Melancholic metal masters KATATONIA Announce New Album, Sky Void of Stars, Scheduled for Worldwide Release on January 20, 2023 via Napalm Records

Masters of melancholic metal KATATONIA carry on their legacy of rearranging the order of the heavy music universe, proudly presenting their hauntingly beautiful next studio album, Sky Void of Stars, out January 20, 2023 via Napalm Records. 

Founded in 1991, KATATONIA have continually embraced the dark and the light alike and, living through genre evolutions beyond compare, ripened their own particular form of expression. From doom and death metal to soul-gripping post rock, they’ve explored endless spheres of the genre, accumulating only the very best aspects. After signing with Napalm Records, the entity around founding members Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström is ready to showcase its brilliance and illuminate the void in the scene once more with Sky Void of Stars.

With the first single, “Atrium”KATATONIA hit with highly energetic atmosphere, holding a gloomy ambience with epic sounds and poetic lyrics to get lost in. The heartfelt piece of sound goes in line with a gripping music video, underlining the exceptional atmosphere the five-piece is creating with every single note. “Atrium” is now available via all digital service providers worldwide.

KATATONIA on the new album, Sky Void of Stars:

“Our 12th album, Sky Void of Stars is a dynamic journey through vibrant darkness. Born out of yearning for what was lost and not found, the very peripheries of the unreachable, but composed and condensed into human form and presented as sounds and words true to the KATATONIA signum. No stars here, just violent rain.” 

Watch the official music video for “Atrium” :

Emerging from the gloom, KATATONIA is a beacon of light – breathing their unique, never stagnant, atmospheric sound through this new 11-track offering, all written and composed by vocalist Jonas Renkse. Album opener “Austerity” provides a courting introduction to the album. Crashing through the dark, it convinces with memorable, mind-bending rhythms as it shifts with elaborate guitar riffs that perfectly showcase the musical expertise and experience of the band. Topped off by the dark, conjuring voice of Renkse and mesmerizing lyricism, the gloomy mood for the album is set. Songs like down- tempo “Opaline” and moody “Drab Moon” fully embrace their melancholic sound while fragile “Impermanence” is accented by the original doom metal roots of KATATONIA. Like a dark star, these pieces relume the dreariness, creating an ambient auditory experience with memorable hooks while still inducing the crashing sounds of hard guitar riffs and pounding drums. The experimental mastery of the quintet and their atmospheric approach is purely vivid, making this album a thrilling sensation. With “Birds”, the artists show off their explosive potential with a quick and energetic sound, proving their genre-defying style. 

KATATONIA is one of a kind in a state of perpetual evolution. Significantly shaping the genre while still staying true to their own musical values, they orbit the musical universe – leaving their imprints on the scene. Projecting their sound to the endless realms, Sky Void of Stars shines bright in metal and beyond! 

Sky Void of Stars track listing:

1    Austerity

2    Colossal Shade

3    Opaline

4    Birds

5    Drab Moon

6    Author

7    Impermanence (feat. Joel Ekelöf)

8    Sclera

9    Atrium

10  No Beacon To Illuminate Our Fall

11  Absconder (Bonus Track) 

Sky Void of Stars is now available for pre-order in the following configurations here:

Ltd. Deluxe Wooden Box (incl. Mediabook + Digipack Atmos Mix BluRay + Crow Pendant + Star Chart Artprint + Pin) – Napalm Records exclusive

Die Hard Edition 2LP Gatefold Ink Spot / FOREST GREEN (incl. Slipmat, Patch, 12 pages poster) – Napalm Records exclusive

2LP Gatefold DARK GREEN – Napalm Records exclusive

2LP Gatefold MARBLED TRANSPARENT/DARK GREEN – OMerch exclusive

2LP Gatefold MARBLED CRYSTAL CLEAR/BLACK –  OMerch exclusive

2LP Gatefold BLACK

1CD Ltd Mediabook (incl. Bonus Track)

1CD Jewelcase

Digital Album

[Ltd. Deluxe Wooden Box (incl. Mediabook + Digipack Atmos Mix BluRay + Crow Pendant + Star Chart Artprint + Pin)]

KATATONIA – 2022 North American Tour

 w/ The Ocean Collective and Cellar Darling

09.11.22 – Washington, DC / Black Cat

10.11.22 – Worcester, MA / Palladium

11.11.22 – New York, NY / Sony Hall

12.11.22 – Philadelphia, PA / Underground Arts

13.11.22 – Harrisburg, PA / Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center

15.11.22 – Quebec City, QC / Impérial Bell

16.11.22 – Montreal, QC / Le Studio TD

18.11.22 – Toronto, ON / Opera House

19.11.22 – Pittsburgh, PA / Thunderbird Music Hall

20.11.22 – Chicago, IL / Metro

22.11.22 – Denver, CO / Oriental Theater

23.11.22 – Salt Lake City, UT / Soundwell

25.11.22 – Portland, OR / Hawthorne Theatre

26.11.22 – Vancouver, BC / Rickshaw Theatre

27.11.22 – Seattle, WA / The Crocodile

29.11.22 – Roseville, CA / Goldfield Trading Post

30.11.22 – San Francisco, CA / Great American Music Hall

02.12.22 – Los Angeles, CA / 1720

03.12.22 – San Diego, CA / Brick by Brick

04.12.22 – Mesa, AZ / Nile Theater

06.12.22 – Austin, TX / Come and Take It Live (+Soen as direct support)

07.12.22 – Dallas, TX / Amplified Live (+Soen as direct support)

