FERGIE FREDERIKSEN- Hapiness is the road

I’m going through a really dark phase right now. Life’s serving me the worst stuff and things won’t be getting any better soon. That’s when albums like ‘’Happiness is the road’’ come in handy. An AOR album to get you through the dark days; yes, dear, an AOR album. I don’t need any doom metal guy telling me life is shit. I know that already. I need someone who’s been on the dark side telling me I can find strength from within, stand up straight and walk on. Try walking in Fergie’s shoes and you’ll see where my point is. He was diagnosed with cancer in the middle of the album’s making and recorded his vocals while still on treatment, making it a very painful and exhausting experience. Yet he found the strength to not give up and today he can be really proud of a beauty of an album, a perfect follow up to 2002’s Mecca album and 2007’s Frederiksen-Denander collaboration. The album is drenched in heartfelt melodies, thoughtful but uplifting lyrics and passionate vocals. There’s a really strong songwriting team behind Fergie’s powerful voice, count Jim Peterik, Dennis Ward, Robert Sall, Mark Baker and others. And Fergie, if you haven’t noticed till now, is one of the finest singers in rock, not as famous as others, but still he belongs to the elite.

I’ll upload some more samples as soon as they are available.

Gentleman's Pistols- At her majesty's pleasure

I was a little disappointed about the retro hard rock production of 2011, but I was wrong and I only knew once I got to check out bands like Gentleman's Pistols and Gingerpig. Add Graveyard and then you'll start thinking there something going on with ''G'' this year. Well, lame remarks aside, Gentleman's pistols have one thing for sure: they get to the very G-spot for friends of retro hard rock, who want their music up tempo, with catchy hooks, great vocals, melodic leads that stick to your head, tight drums and powerful yet also colorful riffing. Man, that's music I want to party with! Not just a great retro sound, here's the real deal, fucking amazing songs!

Don Airey- All out (2011)

Don Airey has a bio longer than a train and he has played with half of the people whose name means something in rock music. For almost ten years he has been playing with Deep Purple succeeding the legendary Jon Lord. In between Purple's commitments and various sessions and guest apperances he managed to come up with a smoking solo album that's hands down way better than anything Purple have done for about 20 years. Carl Sentance of Persian Risk and Krokus fame helps out with the vocals and what a great rock singer he still is! ''All out'' is a feast of hammond-driven hard rock. If you like loud 70's hard rock with progressive attitude and keyboard extravaganzas, then look no further. This is a feast of notes! Joe Bonamassa lends a helping hand on People in your head, one of the best hard rock songs you'll get to hear this year. Other highlights include Running from the shadows (70's melodic rock ala Boston), Right arm overture (7 minutes instrumental madness) and Long Road (a beautiful guitar based instrumental full of passionate playing). You rarely get such joyful albums by veterans long over their 60's. Despite age Don managed to set things right in the retro rock scene, setting the bar high for all those newcomers trying to follow the steps of 60's-70's rock giants.

CAROL OF HARVEST

You may have stumbled upon this album if you search prog or 70's rock oriented blogs. Carol of Harvest were a german band with a female singer, often categorized as krautrock (another missleading misconception that probabbly kept people off this gem). The truth is they played progressive folk rock, and they created magic with their music. As a band they only released a same titled album in 1978, in 2003 there was another release under this name, but there was only one original member involved and stylistically it had nothing to do with the original form of the band. The lp goes for crazy amounts of money (even 1.000$) but there's also a cd reissue you could somehow grab at a reasonable price. Honestly, I avoid listening to this album too many times, so that I preserve the magic for very special moments.

PALLAS

Pallas stand out as one of the most honest bands in the field of neo-prog. They never enjoyed any significant success but they kept on for ages just to keep putting out their music. This year they released ''XXV'' a thematical successor to their probably best known album ''The sentinel'' (1984), from which you can check out the song Eastwest above. Give them a shot and you won't regret it.

http://www.pallasxxv.com/

PAIN OF SALVATION- Road salt II (2011)

Seriously I'm no fan of POS's discography. Some tracks showed great potential, but all in all I was tired of their chaotic approach to songwriting. In 2010 there was great buzz around the band's new direction towards the fields of prog/retro rock. I was hesitant to pay any serious attention but finally I did check the album and fell in love with it since. Seriously, it's like Gildenlow and his partners were destined to play this kind of music, full of soul/psych/prog rock influences and heavily based on a genuine late 60's sound that I can imagine would be a painful shock for the prog metal fans that make up the core of POS's fanbase. ''Road salt I'' was one of the best albums of 2010 and also one of the best in the whole 60's-70's revival thing that's groing stronger day by day. Part II doesn't stray much from this sound. It's without doubt a very interesting album, with some very strong moments and great sound. Not as good as part I but still you need to give it a chance. Below is the best in my oppinion song from part II and another one from part I.

INNOSENSE- Outcast (2011)

Some sort of actual review will be up later, for now I'll let you check out this greek prog metal band and judge for yourself. My oppinion? Best 2011 prog metal album I've heard till now.

ABARAX- Blue room (2010)

ABARAX is a German band playing some sort of Pink Floyd inspired prog rock. Till now they have released two albums of which the second one presented here is the best. What we get here is a beautiful album of melodic, atmospheric and stretched out songs that set a nice mood. There's some early Scorpions influence in there too, especially in the vein of songs like Fly to the rainbow, epic ballads with a symphonic/pompous tone. The guitar adds some moments of magic, there are some really inspired solos going on in songs like Life, which you can check out below. Don't expect any jazzy wankery, the stuff is extremely melodic, harmonic and tranquil. It's just on the brink of being psychedelic, but I'm very cautious about using this term, it got a little bit misleading with all sorts of post rock/experimental/drone/shoegaze bands claiming to be psychedelic. Nostalgic and moody may describe it better, but is has the ''close your eyes and drift away'' effect for sure. You can check their interview on the 2nd issue of Lonely Road by downloading the pdf file on the right column of the blog.

