NEWSDESK, 2nd February 2010
> THRESHOLD RELEASE SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE
Threshold's cover of the Muse song 'Supermassive Black Hole' is out now as a digital single. The b-side is 'Slipstream (vocoder version)'.
Commented Threshold keyboard player Richard West: "Supermassive Black Hole was such a huge hit for Muse, it's become a modern classic and it's still in the top ten of the U.K. rock charts after 150 weeks! I hope Muse enjoy Threshold's reworking of their song; we've stayed fairly true to the original but with some added Threshold heaviness."
The cover version was originally released as a bonus track on the special edition digipack version of Dead Reckoning, but has only now been made available as a full digital release.
http://www.myspace.com/threshold
> MEMOIRA FIND NEW VOCALIST
From Nightmare Records: We are very happy to announce that Kati Rantala is the new vocalist of Memoira. The band was blown away by her vocal abilities and work ethic! Memoira had received a lot of contacts from all around the world and we would like to thank everyone and wish you all good luck!
The band says... "We are excited and really looking forward to hit the studio after we have finished the song-writing process!"
> 60 PERSONS
Young Scottish indie upstarts 60 Persons are gearing up for the release of their eagerly anticipated debut offering ‘Turnaround’ on March 29th.
The single is a chart-friendly catchy and lyrically engaging showcase of the melodically mature dynamic guitar sound that has bought them to the attention BBC Radio Scotland, seen them top 18,000 plays on Myspace and achieve bookings from promoters up and down the UK. The band possess a natural talent for the kind of stylistic swagger that defines the indie scene at present and combined with the distinctive vocal delivery of front-man Bobby Cowan makes for a hugely exciting prospect in 2010.
The Glasgow based 5-piece, who formed in the summer of 2008, have already embarked on successful tours across the UK and Scotland including performing for inmates at the Young Offenders Institute at Polmount Prison in Falkirk. The band choose to perform at the prison as a way of reaching out to the community in the hope it would inspire the young inmates to find hope in their own futures via music creation upon their release.
60 Persons will be hitting the road again in February 2010 on a set of dates across the UK that will include a headline slot at Glasgow’s ABC2’s and a very special guest appearance at the founder of Creation Records Alan McGee’s Death Disco Club night in Notting Hill London. The band will be building on the exposure of their tours, the 'Turnaround' single and the initial excellent feedback from BBC Scotland by heading into the studio to record a new EP and booking a European and US tour for the summer of 2010.
http://www.myspace.com/60persons
> CORRIE BLANCHER JOINS CANADIAN INDIE ROCKERS SFD
Well, no one ever thought they’d see the day, but after jamming with Corrie Blancher, Six Feet Deep is no longer a 3-piece! Corrie has been belting out the tunes and playing guitar since the early age of eight and has been a fixture in the London and southern Ontario music scene for many years. Performing and honing his craft with such rock bands as Murmur, Unscarred and Hagy Lane, Corrie has shared the stage with icons Kim Mitchell as well as Alan Frew of Glass Tiger just to name a few.
Corrie gets most of his musical inspiration from his family and the countless years of “Bringing it on” night after night, year after year, on the live stage. An accomplished song-writer himself, Corrie not only brings his melodic vocals into the SFD mix when creating his “big-sound” harmonies but will also do what he does best by taking the lead vocals on some of the new upcoming tracks with his modern rock sound that blends well with the evolving direction SFD is taking. Corrie will of course be bringing his explosive live performance to the SFD stage and he’ll continue to excite fans as he’s already done for many years!
SFD has been hailed as one of Canada’s top Indie rock live acts and has toured Canada and the U.S. for the past two years in support of their sophomore 2006 release So Far Down as both a headliner and as a supporting act to bands such as Default, Kix, Mariana’s Trench and more. Since the release of So Far Down, SFD has charted on AM, FM and Internet radio and has had several of their tracks make it onto television and motion picture. On the heels of a recent live Webcast presented by ImageFM (http://www.imagefm.ca/), SFD is currently number 8 on the Independent Artist Company live performance charts (http://www.iacmusic.com/).
For those in the Toronto area, please mark down Friday, March 12 on your calendar now as this will be Corrie’s live debut with SFD. The band will also be showcasing several new songs to industry and fans as they prepare to commence work on their next studio effort and their 2010 tour schedule that includes spring dates in Canada and fall dates in the U.S.
The March 12 show details will be announced soon.
http://www.myspace.com/sixfeetdeepband
> FATES WARNING TO SWEDEN ROCK
Fates Warning, along with Queensrÿche and Dream Theater, are the most important pioneers in the history of prog metal.
The band was formed in Hartford, Connecticut in 1983 and has released ten studio albums since 1984. The most successful one is Parallels from 1991, recorded by the band's classic line-up: guitarists Jim Matheos and Frank Aresti, bassist Joe DiBiase, drummer Mark Zonder and vocalist Ray Alder. This line-up effectively disbanded in 1996, but will nonetheless be just the one performing at Fates Warning's SRF-debut in 2010.
In other words, 'Eye to Eye', 'Point of View', 'We Only Say Goodbye' and the other fan-faves will be performed by all their original creators - no fan of melodic, professional and exciting metal should miss this opportunity.
