Plastic Barricades make your worries visible

Have you ever thought how worries and anxiety would look like if you could make them visible?

The cover of Plastic Barricades Tunnel is as creative as the meaning behind the song.

Well, the alt-rock band Plastic Barricade picked a digital microscope. What they filmed in this session could be just that. A creative look upon something common we all share.

Musically it is a uplifting number. It has easier parts in the verses that feel great. The refrain comes in packed with more goodies playing around with guitar sounds. I like the mixture along with the vocals - it has a distracting effect upon my own worries.

The message behind the track is a shout out to all those being in trouble:

Sometimes it feels like life is this winding road with plenty of tunnels. You go in, it is dark and uneasy, and pretty soon you start wondering how long this tunnel is. Visibility is reduced, you cannot increase your speed or turn back. It starts to feel claustrophobic. Your thoughts are amplified, loudly reverberating in your head.

All you can do is keep reminding yourself that no tunnel lasts forever and you will make it out of this one, like all the previous ones you've been to - and you will see sunlight again!

Lookout for more from the alt-rock duo. The full album "Self-Theories" is set for release in autumn.

Plastic Barricades on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4XMzKbdDQLpa36cYrISsO7?si=rvG0Hj_qSY-wfr5WHC1kZg 

Plastic Barricades Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/plasticbarricades/

Ways. portrait their musical contrasts in beautiful video

Ways. are a post hardcore formation from France that incorporates many different elements in their music. Some are of the traditional harsh and brutal nature, some have their origins in softer and melodic regions but this band has the ability to melt all of them into a sound that feels as if it has been always like this for them.

The newest video that comes fresh of the video cutting table of the band uses intensive and outstanding romantic as well as rough video recordings of nature phenomenons to express the varity in their musical spectrum. This video will give you a relaxed as well as kicking start into the new month.

The band will play a couple of shows in September 2016 in Spain (!) and France. Just check the flyer below if you can make it to one of their performances.

The tourposter of the upcoming Ways. shows in September 2016, (c) by Ways. , used with kind permission

A look on the bands internet plattforms such as Bandcamp or Facebook is a good idea if you'd like to find out if the other songs of their debut EP "Warching from afar" match your musical taste.

CD Review: Ways. - Watching From Afar EP (2016)

In short a hardcore EP with a clear aim: to bring in fresh elements to a well known genre. Ways. carefully thought out their songs and created a listening experience both being familar and surprising alltogether.

Short Introduction

Ways. are a rock / metal / alternative band from Paris, France. In April the band released their debut EP Watching From Afar. The band first came to my attention when I saw their video for the song "Misty Hope" which made me more than looking forward to their first record. A great track and teaser to this EP.

The cover of "Watching From Afar", (c) by Ways. , used with kind permission

Summary

Listening to this very first release of Ways. quickly will let you identify it has a music of the hardcore genre. The typical elements like the harsh vocals and the strong and strict song structures are easily identifiable.

But it's also clear after a short time that the band ever had the idea in their mind to give new impulses to this. There are hacked riffs in there as well as timing variations ("My Blue Stain"), you'll be confronted with silence packed in the loud message of "Misty Hope" just to reach a hardcore half-ballad with "Something to say..." and come to the end with "Twenty First Sectuary" which closes the release with the classic hardcore style but mixed up with a slight fun-riff. I think you'll be surprised to hear how this sounds but it will leave you with a smile and the good feeling behind.

If you still prefer to stick to some old hardcore sounds don't worry: the second track "As A Duty" offers this so the old core of the genre is not forgotten from this band at all.

Player / Purchase-Link


The EP comes around as a pay what you want offer on Bandcamp. Sure you can pick it up for free but please keep in mind that young bands need a push at the start so they can progress further. If you help them out with a few bucks who knows how their next release may sound like? Or how the tracks sound live? You can help to make this happen by giving a amount of your choice.

Other places such as Spotify, iTunes and Google Play can also be used to stream and buy the "Watching From Afar" EP.

Contact Data

Ways. have some nice social outlets up and running out there, you can choice between Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Ways. use silence perfectly on first single

"The music is not in the notes,but the silence in between."

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

This quote crossed my Facebook feed some days ago and I think it perfectly fits to the song "Misty Hope" of the Rock/Hardcore band Ways. from Paris (France). This is a unique song! Wow, not many bands manage to put out such unique stuff on the first attempt.

Besides putting the silence on the right places it's also the mixture between softer and heavier guitar parts that makes this track sounding so great. The vocalist put's his all and everything into the vocals and it's one of the few times in a videoclip that I have the feeling to stand in the first row where you can feel the rough energy of the musicians coming directly your way.



This is the first single of the bands upcoming EP named "Watching From Afar" which will be available soon via the Bandcamp page of Ways. That's also the place where you can pick up a free download of "Misty Hope" in the audio format of your choice, so don't miss out this chance to grab a great song.

The cover for the EP "Watching From Afar", (c) by Ways. used with kind permission

Make sure to follow them via Facebook or Twitter as well as Instagram for all the latest updates coming along with the impending EP release.

Heartlay confirms show in Paris and helps people affected by terrorist attacks

Last friday we all faced the shocking news that terrorists had stormed a show of the band Eagles of Death Metal as well as several other public places like restaurants and bars in Paris to kill innocent people in the name of their religion. A football stadium was also set as a point of attack but happily the security people could help to prevent this from happening by letting a suspicious person not inside.

Let me express my dislike to any sort of violence anywhere in the world for any reason. There is never a place for such a thing and there is never anything that justifies such behaviour. We all live in one world and by the end of the day I'm quite sure we all believe in the same god or how else we may call it.

I can fully understand that it wasn't sure if the show of the alternative metal / industrial rock band Heartlay along with the bands The Way I Am and The Long Escape in Paris will happen on 20th of November 2015. It's just one week after these events and of course there's still tension and fear hanging in the air that such a thing might happen again. Last night a football game here in germany was cancelled due to serious terror warnings.

The good thing to all of this is that the people in Paris don't want to give in. They decide not to let themselves to intimidate by these mean act of violence. Heartly have finally decided to play that show but it will not be the release party for the new EP "Remedy".

(c) by Heartlay, used with kind permission

Instead the show will be dedicated to all the victims of the terroristic attacks. There will be no entrance free taken for this show but at the entry area of the venue you'll find a box when you can give a amount of your choice. The money collected will be given to the "Association française des Victimes du Terrorisme", a association for the victims of the terror. Their will be books of condolence where you can write in a mention and send some positive power to all those affected by the attacks.

You can find more details about the event on the Facebook page.

Heartlay have released their newest single "Consequence" just at the beginning of this month. It shows that the band has continued their path they began with the "Injection" EP. To me it comes around a bit more edgy and rough as the songs on the debut. If you would like to have a copy of the song don't worry. Just head over to Bandcamp. The band has kindly set up a free download of the track there.

In Memoriam Jon Lord

On 16th of July 2012 Jon Lord sadly passed away. R.I.P. Jon.

German TV station ARD has shortly changed it's TV schedule and will broadcast in the night from the 20th to the 21st July 2012 a recording of a legendary Deep Purple show recorded on 09.07.1985 in Paris, Palais Omnisports. 

More info on this can be viewed on the homepage of the TV station.

Update 24th July 2012: the concert will be shown again in the night of the 29th to the 30th July starting at 01.15 h (geman time) at the TV station WDR. That station also has a online-stream running, so depending upon the rights of the broadcast you might be able to watch it online if you don't live in germany.