09.12.22 – Atlanta, GA / Hell at The Masquerade

10.12.22 – Tampa, FL / The Orpheum

KATATONIA – 2023 UK & Europe Tour

w/ Sólstafir and SOM

20.01.23 FI – Tampere / Tampereen Tullikamari (Pakkahuone & Klubi)

21.01.23 FI – Helsinki / Kulttuurital

22.01.23 EE – Tallinn / Helitehas

24.01.23 PL – Warsaw / Klub Stodoła

25.01.23 DE – Berlin / Huxleys Neue Welt

26.01.23 DE – Cologne / Essigfabrik

27.01.23 DE – Stuttgart / LKA Longhorn

28.01.23 CZ – Prague / ROXY Prague

29.01.23 AT – Vienna / Arena Wien

31.01.23 HU – Budapest / Akvárium Klub

01.02.23 DE – Munich / Backstage Werk

02.02.23 CH – Zurich / Komplex 457

03.02.23 IT – Milan / Live Club

04.02.23 FR – Lyon / Ninkasi GERLAND

06.02.23 ES – Madrid / Kapital

07.02.23 ES – Barcelona / La Salamandra

08.02.23 FR – Toulouse / Le Metronum

10.02.23 GB – London / O2 Forum Kentish Town

11.02.23 GB – Manchester / O2 Ritz Manchester

12.02.23 GB – Bristol / Marble Factory

13.02.23 GB – Glasgow / The Garage

14.02.23 GB – Wolverhampton / KK’s Steel Mill

16.02.23 DE – Frankfurt Am Main / Batschkapp

17.02.23 NL – Haarlem / Patronaat

19.02.23 FR – Paris / Le Trianon

20.02.23 LU – Luxemburg / Rockhal

21.02.23 BE – Antwerp / Muziekcentrum Trix

22.02.23 DE – Hamburg / Gruenspan

23.02.23 DK – Copenhagen / Amager Bio

24.02.23 NO – Oslo / Rockefeller Music Hall

25.02.23 SE – Stockholm / Fryshuset Arenan

KATATONIA – 2023 Latin American Tour

17.03.23 MX – Guadalajara / C3 Stage

18.03.23 MX – Monterrey / Cafe Iguana

19.03.23 MX –  Mexico City / Cafe Auditorio

22.03.23 CH – Santiago / Club Chocolate

24.03.23 AR – Buenos Aires / El Teatrito

25.03.23 BR – Sao Paulo / Carioca Club

KATATONIA are:

Jonas Renske – Vocals

Anders Nyström – Guitars

Roger Öjersson – Guitars

Niklas Sandin – Bass

Daniel Moilanen – Drums

BAND PHOTO CREDIT: MATHIAS BLOM

Interview with Karl Groom of Threshold – by Progradar

This year legendary British prog-metal stalwarts Threshold released their 11th album ‘Legends Of The Shires’ on the 8th September.

I interviewed founding member, songwriter and guitarist Karl Groom about the new release and a few other interesting questions came about…

Progradar – I think ‘Legends of the Shires’ is your best album yet but, as you wrote it, what are your thoughts?

Karl – All musicians think that their latest album is their greatest but, for me, it does have a real completeness in terms of both music and lyrics. It’s a concept album, not just lyrically (which is often the case) but musically and we tied the whole thing together. For me, that’s very satisfying, when you can listen from the first track on the album, The Shire 1, and got through to the last, Swallowed, and feel the music has the right dynamics to follow from one song to the other.

You just feel that there’s a completeness to that arrangement, and that, for me, is very satisfying. The only other album that came close to that was ‘Subsurface’. I can always find a good song or two that I really think are stand out songs on most albums but I want the whole thing to seem like a complete album, and that’s what stands out on this one.

P – I agree definitely. I’m 50 this year, ready for the pipe and slippers and it’s time to be a grumpy old man. What I think is a problem with a lot of the mainstream music nowadays is that it’s based around singles, they’re just picking one song. I want the album to be a journey.

K – Exactly, that’s the thing, it’s come back a little bit like it was back in the 80’s. Bands would front-load their album and say which are the best songs and just put them in that order. By the time you’re getting to the end of the album you’re thinking ‘oh my god!’ Even if they are all good songs, it sounds a bit jumbled and uncoordinated, you need that coordination and the album needs to be as important as the individual songs on it.

P – When you first started out, young and wide-eyed, in 1988 did you envisage releasing your 11th album over 20 years later?

K – We didn’t even set out to get signed to be honest. My wife was listening to some of the demos we made before we got signed and she wondered how the hell we managed to get signed! It was absolute tosh, it was dreadful. We were a covers band when we made those, learning to play guitar and so on, sort of bumming our way through a few Van Halen songs and Ratt and Whitesnake, whoever was in at the time. We made our way playing those and didn’t think about it at all, we just wrote a few songs, I think it was three, which were sort of within what we would call Threshold now.

Basically, because two of us loved metal and one love prog music, we accommodated everyone with that. A king of prog-metal as a meeting of the two musical styles rather than what you’d see as Prog-Metal now, which is a genre in its own right. We just mixed what our influences were and started writing songs. The guy from SI Music in Holland heard them and thought they were really good, he put one out on his compilation album through the magazine that he published at the time and said he was going to sign us the following year and we’d release an album. In the meantime, someone else heard it, which was Thomas Waber from InsideOut, he had another label in the UK called GEP and said we’ll sign you to that label.

So we signed to Giant Electric Pea and they didn’t expect us to sell any more than 500-1000 albums, so even at that stage we weren’t thinking about whether we’d made it or not. Within a month or so that first album had sold 15,000 so I think it was, at that stage, that we realised that things had taken off a bit more than we thought. We started thinking maybe we are a serious band and we’d better sort ourselves out and learn how to play live. We never, ever chased a deal, we naturally moved to InsideOut from GEP and when that contract came to an end Nuclear Blast approached us and said they’d like to offer us something. To be honest, we’re happy to stay there now and have signed the new contract to stay at Nuclear Blast for another three albums.

P – What do you put your longevity down to? Is it just luck or…

K – We were interested in playing music but we’re typical Brits who are very self-critical and don’t really think of ourselves too seriously. We just wanted to make music and hadn’t thought that someone else would want to hear it. Once that did come true we were thinking it was great, we can write albums and people will actually listen to them and we can release them, it was a gradual realisation. It gradually grew and now, I suppose, it feels normal. My greatest privilege is just to be able to communicate with people through the medium of music, it’s something that I always wanted, you know? If someone can take something from one of our albums or if it means something then it’s a real privilege to be able to do that.

P – The new album is described as ‘A colossal double concept album’, is there a quick way of telling us what the concept behind the album is?

