One of the Sweden’s finest stoner rock bands, Stockholm’s Ponamero Sundown will kick off a tour later this spring. The band has already confirmed several dates and one of the venues will be the London’s Camden, where these rockers will play the Desertfest. Check the dates on the poster shown below. More dates to come.
Villebråd was formed in Uppsala (Sweden) in late 2004 by brothers Erik and Påhl Sundström. The idea behind the project was to play comprehensive pop songs with a complex and experimental foundation. This ambition grew both from their multifaceted musical taste and the fact that they had been playing in such diverse genres as prog rock, metal and electronica for at least ten years before starting the band. They decided to try and write songs without genre based consideration, which resulted in the self-released 6-track ep simply called Villebråd in 2005. In 2006, multi instrumentalist David Hallberg joined the band, and they began working on a full length album. Villebråd soon gained interest from a couple of record labels to release their next effort, Alla är här utom jag, an album that sonically went deeper into both the 80’s new wave influences and the prog rock side of the band. They decided to sign with Swedish indie label Transubstans records, who released the album in early 2007.
During the summer of 2007, Villebråd joined forces with bassist Petter Broman and the quartet immediately began writing new songs, a process that ended with the completion of the album Ultrarapid (also released on Transubstans Records) in the summer of 2008. Lyrically Ultrarapid deals with themes of isolation and emotional numbness and with this recording they wanted to combine a strong, electronic pulse consisting of Petter and Eriks beat section and a cold, ethereal atmosphere created by layers of guitars, synthesizers and vocals.
The past two years the band has been working hard on the follow up: Ampersand. This new album sees the band switching from Swedish to English sung lyrics, with themes less introvert than before. Ampersand is definitely the bands most emotional and challenging recording to date.
Discography:
Villebråd (2005)
Alla är här utom jag (2006)
Ultrarapid (2009)
Ampersand (2012)
Links:
http://www.villebrad.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Villebr%C3%A5d/125676800828042
Here’s an update from the Effloresce camp:
Some people have already asked us if there will be different versions of the album, and today we can announce that there will be indeed two versions! The standard jewel case, and a special edition which comes in a slipcase plus some neat goodies!
More information to be announced soon: pre-orders, prices, and where you can actually get it. Of course it will also be available for download-purchase!
Up next is the second part of our award-winning documentary about the recording sessions of Coma Ghosts, again edited by the band’s own movie department. Here you go:
Last but not least, a big thank you to Harald Schmidt of Progdependent, the progressive radio show on afk.max Nuremberg! We came by last Sunday and had a blast, to say the least. We also have some pictures our facebook page, feel free to take a look:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151197154805562.792494.338339790561&type=1
Guess what? More news next week!
Johnny Engstrom Band have come up with an announcement regarding the Magnetic Force (2011, Alienation Records) follow-up. The mainman behind this Swedish progressive metal band, Johnny Engstrom itself, says in a letter:
The new material has been written, 11 songs and we have been rehearsing playing and learning five of them so far. We have a working title that I don’t want to share at this moment, haha. The songs seem to be around 6-7 minutes long with the possibility of one or two tracks being longer.
We plan to start recording in a timeframe of maybe 2 months or so. As soon as the studio is booked we will have the exact date, we are looking at some different options.
I’m thinking of writing sort of a concept lyric wise. There have been so many close friends and family members passing away lately that I’m considering writing about ghosts in some mysterious way.
Musically the songs seem lean more towards prog than Metal, but I guess that’s too early to say at this point of time. We like to blend throwing in some heavy riffs here and there. At this point we are trying to find the perfect tempo for each song, arranging and playing around with rhythms to make everything as interesting as possible to listen to.
Other than that all I can say is that we are very excited about this next album. It will be great. I’m sure!
John Duva
JOHN DUVA is a band from Åre in northern Sweden; a place where they’ve lived and played together for a long time. Lately, the band moved south, to the archipelagos of Stockholm. They are all traveling from different cities in Sweden to meet up and play on the island of Yxlan, Stockholm, pretty much all the time!
