Swedish metal veterans EVERGREY, known for their dark and profound compositions, have unveiled a haunting new video for their captivating song “Ominous”. The song is cut from their latest and highly acclaimed chart-topping opus, ‘A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)’, which entered the charts worldwide at #3 in Sweden (Metal), #5 in the United States (Top New Artist Albums), #7 in Finland, and #12 in Germany. The gripping new visual for “Ominous” marks the closure of this chapter, while EVERGREY is more than ready to head into new sonic adventures.
EVERGREY’s journey shows no sign of slowing down – their new album will be released this year. Stay tuned for more exciting news coming soon!
Throughout over 30 years of existence, Gothenburg’s finest export of darkness has gathered numerous worldwide chart positions with thirteen studio albums in total and has enthralled fans around the globe. The band, centered around mastermind Tom S. Englund, has been a consistent presence in the metal scene, leaving an indelible mark with their powerful performances, also appearing at renowned festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Bloodstock, Summer Breeze, and Graspop.
EVERGREY states:
“This is the last song to be released as a stunning feature film-like video from the ‘Heartless Portrait‘ album, however, it is at the same time also the beginning. This will become much clearer VERY soon! Stay excited! :D”
Watch the enchanting official video for “Ominous”
‘A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)’, the follow-up to the unit’s highly successful 2021 full-length, ‘Escape of the Phoenix’ (which landed at numerous chart positions worldwide), reveals a 10 track mélange of which every note, every riff and every word seeps pure poetry – creating a ceaseless intensity that mesmerizes from the very first second.
‘A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)’ was recorded at Top Floor Studios Gothenburg, engineered by Jakob Herrman, and produced by Tom S. Englund and Jonas Ekdahl, with mixing and mastering by Jacob Hansen at Hansen Studios (Volbeat, Destruction, Epica and many more), whereas the hauntingly beautiful album artwork was conjured by Giannis Nakos at Remedy Art Design. Nakos is known for creating artworks for acts like Oceans Of Slumber, Amaranthe, The Agonist, and The Crown as well as merchandise for Morbid Angel, Suffocation, and Cryptopsy – just to name a few.
Artwork by Giannis Nakos, Remedy Art Design
‘A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament)’ is a striking testament to the fact that while the Swedish five-piece doesn’t need to prove anything to anyone at this phase, they still impressively showcase that their creativity sees no bounds – dropping yet another sensation within their impressive catalog!
‘A Heartless Portrait(The Orphean Testament)’Track List:
We’re thrilled to announce that on March 22, 2024, our label will unleash Ruud Jolie’s For All We Know‘s latest masterpiece, ‘By Design Or By Disaster’. The album will be available on CD and on vinyl!
Since 2011, For All We Know has been the side project of Ruud Jolie, known from Within Temptation. The debut album was released in the same year, followed by the second album called ‘Take Me Home’ in 2017. In 2023, both albums were released on vinyl via prog rock/metal label Construction Records. The brand new third album, entitled ‘By Design Or By Disaster’, will also be released on CD and colored vinyl via Construction Records.
During the writing process, Jolie again worked closely with singer Wudstik, and the band consists of the same musicians who were featured on the first two albums: Léo Margarit (Pain of Salvation), Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex Pain of Salvation), and Marco Kuypers (ex Cloud Machine). The 11 songs on the album were produced by Jolie himself and range from metal to calm melodies.
Compared to the previous two albums, ‘By Design Or By Disaster‘ takes the listener to even more extreme corners, ranging from beautiful atmospheric strings to powerful rhythms and heavy guitars. Despite this diversity, Jolie continues to search for unexpected melodies and harmonies, where he is not afraid to go off the beaten path. There are also some ‘Easter eggs’ hidden for the attentive listener; melodies from the previous albums that return in an innovative way on this new album, making the first two albums together with this album a kind of trinity, which also applies to the artwork. First single and video ‘The Future That Came Too Soon’ Second single and video ‘Lifeline’
They appear alongside a line up of great artists including That Joe Payne, The Paradox Twin, Amanda Lehmann, Storm Deva & more
Saturday 24th August to Monday 26th August 2024, Cantley Park, Wokingham
Wokingham Festival has announced its three day line up featuring a wide range of musical genres including a showcase of some of the best current progressive music artists.
Taking place on Saturday, Sunday & Monday of the August Bank Holiday weekend with over 40 artists appearing, the festival has announced that the Monday line up on August 26th, which focuses on the best of prog & rock, will feature one of the most influential bands to emerge from the 1980’s festival scene, Ozric Tentacles as headliners. The band are the creative vision of multi-instrumentalist, Ed Wynne and their uniquely trippy soundscapes connect fans of progressive rock, psychedelia and dance culture. Ozric Tentacles released their 17th studio album, ‘Lotus Unfolding’ in October 2023 to great acclaim in in their 40th anniversary year.