K – It’s about how we find our place in the world, on a political or personal level, and how we relate to each other. To that end it’s really a dual concept album which is what gave us such inspiration to write the lyrics, or Richard anyway. As a political side you could take it as a country or a nation finding its way in the world and all the difficulties that come with that. England’s place in Europe was  vaguely an inspiration, I suppose, from all that happened last year.

On a personal level, it’s much the same sort of thing but looking at your thoughts of things you wish you hadn’t done, just a journey through life, someone finding their way in the world. That was able to give us a lot of scope all the way through the album, in terms of finding the concept. You see that demonstrated in the Small Dark Lines video which we’ve done and which partly illustrates what the album’s about, painting the lines on the people with black paint which represented their regrets in this case.

The small dark lines in the song also represent the borders between countries and how those are a little bit blurred these days. Those are many subjects we can touch on and it was really great to be able to demonstrate that in the video and find a way of doing it, to which end we put out an appeal to fans who wanted to be in the video. We got people travelling from as far away as Sweden, it was really successful, there must have been at least nine people in the video.

The only thing I will say is that, originally, we didn’t plan on torturing them, it wasn’t the idea to give them cold showers but there was only cold water available! It was in a warehouse near Manchester, it was freezing cold and raining on that day and their faces tell the story when they get hit by the water!

P – To me, and to other people I’ve spoken to who’ve heard the album, there seems to be more focus on the songs. Was that your intention when you originally got together to write the album?

K – As I’ve mentioned before, ‘Subsurface’ was my favourite album until now and that was because of that complete nature of the composition from beginning to end. Richard and I got together and on the last albums we’d had contributions from other band members, we wanted that, everyone was always welcome to write. For this one, they didn’t really come forward with anything, apart from Steve who wrote On the Edge, so it was a lot easier to control the whole dynamic of the album, the sound of it.

We got together when we were both ready to start writing, we were inspired, and we got to about an hour’s worth of music. I make complete demos of music and send them to Richard who then adds melodies and lyrics. We got to this stage where we’d finished that, around sixty minutes and I’d said that I’ve still got plenty of ideas, I don’t feel like I’m finished. Richard said that was good because he was building this really interesting concept and needed more music for that.

We just let it go naturally until we had about an hour and eighteen minutes. We didn’t have The Shire Part 1 or 3 at the time and developed those later. We ended up with an hour and twenty-three minutes of music which came as a natural situation at which point Richard mentioned that the label had said that if we were going to make an album they wanted to split it onto four sides of vinyl. I said we could probably just do but I’d want the songs to be in the correct order because we’re thinking about a concept.

I don’t want to take what would be okay on a CD and jumble it up to make it fit on four sides of the vinyl because you can only do twenty two minutes per side. Luckily it fitted in the correct order and that was it for us, there was one other thing that happened at the end when we were doing the lyrics that really convinced us that this was 100% right. We discovered that each song begins with L, O, T or S which is an acronym of Legends Of The Shires and we were amazed by that, it’s just a confirmation that this album is falling into place.

I love it when an album is musically, as well as lyrically, a concept, it may be a bit old fashioned and people may have forgotten about concept albums since the 70’s but I really love it when there’s a whole story and your drawn into it and you can turn the lights out and listen to the music late at night. I still do that with my wife sometimes, like teenagers, with some wine or beer out and just concentrating on music instead of having it as this background effect.

That’s the most important thing, there are a couple of Mike Oldfield albums we listen through from beginning to end and think ‘wow, that feels great’ and I wanted that experience. You’re drawn completely into the music, you forget where you are and what you’re doing, it’s all about the music. You’re drawn into the story and the atmosphere, you feel one thing is happening after another and that’s what special about this kind of album for me.

P – I think Legends is much more progressive than your recent releases, harking back to Dead Reackoning, was it a conscious decision when you were writing it to get that more progressive sound & feel, especially as it was going to be a concept album?

K – I think there’s a natural leaning with Threshold, I don’t know if it’s exact, that seems to be that we do a more straight ahead album followed by a more progressive album, it seems to alternate. ‘Dead Reckoning’ was a little more straighter after ‘Subsurface’ and then ‘March of Progress’ was quite involved. The last one (‘Fro The Journey’) was a bit more stark sounding and now ‘Legends’ is very much warm and progressive.

I don’t know if it was intentional but we always just let songs go and build themselves, we don’t say that we need a ten minute song. In fact I think that Richard would tell you that The Man Who Saw Through Time was nowhere near ten minutes when we started with the first idea. It just developed as it went on and that’s always been the case, I do like the progressive elements. It was Nick and I who liked the metal side of music and Jon Jeary (the original bass player) that liked progressive.

He’s the one that got us into that music but, after I found out about it, I really did get to enjoy Genesis albums and, through that, the freedom to express myself in the way of arrangement so you’re not locked into verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, chorus or whatever. They kind of go where the song needs to go and they don’t sit and worry about the details, they let the song lead itself. You don’t think and worry about the arrangement, it happens and if it happens to be a three minute song, that’s fair enough if it works that way and if it’s longer, it’s longer.

I suppose you get used to writing longer songs so you know what it takes but we do like to mix that up and, particularly once we’d got to 60 minutes and we were still writing, there was a feeling from Richard and I that we wanted this to be a more progressive album as we wanted it to be a concept. We did lean towards that, in some ways, without thinking about it too much. We already had The Man Who Saw Through Time and Lost In Translation at that stage, those songs were already there. If you’ve got 22 minutes on two songs then you’re already on your way to something progressive, aren’t you? You can’t avoid it.

P – You’ve still got some shorter, harder rocking tracks like Small Dark Lines on there, you get a really good mix between them all, it all seems to flow really nicely.

K – I think Snowblind is one of my favourites as well, it’s got harder moments and it’s almost like a microcosm of Threshold on this album. It involves the hard, the heavy, the delicate and the emotional sides of the music, all combined into one song and compressed into 7 minutes. It was really interesting to create that sort of thing all into one track, it just sort of came together in the right way. I’m really looking forward to trying to play that one live!

PWho influenced your career at the start and who’s music would you spend your own money on now?

