Category: News

Rise Twain launch video for “Prayers”

Philadelphia- duo Rise Twain released their debut self-titled album last year on InsideOutMusic. The union of Brett William Kull (producer, audio engineer, and member of Echolyn, Grey Eye Glances, and Francis Dunnery’s New Progressives) and J.D. Beck (The Scenic Route, Beck-Fields, author & playwright) bring their collective years of direct and varied experience in writing, performing and recording music together for their impressive first album.

Today, the band have launched their first ever official video for the beautiful ‘Prayers’.

The band comments: “Prayers is an elegy for love to come down from a forbidden height, to call from the night, to remember, wake, and live again. It sings a desperate melody to the lost so that they may find their way home.”

The album is available to order on Limited CD Digipak, 180g Black Vinyl LP + CD & as digital album here: https://risetwain.lnk.to/RiseTwain

Listen to some previously released tracks below:

‘Oh This Life’: https://youtu.be/XUWr1Vyg180

‘Golden’: https://youtu.be/15NnJ32GKfs

‘Everspring’: https://youtu.be/bsZu4GCRnrw

The track-listing is as follows:

1.     Everspring
2.     Golden
3.     The Range
4.     Lit Up
5.     Death of Summer
6.     Oh This Life
7.     Prayers
8.     Falling Skies
9.     Into A Dream
10.  That Is Love

Talking of how the duo came together: “I produced an album for J.D.’s original band, The Scenic Route”, says Kull, describing his first meeting with Beck in 2007. “They were a rocky, progressive kind of band, like a Jeff Buckley kind of thing. I was immediately drawn to his vocals. He’s such a strong singer.” Kull says he and Beck immediately hit it off, what he describes as an “inevitable connection.”

Adds Beck, “I just knew I had to work with Brett on a higher level. When I came in to cut the vocals on the Scenic Route album, the way we worked together…some people you just gel with, and then some people you have a barrier with. Brett and I gelled.” They spoke of one day collaborating on their own project, which finally surfaces as Rise Twain.

Discussing the album’s musical direction, Beck notes, “There’s not a typical structural theme that we use over and over and over. ‘Organic’ is a word that comes to mind. Seeking openness through simplicity and allowing the complexity of music to exist without the necessity of overly packing it or overly processing it. With that we were able to achieve such a broad spectrum of sound, and a colossal sense of its existence, without having to have a billion guitars and a billion things put over top. There’s some colouring with strings and other embellishments, but it really is something very simple and stripped down, and it’s awesome.”

Kull adds, “There’s a lot of complexity in this, but it’s not overt in the least bit. But yet, when you get into it, there’s all this really rich harmonic and dynamic stuff going on.”

RISE TWAIN are:
J.D. Beck: Piano, lead and backing vocals
Brett William Kull: Guitars, bass, keys, percussion, lead and backing vocals

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ – Launch new song “Devils And Angels”

Pre-order for upcoming studio album ‘The God-Shaped Void’ now open!

US Progressive Metal pioneers and innovators PSYCHOTIC WALTZ return with their original line-up for their highly anticipated 5th studio album and first new music in 23 years. Entitled “The God-Shaped Void”, the upcoming new album and InsideOutMusic debut will be released on 14th February, 2020. 

The first new track taken off “The God-Shaped Void” is being shared today. Check out the album’s opening track “Devils And Angels” in a lyric video by Cloud Music Typography:

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ commented about “Devils And Angels” as follows:
“This was the second song we finished writing for the album, right after “The Fallen”.  Brian had some chunky riffs to start with, then we all kind of added our own flavor of spices to it, some of which you can really pick up on headphones. It wound up being a lot more epic than we expected!”

The basic tracks for “The God-Shaped Void” were recorded with engineer Ulrich Wild in the band’s hometown of San Diego, then the rest of the recordings at Studio D in Austria and finally the material was mixed/mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Fates Warning) at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden. Artwork (as also presented throughout the lyric-video) was created by longtime visual partner Travis Smith (Katatonia, Riverside, Nevermore).

