Monthly Archives: April 2022

Live Music, Live Reviews

LIVE REVIEW: Priscilla Block’s tour Welcome To The Block Party

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We have a great show lined up at Ferris Wheeler’s Backyard and BBQ in Dallas, Texas. One of the heartlands of country music, along with Oklahoma and Nashville, Texas has been a hotspot for country music shows and singers. Big names include Lee Ann Womack, Miranda Lambert, Maddie Marlow (of Maddie and Tae), The Chicks, George Strait and George Jones. The next artists looking to leave their mark on Texas are tonight’s lineup of Amanda Kate, Palmer Anthony and Priscilla Block. If tonight’s venue being sold out is any indication, even with the strong Texas winds blowing in, it looks like they’re on the right track.

Written by Brent Arron Durant

Photo by Brent Arron Durant

See full gallery for Amanda Kate here.

Opening the show is Amanda Kate, an artist originally from Red River, NM but is making big waves in the Texas country music scene. You can even hear just how powerful her vocals are just by the sound of her introducing herself and her guitarist, Eli Viloria. Eli, himself, has a great voice that pairs well with Amanda’s as they go through songs that include: “Deconstruction of a Heartache”, “Little I Got”, and “Baby Don’t” (an unreleased song from Amanda’s new album). The crowd enjoys the talent and energy that Amanda Kate brings on stage and the performance she gives to get the Block Party started.

Photo by Brent Arron Durant

See full gallery for Palmer Anthony here.

Palmer Anthony comes out next to keep the night rolling with a more modern sounding take on country music. Based out of Fort Worth, Texas, Palmer Anthony has amassed some serious accolades. Anything from his music being streamed over a million times to touring with the likes of Kolby Cooper, Corey Kent and now being the support for Priscilla Block on her last show of her Block Party tour. The connection Palmer has with his crowd is a something to see. At only 24, his stage presence is that of an artist that’s been playing for a crowd many times. His songs “Between You and Me”, “Remember Us”, “Meet Me in Texas” and a mashup of “Hey There Delilah/Wake Me Up When September Ends/I Want it That Way” shows his tone is not only contained within a certain genre but is amazingly universal. The back and forth was very entertaining with Palmer’s set and they did a great job getting the crowd ready for Priscilla.

Photo by Brent Arron Durant

See full gallery for Priscilla Block here.

A fantastic start to get to Priscilla Block’s headlining set. Everyone has been waiting for her to step foot on stage, the audience is already cheering for her as the filler music plays over the PA system. The crowd makes their way from their seats and up to the barrier that separates them from the photo pit. The feeling of everyone’s excitement comes over as the band gets prepared for their set. Finally, the Block Party Band gets settled and plays an entrance for Priscilla to enter the stage. At last, the 600+ packed sold out venue get to see an artist that most know from her Tik Toks but love her for her humor, what she stands for and her down to Earth personality. The moments captured while in the photo pit were a little frantic as the show progressed through the songs “Welcome to the Block Party”, “Ever Since You Left” and “My Bar” but listening and watching the rest of the show was enjoyable. From talking between songs about her 3 personalities (sassy, trashy and sad) to expressing her gratitude to all her fans and remembering a time where she was trying to get just one person to hear her sing “Wagon Wheel” in a bar to selling out this Dallas venue. After seeing her live, it’s easy to tell why she will be selling out bigger venues as she progresses with her career with not only her singing ability but her approachability.

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AFTER FOREVER Kick Off Pre-Order For The 15th Anniversary Re-Issue Of Their Self-Titled Album

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Symphonic metal masters AFTER FOREVER are soon approaching the 15th anniversary of their self-titled swansong album After Forever (2007) and to celebrate this anniversary, the band will release a special re-issue of the album – completely re-mastered by Darius van Helfteren and featuring two rare Japanese bonus tracks. The first is the beautiful piano ballad ‘Lonely’ and the other is a catchy progressive symphonic metal anthem named “Sweet Enclosure”, which has been released today.

Check out “Sweet Enclosure” here: https://bfan.link/sweet-enclosure 

Singer Floor Jansen comments: “I am very glad to see this album revamped and presented once again. I am still so proud of it and consider it our best work! It brings back happy memories of rehearsal sessions in extreme temperatures with good laughs and wonderful recording sessions in the middle of the Dutch countryside. Singing these songs live is something I will miss forever and rocking with our loyal fans too. Thank you for all the magnificent years and I hope you can enjoy this album, maybe for the first time, maybe once again!” 