K – Before we were together, my wife really liked My Dying Bride and I’ve really got into them because of her. I’d never considered listening to it because doom metal’s kind of alright when it’s Candlemass or whatever but it just wasn’t my thing. When I heard them I completely got it the first time I listened to it, I just understood the atmosphere and the music and when I found out where they came from I thought you could feel it in the music. You can envisage the moors and the cold, dank nights and the misery and I loved the way that they painted the picture through their music and the way the sound sort of envelops you.

That’s been something I’ve really been into more recently and love Mike Oldfield because of the electronic side of the music and the way he’s able to build layers. I know it’s a different style of music to Threshold completely but it taught me how you could make music interesting instead of just coming back to a verse again. Why not have something different, maybe an extra layer or something, it’s the way he builds the songs so carefully. It sounds simple but there’s a huge amount involved in it and I learned from that electronic music what was so important about layering music and making it interesting in the arrangement.

From the beginning it was just metal, particularly Testament from the album ‘Low’ and beyond. I suppose if I listened to guitarists it was melodic guitarists, Dave Gilmour and Steve Lukather. I never liked those bands in the 80’s who would write a song where you’d be listening to it and then you’d fall off the edge of the song into a bunch of scales and the solo would have nothing to do with the song. You’d think why did he do that? I know people want to play fast but what’s the point? When I listen to ‘Toto IV’, even though it’s not a favourite Toto album of mine, I noticed that the guitar solos were so melodically driven, so brilliantly worked out and I thought that that’s what I want to do, I want to make a solo that’s got a relation to the song.

To that end I started writing guitar solos by putting the guitar down and taking the music out into the park on headphones and singing it onto a Dictaphone for either a keyboard or a guitar solo, whatever we want. I just start humming it or singing it and that would create the basis for the solo and you wouldn’t fall into the normal pattern where you start playing your guitar and you have certain patterns under your fingers that you always gravitate to, you can’t help it and that means all your solos ended up sounding the same. I now just ignore that and come back and add any technical bits later.

It’s about getting the basics right so someone who’s not a musician can enjoy your work as well. My little girl is only three and she listens to some of these albums we have on and when it comes to the solo she’ll go “advert! advert!” like the song has finished for her, she thinks it’s an advertisement in the middle of the song and then she’s waiting for the chorus to come back. I don’t want to be that, I want to be in a band where bits of the solo relate to the melody in the verses or the chorus and it’s a melody in its own right which keeps people interested, not some excuse for someone to go a bit crazy and play their fastest scales. That’s where that developed from, to keep that as a coherent part of the song and then you don’t feel like you’ve wasted maybe 10% of the album.

P – Just touching on progressive rock again, Steven Wilson has come out and said that being labelled ‘Prog’ has probably held his career back, do you think the ‘Prog-Metal’ label has affected Threshold in a negative way?

K – I don’t think that were so big that we could be held back by anything! How many times do you hear people talking about the revival of prog? Sometimes it’s a positive, sometimes it’s a negative. There are so many people willing to put down the prog fans and categorise them as anoraks that are in their 50’s or 60’s and have no interest in life. Why would you do that? I think they’re an incredibly loyal fanbase that are well-educated, which means you can actually write lyrics that mean something and they will understand them!

It’s a real bonus in my book to find those people and they tend to be there all the way through your career. You can have a pop band that will be gone in a year or two, I love having a fanbase that we can go to and they’re waiting to hear your next album. It’s a privilege, it shouldn’t be something you put down at all and I don’t think it’s held us back in any way.

P – That’s probably why you are onto your 11th album…

K – Threshold are good at what we do, if we tried to become commercial or try and follow some trend, we’re not going to as good as the other bands that do it. You’ve got to forge your own way, be creative and have your own sound, not somebody else’s. I think it’s great if someone hears the track Small Dark Lines on the radio and knows it’s Threshold, to me that’s a good thing. It’s like when I hear a Pink Floyd song and I know it’s them, it should be your own identifying stamp. I think it’s a brilliant thing and that’s what happens within prog.

P – Glynn Morgan has returned and replaced Damian Wilson on vocals, any particular reason why?

K – I can tell you what happened, we never wanted to make a statement because we’re not in the business of trying to put Damian down or anything, he’s a really valued member of the band and he did a fantastically good job. However, in October, after we’d played Prog Power Europe I was giving him a lift home to Oxford and he said to me “what sort of singer do you think would replace me?”, I didn’t really pay much attention and he gave me a few names and we left it at that and I said good night.

A couple of weeks later he turned up when I was working on something in the studio and said that he’d decided to leave the band and it was then that I realised that I’d missed that, I’d missed him telling me that he was leaving the band completely! He gave me names of these people that he thought might replace him and I never want to be in the position of chasing people to be in the band. As I’ve said, I feel privileged to be able to play music to the people who want to listen to it and I wouldn’t want to put him in a position where we’re chasing him.

Threshold is something that’s special to me and if he’d come to the point where he felt he’d got other things to do or you don’t want to be in the band then that’s great, he’s done a brilliant job and we’ll move on. When I spoke to Richard later, I said to him that Damian had decided he was moving on and I don’t really want to take on one of these people he’s suggested, what do you think if we ask Glynn again?

I know he wanted to rejoin the last time Damian had come back. He’d found out afterwards that Mac had left and he was interested but it was too late then. In 2008/2009 we did some work with him on our ‘Paradox’ singles boxset on a couple of the tracks and it was great. I’d always loved Glynn’s voice and the three singers we’ve had are the singers I’ve wanted so if Damian leaves and, unfortunately, Mac is no longer available, it would be brilliant if Glynn came back.

Richard had been in contact with him not long before that and when we spoke to him he was over the moon and, as he said in his statement, he really wanted to get involved again. I thought that his enthusiasm was something you just can’t turn down. As the story goes, Damian changed his mind a few weeks later and wanted to come back to the band. I never really got a satisfactory answer as to why he wanted to leave or come back, he rang Richard this time and said he wanted to come back.