Photo : Ozric Tentacles. Credit : Artist Also appearing on the main stage on the day will be That Joe Payne, performing a full band set with his
incredible group of musicians, plus The Paradox Twin, Spriggan Mist, Hoopy Frood & Amanda Lehmann.
There is also a second stage with no cross over so that every minute of music on the day can be enjoyed by all. The stage features a great mix of prog, blues & indie from some excellent artists. Headliners are the fast rising band from the Netherlands, Sonic Whip and there will also be performances from Chloe Mogg, San Demas,
Jimmy the Dog & Storm Deva. Gates open at 11.00am, Music starts at 12.00 midday and finishes at 8pm on the Monday (10.30 on Sat &
Sun) so not a late night if working the next day.
The first two days of the festival on the Saturday & Sunday feature a wide range of musical style including tribute artists, cover artists as well as original artists. Original prog and rock will also be represented on those days with Flutatious headlining the second stage on the Sunday, The Room playing the main stage on the Saturday and The Cold Blooded Hearts playing the main stage on the Sunday. There will also be performances from a number of excellent young indie bands.
About Wokingham Festival :-
Wokingham Festival was set up over 16 years ago by founder Stan Hetherington, who also runs the renowned Wokingham Music Club and it has built a solid and growing reputation over the years as a quality family friendly festival run by the community for the community. As well as the music across its two stages there is a great range of food and drink stalls in addition to the well stocked bar and beer tent.
The festival was traditionally a two day festival but in 2019 Stan asked Chris Hillman of White Star Records, if he would help set up a new day 3 of the festival to focus on the best of prog and rock. Chris was happy to oblige and the day was so successful that it has continued with 2024 being the 6th year since that first event!
Stan Hetherington has decided to step down from the festival as part of his retirement and has handed over the reins to a new team that will be run by Dean Nelson, known in the prog scene and beyond as manager of Kyros and owner of Generation Studio. Dean and his new team will be assisted with ongoing advice from Stan & Chris.
Chris Hillman spoke about this year’s event :
‘It’s been wonderful to see the reputation of Wokingham Festival growing further since we added a day of prog and rock to the event. The crowd has grown each year so hopefully that means we are doing something right.The aim has been to bring established bands to the area and also to help support up and coming artists in a fun friendly music loving environment. We are really excited that Ozric Tentacles are able to join us this year, alongside a great line up of quality artists’
Photo : Wokingham Festival Day 3 Crowd. Credit Andrew Merritt
Early Bird Tickets for Wokingham Festival which offer great value have already gone on sale, and may be purchased via the web site at www.wokinghamfestival.co.uk
For more information and to stay updated on Wokingham Festival, follow their social media at www.facebook.com/wokinghamfestival www.instagram.com/wokinghamfestival www.twitter.com/wokinghamfest
Following their recent acclaimed tour in the USA, progressive legends YES are set to return to UK stages in May and June.
22nd February 2024: Hot on the heels of their hugely successful Classic Tales Of Yes American Tour, Progressive Rock legends, YES, are poised to hit the road in the UK once more on a 9-date trek across the country starting on 23rd May at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and ending in London on 4th June at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, a fitting end for such a majestic band.
The Classic Tales Of Yes Tour will see YES mining their rich catalogue to deliver a career spanning set of classics, rarely played vintage cuts and new songs from 1970s Time and a Word right up to Mirror To The Sky, their 23rd album released last year, together with a special section celebrating the 50th anniversary of their momentous Tales From The Topographic Oceans opus.
Every show will feature a Roger Dean gallery in the venues foyer area. Deans masterful artwork of striking other-worldly landscapes has graced classic album covers and posters. He has sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. His artwork appears on the cover of the current YES album Mirror To The Sky. Roger is planning to be at each show on the tour, to meet with fans.
Steve Howe, whose association with Yes began in 1970, along with Geoff Downes, a member of the 1980 Drama era line-up are joined by Jon Davison, lead vocalist in Yes for well over a decade now; Billy Sherwood on bass, hand-picked by original bassist Chris Squire and Jay Schellen, who worked closely with Alan White, on drums completing the line-up.
YES are very much looking forward to playing in Europe and the UK during April, May and June this year. It’s been a while since we toured here and we’ve really missed you all. says Steve Howe
Geoff Downes goes on to say: Were very much looking forward to bringing the Classic Tales of YES Tour to the UK and Europe. It promises to be one of our most interesting sets to date, scanning through much of YESs history and with some previously unheard pieces together with music from out latest album, Mirror To The Sky. As always, were committed to pushing new boundaries and are very excited to be performing another chapter in the rich legacy of the band.”
Jon D. here, My band mates and I are very pleased and excited to bring to the UK and parts of the EU our current set of classic Yes music which, covering the rich spectrum of Yestory, delighted US fans last fall. Well be performing many song favourites but also adding rarities, some of which havent been performed in decades! Lets all join together in May, band and audience alike, in celebrating whats best about Yes music. See you there!
Very much looking forward to playing all this wonderful YES music across Europe and the UK. Its an interesting set of music and one that spans the many decades of the bands unique and rich history continues Billy Sherwood
Jay Schellen says: Im very excited and looking forward to performing our 2024 Classic Tales Of YES tour in the UK. This collection of songs is unique in many ways. A classic YES show, thrilling and dynamic! Im sure our fans will be excited and pleased as well!
The Classic Tales of YES UK Tour Dates 2024
Thursday 23 May Manchester Bridgewater Hall* Friday 24 May Glasgow Royal Concert Hall* Sunday 26 May Liverpool Philharmonic Hall* Tuesday 28 May York Barbican* Wednesday 29 May Southend Cliffs Pavilion* Friday 31May Bristol Beacon Saturday 1 June Birmingham Symphony Hall* Sunday 2 June Gateshead The Glasshouse (formerly The Sage*) Tuesday 4 June London Royal Albert Hall
*UK Shows rescheduled from 2023, all tickets remain valid.
It was fantastic to see the band dig deep and play selections such as It Will Be A Good Day (The River), a song not played live since 2000. What tale can be complete without digging up Tales From Topographic Oceans. The band did a condensed reimagined version which ended the main set with a thunderous ovation. Consider it a treat that YES still exists in 2023. Joseph Suto, ROCK SHOW CRITIQUE
This show is bound to please and have something for everyone. Everyone together produces a sound that is almost indistinguishable from the earlier incarnations. The only real difference is the improvement of technology and better fidelity. If you have enjoyed Yes in the past, you will enjoy this show and if you have never seen them, there is no better time than now. Kim Hansen, GHOST CULT MAG
About YES
Steve Howe: guitars, backing vocals (1970 1981, 19901992, 1995present) Geoff Downes: keyboards (19801981, 2011present) Jon Davison: lead vocals, acoustic guitar (2012present) Billy Sherwood: guitar, backing vocals ((1994, 19972000), bass guitar, backing vocals (2015present) Jay Schellen: drums and percussion (2016-present)
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, produced by Steve Howe and which went to No. 1 in the UK Rock Albums Chart and entered the Official UK Album Chart at No. 20.
In 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 classic, genre-defining album Close To The Edge 50th Anniversary Tour, which he was intending to be a part of until ill-health determined otherwise. The tour was dedicated to Alan.
In February 2023, ahead of the news of the new studio album Mirror To The Sky, YES confirmed Jay Schellen as the new permanent drummer with YES, hand-picked to step into his mentor and friend Alan Whites role. I had done the 2016 tour on my own for Alan, says Jay. From late 2017 onwards, we had a beautiful partnership. I learned and discovered so much about Alans style. His passion and creativity was phenomenal. The new album has Alans presence all over it. It is inside of us. So, this is still, in my heart, Alan just being present and with us, and with me, in a big way.
Mirror To The Sky, YES 23rd studio album, was released on 19 May 2023 to universally positive reviews in the music press. Mirror to the Sky is very much a band album, where all five members… have been at the top of their game, stated The Progressive Aspect. YES will continue to have a role to play in shaping the future sounds of prog.
TRANSATLANTIC – the Prog Supergroup of Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt & Pete Trewavas – have announced the release of ‘Live at Morsefest 2022: The Absolute Whirlwind’ for April 26th, 2024. This mammoth Limited 5CD + 2 Blu-ray Artbook set features both sets from Morsefest in their entirety, with nearly 4 and a half hours of music in total.
To coincide with the announcement, the band have launched a live clip of the track ‘Can You Feel It’, taken from night 2, and you can watch that video here:
“Not to be confused by last years live release of our last show in Paris, THIS release of TA at Morsefest 2022 represents the most epic and mammoth of all TA Live releases!
2 Nights, 2 completely different sets, 2 TA concept albums done in their entirety…accompanied with Strings, Horns, Percussion, Female Vocals, etc…Transatlantic has always been about “More Never Is Enough”, but no live TA release has ever been more EPIC than this one…It’s the ULTIMATE Live TA experience!”