Here is the tracklisting for “The God-Shaped Void”: 

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ – “The God-Shaped Void”
1. Devils And Angels (06:29)

2. Stranded (04:49)

3. Back To Black (03:52)

4. All The Bad Men (03:59)

5. The Fallen (05:49)

6. While The Spiders Spin (05:49)

7. Pull The String (04:54)

8. Demystified (05:12)

9. Season Of The Swarm (05:57) *** Bonus Track

10. Sisters Of The Dawn (06:41)

11. In The Silence (05:16)

The album’s bonus-track “Season Of The Swarm” will be available on the limited Mediabook CD (which comes with expanded booklet and an exclusive logo patch), on the vinyl edition as well as on the Digital versions. A standard Jewelcase CD edition is available as well.

The vinyl edition of “The God-Shaped Void” comes as 2LP on 180gr. vinyl with gatefold packaging and with the entire album on CD as bonus in the following versions:

–  vinyl, there will also be the following strictly limited coloured editions available: 

– Black 2LP + CD: Unlimited

– Lilac 2LP + CD: 200x copies from IOM Webshop

– Transparent Blue 2LP + CD: 200x copies from Nuclear Blast

– Dark Green 2LP + CD: 300x copies from CM Distro

All formats are available for pre-order starting today here: 

https://psychoticwaltz.lnk.to/TheGodShapedVoid

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ line-up:

(Left to right on featured image by Axel Jusseit)

Dan Rock – guitars & keys

Devon Graves – vocals

Ward Evans – bass

Norman Leggio – drums

Brian McAlpin – guitars

IAMTHEMORNING SINGER-SONGWRITER – MARJANA SEMKINA PREMIERES NEW TRACK & VIDEO FOR “EVERYTHING BURNS”

TAKEN FROM HER DEBUT SOLO ALBUM – SLEEPWALKING  
(KSCOPE – 14TH FEBRUARY 2020)

With Marjana Semkina,Iamthemorning’s lyricist, singer and co-songwriter, set to release her spellbinding debut solo album, Sleepwalking on 14th February 2020 through Kscope, she has premiered the video for the track “Everything Burns”.

“The song ‘Everything Burns’ focuses on the demons that you take with you no matter how far you try to go; the fact is you just can’t run away from them. No matter how hard you try to change everything around you, they will stay with you unless you realise that the most important change, the one that is by far the hardest to achieve – the one that happens inside of you” Semkina explains the meaning behind the song. 

She continues by reflecting on how the clip, produced together with the long term collaborator of iamthemorning Eggor Kree, refences this side of the struggle “these toxic situations that we find ourselves trapped in seemingly, with no escape, you just have to find strength within yourself to put an end to it, even if this means you have to destroy something familiar & precious that you’ve been building for a while . Stepping into the unknown can be scary, but sometimes it’s (metaphorically) necessary to burn everything to the ground and start anew and work very hard to not fall into the same old patterns in this new life of yours.”

Sleepwalkingis available to PRE-ORDER HEREon CD / LP and digitally (with “Everything Burns” available as an instant download on digital pre-orders). Note to fans – Sleepwalking will be released under an alternative spelling – Mariana Semkina.

Sleepwalking will be available on CD / LP and digitally and is available to PRE-ORDER HERE

Sleepwalking tracklisting 

1. Dark Matter [03:12] 

2. Am I Sleeping Or Am I Dead [04:27] 

3. Turn Back Time [04:06] 

4. Ars Longa Vita Brevis [03:03] 

5. Invisible [03:07] 

6. Lost At Sea [04:59] 

7. Skin [04:52] 

8. How To Be Alone [02:50] 

9. Everything Burns [03:14] 

10. Mermaid Song [04:32] 

11. Still Life [04:08] 

Marjana Semkina is currently performing as Iamthemorning in support to The Flower Kings, in promotion of the band’s recent album The Bell.
10/12 – Columbia Theater, Berlin, Germany11/12 – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark12/12 – Brewhouse, Gothenburg, Sweden14/12 –  Kraken, Stockholm, Sweden 

