So, composer and keyboard player Ivan Rozmainsky is back with the same line-up as last time, except where he has extended his musical traveling even further. The album consists of 14 tracks and lasts 63 minutes. Various keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, flute, and trumpet are supplemented by exotic kinds of percussion, mandolin, bass clarinet and even a string quartet! Musically Roz Vitalis are often viewed as being part of the RIO and Avant prog movement, but given that I listen to an incredible amount of RIO these days this now seems quite mainstream to me! At the very heart of the music, as always, is Ivan either providing keyboards or adding the complex simplicity of his piano. With the use of strings and brass on this album, there is an additional depth that may have been missing in the past, but given that I have enjoyed every album of theirs that I have heard I am possibly not really fit to judge too much!
That they are one of the finest progressive bands around at the moment is never in doubt, and each time I play this album I find myself getting totally lost inside its majesty. This album, even more so than their others, takes Ivan much more into the realms of being a modern orchestral composer who knows just want to get from each of the instruments at his disposable,. Creating a seamless piece of music that moves from one movement to the next. I love the way that the violins at the commencement of “Wounded By The Lion and Adder” start in perfect harmony and then lose that togetherness as the song progresses, quite deliberately, before moving into a full string quartet. The unusual combination of memorable/hooking melodies and sophisticated compositional structures with a complex system of leitmotivs makes for a very impressive album indeed.
In late 2017, Dream Theater signed with Sony Music’s progressive imprint InsideOutMusic. Now, in preparation for the band’s fourteenth studio album and their first album ever produced in collaboration with this leading worldwide label, they are pleased to announce that they have entered the studio to begin the writing process. Recently, John Petrucci and James LaBrie shared a quick video update from the writing sessions on the band’s official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dreamtheater
James comments: “We’ve been here for one week and it is going sensational. Everybody is in the one room…and I gotta tell you, if the first week is any indication of where this album is going, you’re in for a treat.”
John adds: “There’s a lot of ideas flowing, and it’s already been really productive after only a week in. So far the music is heavy, progressive, melodic, shredding and it’s epic.”
The band will hold a live Facebook Q&A with fans during their time in the studio on June 28th at 3PM Eastern Time / 8pm UK time. Make sure to tune in!
For a first impression of the studio, watch John’s tour here:
Dream Theater is:
James LaBrie – Lead Vocals
John Petrucci – Guitars, Backing Vocals
Jordan Rudess – Keyboards
John Myung – Bass Guitars
Mike Mangini – Drums, Percussion
The “Live from Estudio del Sur” sessions will be out on July
Chilean Prog ensemble Aisles, South America’s most acclaimed prog band of the last 10 years, is premiering the last video of their “Live from Estudio del Sur” sessions, for the song “Club Hawaii”, which was originally released on the album “Hawaii” (2016). The clip was directed by Bernardo Quesney, who has worked with artists like Gepe and Javiera Mena.
Says Aisles guitarist, German Vergara, “We knew that ‘Club Hawaii’ could not be left out of this live series. It’s a very collective effort in which we incorporated elements from electronic and Latin music, pop, jazz, and even metal, so as to transport the listener to the future in which the concept of the album takes place. We used more distortion, sounded heavier than usual and Sebastián recites a heart wrenching poem in the darkest section of the song. Personally it’s my favorite on the ‘Hawaii’ album and I’m very proud of my lyrics. When playing it live I get goosebumps every time we reach the part ‘Turn my soul into flesh and soil and blood and waves…’”
Watch the video here:
The session started with the video for ‘Clouds Motion’, and it continued with ‘Shallow and Daft’, ‘Still Alive’, and ‘Club Hawaii’. All of these songs will be included on their new EP, “Live from Estudio del Sur” which will be out on July 6th and it will be available on digital platforms and on a limited edition CD. To pre-order: https://www.aislesproject.com/product/live-from-estudio-del-sur-ep-cd/
With four studio albums and a career spanning thirteen years, Aisles have become South America’s most acclaimed prog act of the last decade. Their daring combination of rock, fusion, jazz and world music illustrates the band’s uniquely eclectic approach. The group has played in South America and Europe, and their albums have been released in Europe, the Americas, and Japan.
In 2009 their second album “In Sudden Walks” was nominated for Best Foreign Record in the Italian Prog Awards and the group was invited to open the 11th Progressive Rock Festival Crescendo in France. Their third album, “4:45 AM” (2013) was widely acclaimed worldwide and was chosen among the best albums of that year in a number of specialized publications. “Hawaii” (July, 2016), their fourth studio album was called a “masterpiece” and named one of the albums of the year by media outlets such as Prog (England), Neoprog (France), Raw Ramp (England) and Chile’s premiere rock magazine, Rockaxis.
Aisles are:
Germán Vergara: guitar, vocals
Felipe Candia: drums, percussion
Sebastián Vergara: lead vocals
Rodrigo Sepúlveda: guitar, vocals
Daniel Concha: bass
Juan Pablo Gaete: keyboards
SONS OF APOLLO–former Dream Theater members Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal (ex-Guns N’ Roses), Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth) and Jeff Scott Soto (ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force) — are about to begin the band’s first ever European live dates, starting this Friday at Hellfest in France. To celebrate, the band have launched a video for the track ‘Signs of the Time’, filmed during the bands recent North American tour. Watch it now here:
Mike Portnoy comments: “The ‘Signs of the Time’ Video was shot on the recent US tour and is a good taste of what the band is like on stage.
