12th October 2022: Progressive legends YES have announced UK dates for their long-awaited Album Series 2023 Tour featuring their 1974 Relayer album in its entirety together with a selection of other classic YES favourites. Tickets are on sale from 10am on Friday 14th October.
The Relayer Tour was originally planned for 2020 but postponed due to the pandemic and last years highly successful 50th anniversary of their legendary Close To The Edge album. The Royal Albert Hall was the original choice for the tours London show but has no availability, so the band will make a nostalgic return to an old haunt, the former Hammersmith Odeon.
The coming tour features Steve Howe (guitars), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Billy Sherwood (bass guitar) with Jay Schellen (drums and percussion) stepping into Alan Whites shoes following his passing in May 2022.
The show will comprise of two sets by the band. The first will feature favourite classic tracks from YESs extensive catalogue. YES will perform Relayer, their seventh studio album, in full in the second set. Relayer marked a slight change in direction bringing an edgier feel to this album. At almost 22 minutes in length, the opening track Gates Of Delirium included a battle scene between keyboard and guitar. The battle gives way to the beautiful closing ballad Soon, a prayer for peace and hope.
Relayer continues with Sound Chaser, a prog-rock-jazz fusion experiment demonstrating the power of Alan White and Chris Squire, and To Be Over, a calm and gentle conclusion to the album, based on a melody by Steve Howe and Jon Anderson.
Released in late 1974 on Atlantic Records, Relayer continued YESs success reaching number 4 in the UK album chart and number 5 in the US Billboard chart.
The UK Relayer Tour dates for 2023 are as follows:
Saturday 10 June Birmingham Symphony Hall
Sunday 11 June Southend Cliffs Pavilion
Monday 12 June York Barbican
Wednesday 14 June Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Thursday 15 June Gateshead The Sage
Friday 16 June Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Saturday 18 June Manchester Bridgewater Hall
Tuesday 20 June London Eventim Apollo
Tickets from Yesworld.com, Bookingsdirect.com and all usual outlets.
About YES
Steve Howe: guitars, backing vocals (1970 1981, 19901992, 1995present)
Geoff Downes: keyboards (19801981, 2011present)
Jon Davison: lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2012present)
Formed in 1968 by Jon Anderson and the late, and much-missed, Chris Squire, YES have been one of the most innovative, influential and best-loved bands in rock music history. Their 1970s albums The Yes Album, Fragile, Close To The Edge, Yessongs (a triple live album set), Tales From Topographic Oceans, Relayer and Going For The One were ground-breaking in musical style and content. Their music also became synonymous with artist Roger Dean whose distinctive YES logo design and artwork adorned the lavish gatefold presentation sleeves of many YES albums.
With sales of over 50 million records, the Grammy-award winning YES were inducted into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2017 where they performed Roundabout from the album Fragile and the FM radio-friendly Owner Of A Lonely Heart from the 1985 album 90125.
YES released their 22nd studio album in 2021, The Quest, which went to No. 1 in the UK Rock Albums Chart and entered the Official UK Album Chart at No. 20.
In May 2022 came the sad news that drummer Alan White, ever-present in the YES line-up for 50 years, had passed away. The news came shortly before the band embarked on their 50th anniversary tour marking the release of their classic, genre-defining album Close To The Edge.
Finnish progressive metal band Joviac released a new single and music video ‘Dissemination’. Since their latest single ‘The Fine Line‘ the band has now expanded from trio to quintet when Johannes Leipälä (Guitar) & Tuomas Honkkila (Keyboards) were added to the line-up earlier this summer.
WATCH Dissemination music video:
Viljami Wenttola’s comments: “When the global pandemic began and we all became familiar with the term “lockdown”, I noticed that it wasn’t the disease itself that was most anxiety and fear inducing for me personally, but the amount of misinformation and disinformation surrounding the disease. Fake news was rampant. People used the disease to further their at times questionable motives and armed themselves with arguments that supported only their own nefarious or ignorant ends. Suddenly everyone felt like they knew better than everyone else and trust in their “own research” was stronger than in the scientific community. In many ways the pandemic brought out the darkest sides of humanity. I channelled all of my pandemic anxiety and fear into this song and the result is definitely the heaviest song that we’ve ever released. I even tried out harsh vocals/growling for the first time!”
Joe Deninzon & musical friends Rachel Flowers (flute, piano) and Alex Skolnick (guitar) perform Chick Corea’s “Spain” on the upcoming Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius’ “Behind the Curtain: Live From ProgStock” via Four-Disc Box Set – Double CD, DVD & Blu-Ray to be released by Melodic Revolution Records.
