Exclusive Interview with JULIAN ANGEL (Beautiful Beast)

If you are one of those people, who think Hair Metal is dead, I'd like to introduce you to this guy: Singer Julian Angel is a very busy vocalist and businessman. Beside his band activities with BEAUTIFUL BEAST he also organized his own music conference, called MusicBiz Madness, in the last few months. 
Nevertheless Julian took the time to talk about this event, his forthcoming Beautiful Beast album and Hair Metal in general, so check this out!

CD-Review: Freedom Call - "Ages Of Light"

It was 15 years ago, when four guys from Nuremberg (Germany) decided to kick all those metalheads, which thought metal is all about evil and darkness, in their asses. I think no other band has marked the term "Happy Metal" so much, like FREEDOM CALL. It was a simple concept: more melody and good-time-feeling, less growls and lyrics about dead and violence. At this time Freedom Call showed that (Heavy) Metal can be much fun and fortunately they didn't change much of this concept in their career. With "Ages Of Light" we get the first best of and a nice cross-section of the last 15 years ... with some surprises.

Live-Report: AVANTASIA - The Mystery World Tour (Lichtenfels, 26.04.2013)

In 2008 the metal opera hit the road for the first time with a big all-star line-up. At this time no one thought this would ever happen again, but it worked and in 2010 Avantasia played their first own indoor shows with genre-veterans like Jorn Lande, Michael Kiske, Bob Catley, Kai Hansen and many, many more. Who thought this would be the peak of their live-activities was totally wrong.On their current "The Mystery World Tour" Avantasia exceed themselves. With a stunning line-up and a strong performance, which was close to 3 1/2 hours long, they set the bar very high for each Metal band out there. Before I tell you the details I can only say one thing: this whole show was a blast - one of the best concerts I've ever been to. But let's start at the beginning.

Bass-player Joel Fox Apelgren leaves DYNAZTY!

Sad news for all DYNAZTY fans: Joel Fox Apelgren leaves the Swedish Hard Rock band. He announced this on Dynazty's Facebook-Page. Read his full statement below:

CD-Review: VOLBEAT - "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies"

The Danish metal band VOLBEAT are back with their fifth studio album "Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies". When I look at some review-ratings it seems like this album is controversial discussed. Some say it's too commercial, but I think commercial doesn't always mean it's bad. Read my opinion on the whole album below.

Exclusive Interview with KEE MARCELLO (ex-Europe, ex-Easy Action)

 I think many of you remember the legendary guitar solo on Europe's classic "Superstitious" and the famous man behind it: KEE MARCELLO. After breaking up with Europe lots of things have changed and during to the release of his new solo album "Judas Kiss" I had the pleasure to interview this living legend.
Kee talked about his new record as well as his appearence in the musical "Rock Of Ages", but also about some very personal things he experienced in all these years of musicbusiness. Check out this very detailed interview with one of the finest guitar players of all time!

JORN LANDE is ready to release his new album "Traveller" in June!

Many Avantasia fans were disappointed when Tobias Sammet announced that Jorn Lande won't be part of the new Avantasia record and tour. Obvious, Jorn had other plans and now it turns out that this means Jorn is busy with his solo career. His new record "Traveller" will hit the stores on June 11th 2013 in North America and on June 14th in Europe via Frontiers Records.
Jorn surprises with his new "partner in crime": guitar player Trond Holter! Most of you will know him as "Teeny", the Axeman of the Norwegian glam rock heroes WIG WAM. He also produced "The Traveller" together with Jorn. You want to hear how this fits together? Then have a look at the video below!

Exclusive Interview with Jakob Samuel (The Poodles)

The Swedish melodic metal band THE POODLES were always one of my favorite bands out there and I was very happy to hear that they are about to release their new album "Tour De Force" in four weeks. So in promoting this new record I had the opportunity to interview singer Jakob Samuel about this new piece of work as well as future plans and lots of other interesting things. Check it out!

CD-Review: Stala & So. - "Play Another Round"

Stala & So. is a Finnish glam-rock band, which consists partly of former Lordi - band members. Let me tell you one thing: this record has nothing to do with the Finnish monster rockers. If this is a good or a bad thing, you can read it below.

MAGNUS KARLSSON to release "Free Fall" in June!

Swedish Axeman Magnus Karlsson (Last Tribe, Primal Fear) is a well known name in the Melodic Metal scene. He is the man behind such great projects as Allen/Lande, The Codex, Kiske/Sommerville, Starbreaker and many more. By joining the band Primal Fear in 2008 he  finaly established as one of the best songwriters in melodic metal.
This time Magnus presents us his first solo record "Free Fall" on June 11th in Europe and on June 14th in North America. But Karlsson wasn't alone at all ... many guests joined him on this new output. You see the tracklist (with guest musicians) below.

Tracklist:

01. Free Fall (lead vocals: Russell Allen)
02. Higher (lead vocals: Ralf Scheepers)
03. Heading Out (lead vocals: Magnus Karlsson)
04. Stronger (lead vocals: Tony Harnell)
05. Not My Saviour (lead vocals: Rick Altzi)
06. Us Against The World (lead vocals: David Readman)
07. Our Time Has Come (lead vocals: Mark Boals)
08. Ready or Not (lead vocals: Magnus Karlsson)
09. Last Tribe (lead vocals: Rickard Bengtsson)
10. Fighting (lead vocals: Herman Saming)
11. Dreamers & Hunters (lead vocals: Mike Andersson)
12. On Fire (lead vocals: Magnus Karlsson)

https://www.facebook.com/magnus.karlsson.50746 
 

CD-Review: Bai Bang - "All Around The World"

Once Bai Bang was a Swedish sleaze/glam metal band, but since 2009 the band plays more melodic rock with some glam elements in it. So there was not much left from sleaze metal on the last two releases of this band. Is it the same on their new record "All Around The World"? Let's find out!