He actually did come back to start recording the new album but he didn’t finish it and we didn’t have any dates from him to come back. We did a show in Switzerland and the atmosphere in the band was just different, we knew he’d wanted to go and then he sort of came back but didn’t want to do certain dates that we’d tried to book to finish the album, he wasn’t available for those. It just seemed like we were in competition with something else  and I said to Richard we would have to find someone who wanted to do what the four of us wanted to do, the rest of the band.

We want to do things, we don’t want to be inactive, we’re not that young that we can be sitting around for years doing nothing. We told Damian we’d have to move on and I don’t know if he wanted to leave or not or whether he didn’t like the idea of looking bad on social media. I’m not sure whether he really wanted to come back or not, I don’t know what it was but it wasn’t really a good fit once he’d decided he wanted to leave and we just thought that, even though we don’t want to fall out with Damian we need to move on.

He still wants to meet up and chat again, we’re not on bad terms. I don’t know if he was expecting it or not but we said, in the light of what had happened, we’re going to move on and we’re going to find someone who wants to be in the band all the time and it worked out, it fits Glynn perfectly, with the extra power he has, on this new album and it works well.

P – Talking about people coming back, Jon (Jeary) makes an appearance on The Shire (Part 3), how did that come about?

K – I’m still in contact with Jon often, we meet as families, with his children and mine, and we’re still great friends. I know he loves Threshold because he bought some of the albums until he told me and I started giving him some, he still likes the music. He didn’t want to be involved in touring back then and I always wondered if I could drag him back in.

We’d demoed every other song on the album with female vocals, we got Richard’s wife to do it as she’s a really good singer and that stops us getting boxed in with any particular vocalist when we’re writing. When we did The Shire (Part 3) she wasn’t available to do the vocals so Richard did it himself and I thought it sounded a bit like Jon. I wondered if I could convince him to sing on it and Richard said good luck with that one so I contacted him and asked him if he’d consider doing this vocal for us and sing it how he feet.

I Think he was flattered as he was the original singer for Threshold when we were a pub band and coming back as a singer was very different to coming back as the bassist. He really enjoyed it, he came after work one night, put the vocals down and it went brilliantly, it was really good to be connected back with Jon. He was such an important formative part of Threshold, he wrote the majority of the lyrics for the first six albums, titled the albums and even came up with the band name.

Even though he didn’t like the touring and what that entailed, he always loved the music. The next step is, if we ever get to playing that track live, to maybe drag him up to London to sing on it, let’s see what he thinks about that one!

 

P – I really appreciate you talking to me Karl, the last question, what’s next for Threshold and yourself? Are you already thinking of the next album?

K – When I get back from the back of beyond (Serbia) I’ll be getting ready for our tour , planning things for Glynn such as what bits of guitar he might play on the tour in November and December. We’ve started arranging festivals for next year and then we’ll see what comes.

Richard and I have always left writing the music for a new album to the point when we’re actually ready to do it, rather than setting a date for it. It’s hard enough to make an album which works, you never feel fully in control of what’s happening, even with the best of intentions and being fully inspired, it might not go exactly as you want it to.

I always feel you have to be completely 100% ready and you’ve got to put everything into it to make it special otherwise why would you bother? We always wait until it’s a natural process, by the time we’ve finished the touring process for an album we’re ready to start thinking about a new one and you get inspired again.

You can order ‘Legends Of The Shire’ in various formats from Nuclear Blast here

Here’s my original review of the album:

Review – Threshold – Legends Of The Shires – by Progradar

 

 

Threshold Announce Manchester show

British Prog Rockers THRESHOLD have announced a third UK date as part of their European ‘Legends Of The Shires’ Tour. The band will play Manchester on Saturday 18th November at the Rebellion Rock Bar venue.

“We’re really stoked to add a third UK show to our Legends tour. Our home fans are amazing and we can’t wait to share our new songs with you.” Richard West

Tickets are on sale now available from the following link:
http://www.seetickets.com/event/threshold/rebellion-rock-bar/1141629
Don’t forget to RSVP on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/607841926053034/

Threshold have been gearing up to release their first ever double album ‘Legends Of The Shires’ which will be released world wide on Nuclear Blast 8th September.
They recently released the official video for ‘Small Dark Lines’, check it out here:

Listen to the 10 minute epic first single ‘Lost In Translation‘ here:

The band will also be playing a London headline show in December as well as performing at HRH Prog in Wales in November. Don’t miss the chance to see these brand new tracks come to life for the first time.

Get tickets for HRH Prog in Wales on Nov 17th here:
https://www.hrhprog.com/tickets.htm
Catch the band on December 10th at O2 Academy Islington. Tickets here:
http://www.songkick.com/concerts/28850284-threshold-at-o2-academy-islington

Pre-order Legends Of The Shires:
Limited Edition Gatefold Double NB Anniversary Green Vinyl inc signed insert from the Nuclear Blast UK store:  http://bit.ly/ThresholdShop
Limited Edition Digipack CD and Limited Edition Gatefold Double Vinyl inc signed insert from Recordstore.co.uk:  http://bit.ly/RSThresholdl

Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons Sign With Nuclear Blast and Release Exclusive Live E.P. Today

Nuclear Blast:

“We are proud and happy to announce that PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS, led by the legendary long time MOTÖRHEAD guitarist, have inked a worldwide record deal with Nuclear Blast.”

Commented Phil Campbell: “I am really pleased to announce that my band PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS have signed a record deal with Nuclear Blast. The label is home to some great bands, some of which are also very good friends of mine. Once we get back from the summer festivals we look forward to recording our first full length album!”

In celebration of the announcement, the band has put together the exclusive digital only live EP ‘Live At Solothurn’ (see cover below) which is available via all download and streaming platforms as of today!