ATTICK DEMONS

In case you feel bored by the last efforts of Iron Maiden, if you can trace no spark in their songs and get lost in their attempt to get progier, more epic or whatever they are trying to do (and failing bigtime I might add), then Attick Demons from Portugal is your solution. Very much like the first couple of albums by Machine Men, Attick Demons are HEAVILY influenced by Iron Maiden and Bruce Dickinson. In fact, if Iron Maiden loosened up a little and went for the kind of catchy songs they did in the 80's, this is what we would get: a bunch of great sing along songs in the tradition of classic 80's heavy metal with the sound of today. One might say Attick Demons are just copycats, but to me approaching a great band with love and conviction is always respectful. If only we had such ''copycats'' for every great 80's metal band...

Before you bash the band for being too retro I have to make something clear: This band obviously loves Iron Maiden and 80's metal, but they don't go for a 100% retro 80's metal sound in the vein of Enforcer, White Wizzard etc.. That's were bands like Edguy come in, more in terms of sound and approach towards the past. Singer Artur Almeida on the other hand is obsessed with Bruce Dickinson, you could swear this is a side project of Maiden's frontman. He sounds exactly like Bruce does since his triumphant return to heavy metal. I've mentioned earlier that Attick Demons have catchy songs. Well, they don't just write catchy stuff, it's also very strong too. Picking highlights from the album can get very tricky, because the band wisely put only 9 songs on their album and they are all awesome! There's lots of enjoyable guitarwork going on and more than memorable melodies.

In conclusion, the guys got themselves a new fan. This is a cd I will go out and buy and in case they show up near distance I will be in the front row. Up the Irons! Up the Attick Demons!





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEgrJhg3GM&feature=related

COCO MONTOYA- Good days, bad days

Having a couple of shots of Vodka & caramel while listening to Coco play the blues feels always great.

JOURNEY- Eclipse (2011)

By now you should be aware of the new album Journey released recently. If not, well here we are. Journey's one of the greatest rock bands of all times with countless of millions albums sold and many timeless songs. And their heart's still beating loud. ''Eclipse'' comes 38 years after their debut but it's far from an obligatory, retro album. Just like 2008's ''Revelation'', ''Eclipse'' is here to demand your attention, not because of the brand name, but because of the tremendous songs. With Arnel Pineda on vocals the band is on fire and recaptures the passion of the early days, when they conquered the world. Neal Schon is back with even more fiery guitar work continuing to steer the band into new days of glory. The new songs remind a lot of the ''Frontiers'' era, when Journey wrote their heavier ever material. If one word was needed to describe the album, it would certainly be passion. When you listen to songs like Chains of love or Resonate, you cannot but feel the energy and get carried away by the storng emotions. It's top class stuff the band will be proud of regardless of record sales. It's not only the rockier stuff they recorded in decades, it's also an interesting glimpse at the progressive side of the band, something that we hadn't seen since the early albums. The overall production is really powerfull and crystal clear and performances just as expected perfect. Againa a few words for Pineda: He may sound too close to Steve Perry, but he does this out of true love for his idol and he's original in this sense. And if a voice can be immitated, soul cannot. Pineda prooves he has plenty of soul and it shines through making ''Eclipse'' a very special moment in Journey's discography.

Pastore- The Price for the Human Sins (private 2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGEHpFGi2vY

This one came crushing through my stereo and got me down on my knees begging for mercy. Very much like fellow countrymen Painside this is extremely Priest influenced metal. Pastore are only more aggressive, not in a bad sense though. There’s definitely melody here but power is the most significant factor. Mario Pastore is a veteran of the Brazilian metal scene and it’s a shame I’ve never heard of him before, since he is a master of the metal scream. It’s also a shame Pastore is releasing this as a private and judging from the lack of reviews on the net the album hasn’t reached many people. Songs like Far away, Horizons are top class. On the later Mario takes a rest from his metal screams and delivers a beautiful semi-ballad beginning with acoustic guitars end ending with fantastic solos by Rafael Gaza who proves himself a worthy addition to the lineup. Get the album on the net, give it a chance and I’m sure you will give Pastore the support they need cause they deserve it.

FORTRESS UNDER SIEGE

Gladiators were one of Greece's most promising bands, although they had released only one 2-song-demo in 1988 and also took part in the legendary (and ultra-rare) "Greece Attacks" compilation from 1989 with another song, called "Gladiators". Unfortunately, the "typical" problems for every hellenic band of that time forced the band to split up and many years later Fotis Sotiropoulos formed Fortress Under Siege.
(source metal archives)

Fortress Under Siege only released a 4-track ep in 1996 and were put on hold. In 2010 the band was revived writting new stuff and 2011 will possibly be the year of their full return with a full length album.