We are about to embark on the band’s 1st tour of Europe and the UK and can’t wait to bring this 5 headed musical monster to our fans overseas all throughout the summer”
The full list of Summer live dates can be found below:
22nd June – Hellfest, Clisson, France
23rd June – Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, Belgium
24th June – Teatro Degli Arcimboldi, Milan, Italy
26th June – Futurism Music Bar, Prague, Czech Republic
27th June – Hellraiser, Leipzig, Germany
28th June – Neushoorn, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
30th June – Be Prog! My Friend, Barcelona, Spain
1st July – Ramblin Man Fair, Maidstone, UK
2nd July – Motherwell Concert Hall, Motherwell, UK
3rd July – Limelight, Belfast, UK
4th July – Tivoli Variety Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
6th July – Helgeåfestivalen, Knislinge, Sweden
7th July – The Haunt, Brighton, UK
8th July – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
14th July – Dynamo Metalfest, Eindhoven, Netherlands
3rd August – Wacken Open Air, Wacken, Germany
18th August – Prog in the Park 2018, Warsaw, Poland
19th August – Barba Negra Track, Budapest, Hungary
The band have further live dates planned for later in year, including an appearance at ProgPower Festival in the US, the band’s first Japanese shows, and more live appearances in Europe including a very special performance at the Roman Theatre in Plovdiv Bulgaria alongside the orchestra of Plovdiv State Opera. Find the full list of those below:
7th September – Prog Power USA, Atlanta, US
10th September – BigCat, Osaka, Japan
11th September – Liquidroom, Tokyo, Japan
12th September – Liquidroom, Tokyo, Japan
15th September – Raismes Fest, Raismes, France
19th September – Glavclub, Moscow, Russia
22nd September – Roman Amphitheatre, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
24th September – Fuzz Club, Athens, Greece
26th September – Barby Club, Tel Aviv, Israel
29th September – SWX, Bristol, UK
30th September – Garage, Glasgow, UK
1st October – Manchester Academy 2, Manchester, UK
6th October – Kulturfabrik, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg
8th October – Komplex 457, Zurich, Switzerland
12th October – Élysée Montmartre, Paris, France
13th October – Very Prog Festival, Toulouse, France
15th October – Radiant-Bellvue, Lyon, France
16th October – La Laiterie, Strasbourg, France
Released October 20th 2017 via InsideOutMusic / Sony, PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY is available as a 2CD Mediabook (featuring a second disc of instrumental mixes and extended booklet with an exclusive Studio Diary), Gatefold 2LP vinyl + CD (which comes with an etching on side D and the entire album on the CD), Standard Jewelcase CD & digital download. It was produced by the dynamic production duo of Portnoy and Sherinian, also affectionately known as “The Del Fuvio Brothers,” which is the nickname given to them over 20 years ago during their time together in Dream Theater. Get your copy here: http://smarturl.it/SonsOfApolloPS
PSYCHOTIC SYMPHONY has racked up some fantastic reviews: “Fuck the term ‘supergroup’, that’s not what this is about. Sons of Apollo are simply a group that are super.” – Classic Rock “Psychotic Symphony is fierce, loud, bewildering, brilliantly performed and monstrously entertaining.” – Prog Magazine “God-like in conception, stellar in ambition and perfection in delivery.” – Metal
And so, the accidental band are back. Originally destined to be Matt Stevens’ second solo album, TFATD have morphed into possibly the most important instrumental rock act in the UK today. Comprising Matt (guitar, synth, piano), Kev Feazey (bass, programming, synth, percussion), Steve Cleaton (guitar, piano) and Stuart Marshall (drums, percussion) they have gained an amazing following (The Fierce Army) over the last few years, due in no small part to be a great live act who have found new fans wherever they have played. They can often be found playing with their mates Hawkwind, and gained huge kudos from their gig last year with Monkey3 at The Borderline.
Here they are back with their third studio album, which follows on from 2013’s ‘Spooky Action’ (they released the live ‘Field Recordings’ last year). It is incredibly hard to categorise their sound as it comprises elements from post rock, math rock, space, rock, prog and hard rock all thrown into a metallic melting pot. There are times when it feels that the band are just bouncing ideas off each other in the studio, jamming live, when at others it feels slightly more structured but whatever they are doing it always contains a mighty groove that makes the listener to move along to the music. Due to the small matter of geography I have never seen the guys play (they formed four years after I moved to the other side of the world), which I know is very much my loss, as while this is a great album I know that in concert it will be turned into something that is quite another level.
TFATD have stayed true to their roots to this album, and that the mainstream is starting to embrace them has far more to do with the rest of the world coming to grips with how good they are as opposed any “selling out”. This is an incredibly easy album to listen to, although with the distorted riffs sweeping through my brain I could never call them easy listening. This could well be the album that breaks them through to the big time, and it will be richly deserved. If you haven’t come across them before this, now is the time.
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