Florida Prog band debut new video for Star Faux Playthrough Video at 8Arms Audio from their upcoming album: “Jupiter doesn’t care about you” The video was captured during rehearsals at their studio – 8Arms Audio – on 7/27/18
The band will debuting this song live at House of Blues Orlando on 8/18/18
If you’d like free tickets to this show, with Mr. Bella, Megaphone and Social Ghost also appearing to support Rockpink.com and breast cancer awareness, please email traversertickets@gmail.com with your name, mailing address and how many tickets you would like. There’s still time for snail-mail to reach you.
TRÅVERSER are also scheduled to play RoSfest2019 which will take place on May 3rd through 5th, 2019 at the Sarasota Opera House, Florida. http://rosfest.com/
Oakland, CA – Bay Area rock band STIMULI create thoughtful and heavy rock music about the human condition, delivered through Jimmy Tomahawk’s melodic and edgy vocals and spacious and heavy guitar riffing, Tai Hake‘s solid and snarling bass tones, and Cole Andrew‘s intricate and powerful drumming. STIMULI will release their first official full-length album titled THEY ARE WE in stores and online worldwide on August 17, 2018. The album is a winding 11-track explosion of the trio’s dense, ambitious, and fiercely original sound.
In April 2018, the band generated buzz when they released their debut single and music video for the album’s title track, “They Are We.” The single knocks out a Hard Rock, radio-friendly sound that also exposes the introspective themes of understanding and empathy that permeates their new album. THEY ARE WE was recorded at the idyllic Russian River Studios on the Ingels Ranch in Talmage, California, where Tomahawk and Hake had previously recorded with their band Yeibichai. Ken Ingels, the owner of the studio, was extremely helpful, and they enlisted Andrew Miller to engineer and mix the album, and Mike Wells for mastering. For the artwork and album layout, the trio had their eyes photographed and then overlaid the irises so that the colors merge and overlap, accomplished thanks to the superb talents of Michael Miller at Digital Realm Productions, who brought their vision to life in a way that represents the music on the album exceptionally well.
Not only do STIMULI masterfully rock the traditional power trio format, the band also incorporates synth atmospherics and eclectic instrumentation that is not often associated with contemporary Hard Rock. Bassist Tai Hake also plays Theremin, and their music features Native American flute, sitar, acoustic guitar and ambient synthesizers. Lyrically, STIMULI’s themes possess a rare depth – insightful and meaningful, ruminating on personal experiences and reflections about peace, empathy, destiny, and self-actualization. Combined together, STIMULI are a sort of “Thinking Person’s Rock Band.”
While all members are of a shared generation, their influences run the gamut. The heavy, tight and polished sound of STIMULI has been compared to Alice in Chains, Black Sabbath, Soundgarden, Tool, Rush, and Nirvana. The individual and collective history of the band is just as varied and multi-faceted as their music. Comprised of seasoned musicians from around the world (drummer Cole Andrew is from Australia), STIMULI is a collage of three very strong-willed personalities who, like most productive collaborations, happen to have chemistry and work well together.
“Our music contains a strong emotional intensity with personal, social, and philosophical messages about the human experience,” explains guitarist/vocalist Jimmy Tomahawk. “Although there is an undeniably serious disposition in the band’s message, as individuals, we don’t take ourselves very seriously at all – satire, slapstick humor and wisecracks are the norm when we are together. It’s a bit of a collective Jekyll & Hyde scenario, really. We try to remind ourselves that the initial spark of passion and the joy of playing music that caused us to pick up our instruments in the first place is why we do this!”
The formation of STIMULI began following the split of Bay Area rock band Yeibichai, the brainchild of Tomahawk and Hake. When Tomahawk came across a video of Cole Andrew demonstrating his powerful and detail-oriented drumming, he reached out and they began to jam. Tomahawk couldn’t imagine any other bass player but Tai in the room with the sounds that he and Cole were creating. In 2013, STIMULI opened up shop in their new studio space at the fabled Soundwave Studios in Oakland. It was here that STIMULI became a band and their deep friendship and musical bond was solidified.