The iconic metal band from The Netherlands was formed in the mid-nineties by the laterEPICA founder Mark Jansen and guitarist Sander Gommans. The band split up shortly after their eponymous self-titled album After Forever in 2008. Keyboard player Joost Van Den Broek became a famous producer for EPICA, BLIND GUARDIAN, and many more, while singer Floor Jansen joined NIGHTWISH and recently also the German TV show Sing Meinen Song (=Sing My Song); where the symphonic metal icon will join other artists in paraphrasing and interpreting each other’s songs.
Fans never forgot AFTER FOREVER and even though their last album was released at a time before streaming was a thing, it has still gained over 15 million streams.

AFTER FOREVER are: 
Floor Jansen – Vocals
Sander Gommans – Guitar, Grunts
Bas Maas – Guitar, Vocals
Luuk van Gerven – Bass
André Borgman – Drums
Joost van den Broek – Keyboard

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DREAMS IN PERIL On Midwest Tour Starting In May with Pig Weed

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Core fans, take heed, the devastating sounds of Dreams In Peril are hitting the American Midwest with Pig Weed – seven states over nine dates each one promising a night filled with thunderous breakdowns, relatable lyrics, and contagious energy. Dreams In Peril are preparing for the release of the band’s sophomore album “Ascending” and will be bringing some new songs to the road as well as featuring the band’s new lineup, introducing new members Dakota Otte on vocals and Lucas Munoz on the second guitar. They describe their music and what fans can expect:

“All of our music is based on personal issues and the hope to overcome your own personal demons. That being said, our upcoming new music covers ascending to new heights, rather than being in a career or in life in general. The new singles also cover topics like cancer and struggling with mental health. Musically, we are dynamic, from utilizing reverb to epic change-ups in tempos and timing signatures.”

Dreams In Peril’s music not only keeps the listener on their toes with the instrumentation, but they also channel a momentous amount of energy and passion into their live performance that will have the audience upfront and center the entire time.

No strangers to the stage, Dreams In Peril has played with big names such as Born of Osiris, Origin, and Between The Buried and Me. Fans will be greeted by decisive energy and passion that ushers in real themes of anger, sadness, life struggles and ultimately overcoming them all.

With a couple of new singles ready to go in the coming months, they are excited to get back on stage doing what they love. They are recommended listening for fans of The Acacia Strain, Veil Of Maya, and Oceano.

Tour Dates – Dreams In Peril w/ Pig Weed:​
May 27 – The Graffiti Room – Bedford Park, IL
May 28 – Maple Grove Tavern – Maple Heights, OH
May 29 – Westside Bowl – Youngstown, OH
May 30 – Sovereign – Brooklyn, NY
May 31 – The Stoney Badger Tavern – Lynchburg, VA
June 1 – The Recreation Center – Fredericksburgh, VA
June 2 – Black Circle Brewing – Indianapolis, IN
June 3 – Vivo – Overland Park – Kansas City, MO
June 4 – Kendalls Bar – Oklahoma City, OK

About:​
Dreams In Peril are a five-piece groove-driven and dynamic death metal/hardcore act out of Kansas City. Combining crushing grooves with cinematic soundscape melodies, the band brings a huge dynamic that has been captured on the upcoming album ‘Ascending’.
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Having supported acts such as BORN OF OSIRIS, BENEATH THE MASSACRE, ORIGIN, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, VEIL OF MAYA, and THE ACACIA STRAIN, since forming in 2018 Dreams In Peril have quickly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. Soon after the band’s inception, Dreams In Peril released a debut album titled ‘MePhobia’ and the video clip for the lead single ‘Neckties And Nostalgia’.
​
The band started out as a four-piece and found the path to the present an endurance of setbacks both personal and professional. The band’s name is a reflection of the experience of these challenges and overcoming them. This however soon changed, with the band being picked up by leading international heavy music management agency EMG in 2019 (SUFFOCATION, CRYPTOPSY, RINGS OF SATURN).
​
Following some line-up changes and writing for a new album, Dreams In Peril recruited a second guitarist, Lucas Munoz, and a new vocalist Dakota Otte. Consolidating the band lineup as the most devastating yet, Dreams In Peril entered the studio to record a new yet-to-be-released album in 2022 titled ‘Ascending’.

