NEWSDESK, 10th June 2010
> BLACK SKIES ANNOUNCE SUMMER TOUR
North Carolina disciples of doom, Black Skies, are set to embark on a US tour throughout the month of July. The tour will commence at The Smiling Moose in Pittsburgh and hit 22 cities before closing in Nashville, TN at Springwater Supper Club.
The band will hit the road with a new lineup, new songs and a high energy live display of sonic power they've built their name upon. Founding members Kevin Clark and Michelle Temple will be joined by ex-Des Ark drummer Tim Herzog. Former roommates, Kevin and Tim have remained in contact over the years and are very much looking forward to the opportunity to finally make music together. Black Skies' new material retains the heaviness of their earlier work, with more dynamic song structures and a psychedelic edge creating a more interesting overall sound. Following the tour, the band will begin preparations for recording what they hope to be their best release to date.
Says guitarist Kevin Clark of the upcoming trek: "We've had our share of ups and downs over the past 12 months, but getting out west last year was without a doubt one of the better moments. We are thrilled to be heading out there again this summer, seeing the faces and places that made it such a blast. We played with a lot of great bands and met a lot of awesome souls with a true love and hunger for music. Those people are a big part of the drive for us to continue doing what we love to do, and we are eternally grateful for them."
Black Skies released their Hexagon EP on vinyl last year via underground Chicago imprint I'm Better Than Everyone Records. Featuring songs made of heavy, well-thought out (and equally well-executed) riffs alongside churning organic grooves, Hexagon sports a tonal chemistry befitting of a legendary band sharing the same initials, yet with a decidedly American flavour. Through hard work and a DIY drive, Black Skies continue gaining momentum with their live output.
Black Skies tour dates, July 2010:
6/27/2010 Local 506 - Chapel Hill, NC (pre-tour kick off show)
7/01/2010 The Smiling Moose - Pittsburgh, PA
7/02/2010 The Summit - Columbus, OH
7/03/2010 Cobra Lounge - Chicago, IL
7/04/2010 The Frequency - Madison, WI
7/05/2010 Blue Moose Tap House - Iowa City
7/06/2010 TBA - Lincoln, NE
7/07/2010 3 Kings Tavern - Denver, CO
7/08/2010 Burt’s Tiki Lounge - Salt Lake City, UT
7/09/2010 Rocky Canyon – Boise, ID
7/10/2010 The Comet - Seattle, WA
7/11/2010 Rotture - Portland, OR
7/12/2010 TBA - Ashland, OR
7/13/2010 The Hemlock Tavern - San Francisco, CA
7/14/2010 The Stork Club - Oakland, CA
7/15/2010 TBA - Cayucos, CA
7/16/2010 Relax Bar - Los Angeles, CA
7/17/2010 The Rogue Bar - Scottsdale, AZ
7/18/2010 Rio Grande Satanical Gardens - Albuquerque, NM
7/19/2010 TBA - Oklahoma City, OK
7/20/2010 Red 7 - Austin, TX
7/21/2010 TBA - New Orleans, LA
7/22/2010 The Nick - Birmingham, AL
7/23/2010 The Buccaneer Lounge - Memphis, TN
7/24/2010 Springwater Supper Club - Nashville, TN
"...these Chapel Hill, NC, sludge enthusiasts hit the ground running with their debut album, and finish at as much of a sprint as the parameters of crusty doom allow." -- Metro Spirit
"Black Skies put a big emphasis on how much groove their music has, as each track has some catchy riffs that really give the band a lot of energy and attitude." -- Cosmos Gaming
http://www.myspace.com/losblackskies
> NEW RAGE ALBUM HITS AMERICA
The new Rage album, Strings To A Web, was released in Europe on February 5th via Nuclear Blast Records, immediately entering the German pop charts at number 27, and has been receiving rave reviews from all major European press. The brilliant album will now see official North American release and distribution via Canada's Sonic Unyon Metal on June 22nd, 2010.
The North American version of the album will be released in a special two-disc set that includes a high quality bonus DVD bearing 15 live Rage clips and more. The main part is the "Best Of" show Rage played at the Wacken Open Air festival 2009, including guest performances by Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Schmier (Destruction) and Jen Majura (Black Thunder Ladies). The DVD also includes four more live clips taken from Masters Of Rock 2009 Festival and a 2009 concert in Sofia, Hungary.
Since 1985, German metal trio Rage have brought their crafted style of classic heavy metal with class. Their new album Strings To A Web is a varied release, showcasing the different faces of the band; pure heavy metal thunder, classical and progressive landscapes, and powerful thrash anthems. Recorded at Twilight Hall Studio (Blind Guardian, Saxon) and produced by Victor Smolski and their long term friend Charlie Bauerfeind (Hammerfall, Helloween and more), Strings To A Web is like a journey through the history of the band, who celebrated their 25th anniversary this year.
Over the past quarter century, Rage went through many changes, but always kept to their roots and developed their incomparable style, and there is no doubt that their current lineup is the strongest yet. Peavy Wagner's voice is the main trademark, along with the guitar wizard Victor Smolski and power drummer André Hilgers, who round out the magical trio.
Strings To A Web CD track list: 01. 'The Edge Of Darkness', 02. 'Hunter And Prey', 03. 'Into The Light', 04. 'The Beggar´s Last Dime', 05. 'Empty Hollow', 06. 'Strings To A Web', 07. 'Fatal Grace', 08. 'Connected', 09. 'Empty Hollow (Reprise)', 10. 'Saviour Of The Dead', 11. 'Hellgirl', 12. 'Purified', 13. 'Through Ages', 14. 'Tomorrow Never Comes'
DVD track list: 'Carved In Stone', 'Higher Than The Sky', 'Set This World On Fire', 'All I Want', 'Invisible Horizons', 'Lord Of The Flies', 'From The Cradle To The Grave', 'Prayers Of Steel', 'Suicide', 'Down', 'Soundchaser', 'Set This World On Fire', 'All I Want', 'Carved In Stone', 'Never Give Up'
> STEPHEN DALE PETIT ALBUM AND TOUR
Hugely acclaimed BritCal guitar supremo Stephen Dale Petit has announced the July 19th 2010 release of his new album The Crave through Universal Music/Absolute. He plays Glastonbury next month and embarks on a full tour in July.
