Cornerstone released a new video: one of the titles of their latest album REFLECTIONS, "Nothing To Lose", has been visually upgraded. Actually, the video was taken for an Austrian TV-show called "Mulatschag", but the feedback was so good, that the band decided to use it for Promotion-purposes. While there are still single concerts on the schedule till the end of this year, the planning for the tour through Europe in 2018 has already started. Some dates are already fixed. Stay tuned! www.cornerstone.co.at
For the first time ever in Scandinavia we present MelodicRock Fest!
Three days filled with the finest of AOR and Melodic Rock. Early bird tickets on sale now, artist announcements coming soon!
The Early Bird 3-Day Pass for Melodic Rock Fest Scandinavia 2018 grants you access to the whole festival (except V.I.P. area), all three days. A very limited number of tickets at a reduced price, once they're gone, they're gone!
The festival was founded by Andrew McNeice back in 2007 and in collaboration with Rock Stage Malmo the three day festival now find it's way to SLAGTHUSET, Malmo, Sweden.
The former slaughter house "Slagthuset" in Malmo is today one of Scandinavia's most conveniently located event facilities, only 20 minutes from Copenhagen Airport, 2 minutes from Malmo Central Station and 35 minutes from Copenhagen City. The venue is ideal for conferences, expositions, theatrical performances and concerts!
For MelodicRock Fest Scandinavia 2018 we will use 3 of the bigger rooms + an outdoor area with a total capacity of 1,500.
The meeting of minds in Nurnberg; Germany in 2009, through the brainstorm of Georg Siegl of AOR Heaven Records, sported an album, ‘Point of Destiny’, recorded and written by four European musicians; three from Germany and an English vocalist. Georg’s passion for Frontline guitarist, Robby Boebel to record again brought forth an album with Hutch Bauer on bass, Ramy Ali on the kit and Tony Mills (ex-SHY, TNT) on vocals.
The result was a melodic but very tough sounding album with solid production and songs that demanded a replay.
2017/18, sees a return to new recordings, by, ‘State of Rock’, now split between the UK with Pete Newdeck on drums and Mills being Sweden based, co-writing with Boebel for a second release. Robby Boebel comments: “It’s something really special to record an album with someone which I only knew from TV before. We’ve now been friends since many years and I’m really looking forward to record another album and live dates in late 2018 with Tony.”
With the promise of German festival appearances in late 2018, an autumn release guided by video and radio promo will give us a clearer picture of the, ‘State of Rock’, by December next year.
MIDNITE CITY were formed in January 2017 by current Tigertailz front-man (and former Vega, Steevi Jaimz and Teenage Casket Company member and songwriter) Rob Wylde.
Wylde sang, played guitar and bass on the recordings whilst producer Pete Newdeck played drums, provided backing vocals and took care of the production. Wylde also brought in newcomer guitarist Miles Meakin who played guitar solos on the recordings and former band mate James Martin (Vega) who laid down keyboards on the tracks. After being mixed by Newdeck, the songs were sent to Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) who mastered them at his studio in Canada.
The band’s self-titled debut album will be released on AOR Heaven on October 20th, 2017!
Swedish AOR hopefuls CODE RED have released a new video for the track “Heat Of The Night”, taken from the album “Incendiary” which will be released on AOR Heaven on October 20th, 2017.
CODE RED is the new Swedish AOR sensation led by singer/song-writer Ulrick Lönnqvist (ex SAHARA). The singer teamed up with co-writers Morgan Jensen (Swedish Erotica) and Michael Palace (Palace, Big Time), and along with lead guitarist Oscar Bromvall (Palace, Erika) and keyboard player Kaspar Dahlqvist (Shadowquest, Dionysus) the line-up was complete.
"Forever And A Day" is written by Victor Olsson and is taken from the yet untitled debut album, which will be released in 2018.
The album is being helmed by producer Thomas "Plec" Johansson, who has previously worked with Watain, Onslaught, Scar Symmetry, The Night Flight Orchestra, among others. "Plec" has managed to fill his studio walls with multiple platinum and gold record awards as well as taking home three Swedish Grammy awards. The cover artwork was created by hugely talented Lizette Lannhammar.