Exclusive INTERVIEW with Matthias Schenk (Shylock)

When it comes to musicbusiness we often deal with smaller bands, which need to work very hard for their success without any support from big music labels. Often these musicians deliver more outstanding records than the "big ones" in the genre, because they are doing it with much more passion and creativity.
One of those most underrated bands ever is the German melodic hard rock band SHYLOCK. Vocalist Matthias Schenk found the time to talk about his new band-album "Walking Tall", musicbusiness in general and about being just an insider-tip. Find out more in my whole interview!

RICHIE SAMBORA will not be performing on upcoming Bon Jovi shows!

Sad news for all Sambora-Fans:
Richie will not take part in the next leg of the Bon Jovi tour! This was announced on the official band page. It is not specify when or if Richie will rejoin the band. So the tour continues without him through the USA in April and later in South Africa and Europe.
The official statement just says "Due to personal issues, richie Sambora will not be performing on this upcoming leg. All shows will go on as scheduled". There is no reason or an information who will replace him yet.

In April 2011 Richie left the tour also. The reason was rehab, but this time Richie seemed to be in top form. I'll keep you up to date if there are more informations!

Update 1:
It seems there is a dispute between Richie Sambora and Jon Bon Jovi about money and Jon's attitude towards Richie. This is reported by tmz.com.
Please keep in mind that this is just a rumor and nothing official to date!
In the meantime guitar player Phil X will handle Samboras part on stage and Bon Jovi announced that every ticket purchaser can get a refund on the tickets before show time.

Exclusive INTERVIEW with Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids)

Ronnie Atkins, the voice of Danish cult-rockers Pretty Maids, just released the new album "Motherland" with his band. To me he's one of the best singers in the genre and so it is an honor, that he had the time to answer my questions. Ronnie talked about the new Pretty Maids album as well as about his involvement in the new Avantasia record "The Mystery Of Time" and lots of other things. Check it out!

Happy rockin' Easter to everyone!

Hey folks,

I wish each one of you a happy rockin' Easter!!! Hopefully you'll find some great rock/metal albums beside all those Easter eggs. In the last three months, some amazing stuff was released. Just have a look at the review section above. You'll definitely find a record to rock your Easter!

Cheers!

INTERVIEW with Tobias Sammet (Avantasia, Edguy)

Mastermind Tobias Sammet is very busy in promoting his new rock epic "The Mystery Of Time" these days, but nevertheless he found the time to answer some of my questions.
He talks about the conceptual story, musical direction, his future plans and more.

Special thanks to Denys Jaime and Mark Dean for making this  Interview possible!

Please keep in mind, that the Interview was done BEFORE I've listened to the new album.

CD-Review: Avantasia - "The Mystery Of Time"

He did it again: three years ago mastermind Tobias Sammet (Edguy) announced the end of his metal opera side-project Avantasia, but now he is back with a new album and an amazing new "cast" of guest musicians. Can Sammet fulfill the big expectations of his fans this time?

THE POODLES - new album "Tour De Force" in May!

On May 17th (Europe)/ May 22nd (North America), 2013 the wait is over: Swedish Melodic Metal heroes THE PODDLES will release their new album "Tour De Force" via Frontiers Records.

Live-Report: SHAKRA (Berlin, K17 - The Club, 08.03.2013)

With their new album "Powerplay", Shakra reached number one of the Swiss album charts. With this successful record in baggage, the band hits the road to rock the stages in Germany, Switzerland, France, Netherlands and Austria. The "Powerplay-Tour" started on March 8th, 2013 in Berlin and I was there!

I have to say, I saw this band already two years ago on their "Back On Track" - tour (for the first time ever). It was the same venue and the same support-act (the Swiss Hard Rock band Maxxwell), so I experienced one déjà-vu after another. Nevertheless some things have changed and were even better this time. It starts with the number of visitors. About 120 people attended the show last friday. Two years ago Shakra were just able to mobilize only 60 fans to attend their gig. So this time the audience was much better and the venue was filled quite well. There weren't so many people, who just stood at the bar - most of the visitors were ready for a Rock'n'Roll-party.

CD-Review: Bon Jovi - "What About Now"

It took them nearly 4 years to record a new album, but now they are finally back: the rock legends of New Jersey - Bon Jovi.
The band promised that their new record "What About Now" will be a "big rock record" ... but they said this a hundred times before with each new longplayer. So what can we really expect? Let's find out!

CD-Review: Pretty Maids - "Motherland"

Here they go again: the Danish cult rockers of Pretty Maids are well known for their 80's classic "Future World" and with their latest album "Pandemonium" the band sounded stronger than ever. This one was highly acclaimed by the press and fans. Now they present us their new album "Motherland". Let's see if this is a worthy follow-up to the previous record.

BAI BANG return with new album "All Around The World"

The Swedish Glam-Rockers BAI BANG announced the release of their 8th studio album "All Around The World".
It will hit the stores on April 26th, 2013 via AOR Heaven.

The Swedes shared the stage with bands such as LA Guns, Thin Lizzy, Wishbone Ash, Ratt, Dio, Mötley Crüe, Pretty Maids, Saxon, Axel Rudi Pell and played at festivals such as Sweden Rock, Wacken and Rocklahoma.