5.31.2011

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’’



5.17.2011

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:

5.16.2011

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.





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!

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

5.13.2011

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:


5.09.2011

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.






5.01.2011

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:







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: