Nth Ascension Announce Eric Gillette of The Neal Morse Band as Mixing Engineer for Third Album

Nth Ascension the northwest English Progressive Rockers have looked across the pond for the mixing of their third album. American Progressive Rock multi-instrumentalist Eric Gillette a newcomer with an impressive start. From his beginnings in 2010 with The Swon Brothers (who would later appear on The Voice), as a guitarist and backing vocalist; to working with Neal Morse in 2012 and finally joining The Neal Morse Band as lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter in 2015.

Craig Walker (drums) noticed Eric Gillette’s contributions on The Grand Experiment, The Neal Morse Band’s 2015 release and became an instant fan; seeking out Eric’s solo material soon after.
As the writing of the new Nth Ascension album wound down and the time to enter the studio neared, the band would learn that the mixing engineer and studio (Mat Arnold, Hilltown Studios) of their 2016 release, In Fine Initium wasn’t available for the upcoming album.

Craig had been so impressed with Eric’s work and was aware that he was a mixing engineer in addition to his musical endeavors. Eric had made it known in social media that he was taking on a limited number of projects this fall between his other commitments. Craig contacted Eric to see if he would be interested in providing the mix engineering for Nth’s new project, and the response was positive. Craig then approached his bandmates and they unanimously agreed this was the direction the band would like to pursue their 2019 release.

The new album was completely produced and engineered by the band and is … unmistakably Nth Ascension. This third offering is filled with the signature full rich cinematic soundscapes you have come to expect of them; encompassing dark and light expressed in powerful vocal and lyric structures leading us to a new dimension of consciousness; and certain to capture something just a bit more with the help and talents of Eric Gillette at the mixing board.

Nth Ascension on Social Media
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Melodic Revolution Records
Jennifer Katona:
[email protected]

Melodic Revolution Records Online:
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Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius to release Limited Edition “Guilty of Innocence” LP. Pre-orders Start this Friday

Melodic Revolution Records is pleased to announce that Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius will release their LP of their highly acclaimed fifth album “Guilty of Innocence” a year after the official CD release via Melodic Revolution Records. The 10-track LP will be available worldwide in both Physical and Digital formats. As with the previous CD & Digital version “Guilty of Innocence” features special appearances by Alex Skolnick(Testament), Rave Tesar(Renaissance) and Randy McStine (Lo-Fi Resistance, The Fringe).

Guilty of Innocence” highlights include the hit singles “Behind the Curtain” a reimagined cover of Muse’s “Hysteria,” and the 12-minute prog mini-epic titled “Soul Food” which features many of the guests mentioned above, plus “Dream Diary Cadenza,” a solo electric violin extravaganza lifted from Joe’s electric violin concerto.

Stratospheerius is led by founding member, electric violinist & vocalist Joe Deninzonwho has been called the “Jimi Hendrix of the electric violin.” “Guilty of Innocence” features French guitarist Aurelien Budynek(Cindy Blackman, Vernon Reid), bassist Jamie Bishop(The Syn, Francis Dunnery), and drummer Lucianna Padmore, praised by Modern Drummer Magazine for her “Deep grooves and serious fusion chops.”

Joe talks about the Vinyl/LP version of “Guilty of Innocence
Guilty of Innocence was a watershed moment for Stratospheeriusthis past year. After years of touring and putting out CD’s, I felt that this record was embraced by the progressive rock community on a bigger scale than any of our previous releases. In our touring and festival appearances alongside other artists in the prog world, I noticed more and more artists are manufacturing vinyl, and in many cases, it is outselling their CD’s at live shows. I believe the resurgent interest in vinyl has to do with the fact that in the digital age, we consume music on the go in a condensed mp3/streaming format. There is a hunger to hold something tangible in our hands, admire the artwork on a record, and have the home listening experience be something special. We are excited to join the growing community of artists putting out vinyl and hope our fans will buy the record and rediscover it (or DISCOVERit)!