‘Live At Solothurn’ tracklist:
01. Big Mouth
02. Nothing Up My Sleeve (MOTÖRHEAD Cover)​
03. Spiders
04. Take Aim
05. R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (MOTÖRHEAD Cover)
06. Sweet Leaf (BLACK SABBATH cover)

Order the EP here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/live-at-solothurn-ep/id1247432052

After supporting sleaze rock icons GUNS N’ ROSES on their stadium tour, PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS are currently touring Europe, playing a selection of big festivals:

23.06. NO        Halden, Tons Of Rock Festival
24.06. ES        Madrid, Download Festival
01.07. GR        Khaniá, Chania Rock Festival
22.07. UK        Gloucester, Amplified Festival
25.08. CH        Granichen, Open Air Granichen
02.09. UK        Durham, Stormin’ The Castle Festival

More info on PCATBS:
Phil Campbell was the lead guitarist in MOTÖRHEAD for 32 years. He has toured the world, sold millions of albums and headlined the biggest festivals. Phil has a passion for music and it is this passion that has led to the formation of PHIL CAMPBELL AND THE BASTARD SONS.

The band is unique as it features Phil‘s 3 sons on drums, bass and guitar. The band is completed by Vocalist Neil Starr.

In November 2016 the band released a self titled EP and headed out on tours including a European tour with SAXON. Now in 2017 the band is finishing off the writing and recording of their debut full length album and are about to play shows with GUNS N’ ROSES and play many of Europe’s biggest festivals.

Line-up:
Phil Campbell – Guitar
Todd Campbell – Guitar
Dane Campbell – Drums
Tyla Campbell – Bass
Neil Starr – Vocals

www.philcampbell.net | www.facebook.com/philcampbellatbs | www.nuclearblast.de/philcampbellandthebastardsons

 

THRESHOLD – announce new vocalist!

THRESHOLD have parted ways with vocalist Damian Wilson. The band have chosen to start a new chapter without him and he has told them he respects their decision.

Wilson enjoyed three stints with THRESHOLD, performing on the band’s most recent records ‘For The Journey’ and ‘March Of Progress’ as well as their early releases ‘Wounded Land’ and ‘Extinct Instinct’ in the 1990’s. Damian Wilson has been a great frontman for THRESHOLD and the band would like to sincerely thank him and wish him every success in his future endeavours.

THRESHOLD‘s new frontman will be Glynn Morgan, the band’s former vocalist from 1994 to 1996. Morgan appeared on THRESHOLD‘s 1994 album ‘Psychedelicatessen’ and returned to work with the band in 2008 to record tracks for the singles box set ‘Paradox’.

Glynn Morgan commented:
“I was over the moon when I got the phone call. To work with Karl and Richard and be a part of the mighty THRESHOLD story once more is a great honour. I can’t wait to start recording, the new material has me hooked already.”

You can watch Glynn Morgan in action with THRESHOLD in their 1994 video ‘Innocent’ here:

THRESHOLD are currently at Thin Ice Studios recording their 11th album ‘Legends Of The Shires’ due for release in the autumn. The band’s European tour kicks off in November with support from DAMNATION ANGELS and DAY SIX.

‘Legends Of The Shires’ Tour 2017
w/ DAMNATION ANGELS, DAY SIX
Presented by: Rock Hard, Eclipsed, Rock It!, Blast!, Wacken Radio

28.11.  NL        Weert – De Bosuil
29.11.  D         Hamburg – Markthalle
30.11.  D         Berlin – Lido
01.12.  D         Aschaffenburg – Colos-Saal
02.12.  D         Munich – Feierwerk
03.12.  CH       Pratteln – Z7
05.12.  D         Stuttgart – Club Cann
06.12.  D         Hanover – Musikzentrum
07.12.  B          Kortrijk – De Kreun
08.12.  D         Essen – Turock
09.12.  NL        Zoetermeer – Boerderij
10.12.  UK       London – o2 Islington Academy

Get tickets for London here:
http://www.songkick.com/concerts/28850284-threshold-at-o2-academy-islington

Order the live album ‘European Journey’ now: http://nblast.de/EuropeanJourney
Order ‘European Journey’ digitally: http://nblast.de/ThresholdDownloads

More on ‘European Journey’:
‘Watchtower On The Moon’ OFFICIAL LIVE VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8QN-lU4QbI
‘Lost In Your Memory’ OFFICIAL VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrINbxutmH0


More info:
www.thresh.net
www.facebook.com/threshold
www.nuclearblast.de/threshold

My Dying Bride Sign To Nuclear Blast

For 27 years, MY DYING BRIDE from West Yorkshire have been the voice of the hopeless and broken, combining haunting sounds with crushing misery and melancholy. With their signature sound they’ve shaped the doom metal scene like barely any other act and integrated both soft violin melodies and violent death metal growls into their music, whilst always staying strictly loyal to themselves. And since the early Nineties, the band’s masterminds and founding members Andrew Craighan and Aaron Stainthorpe forged beautiful grief into twelve studio albums with songs of epic length.

However for their 13th release, the band is now bound for new horizons and proudly announces their signing to Nuclear Blast Records!

Singer and lyricist Aaron Stainthorpe comments:

“It is with great pleasure that MY DYING BRIDE can announce they will be joining forces with the formidable Nuclear Blast Records in early 2017 and have already begun working on material for the next LP and singles. It is no secret that Nuclear Blast have continued to expand greatly over the years, signing epic bands from all corners of the world and giving them the chance they deserve to make something of themselves in the ever expanding metal scene. And it’s time that MY DYING BRIDE came along for the ride. We are hoping that this wedding between a very solid label and a well-established act will bear fruit of mighty proportions in the exciting years to come!”

 Since MY DYING BRIDE rarely leave their damp catacombs to perform live rituals, each show is a highlight in itself and on April 22nd, the group will expose their legendary album ‘Turn Loose The Swans’ in its entire length at Roadburn Festival. Together with Shaun ‘Winter’ Taylor-Steels on drums and a special backdrop lighting, the band will haunt the Dutch stage and deliver a truly unique experience.

MY DYING BRIDE live:
22nd April – NL, Roadburn Festival
15th July – POL,  Bolkow, Castle Party
1st October – UK, HRH Doom Vs HRH Stoner

More information:

Website
Facebook
Twitter

PAIN – NEW LYRIC VIDEO FOR “DESIGNED TO PISS YOU OFF” RELEASED

pain-poster

The Swedish metal force PAIN, led by multi-instrumentalist and producer Peter Tägtgren (HYPOCRISY, LINDEMANN), will return to the road with their Coming Home Tour 2016 this week. The band will join forces with THE VISION BLEAK, DYNAZTY and BILLION DOLLAR BABIES.

