Frontiers Music Srl is delighted to announce the release of Italian prog metal band MIND KEY’s long awaited third album, “MK III - Aliens In Wonderland” on July 12. Today, the first single and video, "Alien In Wonderland" has been released.
"MKIII - Aliens in Wonderland" marks the return of one of the most gifted Italian progressive metal outfits to the scene after a nine year absence. Formed in Napoli in 1999 by Dario De Cicco (keyboards) and Emanuele Colella (guitars), the two wanted to create a band that melded the sound of bands like Dream Theater, Symphony X, Evergrey, and Pain of Salvation with a songwriting approach inspired by '80/'90s hard rock style.
Mind Key released their debut album, “Journey Of A Rough Diamond” in July 2004 on the Frontiers label. The band played various gigs in support of the album’s release, including shows with Dream Theater, Vision Divine, and Pendragon, among others. They then began work on their second album, “Pulse for a Graveheart”. Released in 2009, the album saw the band refining their songwriting approach and introduced their new singer, Aurelio Fierro. Fierro was truly able to showcase his vocal potential on the album, which can be described as a powerful mix of Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale, and Jorn Lande.
“Pulse for a Graveheart” grew the band's fanbase along with touring for the album which included shows with Edguy, Vanden Plas, Europe, and Hammerfall. However, the band went on an unexpected hiatus afterwards. "On the one hand, you could say the delay was because we simply took the right time to write the songs and work harder on the arrangements and final product,” says Dario De Cicco “but on the other hand, we also had to face some lineup changes and with Emanuele and Lucio moving abroad for some time things became more complicated. I also had to face a severe illness in 2014, but I overcame the hurdle and I'm stronger than ever right now! Aurelio also spent some time with “The Voice” Italy TV show, which cause further delays. So, quite a lot of things happened, but our motivation and desire to accomplish this musical mission we began got the better of us and here we are!"
The band is joined on this album by new members bassist Lucio Grilli (ex-Soul Secret) and drummer Mirko De Maio (The Flower Kings, Hangarvain).
“MK III - Aliens in Wonderland” can be described as a further evolutionary step in Mind Key’s sound. "We all had a metal/hard rock/prog backgrounds, but we felt that our playing style was changing towards a more direct and concise approach,” says Lucio Grilli. "And our way to conceive the songs was influenced as well. In addition to that, we were also looking for something more suitable for Aurelio's powerful voice, something closer to rock/metal to fully let his voice be heard. It's more natural for us to talk about MK simply as a melodic metal band than a prog metal one."
Guitarist Emanuele Colella concludes, “the current line-up is the best one to achieve our goal to create the perfect mix of melodic rock, progressive metal, and classic hard rock. What made everything different and better was the alchemy, walking in the same exact direction. This, I really think, makes “MKIII - Aliens in Wonderland” truly special!”
Frontiers Music Srl is excited to announce the release of an exciting new project featuring legendary former Queensrÿche and current Operation: Mindcrime singer Geoff Tate on lead vocals, entitled Sweet Oblivion Band on June 14.
Sweet Oblivion sees Tate teaming up with a stellar cast of Italian musicians led by Simone Mularoni, the mastermind of prog metal masters DGM. Musically, this album marks a return to the more melodic metal style for Tate and showcases a fine collection of songs highlighting the great talents of Mularoni and his cast of musicians.
Geoff Tate says, "I was approached by Frontiers to do this record and am pleased I took this chance. It’s an album filled with fun and I believe a lot of the fans who dig the old Queensryche sound will enjoy this one!”
Simone Mularoni adds, "I grew up listening to the '70s and '80s rock and metal bands and, of course, Queensryche's classic albums are among my favorites ever. Having the opportunity and luck of working together with a musical giant like Geoff Tate has been a real blessing on both the human and the artistic side. I asked a few amazing musicians and friends to help me out and together we delivered a bunch of classic heavy rock songs in which I tried to fuse a more contemporary approach with a classic Queensryche vibe, the performances are amazing!”
The opening track and first video “True Colors” sets the pace for the entire release and shows what the listeners can expect from this record. Excellent musicianship and a sound that harkens back to the massive melodies and hooks of classic albums like “Empire,” “Rage For Order”, and “Operation: Mindcrime”. Enjoy!
KANE ROBERTS has a cult melodic rock following, but it's been how many years since he actually recorded a melodic rock record?
That question will remain open, as this is nothing like his Self-Titled and Saints & Sinners records that fans have always hoped he would return to. Rather it is an amped up and further modernized version of Under A Wild Sky from way back in 1999.
So, a few problems with this record. First of all, the sound and style is modern rock – but a version that is now at least a decade (or two) out of date. Secondly, the production is atrocious yet again. The programmed drums and the thin sound just sound so ‘one-man band’.