Painside- Dark world burden (2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE-coKO2eMs&feature=related

These Brazilians can really make a good name. Their debut ‘’Dark world burden’’ is a modern heavy/power metal album that combines European and US metal. Think of Judas Priest’s ‘’Painkiller’’, think of Cage but with a better balance between melody and power and you got the picture more or less. The great advantage of Painside is their fantastic singer Guilherme Sevens, who possesses a set of impressive pipes and belts out high pitched screams in a very persuasive way, without sounding gay. He’s more in the style of singers like Ralf Sheepers or Rob Rock I think, you know, wide ranged but with a raspy tone. There’s some great riffing throughout the album and ass kicking up tempo songs like Ignite the fire, Deviant will make you bang your head for good, while in tracks like This dark world and Forsaken the band proves itself worthy of mid tempo anthemic songs too. I can’t find any real flaw to this album, even the production is clear, tight and powerful transferring the bands full power to our starving-for-good-metal ears.

Cool Feet- Burning desire (1976)

Extremely obscure album (it’s supposed to fetch many hundreds of dollars) by a bunch of German and British guys who were based in Luxemburg. Obviously influenced by early Scorpions, Cool Feet can be proud for managing to recreate part of the Germans’ magic, leaving behind some really good songs. You can easily detect the Scorpions influence even on the sexist album cover and furthermore ‘’Burning desire’’ was recorded at the Dieter Dirks studios in Cologne, Germany. Especially ‘’Fly to the rainbow’’ must have been one of their favorite albums at the time, The man from Marakesh sounds a lot like They need a million and Alone in your cage draws inspiration from symphonic anthems like Fly to the rainbow or Fly people fly. Despite the similarities one cannot underestimate the talent of Cool Feet, nor the great songs they contributed to rock history.

H.E.A.T.

Some of you may think an AOR band isn’t what a blog called Lonely Road should talk about. For those of you I will explain it just once: my road is lonely only because I don’t follow any frames. If I want to talk about obscure metal one day and AOR the other day I will not bother if some will say this is not ‘’true’’. If being ‘’true’’ means you can’t admit how much talent there is in some commercial music, then let me better be false and keep all the trueness for yourself.
H.E.A.T. is a six piece AOR band that debuted in 2008 with their self titled album gaining raving reviews from all over the world, wherever AOR was still alive. The band has real vision about making it big and they tour extensively from day one till now. In 2010 the band released ‘’Freedom rock’’, the follow up to the successful debut, once again making jaws drop with their undeniable melodic power and fantastic songs.
In their own words H.E.A.T. is about:
‘’having fun and living your dreams and always making the present a past that you can be proud of in the future to come’’

JAMES BYRD- Jane

Just felt like posting a great instrumental track by James Byrd. It can be found on the 1998 album ''Crimes of virtuosity'', which you should at one point add to your collection if you like good hard rock/metal, great guitars and great vocals courtesy of the terrific Kendall Torrey.



Check Torrey's vocals here:

Arrayan Path (formerly Arryan Path)

Another interview from the first issue of Lonely road. Arryan Path (now spelled Arrayan Path) have been one of the best kept secrets of epic/lyrical power metal for more than a decade and their second album ''Terra incognita'' released in 2010 was the first step into the light. Right now the band is ready to record two albums for the near future and has secured the participation of the great Tony Martin on the first of the two albums, ''Ira Imperium'', to be released in September 2011. Check out some samples of their music and then read the full interview I did with the band about a year ago for the release of the then new album.

http://www.myspace.com/arryanpath

Road to Macedonia (Road to Macedonia-2001)

Minas Tirith (Terra incognita-2010)

Elegy (Terra incognita-2010)

LONELY ROAD INTERVIEW (issue No1)