Toundra announce new album ‘Das Cabinet des Dr.Caligari’to be released on 28th February 2020 via InsideOut

‘Das Cabinet des Dr.Caligari’ is the latest musical initiative of TOUNDRA, the intrepid instrumental rock band from Spain, that once again showcases their mutable capability to approach new projects and reinvent their art. This is not just an exceptional soundtrack to the quintessential German silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene that turns exactly 100 years old in 2020, it’s also a dialogue with the listener with the intention of questioning ideas like manipulation, freedom and human nature itself. The album will be released by InsideOut/Century Media on February 28th 2020.

To get a glimpse of the magic of this amazing soundtrack the band has just presented an appetizer of what’s soon going to be premiered as the first video & single, that will be available next week:

The band states, “‘Das Cabinet des Dr.Caligari’ is a movie with a very strong visual energy. It’s a film that takes elements of the terror movies to speak about authoritarianism. About how ideas can be controlled and eventually lead a human individual to do the worst things. It was premiered in between-war period, and it represents an advice about the real danger of some ideologies that nowadays are getting a new life across Europe; ideologies based in intolerance. That’s why we like to see this film as historical document that invites to some conscious thinking rather than let ourselves go where intolerants want to take us.”

The artwork has been done by Riki Blanco and it features all the iconic elements of the movie.

There will be a tour to present the album live and dates will be announced very soon, so stay tuned.

TOUNDRA took the world by storm with their personal instrumental rock on 2007. Since then, they have toured Europe intensively to the point of being considered one of the continent’s most exciting rock acts and have also taken their challenging music to places like Mexico or the United States. They have released three albums independently and two under the imprint of InsideOut/Superball and championed charts crossovering countries and genres, and they even formed the project Exquirla, which blends flamenco and rock. 

AWARD-WINNING IAMTHEMORNING SINGER-SONGWRITER – MARJANA SEMKINA RELEASES HER DEBUT SOLO ALBUM SLEEPWALKING

Following the success of four highly praised albums with Iamthemorning, the lyricist, singer and co-songwriter Marjana Semkina releases her spellbinding debut solo album, Sleepwalking on 14th February 2020 through Kscope. The album will be released under an alternative spelling – Mariana Semkina.

Characterised by her composed and unique voice, complex melodic lines and poetic lyrics with literary references, Semkina has often compared favourably with Kate Bush. The new material draws from the Iamthemorning soundscape but exists fully in Marjana’s world; a compelling mixture of alternative folk, pop, drama, beauty and emotionally purging lyrics. 

Marjana explains the motivation behind releasing a solo album “It wasn’t my plan to ascribe any profound meaning or concept to creating Sleepwalking, it’s purpose was more personally therapeutic, it was supposed just to help me get through some dark times, and at the end of that period in my life I found myself, not only renewed but with a collection of songs that were too personal to release under any other name other than my own.”

She continues “I wanted to use Sleepwalking as a way to translate emotions in the most sincere and unrefined way. No sugarcoating, no filters, just creative, honest thought caught in the moment. Turning those dark times and feelings into pure creative energy, something beautiful, something that has purpose”

Sleepwalking is a musical blend akin to the darker folk of Aldous Harding, Marissa Nadler, Sumie and Florist. To aid her vision for Sleepwalking, Marjana invited renowned keyboardist, drummer and bassist Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater), Craig Blundell and Nick Beggs (Steven Wilson), as well as the St. Petersburg Orchestra “1703” and frequent collaborator Vlad Avy.

Marjana is teasing fans with a glimpse into what to expect with this trailer featuring four songs from Sleepwalking – “Am I Sleeping Or Am I Dead”, “Invisible”, “Turn Back Time”, “Mermaid Song” and “Still Life”. WATCH & LISTEN HERE

The stunning album artwork makes reference to Semkina’s love for classical art, unifying photography with the 17th-Century Vanitas movement; “I am a big lover of classical art, and with this cover I wanted to create some sort of a unity between medium of photography and the Vanitas  art movement, a genre of still life painting. The paintings of the genre usually contain collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience and vanity of earthly achievements and pleasures; it exhorts the viewer to consider mortality, which is extremely close to where this album came from.”