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The “Spotlight” Is On ANNIKEN’s New Single Off Upcoming Album “Climb Out of Hell”

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Today the spotlight is being focused on Norwegian solo metal artist Anniken and her latest single off her forthcoming debut album “Climb Out of Hell” on May 13, 2022 via Rockshots Records.

Entitled, “Spotlight”, the single and album opener kicks is a track that many musicians can relate to. It’s about the anxiety and desire for success along with the love and hate relationship of being up on stage with the spotlight focused on you.

Anniken has been a part of the Norwegian heavy metal scene for years with her band Darkest Sins, the studio project Ana – Metal for Charity, as well as being a part of her husband Marius Danielsen’s trilogy Legend of Valley Doom, both in the studio and with the live band. While in Darkest Sins she opened for bands such as Anthrax, Jorn, TNT, and UDO along with Legend of Valley Doom she has worked with legendary musicians such as Ralf Scheepers, Amanda Somerville, Roland Grapow, Matt Barlow, Doogie White, Jennifer Batten, and also actor John Rhys-Davies from the Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones movies.

Writing her own songs and having a profound love of lyrics, Anniken is now progressing into her solo endeavours. Anniken‘s debut album “Climb Out of Hell” features nine tracks, a few of them co-written with her husband Marius Danielsen.

It is a varied metal album that is melodic, raw, and catchy with different types of songs for every kind of metal fan. Some slow, some fast, most of them heavy. Some of the songs have a deeper meaning to them, while others are just exactly what you think they are.

Anniken adds:

“Firstly, I want people to enjoy the music. Secondly, I want them to notice the lyrics. I love listening to music while reading them and trying to understand the stories that are being told. I hope that the listeners feel the same way. I like to also add, that some of the songs were written a while back. I had others that didn’t make the cut. Overall, it is fun to write with other artists and see how the songs turned out both in the studio and live. But writing with others also means compromising. And that is one of the main reasons behind starting my solo project. I wanted to show what I could do, without the guys (yes, the bands I’ve played with always consisted of all guys and me). It is, unfortunately, easy to underestimate female artists in metal. At least, that is my experience. There aren’t as many women within the genre as there are men. Very often I experienced that people just assumed everything was written by the men in the group. I don’t mind being “just the singer”, but I would love to show the world that I am, in fact, more.”

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Progressive Metallers IMMORTAL GUARDIAN Unveil Video For New Single “Ozona”

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The progressive/power metal group IMMORTAL GUARDIAN has unveiled the music video for their new single, “Ozona.” The song is the first new music from the group since last year’s release of their critically-acclaimed concept album “Psychosomatic.” “Ozona” is available for download/streaming on all digital music platforms. The band is also now more than halfway through their current nationwide tour alongside video game-inspired shredders Powerglove.

“A few years, while we were on the road, we broke down in the middle of nowhere in a lil’ Texas town called Ozona,” explains guitarist Gabriel Guardian. “We had no way of getting home, and no money to resolve our problem. We just wished and wished we could get home somehow…. While we waited, we decided to write a song about our experience because we knew that we weren’t the only ones going through times like this. This song is for all the traveling souls just trying to find their way back home.”

IMMORTAL GUARDIAN‘s current tour with Powerglove has the band once again taking the sounds of “Psychosomatic” on the road following two lengthy tours that dazzled metal fans nationwide during the second half of 2021. The album has been lauded by Metal Temple for its “melody and power, two things displayed in a smashing way throughout this album” and led Metal Rules to call the group “one of the most interesting bands that have emerged in recent years on the international power metal scene.” Video clips for the title track, “Candlelight,” and “Phobia,” the latter of which featured a guest appearance by Angra guitarist Marcelo Barbosa, have captured the ears of heavy metal fans worldwide.

After making a splash via their 2018 full-length debut “Age of Revolution” – which featured its own fair share of creative music videos, including the “Armageddon”-meets-telenovela clip for “Stardust” – and through tours with the likes of Marty Friedman and Exmortus, IMMORTAL GUARDIAN gathered in Las Vegas at the beginning of 2020 to record their second album. As the spread of COVID-19 and the subsequent pandemic began to ensue, shutdowns around the world began being enforced, resulting in the band completely scrapping the record that they had been working on and writing and creating a new thematic record about their emotions surrounding current events. The resulting “Psychosomatic” was a truly multi-national record, with guitarist/keyboardist Gabriel Guardian – known for his uncanny ability to play the two instruments simultaneously – remaining in Las Vegas, singer Carlos Zema recording his vocals from his home in Brazil, drummer Justin Piedimonte tracking from Montreal and bassist Joshua Lopez recording from IMMORTAL GUARDIAN‘s native Texas.

