall. Here are the tourdates:


24.10.2014 Bucharest (Maximum Rock Festival) RO
31.10.2014 Vosselar (Biebob) BE
01.11.2014 Hamburg (Markthalle) DE
02.11.2014 Bremen (Tivoli) DE
03.11.2014 Flensburg (Roxy) DE
04.11.2014 Berlin (K17) DE
06.11.2014 Aschaffenburg (Colos Saal) DE
07.11.2014 Weert (Bosuil) NL
08.11.2014 Essen (Turock) DE
09.11.2014 Zoetermeer (Boerderij) NL
11.11.2014 Ludwigsburg (Rockfabrik) DE
12.11.2014 Èragny (Covent Garden Studios) FR
14.11.2014 Rheine (Hypothalamus) DE
15.11.2014 Aarau (Kiff) CH
16.11.2014 Brescia (Circolo Cologny) IT
17.11.2014 Bratislava (Randal Club) SK
18.11.2014 München (Feierwerk) DE
20.11.2014 London (O2 Islington Academy) GB
21.11.2014 Chester (The Live Rooms ) GB
22.01.2015 Miami, FL (70,000 Tons Of Metal) US


Here are some more details about the upcoming record:

"For The Journey" is the successor to the band's 2012 release "March Of Progress" and was produced by guitarist Karl Groom and Richard West at Thin Ice Studios in England. The album was mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox in Finland, while the artwork was created by Polish surrealism artist Leszek Bujnowski, which the band found on the internet. The track listing is as follows:

1. Watchtower On The Moon
2. Unforgiven
3. The Box
4. Turned To Dust
5. Lost In Your Memory
6. Autumn Red
7. The Mystery Show
8. Siren Sky
Bonus tracks:
9. I Wish I Could - available on the digipak, vinyl and download versions
10. Lost In Your Memory (Acoustic Version) - available on the vinyl and download versions

Bloodstock 2014 broadcasts shows through internet livestream

This weekend another fine festival takes place - it't time for the Bloodstock Open Air.

Best of all for those who can't be there: in cooperation with dailymotion a stream has been set up to broadcast some of the shows of the festival. Jump over to the site of dailymotion or check it out right here:



Live Stream - Bloodstock Festival 2014 by BloodstockFestival
The schedule for the stream is as follows (all times CET):

Saturday, August 9th:

Evil Scarecrow - 11.00am
Shining - 12.00
Decapitated - 13:05
Orphaned Land - 14.10
Lacuna Coil - 16.35
Children of Bodom - 17.55
Carcass - 19.40
Emperor - 21:30

Sunday, August 10th:

Arthemis - 11.00am
Aborted - 12.00
ReVamp - 13.05
Biohazard - 14.10
Obituary - 16.35
Amon Amarth - 19.30
Megadeth - 21.15