Today, the band released the brand new lyric video for the song “Designed To Piss You Off“.

“Coming Home Tour 2016”
PAIN
THE VISION BLEAK
DYNAZTY
BILLION DOLLAR BABIES.
13.10.  D         Berlin – Astra
14.10.  D         Wuerzburg – Posthalle
15.10.  D         Leipzig – Hellraiser
16.10.  CZ        Prague – Meet Factory
17.10.  A          Vienna – Szene
19.10.  D         Ludwigsburg – Rockfabrik
20.10.  D         Munich – Backstage
21.10.  CH       Lausanne – Les Docks
22.10.  D         Lindau – Vaudeville
23.10.  D         Essen – Turock
24.10.  UK      London – Underworld
25.10.  UK      Wolverhampton – Salde Rooms
26.10.  UK      Bristol – The Fleece
27.10.  F          Paris – Petit Bain
28.10.  E          Barcelona – Razzmatazz 2
29.10.  E          Madrid – Changó
30.10.  P          Lisbon – RCA Club
01.11.  E          Bilbao – Stage Live
02.11.  F          Marseille – Jas Rod
03.11.  F          Lyon – Ninkasi Kao
04.11.  F          Nancy – Nancy On Rock Festival*
05.11.  D         Markneukirchen – Music Hall
07.11.  NL        Tilburg – 013
08.11.  B          Antwerp – Trix
09.11.  D         Hamburg – Klubsen
10.11.  DK       Aalborg – Aalborg Metal Fest
11.11.  S          Gothenburg – Brewhouse
12.11.  S          Stockholm – Debaser

17.11.  FIN       Kuopio – Henry’s*
18.11.  FIN       Oulu – Hevimesta*
19.11.  FIN       Helsinki – Nosturi*
24.11.  FIN       Tampere – Klubi*
25.11.  FIN       Jyväskylä – Lutakko*
26.11.  FIN       Seinäjoki*
*without support

Order ‘Coming Home’ below:
Limited Edition Gatefold Orange Vinyl from the Nuclear Blast UK store:http://nblast.de/PAINComingHomeNBUK
Limited Edition 2 CD Digibook / CD / Vinyl via Amazon.co.uk: http://nblast.de/PAINComingHomeAmz
And digital album: http://nblast.de/PainDownloads

More on ‘Coming Home’:
“Call Me” (feat. Joakim Brodèn of Sabaton) official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml4iBTfoplY&feature=youtu.be
‘Black Knight Satellite’ lyric video: https://youtu.be/UBRMKyuwS54
Track-By-Track Part 1: https://youtu.be/awXfEcUm2SY
Track-By-Track Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P68y-RpYtls
Track-By-Track Part 3: https://youtu.be/l_t0pM92WT0
Album Trailer 1#: https://youtu.be/FnT0i5bjMw8
Album Trailer 2#: https://youtu.be/_pkOCSEbuWE
Album Trailer 3#: https://youtu.be/0QWJJBGlki8
Peter recently sat down to discuss his introduction to music – including the first record he picked up, how he switched from drums to guitar, plus his discovery, and the profound impact of the late and great David Bowie. Video here: https://youtu.be/614Kof_kqjk

More info:
www.painworldwide.com
www.facebook.com/officialpain
www.nuclearblast.de/pain

Pain - Coming Home

 

Review – Blues Pills – Lady In Gold – by James R. Turner

blues-pills-lady-in-gold-artwork-los-res

This is the second album from Swedish Blues rockers Blues Pills, who appeared as if from nowhere back in 2014 with their assured self titled debut album with its wonderfully psychedelic artwork and its feet planted firmly in the blues rock tradition of the late 60’s. In fact, with the power behind the band and the sublime vocals of singer Elin Larsson, they sounded like Led Zeppelin if they’d been fronted by Janis Joplin.

Of course the band hadn’t appeared from nowhere, they’d been working hard since they formed back in 2011 and Blues Pills was the culmination of their hard work. Now in 2016, after a slight personnel change, where Andre Kvarnstrom has replaced original drummer and founder member Cory Berry, they unleash their second studio album on the world.

One of the things that is always a concern, when faced with a band who’ve built up their presence organically and had time to refine their sound, is that, once they’ve unleashed a cracking debut, you find the second album is either rushed to capitalise on their success or is half finished, as they’ve used all their ideas up.

Luckily Blues Pills have been working hard to avoid this and ‘Lady in Gold’ is a clear evolution of their sound.

band

Opening with the title track, the traditional figure of death is reimagined as a Lady in Gold who comes to all at the end, and with the superb vocals of Elin to the fore and with some amazing guitar work from Dorian Sorriaux.

With a lot more depth and range than their debut album, Elins soulful vocals get a real workout on the moving and beautiful I Felt a Change. With this being a piano ballad, the band taking a back seat whilst Elins vocals shine, you can hear the emotion in her voice and, whilst it’s a more mellow sound to the band, it fits perfectly within the album and confirms how the band are maturing as songwriters. With a driving drum and bass beat powered by Zach Anderson, it gives us no pause for breath as it takes us into the driving Gone So Long, where the music that underpins the track simmers with power and energy, always only just under control before exploding into a powerful solo.

Clocking in at a mere 40 minutes with 9 original songs and a cracking cover of Elements and Things by Tony Joe White, the energy and soul never lets up, giving you a wonderful contemporary blast of psychedelic blues rock. The band are honest about where their influences come from but they are not mere copyists, instead, they take the ideas from an exciting era in classic rock and give it a 21st update, almost the musical equivalent of a Fiat 500. Something unmistakably from the classic rock mould but slap bang up to date as well.

Drenched in Hammond and with such amazing vocals, this is for anyone who enjoys foot tapping, soulful, catchy blues rock and, with no misstep on this album, Blues Pills have proved they have staying power.

If you can’t guess I bloody love this record!