Sleepwalking will be available on CD / LP and digitally and is available to PRE-ORDER HERE

Sleepwalking tracklisting 

1. Dark Matter [03:12] 

2. Am I Sleeping Or Am I Dead [04:27] 

3. Turn Back Time [04:06] 

4. Ars Longa Vita Brevis [03:03] 

5. Invisible [03:07] 

6. Lost At Sea [04:59] 

7. Skin [04:52] 

8. How To Be Alone [02:50] 

9. Everything Burns [03:14] 

10. Mermaid Song [04:32] 

11. Still Life [04:08] 

Marjana Semkina will be performing as Iamthemorning in support to The Flower Kings in December, in promotion of the band’s recent album The Bell.

01/12 – Bahnhof Pauli, Hamburg, Germany

02/12– Musik Zentrum, Hannover, Germany

03/12 – OK Andaluzia, Piekary Slaskie, Poland

04/12 – Klub U Bazyla, Poznan, Poland

06/12 – Burgerweeshuis, Deventer, Netherlands

07/12 – De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands

08/12 – Scala, London, UK

09/12 – Piano, Dortmund, Germany

10/12 – Columbia Theater, Berlin, Germany

11/12 – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark

12/12 – Brewhouse, Gothenburg, Sweden

14/12 –  Kraken, Stockholm, Sweden


Human Pyramids announce new album “Power Pose” Release Date: Christmas Day 2019 -Pre-Orders Now Open!!

Human Pyramids is a Cinematic, Orchestral Supergroup from Glasgow, Scotland. Led by Composer/Producer Paul Russell, the new album features musicians from Axes, Suicide Bid, Admiral Fallow, Scottish Ballet and Puff Uproar. 

Their 3rd album “Power Pose” was recorded all over Scotland, London and Berlin. Luscious Strings, Rousing Horns, Shimmering Woodwinds and Bubbling Synths abound! The album expands upon their trademark euphoric sound from the first 2 records which have soundtracked countless TV Shows, Documentaries and Films. 

The album was mastered by Joe Lambert (Dirty Projectors / Animal Collective) in Jersey City. Human Pyramids have shared main stages with Tame Impala, And So I Watch You from Afar and Kamasi Washington at End of the Road, 2000 Trees and Glastonbury Festivals. 

The ground-breaking 360-degree VR video for “Crackle Pop” was nominated for “Best Debut VR Experience” at Raindance Film Festival and “Best Interactive Music Video” at the UK Music Video Awards (Alongside LCD Soundsystem, Foster the People and Pup). Both debut album “Planet Shhh!” and 2nd album “Home” received glowing reviews/features in The Guardian, The Skinny, Prog Magazine and the 405. Steve Lamacq called the last release “A Late Contender for Album of the Year” and Gideon Coe, Stuart Maconie and Don Letts also championed the release. (Don Letts using “Crackle Pop” for his own advert).  

You can pre-order the album and stream the track ‘4000 Miles’ at bandcamp here:

https://humanpyramids.bandcamp.com/album/power-pose

Godsticks announce new album ‘Inescapable’ and Share first single ‘Denigrate’ feat. TesseracT’s Daniel Tompkins

Godsticks open 2020 with their new and most accomplished studio album, Inescapable. Their mix of heavy rock, progressive and alternative metal with a dynamic range of angular riffs and emotional depth will leave listeners reeling. The band’s sound has refined over their releases on Kscope, beginning with the technically astounding metal on Emergence to the more industrial and progressive-influenced Faced With Rage. Now, with Inescapable, the band have channelled their energy and technical ability into the melody, phrasing and vocal performance, allowing emotion to take centre stage.

The band found themselves wanting a definitive theme running through Inescapable, without turning it into a concept album, of being more open, more personal and ultimately one that shines an inquisitive light on Charles’s struggle with inner demons which gave the songs a new level of intimacy.