In early 2017 STIMULI found themselves at a crossroads. Things suddenly felt new, vivified, and stronger among the three of them, but a glaring question remained: who would be the voice of the band? Jimmy Tomahawk decided then that nothing was going to stop him from fulfilling his original plan as a young teenager of being the vocalist in his own band. With the encouraging support of his bandmates, Tomahawk began to write, and at some point along the way, singing became as fluid and as much of an unconscious operation for Tomahawk as playing guitar. In just a few short months the band was in the studio tracking drums and bass for the new album.
STIMULI feel an unprecedented sense of optimism and joy with the music they are making. The audiences are reciprocating that energy that is conveyed at their live shows with great fervor. With much more to come from this exciting new Bay Area rock band, it would appear that STIMULI are just getting started!
HAKEN, one of progressive music’s most exciting bands, have announced details of their much-anticipated fifth studio album titled ‘Vector’, due for release on the October 26th, 2018. The album was produced by the band themselves, and recorded & mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood (Periphery, Devin Townsend Project), with the artwork once again being handled by Blacklake.
The band comments: “On the back of celebrating the 10 year anniversary of our conception, all of us here in the Haken camp are extremely excited to begin this new chapter of our career and share ‘Vector’ with the world.”
HAKEN are:
Ross Jennings
Richard Henshall
Charlie Griffiths
Diego Tejeida
Conner Green
Ray Hearne
The album will be available as Limited edition 2CD Digipak (including instrumental versions), Gatefold vinyl 2LP + CD, & as a digital download. You can find the track-listing below:
1. Clear
2. The Good Doctor
3. Puzzle Box
4. Veil
5. Nil By Mouth
6. Host
7. A Cell Divides
To celebrate the announcement of the new album, the band are opening up a unique opportunity for one fan’s artwork to be used as the etching on the fourth side of the vinyl LP version of the record. Haken is inviting fans to submit their own version of the Rorschach test ink-blot image which graces the album’s cover, and one winner’s art will be picked by the band to be etched into every vinyl copy of Vector.
Submissions are open now, closing on the 10th August, and can be sent to drrex@hakenmusic.com
Since their inception in 2007, Haken has shown over four previous studio albums, one EP and a live release that they never stand still, merely satisfied to rely on past triumphs. Rather, Haken always looks for ways to challenge themselves as musicians and artists, and also to keep the listeners on their collective toes. “We don’t like to make simple music,” laughs vocalist Ross Jennings. “We always aim to defy expectations, and I believe we’ve surpassed what we aimed to achieve with our new album.”
Their fifth studio record sees the band going in a heavier direction with the music. “We’ve always had a heavy influence”, explains guitarist Charlie Griffiths, “but it was obvious from the riffs that were naturally coming out of us early in the writing process that this would be a more metal album. These are some of the most riff-driven songs we’ve ever written.” As is usual, Haken produced the album themselves, but for the first time, they have enlisted Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood during the recording and mixing stages. Formerly bassist with Periphery, in the last couple of years he has built a reputation as a fine producer. “We produced the album ourselves, as we always do,” insists Jennings. “But we’re fans of what Adam has done with Periphery, Sikth and Devin Townsend. He has a great reputation for the heavier end of our genre”.
But if this album is musically heavy, then there’s an underlying theme running through the seven songs which are certainly esoteric and fascinating. “The scene is set with the track The Good Doctor, which was a really fun song. Musically it feels like a logical step from ‘Affinity’, but lyrically it’s a bit more theatrical and about as ‘rock opera’ as Haken has ever got”, explains Griffiths. “It’s about a Doctor with an intriguing, perhaps sinister interest in a particular patient. From there the story enters the point-of-view of the patient – who appears to be catatonic, but his mind is sparking with what could be memories, or delusions brought on by the treatment he’s receiving – we leave this up to the listeners to decide. Although we don’t want to give too much away, people who are familiar with our back catalog will have fun discovering further clues we’ve planted throughout the album. And that’s the challenge for the fans – to find out for themselves their own meaning for ‘Vector’ as an album”.