One of the best Greek bands strikes back after many years storming in from the martyric island of Cyprus. Arryan Path carry a long history but have only a few releases so far. Obviously they know better when to pick the moment to surprise us again with their epic and lyrical music. Singer and founder Nikolas Leptos presents us their new release ‘’Terra incognita’’.
We were beginning to believe we will never hear another Arryan path album since in the meantime both Prodigal Earth and Diptheria had new albums out. What changed so that you got to ‘’Terra incognita’’?
Nothing special. Arryan Path were put on hold because of an equally interesting band, Prodigal Earth, and then I just felt ready for a new Arryan path album. I started collecting ideas and songs and here we are!
Which are the musical differences between the three bands you recently sung with (Arryan Path, Prodigal Earth, Diptheria)?
Quite many, although all are in the field of classic metal. Diptheria have more doom elements and they are closer to the traditional metal sound. Arryan Path play epic with choirs and stuff, while Prodigal Earth are closer to Maiden with just a few progressive elements.
Arryan Path had made a good name in the underground even during their demo years and all were awaiting the time when you would show the full spectre of your potential. Do you think you already did that with your official debut ‘’Road to Maceonia’’ (2004) or is it happening with your last album?
I think it’s with both albums, although I want to think that the albums that are about to follow will be even better!
Contrary to ‘’Road to Macedonia’’ the new album has a more consistent style. Is this happening because the songs were written in a smaller period of time or did you decide on a given musical direction?
The songs from the first album had a different sound between them. Maybe that’s why it doesn’t sound like having a focused style. I think with the new album we added some new elements which will also appear on next releases. The important thing is that both albums have songs which you wouldn’t call typical epic metal. For some this might be a drawback. Not for me though.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard anything of your previous releases?
Melodic epic metal with catchy choruses.
Would I be exaggerating if I said that lyricism and melody are the nucleus of your music?
Not at all! You are right on target! Still we received some complaints that we were more lyrical on our first album, haha.
‘’Terra incognita’’ is a very fresh release. I wonder if you have already picked some favorites and if you have chosen the songs that will be on you live set list permanently.
We have already played Molon lave and Minas Tirith at Up the Hammers festival in Greece and they came out great! Of course the songs I like aren’t necessarily the ones that are best suited for a live show. Personally I love Cassiopeia. Other favorites of mine are Ishtar, Elegy and Angel with no destination and I think all four of them are great to be played live.
There are a lot of folk melodies in your songs and especially oriental ones. Is this kind of music a part of the greek dna?
Oriental music that has influenced me is obviously not the buzuki type of music, but Rainbow, Iron Maiden, Malmsteen, Vengeance and Artillery. I realize though that ‘’Terra incognita’’ gives that kind of impression.
You worked with Vaggelis Maranis (singer for german prog/power metal band Sanvoisen), both in the production which took place in his studio in Germany as in the vocals, since he sings on the song Cassiopeia. Teel us a few things about this cooperation and the experience of the recordings.
Vaggelis has always been one of my favorite singers and it was an honor singing a duet with him! The guy has a voice from another planet! He is unbelievably comfortable with high notes and very professional! I couldn’t but take advantage of the opportunity to have him sing on the album!
After the experience of recording abroad, in a country with a higher professional level than Cyprus and the rest of Greece, have you decided to do all future recordings abroad? I’d like to, although I don’t know if it’s possible. We’ll see, I hope so!
Do you expect the album to break the borders of the underground scene or is this too difficult for a Greek band, so you just make music for the purpose of self expression?
No, we don’t have the slightest ambition of becoming famous around the world. Of course if something like that came up we would love it, but we are making no plans about becoming famous. After so many years I still haven’t seen a Greek heavy metal band become really successful abroad, actually not even within Greece. Why is that? Can the new generation of bands change that or is this misery our fate?
Let me put it this way: did Sweden, traditionally among the elite metal scenes with lots of famous groups, have a guitarist playing with Ozzy? It’s a matter of luck. It’s not easy to become famous whatever country you may come from. There are so many groups. Gamma Ray sold 5.000 copies of ‘’Land of the free pt. 2’’. If this album had been released 10 or 15 years before it would sell 100.000. Whoever managed to become famous in time is lucky, that’s it. Now things have gotten tougher.
You recently played at the Up the Hammers festival in Greece, a festival that has become an institution for underground fans in Greece, but also attracts a lot of fans from all over Europe. How was this experience? I think most fans who attended the show think you were the best band of the festival’s first day.
Yeah, that’s what they told us too! The fans were unbelievable and we had a great time onstage. Maybe one of the best shows I ever played!
Are you planning of doing a headline show on Greek mainland? I don’t know if the number of fans will match the quality of the band, but you have a lot of fans over here.
I know and we really want to come over, but it’s not the easiest thing for a small band like us to suddenly get on a plane and go play somewhere. If a promoter can bring us there’s no way we would ever say no!
Now something irrelevant to music. You come from the martyric island of Cyprus. During the last years there have been some negotiations for the resolving of the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. Is there any chance after all that a viable and fair solution will come up? What do you think about the situation that has been created from ’74 and on?
Do you know how many negotiations were held for the resolving of the Cyprus issue? Uncountable! It always falls apart in the end. There’s a bitter opposition, there’s a fear the solution will destroy us, so they all are advancing slowly and carefully, till our generation gets old and no one cares anymore! It’s sad. Unfortunately the people have changed from ’74 till now. Everyone is just watching after himself and his wellbeing. There’s no honor and dignity anymore. People have become rude, arrogant and evil. I guess it’s the same in Greece.
Send your message to our readers.
Thanks for all! Give Terra Incognita a chance and you won’t regret it. Hope we see you all in Greece again!

http://www.myspace.com/arryanpath

Pictorial Wand

http://www.myspace.com/picwand

This interview comes from the first issue of Lonely Road so it's a little out of date. Still it's pretty interesting as an introduction to the music of Pictorial Wand.

Sometimes you run across music that is certainly not made for mass consumption. I don’t have anything against commercial music, after all a great part of the world’s highest musical achievements was commercial. Still there comes a time when you seek something unique, when you want to ‘’dive’’ into the music and get lost. Matti Sorum will take you on a promising journey with his last album ‘’Face of our fathers’’.