Neal Morse adds:
“At long last, a musical dream come true in true epic fashion! To play The Absolute Universe, The Whirlwind, and other great pieces of music with Transatlantic, along with an amazing string section, background singers, etc. What more could any musician ask for? This is the very best of the very best in my view. I hope you all enjoy experiencing this as much as we enjoyed performing it!“
Roine Stolt comments:
“Playing Morsefest was quite a task, learning all the different material for the 2 different shows.
We even got a chance to play that Procol Harum tune, that is dear to me & takes me back to my teenage years, just getting to know what prog is/was. The addition of the strings and choir at Morsefest, plus Philip adding percussion lent a different and perhaps more of an orchestral side. That worked really well and made these 2 nights very special.”
Pete Trewavas comments:
“To play Morsefest 2022 was an absolute pleasure for me and gave us a natural break at the end of the North American leg of The Absolute Universe tour, where we regrouped at Neal’s to rehearse for the two shows, back where we had rehearsed for the tour some four or five weeks earlier.
We had 3 days I think it was to refresh The Whirlwind full version and learn ‘In Held T’was In I’. The festival was an absolute blast. We were all super relaxed and enjoying ourselves probably due to the little break from touring back to rehearsing.
Neal had been wanting to get Transatlantic at MorseFest since we released Whirlwind and it never panned out for various reasons, so it felt fitting that we got it all together for The Absolute Universe tour.”
Morsefest, the festival put on by Neal Morse annually in Nashville, Tennessee has been in existence since 2014. Typically, the weekend-long event celebrated music from Neal’s solo work and other bands from his career. But with each passing Morsefest, there had been one question lingering among the faithful audience that returned every year…when will Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt & Pete Trewavas perform at Morsefest? In 2022, at the 9th Morsefest, it finally happened and in epic Transatlantic fashion.
In 2021, Transatlantic released The Absolute Universe, the band’s 5th album since forming in 2000. However, as the band’s motto is “More Is Never Enough,” ‘The Absolute Universe’ was released as two different versions – ‘The Breath of Life (Abridged version)’, and ‘Forevermore (Extended version)’. In addition, the band combined those two versions for an Ultimate Edition of the album. With touring restrictions due to the pandemic finally lifted, the band finally started their tour in April 2022 ending up at Morsefest on the weekend of April 29th and 30th.
The weekend at Morsefest provided 2 nights of shows. For night one, the band performed their classic album ‘The Whirlwind’ in its entirety, the first time they had done so in 10 years. The evening also added “Into the Blue” and “Shine” from the band’s 4th album ‘Kaleidoscope’ as well as the classic ballad “We All Need Some Light.” As a surprise, the band played a song they’ve never performed live before – their cover of the Procol Harum classic “In Held ‘Twas In I” from the first Transatlantic album ‘SMPTe.’
Night 2 saw the full performance of The Absolute Universe – The Ultimate Edition, combining all of the tracks from the 2 versions of the album. The night closed with a medley of tracks from the band’s first two albums including “All of the Above,” “My New World,” and “Stranger In Your Soul.”
For the first time, the band performed alongside a choir and string section, making these shows truly special for those who were in attendance. Now, you can experience these incredible performances for yourself with the release of this Limited Deluxe 5CD+2Blu-ray artbook, featuring an extensive 36-page booklet with photos, contained within a hardcover.
Night 1 Tracklisting: 1. Into The Blue 2. In Held (‘Twas) In I 3. Shine 4. We All Need Some Light 5. Overture/Whirlwind 6. The Wind Blew Them All Away 7. On The Prowl 8. A Man Can Feel 9. Out Of The Night 10. Rose Colored Glasses 11. Evermore 12. Set Us Free 13. Lay Down Your Life 14. Pieces of Heaven 15. Is It Really Happening? 16. Dancing With Eternal Glory/Whirlwind (Reprise)
Night 2 Tracklisting: 1. Overture 2. Reaching For The Sky 3. Higher Than The Morning 4. The Darkness In The Light 5. Take Now My Soul 6. Bully 7. Rainbow Sky 8. Looking For The Light 9. The World We Used To Know 10. The Sun Comes Up Today 11. Love Made A Way (Prelude) 12. Owl Howl 13. Solitude 14. Belong 15. Lonesome Rebel 16. Can You Feel It 17. Looking For The Light (Reprise) 18. The Greatest Story Never Ends 19. Love Made A Way 20. Bridge Across Forever 21. The Final Medley
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