“Spain” will premiere on YouTube on Friday, October 14 at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT/ 3 AM Amsterdam time (October 15, Saturday) Watch it here or on YouTube.
“Spain,” and how it came to be by Joe Deninzon
One of the perks of being a jazz musician is that you can walk into a room anywhere in the world, jump on stage with people you’ve never met who may or may not speak your language, and weave together a spontaneous concert based on a shared musical language.
On October 2nd, 2021, when the late great John Goodsall from Brand X fell ill, Stratospheerius was asked last minute to headline Progstock, the biggest prog rock festival in the Northeastern U.S. Preceding our set was the amazing multi-instrumentalist Rachel Flowers, who recently contributed her talents to our single, “Storm Surge.” Following us later that night was the bassist Percy Jones. Joining Percy on guitar was Alex Skolnick. Alex is an old friend who recorded and toured with our band in the early 2000s. I saw a great opportunity to reunite with Alex and include Rachel in a song. It was also nice to give the band a break and play something more stripped-down in the middle of our set. We decided to play Chick Corea’s “Spain,” a song we all knew well. There was no time to rehearse. Alex had heard of Rachel but had never met her. That night, Rachel and Alex met on stage, never having played together before. This performance was completely on the fly! Judging by the audience’s reaction, I think we created some magic that night and are excited to share it with everyone who couldn’t be there in person.
Discography Behind the Curtain: Live at ProgStock (2022) 4 Disc Box set Spain “Live at ProgStock” (2022) Digital Single The Prism “Live at ProgStock” (2022) Digital Single Game of Chicken (Live at ProgStock) (2021) Digital Single Cognitive Dissonance (2021) Digital Single Storm Surge (2020) Digital Single Frame by Frame (2020) Digital Single Impostor! (2019) Digital Single Guilty of Innocence (2018) LP/Vinyl Guilty of Innocence (2017) CD & Digital Album Hysteria (2017) Digital Single The Next World (2012) CD & Digital Headspace (2007) CD & Digital Live Wire (2004) CD & Digital The Adventures of Stratospheerius (2002) CD & Digital Electric / Blue (1998) CD & Digital
Slovenian progressive metallers Seventh Station will be presenting their second album “Heal the Unhealed” this coming November. The record is an international effort – rehearsed and recorded through five different studios on three continents ranging from the United States, Slovenia, and Turkey. Full of magnificent sweeps, heavy riffs, and intricate melodies, the band creates an eclectic progressive experience.
For this sophomore effort, band founder and guitarist Dmitri Alperovich wanted to bring his personal point of view from his roots growing up as a Soviet Union child before his family moved to Israel, before finally settling in Slovenia.
“I went through a lot of different circumstances and the processes of adaptation for each country – also resulting in anxiety and panic attacks after all these significant paradigm shifts. Heal The Unhealed is a personal reflection on these experiences and the psychological states they brought, voiced through different characters, including the primary actors of the conditions I had back in the Soviet Union,” adds Alperovich.
Today, Seventh Station presents a studio video for their third single “The Ruthless Koba”, which is an original arrangement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony – 2nd Movement (op. 93).
Alperovich explains the song in further detail:
“This instrumental track is an original arrangement of a classical orchestral epic, Dmitri Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony, second movement. The arrangement was written by Dmitri Alperovich and it’s the second part of the Soviet Union / Stalin trilogy. The original movement is a description by Shostakovich, of the circumstances and conditions through Stalin’s evilness as the ruler of the Soviet Union. It was very important for us to represent the atmosphere of the original work, so we made a great effort to both respects and celebrate it through the arrangement decisions. Koba was the nickname that Stalin was given by his close friends and the name of the track is an attempt to show the duality between the “friendly” Koba and the ruthless dictator.”
Watch and listen to “The Ruthless Koba” via its premiere on MetalInsider HERE.
Following their debut album 2016’s “Between Life and Dreams”, Seventh Station’s sophomore record “Heal the Unhealed” comes out after two years of delay due to the Covid pandemic, and the band is excited to share its six creative and inventive progressive influenced metal songs. Ready to be discovered, it’s a hidden gem that was on the shelf way too long and its timing couldn’t be more appropriate. Overall, the album reflects historical events and their psychologies throughout its listening experience. From dreamy atmospheres to technical madness’, it’s a musically diverse record.
