Prog Metal news & releases(Ministry Of Lost Souls)

 

BARONESS: Complete Work On New Album; Ready To Embark On CLUTCH Tour

Savannah, GA's BARONESS have recently completed work on their second full-length album. The follow-up to 2007's critically-acclaimed Red Album was recorded in Dallas, TX with producer / engineer John Congleton (EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, THE POLYPHONIC SPREE, BLACK MOUNTAIN) and will see an October 2009 international release date. Two exclusive in-studio entries chronicling the first two weeks in the studio can be accessed here and here.

Additionally, BARONESS kick-off a four-week North American tour today, July 9th, alongside Maryland's CLUTCH. This tour will also include a free show in Chicago, IL this weekend as part of the annual Kuma's Corner Block Party. A complete listing of tour dates and cites can be found below with more dates to be announced soon.

Updated BARONESS news and album information will be made available at the Relapse Records website: Relapse.com and the BARONESS MySpace page: MySpace.com/YourBaroness.

 

 

 

THE RECORD IS DONE!!!!

My God...
Twenty five months ago, Marc Pattison and I started writing a record that at times seemed would never get finished. Tonight, I write to you from my computer at home having spent the past 10 hours in the studio with Marc and Jon, mixing this thing so that we may hit our release date of October, listening to what we have managed to accomplish over that time.

It is a concept album. I posted the story of it here in a previous blog, and I was a bit concerned that the spirit of the story actually came through on the record. It really works. The record is raw as hell for a power/prog album. We didn't go for the polish and shine, instead we built it from the drums and bass up and left a lot of the original grittiness of the demos in place. I am curious to see how the world is going to respond to it.

With Jon Allen pounding the tubs, and Steve DiGiorgio thumpin the low end, there is a fat element of thrash to it. Marc and I had written guitar riffs that we felt were progressive in nature but had a lot of spontaneity to them. Tons of alternate picked super tight and fast riffs instead of a lot of hanging chords. It was really just the way it happened as we had no idea what we were going to do from song to song. Yet we did leave a lot of room for Fred Marshall to bring us his inspired and dramatic melodic attitudes to the songs. In my opinion, Fred is the MVP on this thing. He has some sort of magic in his singing, his presentation, and the imagery of his lyrics. Fred has told me he has no comcept of a higher power, but man his stuff is truly inspired and unique. Well done, Fred. Well done to the whole team. 

So from here it goes to our record label, Nightmare Records and into the capable hands of Lance King who is working hard at bringing it to the rest of the world. 

I think the boyz and I are going to take a week or so off then start preparing to deliver this stuff to the stage. I know for me, it is going to take a hell of a lot of work to reproduce the precision playing and the sheer  endurance that it takes to play the stuff that I so meticulously wrote. I think it will come off live just as it does on the record; raw, loud, imaginative, and exciting.

We need to thank Lance King for so many things. Not the least of which is his STELLAR vocal performance on 'Inner Self'. Everytime we listened to what he did on this record while we were mixing it, SOMEONE would just say, 'Wow...Lance is AMAZING'.

HUGE thanks go to our friend Lucho Silva, the singer for Magistral and his wonderful family. Lucho also contributed some incredible vocals to this record. It was also at 'El Studio Lucho' that the majority of the vocal tracks on this record were recorded. Lucho put us up at his home during the recording, made his vehicles available to us, and tirelessly helped us produce this record. Thank you, brother. There is no way this would have happened without you and your family.

I hope you all feel the same way when you hear it, and when you see us.

Thanks for all of your support and faith.

 

Hey all…

I know that you have all waited to hear about the new album we are working on, longing for more news, inside info, revealing diaries. You have also become a bit worried with this whole thing about shaky record labels and distribution companies. Understandable. Thus, I am (if only for a brief moment) back from the dead to still your hunger a bit.

Alright, where do I start…? Let’s start with your hunger for news, ok? You are all just spoiled little IT brats, the whole lot of you! Really, there was a time when you could only read about your favorite band’s whereabouts and agendas once or twice a year, in the biggest music magazine, whenever the band’s PR people would push the editors right before a new album release and say “ok, our label will buy an expensive full page add in your magazine, and you give our band a nice spread in color, deal?”…
What? Cynical? Me? Never!

Anyway, I don’t say I wish to go back to that time (well, maybe occasionally, just for the magical taste of stale beer and lipstick from a nervous kiss in a dark tent near a sleeping lake, and the distant sound of dying batteries in a cassette player, slowly lowering the key of “Going Blind” as the camp fire settles to cinder… eh… sorry, I’ll get right back on track), but we do inhabit an over-communicative world today, where you are somehow expected to let everyone know as soon as you’re changing pants or brushing your teeth. People use the phrase “coming album” as a bad movie trailer, or one of those panicky needy “after the break” clips that Discovery throws in to try to nail you to the sofa for yet another 12 minutes of Orange County Choppers.

That said, what’s up with the album? Well, it was more or less done. A double album, title and concept all worked out. We were just going to start working on final mixing, mastering and artwork when SPV filed for bankruptcy. So, our last weeks that were meant to be spent on finishing the album went into pulling every lever to make the US tour work out. When that finally went down the drain we had missed the window. I am now focusing my energies on family, with a new baby on its way (expected July 2nd; so young and already pushing deadlines). Right now, the album can’t be finished until we know what’s happening with SPV and InsideOut, and all touring is on hold until we have a set release date. Waiting. Me, the baby, the band, the album, the engineers, InsideOut, SPV, fans… We are all just waiting.

It’s ironic bordering on funny, how there’s continuously something or someone holding us back. With all band members finally in sync and hungry to shift into highest gear and push every frontier ahead of us, with the most active year ever scheduled, with an album release date set and four good tours planned… we find ourselves in neutral gear, waiting. Trying to keep the energies up and the engines running.

On the good side - we have the strongest material that we’ve ever made on tape, and the graphical concept will be just stunning. It’s as if, for the first time, everything just locked in position and grooved. And I get to spend time with my newborn baby instead of being away for six weeks. Maybe getting some new perspective on the album and material. I just hope that I can get myself to start working on the album again in August when, undoubtedly, I will have so many new songs and album ideas crying for my attention. See, I am a hungry guy when it comes to creating and exploring, and one part of me already feels that I am done with this album now, time to move on. I mean, personally I have listened to it a million times already. It’s just that little detail of actually getting it wrapped up and sent to the stores…
To you.

Waiting…

/Daniel Gildenlöw

 

 

 

 

Source: PoS Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calendar updated.

From Crises MS

 

Crises are proud to anounce the release of their new CD "Coral Dreams". The CD will be available in stores across germany and some european countries from the 24th of august, but can already be ordered exclusive here on myspace as an special offer to our loyale fans.

If you want to order, contact us here now!

Crises

Orders from Germany: 13 Euro incl. P&P.
International orders: 15 Euro incl. P&P.


Stay tuned for upcoming reviews!

 

 

 

Their first album called 'Beautiful & Monstrous' will be released on September 25th.

 

Check out the calendar for further info.

 

There are a lot of different packages available direct from the band via the shop on their website.

 

Firstly apologies for the lack of activity of late. I've just had a couple of weeks away on hols.

 

I've already noticed there's a lot of stuff in my inbox to report, I'll be posting the latest news over the next couple of days.