With an attitude and a burning passion, they meet up to play and to dispose the frustration of waking up and wasting their time with routines and everyday jobs. This is the main factor for their inspiration, and the heart of their music; to break free from standard living and create a reality of their own which consists of music and pure energy. JOHN DUVA is band that you don’t categorize, simply because of the variated impressions they use in their music and lyrics. Think The Hives meets King Khan & The Shrines, combined with garage, punk & psych, and you might be on your way of getting the picture!
Troglodyte Records and JOHN DUVA found each other rather quickly, and as a result the debut of JOHN DUVA will be released by Troglodyte Records in February!
Discography:
John Duva (2012)
Links:
http://www.myspace.com/johnduva
http://www.facebook.com/pages/john-Duva/105595391781
John Duva- Gå Till Sjöss from John Duva on Vimeo.
January 15th, 2012 Nuremberg, Germany – The next big thing on progressive metal scene, the Nuremberg quintet, female fronted Effloresce have posted their first track off the upcoming album “Coma Ghosts”, due on February 10th on Generation Prog Records. The video for the song Spectre Pt. 1: Zorya’s Dawn is show below.
The band has previously issued a statement announcing their collaboration with Generation Prog Records, which first official release is Effloresce’s debut. Commented on a record deal, the band says:
“The last couple of months were extremely intense and exciting, and being signed to a label created by a talented and capable guy like Michael now tops it all. We cannot wait to show our thirst for action and our gratitude. We think that Generation Prog Records is the perfect home for us, it just feels very natural.”
January 8th, 2012 Nuremberg, Germany – German progressive metal force Effloresce, fronted by vocalist Nicki Weber, revealed the tracklist and art cover of their upcoming album named Coma Ghosts. The album is set to be released on February 10th and the label is yet to be announced.
The artwork, designed both by guitarist Dave Mola and Nicki Weber is shown below.
Coma Ghosts is comprised of 6 tracks, totaling a bit above 54 minutes. The tracklist of the album is as follows:
01. Crib (8:12)
02. Spectre Pt. 1: Zorya´s Dawn (10:34)
03. Pavement Canvas (8:58)
04. Undercoat (2:54)
05. Swimming through deserts (7:11)
06. Shuteye Wanderer (16:31)
For Coma Ghosts, Effloresce worked with Swedish producer legend Dan Swanö to shape an epic sound for their signature elements like intense rhythm work, memorable melodies, organ, flute, and vocalist Nicki’s stunning range from crystal clear vocals to raw death metal growls. Comments guitarist Dave Mola: “Working with the producer of groundbreaking albums like Opeth’s Morningrise was a true honor for us and we couldn’t be happier with the results!“
Coma Ghosts once again shows the band’s ability to write complex yet catchy material. The tracks range from more mellow songs like the ballad Swimming through Deserts to the more straight-forward metal of Pavement Canvas, right up to their most epic and complex song yet, the 16 minute closing track Shuteye Wanderer. Singer Nicki takes the listener on a nightmarish trip through the bleakest corners of human existence, though there is always a little spark of hope that the soul of each of the songs’ protagonists is not lost (yet).
Effloresce on web:
http://www.effloresceonline.com/
http://www.facebook.com/effloresceonline
Dutch experimental rock band Fourteen Twentysix announced their second full-length album today with a teaser video and a new website.
The album will be released on January 2012 and features guest vocals by Mick Moss from UK band Antimatter.
Since the release of their first album Lighttown Closure (2010) the cryptically named solo project of multi-instrumentalist Chris van der Linden grew into a five-pieced band. The new album was written and recorded by the entire group, resulting in a rich and fresh-sounding album, mixing art/post rock elements with layers of both lush and moody electronica.
“It was pretty scary letting go the reigns, but the end result exceeds my wildest expectations”, says Van der Linden. “We’re all incredibly proud of this record and hope it’ll get us to places we haven’t been before.”
Fourteen Twentysix earned recognition as a hardworking independent band with a strong ‘DIY’ ethic. The band shared the stage with various international bands, opening for pop/folk duo Turin Brakes (UK) in 2010. Releasing their music for free though American netlabel Mine All Mine records generated over 50.000 downloads.
Check an interview with Mick Moss on the band’s website by clicking here, and watch the teaser video shown below.