Vocalist Davidavi Dolev, who was involved for the first time with writing lyrics and vocal lines, explains the full length:
“I wanted to find the right ‘voice’ for the lyrics, trying to voice Dmitri’s musical ideas through surrealism and through the absurd. So, lyrically the point was to magnify even more the panic attacks Dmitri was trying to describe, through the light of harsh and incomprehensible historical events. This album could very much be a progressive assault on the ear, very much for the open-minded, not at all for the weak-hearted. Musically this album is choosing the long path rather than quick gratification but at the same time very satisfying for those who manage to go through this entire orchard.”
Applying the knowledge and techniques from classical music in to progressive metal, Seventh Station is an artistic progressive metal band that makes personal storytelling into an auditory event that must be experienced from beginning the end.
Recommended for fans of Dream Theater, Symphony X, and Opeth, Seventh Station‘s “Heal the Unhealed” comes out on November 7, 2022.
Track Listing: 1. Unspoken Thoughts (07:37) 2. Seven Digits (07:36) 3. The Heart of a Nation (Nadia) (12:27) 4. The Ruthless Koba (05:19) 5. All Hail the Moustache (12:04) 6. A Final Bow (13:41) Album Length: 58:47
Album Recording and Live Band Line Up: – Dmitri Alperovich – Guitar – Eren Basbug – Keyboards – Davidavi Dolev – Vocals – Jure Lopatic – Bass – Grega Plamberger – Drums and Percussion
About: Seventh Station is a progressive metal band based in Slovenia, led by Israeli Guitarist Dmitri Alperovich and Turkish Keyboardist Eren Başbuğ. Constructing their sound by fusing progressive metal with contemporary classical music, the band’s new album Healed the Unhealed is their second full-length record, released independently. Featuring an international lineup, Davidavi “Vidi” Dolev (Vocals), Jure Lopatic (Bass), and Grega Plamberger (Drums). On their new record, Seventh Station adds to their “on the edge” performances and compositions more blood, more sweat, and more tears.
Formed between the Academy of Music & Dance in Jerusalem and Berklee College of Music in Boston, Seventh Station released its debut album Between Life and Dreams in 2016. After relocating to Europe and a few line-up changes, Alperovich and Başbuğ knew no borders in the search for uncompromising compositions and musical executors, progressive and challenging. After several tours between the Middle East and post-Yugoslavia, the band gathered together on recording ‘Heal the Unhealed’. Inspired by the Second World War and the Soviet Union, the album is an hour-long reflection in the eyes of Alperovich, who was born in Minsk, Belarus, moved to Israel and eventually found his way to Slovenia. Featuring surrealistic epos, harnessing the band’s skillful abilities in order to express Kafkaesque situations, Heal the Unhealed examines resemblances between dictatorships and the personality disorders of an artist.
Seventh Station is now gearing up for their upcoming record Heal the Unhealed released on November 7th, 2022, along with a supporting tour through Europe and the Middle East, to be announced later this Fall.
“This music is not meant to be listened to on a telephone.” Heed those words, which come at the end of the liner notes for Four, the fourth album from California’s Temple of Switches. This is mysterious, majestic music that deserves to be played through the loudest speakers you can find.” – Michael Popke, Sea of Tranquility
The name Temple of Switches was coined in 2012 by Tenk Van Dool. Temple of Switches is an independent band and the creative outlet for producer and musician Van Dool.
The band is comprised of a group of musicians that have been friends since the late 1970s (Kevin McConnell and David White) as well as other talented guest musicians from outside the group (Clara Hembree and Craig Camp from the band Circle of Dominion, Gaetano Nicolosi from Iron Horse, Amanda Lehmann from Steve Hackett’s band).
Their music is dark, contemplative, dissonant, melancholy, heavy, sarcastic, and unrestrained. Their studio recordings tend to be edgy and dynamic. Their compositions draw from jazz influences while retaining an element of heaviness and adrenaline. Their last two consecutive albums have earned them “Featured artist of the month” on progrock.com.
The latest release entitled “IV” has earned them excellent reviews from Prog Archives and Sea of Tranquility among others, and the song “The Unfurling” is in the running for best composition for 2021 on Friday Night Progressives Indie Prog Awards. The haunting song “The Wind” features Amanda Lehmann on vocals.
Discography: Temple of Switches – Self-Titled (2015) Helium Parade (2017) The Wings of Mind (2020) IV (2022)
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