First of all congratulations for the great new album! For starters tell us a few things about how this band/project was created.
Thank you. I started Pictorial Wand with the last album, ”A Sleeper’s album”. I wanted to create a concept/rock opera album like ”Journey to the centre of the earth”. That album really triggered my fascination and kick started this project. I work with the albums alone until I finish everything, before taking in the specific musicians I need for the recordings. My music is compared to Ayreon all the time because of this way of working, not so much the style of the music. It is nice to see that people now are beginning to see my music as Pictorial Wand, not ”Norway’s Ayreon” as some has put it.
Pictorial wand is a pretty strange name. What’s does it mean and why did you chose it?
In the process of finding a name for the project I didn’t think so much about a commercial sounding name. The meaning and describing of what I want with my music was the important thing. I have always loved fantasy/epic/science fiction movies and books. I don’t exactly use so many elements from it in my stories, but the whole idea with a fantasy-world, something beyond our real world gives me something, some inspiration and motivation to work with the stories. I tell stories in my albums, therefore ‘’Pictorial’’. ”Wand” has two meanings. It reflects a fantasy-world and it is the tool of creation. I know I am getting very deep here now, hehe. But that is how I found my name. An illustrative wand.
If I’m not mistaken both albums you have released until now are concept albums. Is this something you intend to do on every Pictorial Wand release? Can you describe the concept of ‘’Face of our fathers’’?
Yes, it is the only way I can make an album I think. I don’t know what to write lyrics about if it’s not around a story. I’m not political involved or very romantic, so I would probably go empty halfway through the album. Also, there is something very inspiring to work on large things. Trying to tie it all together, from the story and the musical themes to the artwork.
How and where was the album recorded? Did you gather all musicians at the same time or was everyone’s part recorded in different places and sessions?
For the recording of this album I went back to my hometown, Dombaas, and rented a studio there. I was in studio for about 5 months where I invited the musicians for the recordings. I only take in one musician at a time. That way we can focus 100% and we have no stress.
I was impressed among other things by the quality of the voices heard on the new album. Who are the singers, how did you find them and have they sung in any other bands before?
The singers are Julie Christensen, Tore Christer Storlid, Petter Selliseth and Gry Tronslien. The two latter sung on the first album as well. None of these four are known names, though some of them could be, if they played their cards right I think… For what music projects they are doing now, I really don’t know. Julie sings in a soul band. Petter is doing this pub-duo in the weekends... (what a waste of talent...hehe)
Your music sounds like a mixture of 70’s space/prog/folk rock and recent prog metal operas. Can you name bands that are the most influential for your music?
Musical inspiration I don’t know anymore. When I was younger it was so much easier. You just dug Metallica and you played it! Now it’s more about finding your own original thing. I can’t motivate me in other ways than thinking that what I do now is something original. Not completely of course, but at least something not completely like any other artist today. And I hope I succeed in doing this. At least the struggle for this is what motivates me to continue making albums. I don’t like to repeat myself, I wouldn’t be able to make one album, then start on the next with the thought: ‘’Wow, that last album really kicked ass, I wanna use the same recipe again!”.
Having heard both albums I think the second has much more focused songwriting, without cutting down on the length of the songs. What do you think?
Yes, I focused more on kinda verse and refrain structure this time than with the Sleeper-album. I also focused more on the vocals. After the first album I realized how much potential I had left in the vocal parts, so I decided to work more on that this time. So I therefore ended up with a little less instrumental and more vocal. I also wanted to create stronger main themes on Face of our Fathers.
What’s the best compliment you heard about your music?
Hm… maybe it must be what a reviewer said about the new album a while ago on Progarchives: ‘’This work approaches what prog rock can be as a serious art form”. I like that. Sounded good! ;)
What’s your craziest music dream?
Well, I have dreams and visions. But none of them are really crazy, hehe. My true dream in life is to buy a house (preferably a small farm) and build a nice studio where I can work in peace with my projects together with my family.
If you ever had an unlimited budget for a new album which famous musicians would you hire?
I don’t like the idea of bringing famous musicians to my projects. No matter how much money I had in hand, I would still be looking for unknown and original artists I think. It’s just another side of the urge of being original I guess. But of course, if singers such as Jorn Lande or David Coverdale were at hand…what could you do?
What’s your driving force and motivation for writing music?
With Pictorial Wand it is the concepts, the experimentation with different instruments, and most important: to make each album better than the last. It is very important to always feel that I can do something better, that the things I make is not the best I could do. This is the only reason that can motivate me for a new album I believe. If one day I sit down with a finished album and think it is so perfect in every way that I cannot exceed it… Why the hell should I make another one? Where is the fun in that?
The kind of music you create is not very likely to generate great success, but it will definitely attract true music lovers. Does this bother you that less talented musicians/songwriters can get more successful than you and most people prefer music of doubtful quality?
I think most real artists making music or visual art, not for the fame and glory, are annoyed by this thing. But what can you do? It is the nature of thing in this business.
Are you satisfied with the promotion of the new album? It’s not really easy to find over here and there’s not much exposure on the net… Do you have a contract for more albums with Unicorn Digital?
My contract with Unicorn is written for each album, but sales are going well. About the promotion, there have been fewer reviews this time than the last. If this is due to less promos sent, or less response on the promos been sent out I don’t know. Anyway, the response in Europe is real good and the reviews have been from good to excellent all the way. The album is nominated for best foreign album at ProgAwards 2009 in Italy.
I’m really curious whether you tried to get a contract with any European label and what the answers were…
I sent a lot. In fact, the only positive responses came from US. The debut album was a double. Not many labels dared to put money in it. It would be a lot easier with a label in some neighbor country for sure, but Unicorn is doing a nice job.
Nowadays illegal downloading is partly responsible for dropping record sales. On the other hand it gives people the opportunity to check out more releases than ever and finally buy the ones they prefer most. Do you think that a relatively unknown band with good music but little label promotion can benefit from the internet?
Absolutely. Artists in my position can only benefit from this trend. It is the big commercial artists and labels who pays deeply, and I don’t give a shit.
What do you do for a living? Do you see a future where you could live from music?
I have a pretty high education in music, but ended up as a journalist. I have ambitions of making a living out of Pictorial Wand one day, maybe with some added income of guitar students and jobs from my studio.
Is it possible for Pictorial Wand to play any live shows on the future?
Sorry. For that I would have to put together a regular band, which I can’t do. I’m too ego on this particular project. I could share the money of course, but not the creative part. I have a very clear understanding of the music I wanna produce, and just the thought about someone coming in and writing a song makes me sweating.
Close this interview any way you want to.
Thanks for the chat! Be sure to check the news in the official webpage, or sign up for the newsletter to follow the progress of the new album

SOLID ROCK (christian rock)

The white metal/christian rock scene has a lot of hidden gems that never got out of the circle of christian distribution. Seems like this kind of music found its way to a certain audience based exclusively on the religious message it carried, regardless of the music style, while fans of rock/metal who would appreciate the music had no access to the stuff. Funny situation.