Line-up on "Forever And A Day":
Bjorrn Strid - Lead Vocals (Soilwork, The Night Flight Orchestra)
Johan Kihlberg, the founder and drummer of Swedish melodic rockers IMPERA, has signed a solo deal with Germany’s Metal Heaven. The album features several different singers including Michael Sadler (SAGA) and Göran Edman (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen).
The album was produced by Kihlberg and LION’S SHARE guitarist Lars Chriss, who also mixed and play on it. Release on February 23, 2018.
Johan Kihlberg is also currently in the spotlight for the KISS book, "Kiss Klassified: War Stories From A Kiss Army General".
The story is centered around Kihlberg, who was the president of Kiss Army Sweden for ten years. The book features over 750 never-before-seen photos as well as several unpublished interviews with American rock icons KISS. Release on October 26 via Gain Production.
Paolo Morbini Project is an Italian melodic rock band composed ofPaolo Morbini (drums, keyboards), Guido Priori (vocals), Marco Andreasi (guitars), Diego Belluschi (guitars), Alessandro Sperti (Keyboards) Mimmo Corbo (Bass). Originally forming in 1993 as Paolo Morbini Group the band has gone through several phases.
Its strongest commercial success occurred in 2007 when Paolo Morbini and Guido Priori came together in Milan where they start the band Myland releasing the album No Man’s land (Valery Records) with the contribution of Marco Andreasi , Tommy Denander and Europe ‘s Kee Marcello. The response by press and melodic rock fans was amazing and unexpected which gave the group the opportunity to release the japanese version of NML including the bonus track “When the love is gone” duet on vocals by late Toto’s Fergie Frederiksen and Guido Priori. Myland became soon one of the most known Italian AOR band in the world. After many line up changing from 2010 to 2014 Myland split in 2016.
In 2017 Paolo Morbini and Guido Priori brought back together to release “2017” under the monicker “Paolo Morbini Project”. The strong influence by Journey and Toto’s style.
This is a new Video ”She’ll never be the one” from the Album ”2017”Out in November 2017.
Deep Purple are setting sail into new waters with their first-ever animated video.
The official video for "The Surprising," one of the fan favorite tracks from the internationally successful album inFinite, takes the viewer on a journey through the magical 50-year history of the band. With high attention to detail, the animated masterpiece follows the five heroes of our story – Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Don Airey, and Steve Morse � through a stormy ship cruise full of allusiions and sees them riding off into the sunset.
The video was directed and illustrated by Matt Rooke, alongside director Peter Rogers, who also produced the video together with Craig Hooper and Collin Games, known from the Deep Purple movie documentary From Here to inFinite.
Deep Purple and earMUSIC also announce the release of the 97-minute documentary From Here to inFinite, which is due out in November 2017. It shows the history and origin of inFinite and provides a deep insight into the workings of the band for the first time on Blu-ray!
The Blu-ray further includes two hours of bonus material, including music videos such as "The Surprising," three previously unreleased live videos ("Time for Bedlam," "Birds of Prey," and "Smoke on the Water"), all filmed and recorded at Hellfest 2017, as well as in-depth behind the scenes footage, movie documentary outtakes, interviews, and an audio commentary by Deep Purple themselves; all previously unreleased.
In conjunction with the release of the Blu-ray, Deep Purple and earMUSIC are also releasingThe infinite Live Recorings, Pt. 1 on a special 3-disc vinyl LP, produced by Bob Ezrin. This was recorded at Hellfest 2017, the biggest metal festival in France and contains a brand new previously unreleased 80min live performance.
TRACK LIST FROM HERE TO INFINITE (Blu-ray) ►The Movie "From Here to inFinite (97 min.)