“Lyrically, I’ve always shared personal thoughts, feelings and experiences but in a very ambiguous way. For Inescapable – in a conscious effort not to repeat ourselves – I thought I’d be a little more self-reflective and perhaps examine some of my inner demons. I have a strange relationship with music, and especially playing guitar. I would struggle to survive without either, but equally they have made my life mentally torturous because my own self-worth is completely wrapped up in them. I used to be very much a perfectionist in my early years, and whilst some people may wear that as a badge of honour, I eventually viewed it as huge heavy weight dragging down. It was a long time before I arrived at the realisation that perfection was impossible to achieve.” elaborates Darran Charles.

Perfectly highlighting the album’s leitmotif, the band reveal their first single “Denigrate”, “the writing of this song was a sort of analysis of my ongoing battle with perfectionism and the general feeling that nothing you do ever meets the impossibly high standards you set for yourself”. The songfeatures additional vocals from TesseracT’s gifted vocalist Daniel Tompkins to record vocal harmonies, adding an extra layer of aggression and energy.

The shoot for the quirky video, directed by George Laycock (Blacktide Audio/Visual) proved to be a memorable day for the band as Godsticks drummer Tom Price recalls “Everyone in the band was so excited about the concept, but when we arrived on set and saw a large table full of cakes, sweets, chocolate, sugar, sprinkles, honey and all manners of confectionary, the magnitude of what we had all let ourselves in for finally dawned on us! By the end of the shoot we were completely covered in everything – it was like ‘The Great British Bake Off’ meets ‘Apocalypse Now’! It was so much fun to make, but despite several spins in the washing machine I still can‘t get that sweet sickly smell out of my jeans!” Charles chimes in “It wasn’t fun, it was horrible!”

Inescapable was produced by James Loughrey (Skindred) and recorded at the famed heritage Monnow Valley studio.


Godsticks are supporting the new material beginning in April with a UK tour followed by summer festivals

2/4/2020 – Cardiff – Fuel Rock Club
3/4/2020 – London – Black Heart
4/4/2020 – Edinburgh – Opium
5/4/2020 – Manchester – Gullivers
Tickets available https://www.facebook.com/godsticks/

Inescapable will be released on CD, LP & digitally. (“Denigrate is available as an instant download on digital pre-orders) on 7th February through Kscope and is available to PRE-ORDER HERE NOW

Godsticks are:

Darran Charles: Vocals, guitars, keys, synths

Dan Nelson: Bass

Gavin Bushell: Guitars

Tom Price: Drums

Backing vocals on ‘Denigrate’ – Daniel Tompkins

Follow Godsticks:

Website: www.godsticks.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/godsticks/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/godsticksmusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Godsticks

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/godsticksmusic

Steve Hackett Announces Seconds Out Tour for November 2020

Off the back of his most successful solo tour yet, selling over 30 thousand tickets for his 2019 UK dates, Steve Hackett has announced that his 2020/21 World Tour will feature the whole of the 1977 Genesis live album Seconds Out in full, plus More!

Seconds Out was the hugely successful double album recorded on Genesis’ 1977 concert tour together with The Cinema Show, from their 1976 tour, and featured Steve Hackett on guitar alongside Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks and Phil Collins who had taken on the role of vocalist following the departure of Peter Gabriel. The tour included music from each of the six studio albums from Steve’s time in Genesis and marked his final recordings with the band as he left to pursue his solo career upon its completion.

The Seconds Out + More! Tour will visit some of the venues Genesis played on that 1977 tour. There will also be additional material, including Steve’s solo concert favourite The Steppes to celebrate the 40th birthday of his fourth solo album Defector.

Steve Hackett says:  “I’m thrilled to bring Seconds Out back to life, featuring Genesis material at its most exciting and virtuosic, this time with all numbers played in full plus additional surprises!”