Solid Rock released three albums:

Change of heart (1979)
Interdesign (1983)
Real to real (1985)

The debut just like pretty much all late 70's christian albums lacks direction, getting lost between 70's prog pomp rock, AOR and accoustic singer/songwriter folk/psych stuff. Still it's much better than what well known bands like Petra did at the time. The 1983 album is much more focused on pomp/AOR. The last one seems to be the most interesting, a lyrical pomp/AOR album that will please any fan of this style.


No substitute (Real to real):


Just this side of darkness (Interdesign)

Overlord's Perpetual

This post is done due to the song posted below. Overlord is the nickname of young greek guitarist Kostas Varras who released one album in 2005. The singer is Vasilis Axiotis, a well known sessionist of the greek metal scene. The album failed in establishing Varras, since it followed the path of most neoclassical shred releases of the last years, too many solos, too few interesting songs. I'll never cry again though is an astonishing song, catchy, up tempo, melodic and emotional thanks to Axiotis who knows his work very well. Varras has relocated to the USA and reformed the band with a new line up trying to make his way into the international metal scene. A bold movement and we are hoping for the best. Till we hear more from him let us enjoy his finest moment:

BLIND OWL

This is a strange case. Blind Owl were formed in 1972 in Gardena, California, playing heavy psych. There's no official recording known until the 1985 7'' single ''Lady of America'', which was an effort in a totally different style, melodic 80's hard 'n' heavy. Even the band members are unknown, the single only credits some David Jeru as the songwriter and this must be a stage name, not a real one.
Here's the 7'':

A couple of years ago Blind Owl resurfaced on the internet.
On http://www.myspace.com/blindowl1972 you can check some photos, but too little info. The new formation of the band even played some gigs. According to a review posted on their muspace blog the live band consisted of bassist Gordon James, vocalist/guitarist Danny Brant and vocalist/guitarist David Hodges. No drummer listed.
The most important thing though is that on their myspace you can listen to some tracks from the 70's (Alone again, Another change, Children, Aftermath, War pigs- Black Sabbath cover and the diamond We can find forever). Other songs of the band I haven't yet found anywhere are Non-Fiction, Hard Hearted Man, Anything Goes, Native Of America and Truth Seeker. Probably they are to be discovered on demo tapes, who knows...

Also keep in mind that the band Blind Owl with the ''Debut at dusk'' album from 1988 is a totally different band hailing from Boston and playing prog pomp rock.

NORTHWIND (US prog rock)

The Northwind Story

by Northwind

The original Northwind band was founded in 1968 by Roland Ernest and me (Jan Stepka).
We were inspired originally by bands such as the Doors, Cream, the Moody Blues, the Beatles, and Procol Harum.
We were later heavily influenced by ELP, Yes, King Crimson, and Genesis. Echoes of these styles are found in the Distant Shores recordings.
The band went through four membership changes. The first incarnation was a trio with drummer Steve White. In 1970 we created and performed an original rock opera entitled “Looking Back.” In 1972 we recorded an untitled demo album featuring the song “Last Day at Lokun.”
Tom Iacaboni replaced Steve White on drums when Steve White left the band to pursue the guitar.
In 1974 Tom, Jan and Roland recorded the world famous (in collectors' circles) Northwind demo album in Roland's family's basement. This album is often erroneously referred to as “Woods of Zandor.” Tom was at heart a jazz drummer, and when he left Northwind, Tim Cahill joined on drums and percussion. For a short period, Bob Pascoe contributed his rock guitar to Northwind's sound.
Northwind performed mostly in clubs at that time and created a reputation in Canada. This period largely had the band playing covers of other rock bands' material.
In 1977 returning to original music, Roland took over guitars and the band added the talents of Rob Foster on wind instruments. In 1978 we recorded our magnum opus “Distant Shores” in Roland's family's basement in Sterling Heights, Michigan.
One song, “Just Yesterday,” was released as part of a local radio station's compilation of Detroit area bands' music entitled “Home Grown.”
Tim Cahill's religious calling conflicted with his perception of the rock and roll lifestyle leading him to leave secular musical performing. Howard Wells joined the band on drums and percussion for rehearsals while Roland and the band's manager Ron Geddish vainly persued a record contract. These efforts included a trip to California to visit record companies.
Northwind broke up in 1978 largely because of this failure. In the end, the “Distant Shores” songs were never performed outside of Roland's basement.

Support the band by getting their albums at a price you set yourself:

http://northwindband.com/

WAXWING- Appetizer (1988)

Waxwing is one of those obscure 80's metal bands that never made it to the big league. Though their power metal was top class, with intense riffing, soaringvocals and fantastic songs, they disbanded leaving behind this ep only.
You can read their entire history and download the ep for free (available by the band) here:
http://www.waxwing.bz/

Check some stuff here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x25j0vUiYtI
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-FnIl7c89I

LONELY ROAD FANZINE ISSUE No2 (2011)

Here it is finally!

Contains interviews with Skullfist (heavy metal-Canada), Dawnbringer (heavy metal-USA), The Crystal Caravan (retro hard rock-Sweden), Abarax (prog rock-Germany), Echoes (prog metal-Venezuela), articles about Mystery (prog rock-Canada), Graveyard (retro hard rock-Sweden), Saracen (pomp rock- UK), Scorpions, an extensive 2010 review with tons of great stuff you probably didn't notice in 2010 and some articles concerning personal thoughts.

Downloadable as a convenient small size pdf file:

https://rapidshare.com/files/459684063/Lonely_Road_No2-_2011.pdf

Spread the word, spread the link, spread them anyway, haha...
and don't forget to let me know what you think!

