Posted in Press Releases

Electronic pop singer/songwriter Howard Jones has today announced that he will host a new 4-part radio series entitled Electronic 80s with Howard Jones for the UK’s premiere 80s music radio station Absolute 80s. The hour-long show starts Sunday 4th March at 8pm, with subsequent shows airing on 11th March, 18th March and 25th March.

Electronic 80s With Howard Jones dovetails Howard’s highly anticipated April 2012 UK Tour, which begins at the O2 Academy Bristol on Wednesday 11th April. This marks the first time Howard will perform his first two studios albums Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action, back-to-back in their entirety on a nationwide tour...

Posted in Press Releases

Provogue Records are pleased to announce the UK Blu-ray & DVD release of “Joe Bonamassa: Beacon Theatre – Live From New York “on Monday 26th March 2012.

The follow-up DVD to 2009’s hugely successful Live from the Royal Albert Hall, Bonamassa kicks off proceedings with Slow Train, from his 2011 album Dust Bowl, followed by the fan-favourites Cradle Song, Dust Bowl, Blue & Evil, Mountain Time, and many more. The landmark concert features a string of special guests, including Beth Hart, John Hiatt, and Paul Rodgers.

Beth Hart joins Bonamassa for the soulful duets I’ll Take Care of You and Sinner’s Prayer, taken from the recently released Don’t Explain album – a collection of soul covers the pair recorded together...

Posted in Press Releases

Eric Johnson, the celebrated American electric guitarist, hailed by Joe Bonamassa as “one of the greatest guitar players of all time”, will embark on his first ever UK tour at the Holmfirth Picturedrome on Friday 5th July. The 5-date tour will showcase material from his current album “Up Close”, and from his rich back catalogue.
Planet Rock will start at ticket pre-sale on Wednesday 7th March, followed by a ticket pre-sale from Ents24 on Thursday 8th March. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday 9th March via the 24 hour box office: 0844 478 0898, www.thegigcartel.com.
Johnson is also a respected acoustic, lap steel, resonator and an accomplished pianist and vocalist...

Posted in Press Releases

earMUSIC, rock leg of the Hamburg, Germany, based full entertainment company Edel, is thrilled to announce the new album of THE Swedish rock supergroup, EUROPE. The long player, set for UK release on Monday 30th April 2012, is entitled Bag of Bones.

The new record was produced by one of the world’s most prestigious producers, Kevin Shirley. No stranger to the crème de la crème of iconic rock, Shirley has produced albums for Iron Maiden, Joe Bonamassa, Black Country Communion, Black Stone Cherry and Journey. Bag of Bones features 11 brand new tracks, including the first single, Not Supposed To Sing The Blues, which will be serviced to radio this Friday, March 2nd and will be released digitally March 9th.

The band recently unveiled the album artwork and now is ready to confirm the track l...

Posted in Press Releases

SCUM, the classic 1987 album from grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH, has been remastered with Full Dynamic Range and is out now on CD. The album will also be available on limited edition coloured vinyl LP in the coming weeks.

SCUM was originally released 25 years ago to little fanfare but, unknowingly at the time, would go on to spawn an entire genre, influencing others for decades to come. To this day, the album is still widely hailed as the most important grindcore album ever made, and regularly features in charts listing the best metal albums of all time.

SCUM has been remastered especially for this release from the original tapes with Full Dynamic Range (FDR), allowing the music’s nuances to shine through, giving the whole album a more ferocious and dynamic sound, and enabling the list...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

House of metal 2012
Vilken comeback och dundersuccé!

Festivalen utvecklas från år till år. Drivna och erfarna festivalmänniskor som vet vad de ska göra. Organisationen lärde sig av förra årets debacle! Trots stora namn som ”T.N.T”, ”U.D.O” och ”Triptykon” mfl så gick det kräftgång. Visst levererade banden men publiken svek. Det var egentligen bara ”Ghost” och ”U.D.O” som drog storpublik på sina respektive scener.

Jag var lite skeptisk till årets line up men de som jobbar med festivalen visste vad de gjorde. ”Immortal” och ”Amon Amarth” var de stora dragplåstren. Support kom från bla ”Nocturnal Rites”, ”Amaranthe” och ”Entombed”. Alla banden fyllde golvet och stolarna framför den stora scenen i Idun. Jag såg delar av allt och det blev stor succé...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Artist: Eluveitie
Album: Helvetios (Nuclear Blast)
Genre: Melodic death/folk metal

Femte fullängdaren från Schweiziska Eluveitie är här i form av Helvetios, ett konceptalbum under vilket man får följa historien om Kelternas krig mot Romarriket.

Eluveitie behåller sitt säregna sound där de kombinerar det klassiska Göteborgsdödssoundet med keltisk folkmusik. Flera låtar är lite agressivare och lite torrare än på tidigare album och jag skulle vilja påstå att det melodiska spelar en lite, lite mindre roll på Helvetios, exempelvis är verserna ofta helt fria från folkinstrumenten och helheten är hård metal med inslag av folkmusik istället för tvärtom (som på 2009 års misstag)...

Posted in Cd Reviews

”Pop War”.

Känn på titeln. Storslagen och maffig. Men vad betyder den? Är det en krigsförklaring mot dagens popmusik? Är det en hyllning till U2’s skivor Pop och War? Jag vet inte, men bara av att se skivomslaget får jag höga förväntningar på Nicke Anderssons uppföljare till den självbetitlade solodebuten från 2010.

Det finns hur som helst ingen anledning att oroa sig. Att Nicke kan skriva rockmusik vet vi och här gör han det kanske bättre än någonsin. Första plattan hade låtar som sträckte sig tillbaka till 50- och 60-talen. ”Resign” och ”I’ll let you down” kändes som moderna tolkningar av Beatles och Yardbirds.

På ”Pop War” tar Nicke två steg fram, ett tillbaka och landar i sjuttiotalets glamrock med Kiss och tidiga Alice Cooper som inspirationskä...

Posted in Press Releases

Heavy rock quintet The Sun Explodes create a genre-defying mix of crushing riffs, sweeping melody and pulsating electronica in this – their debut album ‘Emergence’. It is a record that classes them as a truly original and burgeoning force on the UK rock scene.

Their first year as a band saw them travel the length of Britain showcasing their epic and frenetic live performances. These gigs, aggressive and energetic though they were, demonstrated a level of technical quality matched by few new bands. It was these gigs that garnered them a fierce fan base and subsequently strong online presence. Now the band have honed their sound into a sophisticated and compelling album recording.

Heavy metal, metalcore, synth rock, prog rock… You’ll hear an amalgamation of styles on this album, but it...

Posted in Press Releases

The new SONATA ARCTICA record will be called ”Stones Grow Her Name”, and will be released on May, 18th. It was recorded in several studios all over Finland, mixed at „Sonic Pump Studios“ by Mikko Karmila and mastered at „Chartmakers“ by Svante Forsbäck.
The album will be released as limited edition digipak, standard jewel case, vinyl and download.

The tracklist of the album will be:

01. Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)
02. Shitload of Money
03. Losing My Insanity
04. Somewhere Close To You
05. I Have A Right
06. Alone In Heaven
07. The Day
08. Cinderblox
09. Don’t Be Mean
10. Wildfire II
11. Wildfire III

Vocalist Tony Kakko comments: ”Our newest adventure is only a final touch short of being ready. The recordings went extremely well and the mixing is in schedule...