Released 5th August 2016

Buy ‘Lady In Gold’ from Nuclear Blast

 

Forever Still – Sign to Nuclear Blast and release debut “Tied Down” on October 21st Check out music video for ‘Miss Madness’ and pre-order now!

forever-still

A new spark of hope has started glowing in the darkness of the rock music scene and with their untamed female lead vocals and haunting melodies the new wildfire namedFOREVER STILL is starting to spread from Denmark. Hailing from the same musical shores as LACUNA COIL, FLYLEAF, HALESTORM or BRING ME THE HORIZON, the band has been building a solid fan base since 2013 and toured tirelessly throughout Europe. Now they are ready to unleash their fresh debut record entitled Tied Down on October 21st.

“People who have followed the band for a while know that we’re very self-sufficient and haven’t been in a rush signing with a label”, singer Maja Shining states. “If we were to sign, we wanted to find someone who believed as much in the band as we do, without wanting to change us and who wants to work hard together with us to push it to the top. We believe we’ve found that in Nuclear Blast and we’re very excited to start working with them and reach new heights with the band.”

While many young rock bands with a charming frontwoman are often labeled as ‘industry products’ or ‘engineered’, nothing is artificial or marionette-like aboutFOREVER STILL – writing their own songs is obvious for Maja and multi-instrumentalist Mikkel Haastrup, but the band also put their heart and soul into every other aspect affiliated with their music. Over the years they have booked their own tours, shot their band photos and music videos themselves, produced and mixed their new songs and have consequently climbed their self-constructed ladder to success.

Something that instantly impressed Nuclear Blast CEO Markus Staiger:
“With FOREVER STILL it was love at first sight! The Metal Hammer article in which they had been named ‘Band Of The Month’ immediately caught my attention and after checking out their music via their homepage, I was overwhelmed! This band is young, ambitious, sounds fresh and has a massive amount of potential hits! Their modern and melodic metal is breathtaking and with singer Maja, FOREVER STILL has the perfect frontwoman! We loved the DIY-Status of the band and their high ambitions and it’s an honour to welcome them to the Nuclear Blast family!”

Their first album Tied Down is a journey through emotional devastation, hope and recovery, it mixes passionate clean vocals with raging screams from singer Maja and contains rock hymns that instantly capture the listener.

Here’s the tracklist of the new release that will also contain a special DVD:
01. Scars
02. Once Upon A Nightmare
03. Miss Madness
04. Awake The Fire
05. Breathe In
06. Save Me
07. Your Light
08. Alone
09. Break The Glass
10. Tied Down
Bonus Tracks:
11. Scars (Acoustic)
12. Save Me (Acoustic)
13. Miss Madness (Acoustic)

DVD:
01. Miss Madness (Video Clip)
02. Scars (Video Clip)
03. Awake The Fire (Video Clip)
04. Break The Glass (Video Clip)
05. Once Upon a Nightmare (Lyric Video)
06. Miss Madness (Lyric Video)
07. Scars (Lyric Video)

Forever Still have also just unleashed a new video for single ‘Miss Madness’

“The clip for ‘Miss Madness’ was shot at the oldest amusement park in the world over the course of 6 months. Half of it in the summer time and the other in the winter time to portray the contrast filled dream and the brutal reality for ‘Miss Madness’ herself”,singer Maja Shining remembers.
But shooting the video in the middle of the crowded amusement park ‘Bakken’ was of course not particularly easy – you have to let yourself go, ignore the staring people andMaja laughs when she’s thinking back to the scenery: “…haha, it was exactly as horrible as you can imagine!”

And since the madness is just about to begin, FOREVER STILL‘s debut album Tied Down is now available for pre-order. The physical copy will be a special CD+DVD digipack:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tied-Down-Forever-Still/dp/B01LZT5JHP/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1474448064&sr=1-1&keywords=forever+still

If you prefer to get a digital version:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/tied-down/id1151437769

Check out their music video to the album opening track ‘Scars’ here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUG0c05iK-Q

More info:
www.foreverstill.dk
www.facebook.com/foreverstill

forever-still-tied-down

Kadavar Announce Belfast and Cardiff headline shows

kadavar-logo

Berlin-based trio KADAVAR have announced they will play two UK headline shows alongside their Autumn tour supporting label-mates Blues Pills.

Both shows are on sale now – ticket links available below:

Nov 3rd – Belfast, Voodoo
https://www.voodoobelfast.com/events.php?&actID=438

Nov 7th – Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach
http://www.seetickets.com/event/kadavar/clwb-ifor-bach/992117

Kadavar released their latest album ‘Berlin’ last year, a compelling fusion of psychedelic rock and heavy fuzz that was acclaimed world-wide. This year together with long-time friend and collaborator Nathini van der Meer (http://nathinivandermeer.com), who has created artwork and videos for them in the past, the band have been working on their first “Visual Album”- 12 short films accompanying each of the albums’ songs, to be released once a month throughout the entirety of the year.

The band recently released the fourth video for the Berlin visual album concept. Watch‘Reich der Träume’ here: https://youtu.be/dGdcXgqWcGM
The third video, ‘Lord Of The Sky’, is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPqR5k0C_u4
The second video, ‘Filthy Illusion’, can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8at3OCtiqxM
The first video, ‘Pale Blue Eyes’, can be watched here: http://smarturl.it/PaleBlueEyes

KADAVAR‘s Berlin can be ordered in various formats from the Nuclear Blast store: 
http://bit.ly/NBUKKADAVAR
Pick up a signed copy of the album from Recordstore.co.uk:http://bit.ly/KADAVARSIGNED
Alternatively, order a digital copy from iTunes: http://bit.ly/BerliniTunes

blues-pills-kadavar

Lady In Gold UK & IRL Tour 2016 w/ KADAVAR
Tickets on sale now, available from the links below: 
1st November – Wolverhampton – Slade Rooms
http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/blues-pills-tickets
2nd November – Classic Grand – Glasgow
http://t-s.co/blu00
4th November – Voodoo Lounge – Dublin
www.ticketmaster.ie
5th November – Club Academy – Manchester
http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/blues-pills-tickets
6th November – London – Koko
http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/blues-pills-tickets
8th November – Bristol – Marble Factory
http://www.livenation.co.uk/artist/blues-pills-tickets