IMMORTAL GUARDIAN is:
Gabriel Guardian – guitars/keyboards
Carlos Zema – vocals
Justin Piedimonte – drums
Joshua Lopez – bass

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BLACK VOID Release Music Video For New Single “Dadaist Disgust”

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Feat. Sakis Tolis From Rotting Christ

Hard rock band WHITE VOID’s debut record “Anti” (also on Nuclear Blast) was one of last year’s most colorful and surprising releases, hailed by a collective metal press as an absolute whirlwind of occult rock and melodic new wave. But vocalist and band frontman Lars Are Nedland – also a long-time member of BORKNAGAR and SOLEFALD – clearly needed a contrast to all the color and flamboyance, and thus BLACK VOID forced itself into being. Not a band for waiting, the debut album “Antithesis“ was recorded almost immediately and is set to be released through Nuclear Blast on May 27th – as a grimy contrast to WHITE VOID’s colorful and melodic outlet.

“Antithesis,” then, is nihilistic aggression and desperation. Furious and unrepentant in attitude, it builds on the philosophical works of Friedrich Nietzsche while leaning on punk rock and black metal. Nihilistic, filthy, violent and raw.

Today, BLACK VOID are unleashing their second single “Dadaist Disgust” onto the world, that features black metal legend Sakis Tolis (ROTTING CHRIST). The single comes with a mesmerizing animated music video.

Lars Are Nedland comments: “Dadaism is in its core a rejection of logic and tradition. An art movement built on negation with an undercurrent of nihilism. BLACK VOID embraces the subversion of social and moral authorities, and much as the Dadaists we meet aggression with aggression – the absurd with the absurd.

‘Dadaist Disgust,’ then, is BLACK VOID’s way of connecting art and philosophy. Our take on two expressions that turn conventional thinking on its head – all set in a suitable framework of black metal inspired punk.

Add to that an amazing voice from the birthplace of philosophy in guest vocalist Sakis Tolis of Greek Black Metal Godfathers ROTTING CHRIST, and you have a song laden with morality-shattering anti-art and a black metal pedigree.

The video was beautifully created by visual virtuosi Joakim Storsve and Daniel Øverland, and contains fragments of both Nietzschean imagery and Dadaist references.

As Tolis snarls on the song’s chorus: Anti-art is the true art, Dada broke your conventions”

Sakis Tolis comments: “It is an honour for me to be a part of Lars Nedland’s BLACK VOID project and it’s a privilege to work with one of the best Metal Voices around and a humble and honest Metal Warrior as well. ‘Dadaist Disgust’ kicks some serious ass, my brothers and sisters. Give it a listen and blow up your speakers. Horns Up!“

BLACK VOID is a punk laden, black metal infused band spearheaded by Lars Are Nedland, and completed by drummer Tobias Solbakk (IHSAHN, WHITE VOID, IN VAIN) and guitarist Jostein Thomassen (BORKNAGAR, PROFANE BURIAL).

In many ways BLACK VOID is the flipside of WHITE VOID: A full-on rejection of the philosophy of Albert Camus and an endorsement of Friedrich Nietzsche, a full-on rejection of a soft, melodic approach to music and a full-on rejection of a playful, tongue-in-cheek attitude. With that as a backdrop, “Antithesis” becomes an album that pays respect to fifty years of punk and forty years of black metal – a musical equivalent of a punk with a Mohawk fighting a dude in corpse paint.
 
Add to that guest vocal appearances by black metal royalties Sakis Tolis of ROTTING CHRIST and Hoest of TAAKE, “Antithesis” appears as a statement of sorts: A nihilistic musical outburst flipping off morality and hailing aggression while at the same time forcing your foot to tap to its relentless drive.

“Antithesis” was written and recorded between 2019 and 2021 and mixed and mastered by Øystein G. Brun at Crosound Studio.
Drums were engineered and recorded by Tobias Øymo Solbakk at Splinter Studios, while bass, vocals and keys were engineered and recorded by Lars Are Nedland at Mezzanine Studios.
Guitars were engineered and recorded by Jostein Thomassen at Riff Sheriff Studio and keys are played by Lars Are Nedland.