Full UK tour dates are as follows:

please note – highlighted shows are same venues as 1977 tour

Sunday 1 November                        Brighton                     Dome
Monday 2 November                       Cardiff                        St David’s Hall
Tuesday 3 November                      Stoke                          Victoria Hall
Thursday 5 November                    London                      The Palladium
Friday 6 November                          London                      The Palladium
Sunday 8 November                     Edinburgh                Playhouse
Monday 9 November                     Dundee                     Caird Hall
Tuesday 10 November                    Carlisle                       The Sands Centre
Thursday12 November                 Newcastle                O2 City Hall
Friday 14 November                        Scunthorpe               The Baths Hall
Saturday 15 November                   Bradford                     St George’s Concert Hall
Monday 16 November                   Southampton          Mayflower Theatre
Tuesday 17 November                    Cambridge                Corn Exchange
Wednesday 18 November              Oxford                        New Theatre
Friday 20 November                       Guildford                    G Live
Saturday 21 November                   Bexhill-on-Sea         De La Warr Pavilion
Monday 23 November                     Birmingham              Symphony Hall
Wednesday 25 November              Manchester               O2 Apollo
Friday 27 November                      Leicester                  De Montfort Hall

Saturday 28 November                   Basingstoke              Anvil
Monday 30 November                    Liverpool                    Philharmonic
Tuesday 1 December                      Glasgow                    Royal Concert Hall

Tickets for the Seconds Out + More Tour go on sale at 10am on Friday 29th November from https://myticket.co.uk/ and venue box offices.

SONS OF APOLLO LAUNCH VIDEO FOR ‘GOODBYE DIVINITY’; FIRST SINGLE FROM ‘MMXX’

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 ready to ring in the new decade with a sonic boom with their second studio album, appropriately titled, ‘MMXX’ (pronounced: 20/20).

Produced by The Del Fuvio Brothers (Portnoy and Sherinian), ‘MMXX’ will be released on the 17th January 2020 via InsideOutMusic/Sony as a standard CD package, Limited Edition 2 CD package (which includes instrumental mixes and a cappella excerpts), 2 LP + CD package, and on all digital formats.

Today they launch the Vicente Cordero-directed video for the albums lead single ‘Goodbye Divinity’. Watch it now here: 


Mike Portnoy comments: “From the minute we finished writing Goodbye Divinity, I knew we had our album opener and the first release off the album. I even remember posting on social media how excited I was about the song the day I tracked it!

The song has an immediacy that grabs you right away: great riffs, flashy playing and hooky vocal melodies. All of the elements that make up the SOA sound.

The video was directed by Vicente Cordero who I have now done over 20 music videos with and its look helps catapult the band from the Greek mythological past of the last album into the 21st century with this new album.“

Pre-orders are available from today, with digital pre-orders on iTunes & Amazon receiving an immediate download of ‘Goodbye Divinity’.

Pre-order now here:

https://soa.lnk.to/MMXX

AlphaJorge Release First Full Length Album

Brazilian band AlphaJorge have just released their first full-length album, Storm Ahead, on November 16th.

The band started in 2015 with its main goal being not to have a comfort zone. This can be seen not only in the band’s songwriting, but, especially in their live shows.

AlphaJorge is Arthur Rodrigues (guitar/vocals/keyboards), Nick Medeiros (guitar/backing vocals), Thiago Darós (bass/backing vocals) and Diego Rapoport (drums/backing vocals). 

After releasing their first EP, Island House (2017), the band rapidly gained some traction in the local rock scene, playing some of the most important stages in the region. In 2018 One More Day was released as a single, as part of a compilation showcasing some of the local scene’s most prominent bands.

Storm Ahead showcases the band leaving their past blues rock influences aside and embracing progressive rock at last, along with more complex and detailed songwriting.

When playing live, these challenging compositions are enhanced with extended and lively improvisation segments that travel through many different genres, from reggae to blues, from EDM to heavy metal. This, along with everchanging setlists, brings every single AlphaJorge concert a nice dose of unpredictability, making each and every show an unique experience.

Listen to the full album here

Follow AlphaJorge on:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlphaJorge/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alphajorgee/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3efSKrie6NOPpZb8zYCDnK

(Band picture by Lais Welter)