LP Details
Artist: Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius
Album Title: “Guilty of Innocence”
Status: Limited Edition of 250 copies
Format: 33 rpm black vinyl – LP
Extras: Custom LP sleeve, all LPs come with a FREE download card
Release Date: Monday, October 8th, 2018
Pre-Orders begin Friday, September 14, 2018
Pre-Orders Price $25
Catalog No. MRRLP-12-006
Label: Melodic Revolution Records

Track Listing

Side One
1. Behind The Curtain 03:43
2. Take Your Medicine 04:10
3. Guilty Of Innocence 03:16
4. Face 05:46
5. Hysteria 04:13
6. Affluenza 03:08

Side Two
1. Parallel Reality 03:10
2. Game Of Chicken 05:03
3. Dream Diary Cadenza 04:12
4.Soul Food 12:46

Vinyl Pre-Orders begin Friday, September 14, 2018
https://joedeninzonstratospheerius.bandcamp.com
https://stratospheerius.bandcamp.com

What the critics are saying:

“Joe Deninzon has made a career…wielding his violin like a guitar. In that way, he has pioneered a new standard for rock violin, much the same way Ian Anderson did for flute.”
– PROGRESSION MAGAZINE

This is infectious, with no cure in sight. The arrangements are tight, everyone bounces off each other, and is one of the most poptastic progressive album one is likely to come across
5/5 Kev Rowland // Prog Archives

One of the perks of being a reviewer is that on some days you get the pleasure of getting introduced to some music or bands you never heard of but are actually quite good. Or in the case of Joe Deninzon And Stratospheerius, really good!
9/10 Arno Agterberg // DPRP

Joe Deninzon’s music is always both entertaining and creative. I have to say that this might very well be the best Stratospheerius album.
Gary Hill // Music Street Journal

The album comes with plenty of Progressive Rock tracks, it’s the other songs containing other styles that help to make the release even more entertaining. If you happen to be a fan of Progressive Rock, the new album of Guilty of Innocence album from Joe Deninzon and the band Stratospheerius is one album you need to check out.
Matheson Kamin // The Rock and Roll Report

Upcoming Shows

Sonic Voyage Festival and “Vinyl Release Party” with special guests
Oct 4th, 2018  doors at 7 pm
Shrine World Music Venue
2274 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. NY, NY
https://www.shrinenyc.com

ProgStock Festival
October 6th2018 at Midnight

Union County Performing Arts Center
1601 Irving Street, Rahway, New Jersey 07065
https://www.progstock.com/

Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius Online.
Official Website: http://www.stratospheerius.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stratospheerius/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/@stratospheerius
Spotify: spoti.fi/2Qp5CmI
MRR Artist Profile: http://mrrmusic.com/joe-deninzon-stratospheerius/

Media Contact: Anne Leighton
Leighton Media [email protected]

Label: Melodic Revolution Records
Nick Katona: [email protected]

Melodic Revolution Records Online:
http://mrrmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MelodicRevolutionRecords/ 
https://www.facebook.com/MelodicRevolutionRecords/
https://www.youtube.com/c/MelodicRevolutionRecordsMusic 
https://twitter.com/MusicIsOurVoice 

Melodic Revolution Records Spotify Playlists:
https://open.spotify.com/user/melodicrevolutionrecords

Peruvian band FLOR DE LOTO set to return for RoSFest 2019

We are pleased to announce that Peruvian band Flor de Loto have been signed to ROSFest also for 2019.

Following a spectacular performance at last year’s RoSfest, we have decided to bring Peruvian band Flor de Loto back also for the 2019 edition of our festival. For a number of reasons: Their concert last year was brilliant, and many desired to see them again sooner rather than later. Some missed out on the show, and from what they heard from others they knew they had missed something good. Hence we see to it that this situation is resolved. And finally Flor de Loto have now signed with US label Melodic Revolution Records, a label that are longtime friends of RoSfest, and they are releasing Flor de Loto’s new album Eclipse.

As we stated last year: Progressive Rock is alive and well on the South American continent, and one of the most popular progressive rock bands in South America is Flor de Loto from Peru. They have built a steadily growing fan base all over the continent since they first appeared in 2005 with their self-titled debut album, with a solid presence as a live band for more than a decade and seven (soon eight) studio albums to their name cementing their reputation as a high-quality band.

Their take on progressive rock is one that resides somewhere in between Jethro Tull and Iron Maiden, incorporating elements from metal, Andean folk music and, chamber music into their compositions alongside nods towards hard rock and psychedelic rock. This results in a sound and style with a broad appeal: This is a band with fans also from outside of the progressive rock universe.