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VENOM INC. Announce New Album “There’s Only Black”

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New Single “How Many Can Die” Out Today

Extreme Metal pioneers VENOM INC. are proud to announce their sophomore album There’s Only Black, which will be released on September 23rd, 2022 via NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS. Almost 40 years after their inception, the revitalized 1989 – 1992 Venom line-up of guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and vocalist/bassist Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan, and the new addition of drummer Jeramie ‘Warmachine’ Kling have returned with one hell of a follow-up to their acclaimed debut, Avé, and show no signs of slowing down.

Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan comments:
“Following Wacken in 2019, our live season closed giving us time where I could have my hip replacement surgery and we could take the recovery time to work on a new album…Little did anyone know we’d be hit by a pandemic that would pause the whole world.
We began our work at a pace then being locked down with no prospect of live shows I decided there was no need to rush it along but utilize the time to create without the pressure of live work looming.
So we began recording our songs .. and after producing twice the amount required we began editing, touching, improving, and polishing until we had until we finally had what we decided was THE correct album along with the label and here we can finally present to you .. a pure ball of furious… VENOM INC power that left us feeling proud and excited at the same time…THIS album is now yours!!! And as the world runs through its evolution of its colors remember .. when the sun goes out…THERE’S ONLY BLACK!!!!! AVE”

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY HERE: https://bfan.link/there-s-only-black.ema

ABOUT VENOM INC. 
As 2015 swept in it brought with it a solid revival of traditional Metal bands. A chance encounter and request brought an offer to Tony Dolan (Vocalist and Bassist) to reform the lineup of VENOM that had recorded the classic Prime Evil album and solid follow up albums that kept the band very much alive during the onslaught of Grunge and Brit-pop that destroyed all but the hardiest in the early 1990s.

Metal had suffered at the hands of the new trend but VENOM (with this lineup) refused to alter or die and so continued the legacy that had begun when Jeff Dunn (aka Mantas – Guitar)  formed the original band in 1979 and brought the world extreme Metal in the form of the Welcome To Hell and Black Metal albums.
The albums penned mostly by Dunn exposed the world to a new way of music taken to the extremes and with a pinch of darkness and the controversial odor they raised their heads from the grave as if they had always been lying in wait and brought chaos to a neatly formed music industry.

Topped off with the voice of Clive ‘Jesus Christ’ Archer and later by Cronos and The Demolition Man the band was and still is a force of nature. While others attempt to take credit for all things VENOM the truth is not a hidden mystery but rather written on tablets like the ten commandments but unlike religion, you do not need faith to follow VENOM or their ideas and music but simply ears to hear. 

Somewhere In Time, We Were Born ..’ they sing and it has become their mantra. Today’s scenes are full of examples taken from this classic band. Images and themes and even a whole genre taking its name from the seminal Black Metal album. The characters were and still are larger than life to fans but it is the music that carries the flame. The true inspiration for all is the dark heavy vibes tinged with a Black and Roll touch. 

VENOM INC. began again in 2015 by accident almost and the name was not a choice but given by fans, agents, promoters, etc. On reflection, it is just a matter and fact that this band is true and real and carries the true spirit which began in 1979 and will end their days being that spirit that was lost somewhere over the years. Perhaps it is inevitable for a band to change or grow away from its original intent but every single Legionnaire from the VENOM’s Legions knows..their own moment that made them a lifelong fan and so it is to this end that VENOM INC will continue to grow and perform the classics from the legacy with heart and soul and the true meaning and will write with this same intent in mind so that new fans too may realize that a real band playing with all they have to give still exists and are still very important in this growing age of digital separation from reality.

VENOM INC. has been touring without pause since its first appearance at the KEEP IT TRUE festival in Germany in 2015 and have taken its brand of energy and performance across the globe on many European tours, Asia, the U.S., all over South and Central America, Hellfest, Bloodstock, Alcatrazz, Wacken are among the countless festivals shows, a special invitation to tour with Glenn Danzig and a special appearance at the Original Misfits show at Chicago’s ‘All State Arena’, as well as Specially invited guests by METAL ALLEGIANCEMetal Allegiance in New York City amongst the list of other things, live is where the band truly live but now it is time for a new album and the writing has not stopped 2021 we shall see the new album and new shows taking the world into its arms once again and embracing it and it’s dark heavy soul.