THE CRYSTAL CARAVAN- Against the rising tide (2010)

2010 was a great year for retro rock and I totally got into this style. If you like 60's-70's rock give these new bands a chance, some off them are really good in what they do, and honest as well. The song post below is so amazing I couldn't believe it was released just last year. If this band comes to tonw get your ass down there! and buy the cd, we want them to release a lot more and it won't happen if we don't support them!

DAY SIX- The grand design (2010)

Few prog metal releases impressed me last year. One of them is the second album by this Dutch band. ''Grand design'' is a concept album around a story of science fiction and conspiracy theories. Prog metal at its best.

HYPNOS 69- Legacy (2010)

Hypnos 69 is a Belgian psychedelic rock band formed in the middle 90's. They have released 5 albums till now and ''Legacy'' is the latest and best. Coinciding with the retro rock movement in the US and Sweden Hypnos 69 couldn't find a better timing to get back to a vintage sound that revisits the glorious days of heavy psych, horror and progressive rock. In compariosn to most new bands that try to immitate this certain style Hypnos 69 evidently have the experience not to overshadow their own songwriting abilities with their influences, resulting in an adventurous and mystagogic album for lovers of true art.

CIRRHA NIVA interview from issue No1 (2010)

It’s a shame that great bands no longer get the promotion they deserve. It seems like quality is totally irrelevant when it comes to major labels choosing their signings. Cirrha Niva should be praised worldwide for this daring achievement that they released in 2009 under the title ‘’For moments never done’’. Now this is a band that can play up to date metal without disrespecting the very essence of metal that derives from the 80’s. A band that can write a complex songs without straying from its core, a core that is nothing but art in its purest form. Cirrha Niva did their part. It’s up to you to do your own now.

For starters, that’s a very strange name you chose! What does Cirrha Niva mean?

Cirrha Niva is derived from Cirrha & Nisa the mountain tops of the Parnassus, symbol of Divine Wisdom, Poetic Inspiration and Human Knowledge. We took this from “La Divina Comedia” written by Dante Alighieri. It might be a strange name, but it also an unique name, which these days is hard to find.

Tell us a few words about the band’s history. Why did it take so long to release ‘’For moments never done’’? Did you break up for some time?

We never broke up. The period between the last two albums was an unlucky period, with a lot of personal situations. This kept setting back the band time after time. Finally, when vocalist Legrand joined the band, things fell into place and in a short period of time everybody felt that we grew together very fast. Things just fell into place and took off.

On your recent album you play progressive metal mixed with lots of other styles. How would you describe the sound of Cirrha Niva today? Did your previous releases have the same style?

It’s difficult to categorize the music of the band, “progressive metal” would be the most suitable I guess. Most reviewers categorize us as progressive metal so.... That’s what we do! The former Cirrha Niva album was totally different from what we are doing now. The album before that one was different also. With each album Cirrha Niva kept developing. The new songs will probably have the same vibe as the songs on “for moments never done”, but they will still be able to surprise you. We are always trying to push our boundaries and make each song a better one than the song before that. We don’t back off from any music style for our songs, we feel that if a song benefits from a certain musical part we’ll use it. In this manner we build our songs and develop our style.

I think that ‘’For moments never done’’ is one of the most interesting releases of 2009. How confident do you feel about the album?

We are very confident, when we started recording we knew we had good songs, we only needed someone who could capture the expression we had in mind for these songs. Split Second Sound did just that, they knew exactly how to translate our ideas. We are very happy with the final outcome. .
Your brand of metal incorporates many modern elements yet that never annoys me, although I consider myself a classic metal fan. What’s the secret?

It’s not about the elements itself. It’s about the song. A great song is a great song, if you have a good basic song and work it out well it will never start getting boring, whether it’s “classic” metal or has many modern elements. Legrand’s vocal lines are a very important part of our songs, and I think he’s responsible for keeping the album interesting. Of course musically speaking you can’t describe us as dull, but Legrand is what you call “the icing on the cake”.

Progressive metal has lost much of its popularity due to bands that overdo the technical aspect of their music and lose in terms of songwriting and even heaviness. You certainly be very heavy and the songs in spite of their extended length are focused and direct. Did you bother about these things while writing the songs?

Yes. We keep evaluating our songs again and again, until we are completely happy, there’s no room for doubt. And like I earlier said, it’s the song that counts. A great song will always be noticed and people will remember it. A great melody is just as hard to create as playing a very difficult lead. The song is what we consider the most vital part of our music.



LeGrand has a great voice. How did you find him? Has he sung on any other official releases by other bands? Is LeGrand some kind of nickname?

When we parted ways with our former singer we started looking for a new one. Legrand put up an add on My Space, saying “vocalist looking for a band”. We reacted to his add and after the first audition (to be honest, WHILE auditioning) we were very impressed with his power, melody and his input. We immediately told him he was hired. It’s proven to be a great decision because Legrand not only is a great singer, he writes great lyrics and also has input in the songwriting process itself. If you visit the myspace of Legrand you can see his musical history, he sung with several bands in all kinds of different styles. His name is indeed a nickname, he got it from a teacher who used to translate Legrands real name (de Groot) translated to French. When others kept using it he decided to stick with it.

I couldn’t help noticing that your singer as well as some of the more ‘’classic metal’’ parts of your songs reminded me of the US band Hittman. Especially the fast part of Running from the source and the opening of Self-chosen gave me that vibe. Do you like them, have they influenced you in any way?