Third – once you get past the aggression of the first two tracks, the rest of the album is a pretty mellow affair. And it’s a struggle to get through. If the sonics don’t damage your ears, Kane’s constant yelling will finish them off.
I dig a few of the songs – the opening duo offer some definitive hooks. One of the album’s best belongs to Beginning Of The End, but the arrangement and production is an absolute mess, all over the show.
There are tracks here that just sound so devoid of hooks and direction, they place the few that do in an uncomfortable position – raising them above the grade they probably deserve.
There are some decent hooks, ideas and riffs here, but the album is too much of a mess to appreciate. Production is horrible, execution is questionable and the style…the less said about that the better.
LONERIDER is an exquisitely recorded album, with performances to match. FM frontman Steve Overland re-joins his Shadowman partner guitarist Steve Morris (Heartland/Ian Gillan) and a rhythm section comprised of legendary drummer Simon Kirke and Tyketto bassist Chris Childs.
Every note on this album sounds planned, executed and placed perfectly in place. Its quite a diverse musical tapestry, with a bluesy rock base branching into AOR, earthy midwestern rock, a couple of tunes that could almost be described as southern rock. And there’s a couple of pretty lush ballads to flesh out a very interesting record.
The songs, while diverse and multi-genre spanning are all rock songs at heart and I can’t pick a filler amongst them all. It’s especially rewarding to hear Steve Overland in a fresh setting that doesn’t automatically mirror FM, Overland or Shadowman – which is obviously this album’s closest relative, musically speaking.
Steve Overland sounds flawless as usual and its great to hear Steve Morris delivering some sublime guitar riffs and divine solos.
If you’re a fan of all of the above – there’s no questioning the quality of this record.
X-ROMANCE was initially a project starting in 2015 as an offspring to the original band ROMANCE from 1988 founded by Anders "LA" Rönnblom & Thomas Widmark. In the fall of 2015, Anders was going through a box of old tapes and found the old ROMANCE recordings. He called up Thomas and because he thought that these tapes were too good to be put in a box and stored in a closet. In the following time, they went through all the tracks and re-recorded them. Widmark started to look for musicians in the Stockholm area. There were no problems to find guys who wanted be a part of this project; it was rather harder to find the right guys for the job.
X-ROMANCE consists of an experienced line-up with musicians with a lot of experience in the music industry who now have come together to deliver this fresh Melodic AOR masterpiece called “Voices From The Past”.
The album was recorded and mixed at REFLECTION SOUNDS STUDIO, Stockholm and engineered and produced by Tomas Rosenberg & Thomas Widmark. Mastered by Tomas Rosenberg, REFLECTION SOUNDS STUDIO, Stockholm
The Nottingham based band BLITZ will release the debut album "Welcome To The Rock Show" via City Of Lights Records.
Musically, "Welcome To The Rock Show" offers a mix of Glam and Classic Rock.
Fans of bands like GUNS N'ROSES, KISS, SLADE meets BACKYARD BABIES & VELVET REVOLVER should risk both ears and eyes.
The booklet and artwork are by the renowned comic artist Richard Adam Reynolds of Ground Zero Comics, whose works i.a. by Hellboy, Judge Dredd, Spiderman, Batman, Sin City and so on.
"Welcome To The Rock Show" - Tracklist:
01.Believe
02.Rock City Nights
03.Miss America
04.Love Is A War
05.Rock Me
06.Queen Of The Night
07.Don't Look Back
08.Only The Strong Survive
09.Falling Down
10.Another World Away
11.Born To Rock
BLITZ Lineup:
Stuart Corden - Vocals and bass
Mat Davis - Drums and backing vocals
Kevin Simpson - Guitar and backing vocals
BLITZ Live:
- 07.03.2019 - Nottingham (UK), The Maze
- 15.03.2019 - Nottingham (UK), The Salutation Inn
- 23.03.2019 - Nottingham (UK), The Maze
- 06.04.2019 - London (UK), The Big Red
- 03.05.2019 - Nottingham (UK), The Old Wine Vaults
- 08.05.2019 - Chesterfield (UK), Real Time Live Venue w/ MARCO MENDOZA (THE DEAD DAISIES, ex WHITESNAKE)
- 17.05.2019 - Wolverhampton (UK), Giffard Arms w/ WRATHCHILD UK
- 18.05.2019 - Chapel En Le Firth Peak (UK), Uncut Festival
The first taste of the new SANTA CRUZ album, due out this fall. Follow the band on Facebook (@santacruzband), Instagram (@santacruzbandofficial) and Twitter (@santacruzband) for updates!
Digital Single available at all Streaming / Download platforms now! Lyric video by Raf Ortega / Ecliptic Visions. Song produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Kane Churko.