The band recently announced North American co-headline dates alongside Norway’s LEPROUS, and label-mates BENT KNEE, in what is an all InsideOutMusic bill. These will be the first live shows in support of Vector, and you can find the full list of dates below:
Haken & Leprous with Bent Knee:
October 30th – The Crofoot Ballroom, Pontiac, MI
October 31st– Opera House, Toronto, ON
November 1st – Astral, Montreal, QC
November 2nd– Underground Arts, Philadelphia, PA
November 3rd – Highline Ballroom, New York, NY
November 4th – The Sinclair, Boston, MA
November 6th – Soundstage, Baltimore, MD
November 7th – Cat’s Cradle, Carrboro, NC
November 8th – The Orpheum, Tampa, FL
November – 9th Revolution, Fort Lauderdale, FL
November 10th – The Plaza Live, Orlando, FL
November 11th – Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
November 13th – Gas Monkey, Dallas, TX
November 14th – Barracuda, Austin, TX
November 16th – Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, AZ
November 17th – Glasshouse, Pomona, CA
November 18th – August Hall, San Francisco, CA
November 19th – Hawthorne Theatre, Portland, OR
November 20th – The Crocodile, Seattle, WA
November 21st – Rickshaw Theater, Vancouver, BC
November 23rd – Metro Music Hall, Salt Lake City, UT
November 24th – Bluebird Theater, Denver, CO
November 25th – Granada Theater, Lawrence, KS
November 26th – Delmar Hall, St Louis, MO
November 27th – Exit/In, Nashville, TN
November 29th – Rex Theater, Pittsburgh, PA
November 30th – Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
December 1st – Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL
“I am happy to announce that I’ve finally found the singer for my upcoming metal project Vision of Choice – he is the vocalist from Epilirium, Lukas Remus!
I saw Lukas perform with his band at the Grailknight’s Grailfest in Hanover, and loved his variable voice and tone, and I was stoked thinking that it would be cool to have a singer like him for the album. After the concert, I talked with him about the project and later sent him my songs, and he was on board immediately. The first tracks already sound great – I can’t wait to hear the whole album with his vocals!”
Lukas:
“After Epilirium’s performance at the Grailfest, Steve told me how much he liked our gig and then we talked about his new metal project, and how he was looking for a singer.
After hearing the songs, I was convinced instantly – they are extremely cool, have great melodies, and they rock hard. And we are fortunate that Epilirium’s producer, Robert, was keen to record my vocals. Folks, stay tuned, this will be very good!”
Deutsche Version:
Steve Brockmann stellt Sänger für Vision of Choice vor Steve dazu: „Ich freue mich, mitteilen zu dürfen, dass ich endlich den passenden Sänger für Vision of Choice gefunden habe. Es handelt sich um Lukas Remus von der Band Epilirium.