Bonus (132 min.) ►Audio commentary by Deep Purple ►Live At Hellfest 2017
1. Time for Bedlam
2. Birds of Prey
3. Smoke on the Water
►Outtakes From Here to inFinite
1. Full Interview with Joe Satriani
2. Corky - The Recording Engineer
►Official Music Videos
1. The Surprising
2. Johnny's Band
3. Johnny's Band Documentary
4. All I Got Is You
►About inFinite - Interviews
1. About the Album
2. Beyond the Album
3. Track by track
4. Rapid Fire interview
5. Behind the Scenes photoshoot
TRACK LISTING FOR THE INFINITE LIVE RECORDINGS, VOL. 1 (3LP) Side A
1. Time for Bedlam
2. Fireball
3. Bloodsucker Side B
1. Strange Kind of Woman
2. Uncommon Man Side C
1. The Surprising
2. Lazy Side D
1. Birds Of Prey
2. Hell To Pay
3. Key Solo Side E
1. Perfect Strangers
2. Space Truckin’
3. Smoke On The Water Side F
1. Hush
2. Black Night
Gilby Clarke needs no introduction to rock fans. He played in both Guns N’ Roses and the MC5. Who else can claim membership in two of the most life-altering rock ’n’ roll outfits to ever exist on the planet? Clarke hit the stage with his GN’R running buds at the 2012 Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony – he appeared on the band’s The Spaghetti Incident, Live Era ’88-’91 and Greatest Hits albums, and spent years on the massive Use Your Illusion world tour in the ’90s – but his proudest GN’R moment is, he says, the Gilby rolls mode on the GN’R pinball machine!
Before joining the GN’R circus, the guitarist bounced from the great Candy to his own, heartbreakingly ignored, big-riff quartet Kill for Thrills. Clarke has, along the way, toured, and/or recorded with everyone from Nancy Sinatra to Heart to Gene Simmons to Slash’s Snakepit. In between touring & recording he was making videos with not only GNR, but Michael Jackson & Slash when MTV was de rigueur. Perhaps you saw him starring alongside Mötley Crüe’s Tommy Lee on Rockstar: Supernova or VH1 Honors with Rob Zombie, Slash & Ace Frehely?
Then there’s his solo career that earned him critical winks and sales for such albums as Pawnshop Guitars (including the American hits “Cure Me ... Or Kill Me,” and “Tijuana Jail”), The Hangover (two songs made Bruce Willis’ The Story of Us), Rubber, 99 Live & Swag.
Clarke, who’s an old school mash-up of Keef, Johnny Thunders, and B.B. King, continues to write fist-jacking rock ’n’ roll songs with fat choruses, and appear on stages around the globe. He produces worthy bands too. He’s also one of the sweetest gents you’ll ever meet. He’s a guitar hero, certainly, but also a gentleman whose heart happens to rush at rock ’n’ roll speed.
Gilby is hitting the east coast of Australia for some intimate, sweaty, raw, totally Rock ‘n’ Roll shows! Gilby will be Will be ripping up a selection of hits from his past bands Guns N Roses, Slash’s Snakepit, RockStar Supernova, MC5 and much more with full band in tow.
Gilby Clarke Australian Tour Dates
Thursday 30th November - Crowbar - Brisbane
Friday 1st Dec - Cherry Bar - Melbourne
Saturday 2nd Dec – The Basement - Canberra
Sunday 3rd Dec – Frankie’s - Sydney
With the final show at Frankie’s in Sydney being a huge party in celebration of their 5th birthday. – FREE ENTRY
A little good news – sales results for MelodicRock Records have been outstanding this year, I truly appreciate the support of every person that has purchased one of our titles. I’d also thank the artists for trusting in the label, the stores and distributors for keeping fans supplied with new music.
I’m excited to announce that the first pressing of BOULEVARD’s comeback masterpiece Luminescence has sold out and a second pressing has been ordered.
Both fan and critical response to this album has been amazing and I’m honoured to be part of the band’s triumphant return.
When it comes to unearthing new heavy music that will stand the test of time, it always pays to observe what the experts are doing. A four-man testament to hard work and creative excellence, Cyhra showcases the pooling of a huge quantity of modern metal talent. Formed in 2016 by long-time friends ex-Amaranthe vocalist Jake E and former In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad, these vital veterans are about to light a fire under the contemporary metal scene that promises to blaze for decades to come. The band’s immaculate debut album, Letters To Myself, is the end result of an artistic partnership that was, as Jake E explains, plainly meant to be.