Dates:
July 15th : Bristol, O2 Academy
July 16th : Oxford, O2 Academy
July 17th : Birmingham, O2 Academy
July 19th : Liverpool, O2 Academy
July 20th : Glasgow, O2 ABC
July 21st : Newcastle , O2 Academy
July 29th : Islington, O2 Academy
The Crave follows Petit’s phenomenally well-received debut Guitararama, which was accoladed as Guitar Magazine’s 2008 Album of the Year. The follow-up’s release and tour will be backed by intensive media exposure – airplay, performance, interviews and ad campaigns in all top-end music publications.
The tour will kick off with a sell-out London 100 Club launch (featuring special surprise guests), a prestigious appearance at Glastonbury 2010’s new Blues & Jazz Stage, and be followed by an O2 Academy tour.
The Crave, which contains some ferocious, rocking New Blues monsters alongside updated classics by the likes of Robert Johnson, Fleetwood Mac, Little Willie John and Albert King (“updates of classic blues songs often don’t work but this one certainly does” Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2), sees Ian Grimble (Travis, Clash, Manics, Fall, RHCP) share production along with the Chapel Studios, Lincoln hit factory team behind recent Arctic Monkeys, Editors and Kaiser Chiefs successes.
http://www.myspace.com/stephendalepetit
> NEW PROJECT FOR THRESHOLD KEYBOARDIST
Threshold keyboard player Richard West has enlisted the services of guitarist Ruud Jolie (Within Temptation) and drummer Mark Zonder (Fates Warning) for the recording of a new currently unnamed project fronted by vocalist Farrah West.
The project was first planned in 2002 when Farrah and Richard moved from their UK home to the Czech Republic to find time and space to record their debut album, with guest musicians including guitarist Tore Østby (Ark, Conception). However the project stalled and Richard West spent the following years concentrating on progressive metal band Threshold (Nuclear Blast/Warner), clocking up European chart success with two albums and scoring a motion picture soundtrack slot for his song 'Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams'.
In 2009 Farrah and Richard started to focus once again on the project, co-writing a new album of songs and enlisting the services of legendary Fates Warning (Inside Out) drummer Mark Zonder and guitarist Ruud Jolie from the multi-platinum group Within Temptation (Sony/Roadrunner) for the recordings.
The album is currently in the final stages of production, with an expected release later this year.
> NACHTGESCHREI TOUR AND OTHER NEWS
Nachtgeschrei are working on their third record, right now. The band is blogging out of the studio, you can reach the blog on their MySpace-page (http://www.myspace.com/nachtgeschrei). Album title and release-date will be announced in the near future.
Furthermore, an official fanclub has been started. You can find here: http://www.nachtgeschrei-fanclub.de/
From July on the band finishes the "Am Rande der Welt" tour.
The dates are as follows:
24.07.2010 - Rock unter den Eichen, DE-Bertingen (bei Magdeburg)
21.08.2010 - Schlosshof Festival, DE-Höchstadt / Aisch
27.08.2010 - Burgfolk Festival, DE-Mülheim / Ruhr
04.09.2010 - Mittelalterfestival Schiffenberg, DE-Gießen
10.09.2010 - Festival Mediaval, DE-Selb
18.09.2010 - Bordun Rocknächte, DE-Halle / Saale
13.11.2010 - Tanzt!, AT-Kufstein
18.12.2010 - GMZ, DE-Wiesbaden
> HELLFIRE CLUB IS BACK
After the highly successful Hellfire Club in Peterborough featuring Deez Nuts, The Ghost Inside and more, Hellfire Club Festival is back and rocking this time in Milton Keynes bringing you some of the best Hardcore bands from around the world all under one roof!
This time round hardcore legends Bane are coming to tear up the event and lay down some passion fuelled riffs with support from the likes of Trapped Under Ice as seen on tour last year with the almighty Terror. TRC, London’s much loved hardcore giants, are set to bring a groundbreaking set and erupt Milton Keynes into one giant pit with support from the highly popular Brutality Will Prevail. Further support over the weekend comes from booming buzz band Throats as well as This is colour, Pay no respect, Feed The Rhino, Heart In Hand, Lavotchkin, Santa Karla and many more!
Weekend tickets are £17 and day tickets are £10. Tickets available from http://www.hellfirefestival.com/.
The eruption kicks off at 3pm each day!
> NEW BLACK ROSE ALBUM
UK NWOBHM rockers Black Rose release a brand new album in July 2010 called Cure For Your Disease. Initially the album will be an independent release available only for download from major music stores like Amazon, iTunes, Spotify etc. and hopefully a CD version will be available soon.
The album features 11 brand new tracks plus a reworking of one of their older song 'Baby Believe Me' from their 1984 album Boys Will Be Boys.
Album Track Listing: Cure For Your Disease, Sign Of The Times, Twice Shy Once Bitten, Fight For Your Life, Doghouse, Baby Believe Me, Love Addiction, Killing Yourself To Live, Got Me Where You Want Me, Rock Renegades, Take It Easy, So Predictable
The album was recorded in the UK between 2007 and 2010 and is the first new material to be released by the band since they split up in 1989. For more information and to listen to song samples etc check out the Black Rose website below.
http://www.myspace.com/blackroserockband