Okey, I hope I don’t insult anyone right now, but I never heard of Hittman. I also know Legrand doesn’t listen to metal at all, so it’s unlikely he heard of them too. So we aren’t influenced by them in particular. Music we are influenced by goes from classical music, country, rock’n roll, 60’s-70’s rock to the noisiest and filthiest death-metal you can find. Each band member has its own favorite bands, and the music we share as a common love is progressive music. For instance, Rob listens also to singer/songwriters, Daniel loves the Doors, and I am much more of a metal guy. This doesn’t mean that I don’t listen to singer/songwriters at all; I just don’t listen to it that frequently. Generally speaking, individually we are influenced by our own favorites and when composing we all put it into one big melting pot and try to make it into a “Cirrha Niva song”.

The vocal lines are pretty unique. Intense and melodic parts are weaved in each other and there’s a constant mood change, strengthened by the theatrical delivery of LeGrand. Who composed the vocal melodies? How easy (or difficult) was it to record the vocals?

Almost all vocal melodies are composed by Legrand although for Running… and Framed he did use some fragments of older vocal lines that were composed by our former vocalist. The recording was great, Legrand is a very tough person, especially to himself. He sang some great lines only to tell us “should be done better” and record the line again. The recording process wasn’t easy, but that’s because of the high standard we and the studio demanded from us. And although it hasn’t been easy, it was great to record our music, we had some great fun doing so!!! It’s great to see your darlings evolve in something you feel proud of.

There’s a really beautiful track on the album, I’m referring to Spring before winter, it’s very dreamy and tranquil in the beginning with the guitar and saxophone solos, and later on it gets a little eerie. How do you manage to build up such a strong atmosphere?

In fact the basic parts were written a long time ago by Rob, we wanted to make it an instrumental song, with a long spherical solo. Later on when Legrand heard the song he started singing so beautiful we immediately decided to add his lines to the song. Finally, far into the mixing process, Bouke Visser (who produced the album) gave us a rough mix with the sax solo on it, just as a joke. We all loved it immediately and asked him to keep it on the album. At first he was a bit shy about it but later on we convinced him we really loved it, so he gave in. And we are very happy with it, it’s a beautiful sax solo.

Is there a concept behind the lyrics of ‘’For Moments Never Done’’? Tell us a few things about what the lyrics are about.

The lyrics are very important. You can see the lyrics as autobiographical. Le Grand describes his thoughts and experiences from his point of view, and because of that he sings them the way he does. His lyrics are very close to him. On the other hand, the lyrics are not carrying a certain message, we are not a political band, we don’t try to get a certain message abroad. Just listen to the lyrics and think for yourself. If listeners have any questions about specific lyrics they can always ask and we’ll be happy to explain.

In the last song there’s a lyric ‘’there’s no room to innovate’’. Of course you refer to something totally different but I’m using this line to ask: Is there any room to innovate in metal anymore? Has everything been played before or do the new bands have the chance to create new sounds and styles?

Well, to be honest, Frank Zappa lived so everything has been done LOL. Having said that, I think there’s always room for something new. It’s not about trying to look at what others do and then NOT doing the same, it’s about not looking at others, doing your own thing and believing in what you think sounds great. Give it your full 100% and always ask yourself how you can take a song to a higher level. If people keep on trying to express their inner feelings and stay sincere about it, new things will always appear.

You released a very strong album. What are the plans to support it? Will you do any tours in the near future?

Right now we want to play live as much as possible, we want to be out there and share our music with you guys. We want to play our guts out for our fans and the people interested that aren’t fans (yet). We want you guys to enjoy a great musical event and afterwards have a beer with us. We’d love to see you guys live and hear what you think of our live show!! This goes for each and every opportunity we get to play, whether it’s a normal show or a festival.

Progressive metal fans seem to be too devoted to the big names like Dream Theater and tend to neglect new bands that have a lot to offer. What would you say to them?

I’d like to tell them that we’ve had only positive reactions at international progressive rock media so far, so I would ask you to visit us at our websites and have a listen to our songs. You may like it!!!

Your last words.

First of all, we really want to thank everybody for the awesome reactions so far, great to see people enjoy the album. Second, we would love to see you guys in a live situation, playing our music for you. So if you guys want to see us Live, go to your local youthcenter, concert hall, a guy who organizes festivals, whatever you can think of and let them know you want to see us play live. Hopefully we’ll meet in the nearby future and until then, if any of you guys have any remarks, questions or just feel like saying “Hi” please drop us a line. This can be done at:

www.myspace.com/cirrhaniva www.cirrhaniva.nl/

Welcome to the Lonely Road...follow at your own risk

A while ago I thought about creating a little music fanzine that I would run totally on my own for just one reason. I wanted it to be me 100%. I've worked on such projects with friends I appreciate a lot and it was a great experience, but this time I wanted to avoid even the slightest compromise which was inevitable when I worked with other people.

So this is it. Something personal, hopefully unconventional, where I will try to breathe my soul intos, speak out my thoughts without bothering about anything like political corectness, criticism, etc.. I just want to spread the word about real artists, past and present, from rock or metal, through Lonely Road.

The first small issue with 30 pages full of great music can be downloaded (as a pdf file) at:

http://rapidshare.com/files/384939890/Lonely_Road_fanzine_issue_No1.rar

Contains interviews with Cirrha Niva, Pictorial Wand, Arryan Path, Ashbury and many articles and tributes.

The second issue will hopefully be up in just a few days and it will contain so much more music, so just stay tuned!

You can contact me about anything at lonelyroadfanzine@hotmail.com

I'd be more than happy to discuss about the fanzine and music in general.