Alonso Herrera, Alejandro Jarrin, Pablo Alayza, Alvaro Escobar, Pierre Farfán and Gabriel Iwasaki are members of a band that has a reputation as a quality act on all levels. We are eagerly looking forward to being able to once again experience one of the top progressive rock bands from the South American continent performing live at ROSfest 2019.

ROSfest 2019 will take place on May 3rd through 5th 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. The final line-up and schedule for the festival are still TBA. Confirmed bands to appear so far are: Riverside (headliner), Karmamoi, Cryptic Vision, PrideauxMartin Barre (performing 50 Years of Jethro Tull),  Edge of Reality, Entransient, and Traverser

Follow Flor de Loto
Official page: http://mrrmusic.com/flor-de-loto/
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/flordelotoprogre
Bandcamp Store: https://flordeloto.bandcamp.com
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/iggyflorezz 

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NTH ASCENSION – IN FINE INITIUM – MELODIC REVOLUTION RECORDS

For their 2016 album, Nth Ascension made the move to American label MRR, and the confidence they gained from the critical acclaim of their debut is clearly apparent. Whereas the debut ‘Ascension of Kings” was an excellent album, this one just seems to have that touch more depth in every area. There are three songs more than ten minutes in length, and as well as channeling the likes of Pendragon and Clive Nolan there is also far more in the way of Pink Floyd, Magnum, and Saga. The music is arranged in such a way that Alan’s vocals are very much to the fore of everything that is going on, which to me is a huge benefit as he has more than a touch of Roger Chapman  and particularly Cyrus (Citizen Cain) about what he is doing, although I am aware that it may not be to everyone’s tastes.

It is a class album that is full of the Nineties prog scene in so many ways, and anyone who lived through that musical period such as I will be listening to this with a huge smile on their face, yet it has been brought both up to date in terms of production as well as looking back into the Seventies for inspiration here and there. Craig is a great drummer, driving the tunes from the back and adding fills and stylings when the need is right, always working the kit without overpowering the rest of the guys. His brother Gavin does far more to lock down the sound and keep it tight but also moves away from grounding songs when it is time for him to add additional melody. Their dad either riffs, solos or sits back and has a rest and does nothing so that when he does make an entrance it always has an impact. Then, of course, there is Ten keyboard player and solo artist Darrel, providing curtains of sounds, or taking the lead, or adding dynamic piano, whatever is required.

The more I played this album the more I enjoyed it, as the more I gained from it. While the debut was strong, this is far more distilled, controlled, and so thoroughly enjoyable.

By Kev Rowland

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NTH ASCENSION – ASCENSION OF KINGS – SONIC VISTA MUSIC

 In 2009, drummer Craig Walker was asked to stand in for a local band, where he met keyboard player Darrel Treece-Birch, who was also helping them out. This led to them deciding to start a new project together, and they brought along Darrel’s longtime collaborators Martin Walker (who just happens to be Craig’s dad) and singer/bassist Alan ‘Spud’ Taylor. After the release of a demo, Gavin Walker (Craig’s brother, Martin’s son – are you following this?) was brought in as bassist to allow Alan to concentrate on singing. At the time of the release (2014) Darrel was in two other bands, one of which was Ten (with whom he is still with today), and singer Gary Hughes helped out by engineering and producing Alan, as well as providing some backing vocals. But these guys are a totally different style of music to what Darrel plays in Ten.

Some people will argue that these guys are neo prog, while others may look to crossover, but it is honestly just easier to state that they are a very English sounding prog band. Classic Pendragon has obviously been an influence, but so have some of the more keyboard-oriented pastoral bands of the past, and every time I play the classic “Weight of The World” the vocals remind me of some of the songs from Roger Glover’s ‘The Butterfly Ball’! I think what I like about the album is that there is so little stress within it, it is quite laid back at times, but they know when the guitars need to make an impact without always crunching out riffs. They are all fine musicians but are quite happy to sit back and often let Darrel lead the musical flow while Alan sits over the top of it all with wonderfully melodious vocals. They close with the eighteen-minute-long “Vision” which allows them to musically stretch their wings, yet still, keep it all contained and incredibly melodic. Driving, pastoral yet rocky when they need to be, melodic, musical, this is a really nice album indeed.

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http://mrrmusic.com/nth-ascension/

by Kev Rowland