Ich habe ihn beim Auftritt seiner Band auf dem Grailfest in Hannover gesehen und war begeistert von seiner variablen Stimme und Performance. Ich dachte mir wie cool es wäre, so einen Sänger für mein Album zu haben. Nach dem Gig habe ich ihn dann einfach angesprochen. Ich schickte ihm meine Songs und er hat sofort zugesagt. Die Aufnahmen haben begonnen und die ersten Stücke sind sind gut geworden. Ich freue mich sehr darauf, das fertige Album mit seinem Gesang zu hören!“
Der Sänger sagt dazu: „Manchmal gibt es einfach witzige Begegnungen. Vor ein paar Monaten haben wir (Epilirium) in Hannover zusammen mit den Grailknights auf dem Grailfest spielen dürfen. Nach dem Gig, der sehr gut gelaufen ist, habe ich Steve Brockmann kennen gelernt. Steve hatte mir zunächst zum guten Auftritt gratuliert und dann er einen supercoolen Vorschlag gemacht. Steve’s Projekt, „Vision of Choice“, ist ein Heavy- / Powermetal-Projekt, für das er noch einen geeigneten Sänger gesucht hatte. Und nachdem Steve mir die Songs geschickt hatte war ich sofort dabei. Die Songs sind extrem cool, haben supergeile Melodieverläufe und knallen ganz gut. Zum Glück hat Robert Reichert (Epilirium Produzent) sofort gesagt, dass er Bock auf das Projekt hat und wir haben bereits 2 Songs zusammen aufgenommen. Liebe Leute, bleibt gespannt. Das wird eine sehr gute Nummer “
Devin Townsend has announced the release of the second part of the ERAS Vinyl Collection for release on August 31st, 2018. This set includes the much sought-after albums ‘Ocean Machine’, ‘Physicist’, ‘Terria’, ‘Synchestra’ & ‘Infinity’ all in gatefold sleeves across 8 pieces of vinyl, contained inside a sturdy 2-piece box with an extensive LP booklet containing liner notes and comments from Devin himself. All the albums have been mastered for vinyl for the optimal listening experience.
Devin comments: “It has been over 25 years since I started this professional trip of mine with music as the anchor. In that time, I have spent a fair amount of energy describing the albums, rationalizing the albums, or just trying to basically explain the motivation behind them all. This ERAS box set series is a kind of monumental way for me to do it at one time, in one place. The intent of these albums from the beginning, has not changed. Music has been the outlet to describe my experience with life, and obviously my experience is far from ‘unique’. I like to think all this music describes my point of view on things we all participate in. Life is crazy, and each step of the way offers new things, births, deaths, failures, successes, heartache, confusion, anger etc etc etc… I don’t have it figured out, but the music has helped me deal with it in my own way.
The albums were just snapshots of different periods in my life, and although it’s just music, they mean a lot to me. The process that drew them out has helped me move on to each consecutive project and my hope is that with these boxsets, it makes what I do in the future make a little more sense.
I really appreciate having the opportunity to present them in one place with such attention to detail. It’s such an honour to be able to do this and I thank everyone involved for the support and passion in making these box sets happen.
Cheers,
Devin.
On the September 22nd, 2017, Devin Townsend Project played a special show at the Ancient Roman Theatre in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the landmark Ocean Machine album in full, as well as a set of fan-requested tracks alongside the Orchestra of Plovdiv State Opera. This concert was filmed, and recently saw its release as ‘Ocean Machine – Live at the Ancient Roman Theatre Plovdiv’.
You can watch the previously released clips for ‘Regulator’, ‘Truth’ & ‘By Your Command’ below:
‘Ocean Machine – Live at the Ancient Roman Theatre Plovdiv’ is available as a limited deluxe 3CD/2DVD/Blu-Ray artbook (with liner notes from Devin and a special documentary on the second DVD & Blu-Ray), Special Edition 3CD/DVD Digipak, standalone Blu-Ray and as digital audio download. Order now here: https://devintownsendproject.lnk.to/OceanMachineLive
“epic, swelling bombast worthy of the old stone” – Metal Hammer “a bold document from an incredibly ambitious artist.” – Prog Magazine “an incredible evening of music performed with precision and passion and captured for all of us in a nearly perfect fashion.” – Metal Wani
The full track-listing is as follows: By Request with Orchestra
“epic, swelling bombast worthy of the old stone” – Metal Hammer “a bold document from an incredibly ambitious artist.” – Prog Magazine “an incredible evening of music performed with precision and passion and captured for all of us in a nearly perfect fashion.” – Metal Wani
The full track-listing is as follows: By Request with Orchestra
Ocean Machine
1.Seventh Wave
2.Life
3.Night
4.Hide Nowhere
5.Sister
6.3 A.M.
7.Voices in the Fan
8.Greetings
9.Regulator
10.Funeral
11.Bastard
12.The Death of Music
13.Things Beyond Things
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