“At the beginning of 2016, Jesper and me sat down to have a cup of coffee, and we were discussing what we wanted to do with our respective careers. Jesper said that he was going to go and record a solo album and I was saying that I was actually walking the same path, although I didn’t know if I was going to leave Amaranthe or just do something completely different. Jesper asked me if I’d be interested in singing on his solo album and then I more or less asked him the same thing, would he play on my solo album? Then we discussed what kind of music we each wanted to do, and after ten minutes Jesper stood up and said ‘What the fuck? We want to do exactly the same thing! Let’s start a band instead!’ That’s how it all started. A couple of months later I decided to leave Amaranthe, and this became my main priority.”
Completing this insanely gifted quartet are former In Flames bassist Peter Iwers and Alex Landenburg, current drummer with power metal titans Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody and a former member of thrash legends Annihilator. As the explosive and exhilarating songs on Letters To Myself reveal, the chemistry between these four musicians has been instant and extraordinary. Sometimes all the pieces of the puzzle just fall into place…
“I always had Alex in my mind for the drum position,” says Jake. “We always bumped into each other when I was out touring. I said to Jesper, ‘I know this guy and you’re going to love him!’ I sent two or three songs to Alex and he loved them and became a member of the band almost right away! We were almost at the point of talking with labels when we thought that maybe Peter would like to be involved too. He was still in In Flames at that point, but he wanted to join. He decided to leave In Flames a couple of months later, but that had nothing to do with us asking him to join Cyhra. But suddenly we had a steady line-up! It was fun that Jesper and Peter ended up in the same band again, too… that’s pretty cool.”
Although by no means repeating past glories, Cyhra’s debut album undoubtedly features plenty of the magic that each member of the band has become known for over the years. From the blissfully melodic thrust of Jesper Strömblad’s riffs and hooks and the soaring, soulful splendour of Jake E’s unmistakable voice to the pummelling, groove-driven precision of Peter Iwers and Alex Landenburg’s rhythmic bedrock, every last moment crackles with the excitement of fresh territory, new challenges and a brand new identity for all involved to embrace. An album of concise anthems, every one of them blessed with a huge chorus, Letters To Myself sets out this band’s stall in no uncertain terms: from the high energy riffing and skittering groove of opener Karma and the monstrous power and melodic finesse of Heartrage through to the overwhelming emotional thrust of grand ballad Closure and the pop-tinged melo-death attack of Holding Your Breath.
“When it comes to a style, I’d just say that this is really catchy metal!” laughs Jake. “You can hear where we’re coming from but we’re not cut’n’pasting anything from our old bands. We have our own ways of singing and playing so yeah, it’s recognisable. I don’t put labels on music. For me it’s either good music or bad music – they’re the only categories I have! I guess we aimed to get some kind of elements from our other bands. I’ve always been focused on choruses, but I also wanted to add some more modern touches, some of that alternative metal vibe. It’s hard to put a label on it, though, and that’s a great problem to have.”
Beyond the obvious thrill of starting a new band, Cyhra also represents something deeper and more profound for guitarist Jesper Strömblad. Having battled with addiction for many years, this latest creative step marks a wholesale comeback for one of modern metal’s most distinguished protagonists, and the songs on Letters To Myself delve deep into the emotional turmoil and quest for inner strength that Jesper has experienced in recent times. Newly invigorated and back to top form, his confident and artistically joyous return is a cause for celebration on every level.
“This album must be seen a little bit as Jesper’s comeback,” agrees Jake. “He’s never been silent about his problems with alcohol and other things. We talked a lot and I listened to what he had to say about his condition and his feelings and all his anxiety problems. I wrote the lyrics a lot from his perspective, but also from mine, writing about being in a bad situation, whether it’s a band or a relationship or a problem with alcohol. The album is pretty true to our life experiences and I think people will be able to relate to it. It’s a dark album but it still has that positive vibe, which is kinda weird!”
With such an impressive collective pedigree, the buzz around Cyhra has been growing at a rapid rate since the band unveiled their plans earlier this year. When Letters To Myself hits the streets, it seems likely that these revitalised metal diehards will make a swift and sudden impact. An exciting new chapter for all concerned, Cyhra are in this for long haul and ready to take their message of hope to the masses.
“We have our own headline show in Helsinki on the 27th of October and that’ll be our first ever live show,” Jake states. “We’re gonna be a band like any other and we’re gonna tour hard. I really don’t want people to think this is some kind of project. It’s a full-blown band and we’re gonna work our asses off!”
