Mantra Vega have announced that their long-awaited album “The Illusion’s Reckoning” will be will be released on 25th January, with pre-orders taken from 7th December from the Mantra Vega website.
The album is a collaboration between Heather Findlay and Dave Kerzner, with a band featuring Dave Kilminster, Chris Johnson, Alex Cromarty and Stuart Fletcher, with guest appearances from Angela Gordon and Arjen Lucassen amongst others.
Good on Mostly Autumn, confirming that this coming weekend’s gigs in Verviers and Zoetermeer are still going ahead despite the attacks in Paris.
Sad news to hear of the death of Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor of the orginal classic lineup of Motörhead.
Motörhead are Britain’s equivalent to The Ramones; the stripped-down distilled essence of the spirit of rock’n'roll. They were always more than just their iconic frontman, Lemmy. Phil Taylor’s drumming was a vital part of their sound. Just listen to his playing on “Overkill”, perhaps his finest moment; his drumming can only be described as a force of nature.
Now we’re in an age where too many metal bands allegedly use programming for drum parts so impossibly fast no human can physically play them, Phil Taylor shows what a flesh-and-blood drummer could do. In the late 1970s he was way ahead of his time, a huge influence on the next generation of metal than would come along a decade later with thrash.
Phil Taylor was a legend. And there aren’t many musicians you can honestly say that of.
Classic Rock are reporting Ritchie Blackmore’s touring lineup for the recently announced live dates in Germany and Birmingham next June.
Aside from Blackmore himself, the band will include, Lords Of Black singer Ronnie Romero, Stratovarius keyboardist Jens Johansson, Blackmore’s Night drummer David Keith and bassist Bob Nouveau.
I have seen some disappointment voiced on Twtter that former singer Joe Lynn Turner will not be part of the band. While there’s got to be a question mark over how a relatively unknown singer might handle being thrust into arena-level gigs, we may still have dodged a bullet. The singer might have been Doogie White (have you heard Black Masquerade?), or Dio forbid, Graham Bonnet.
The Birmingham show is sold out, and tickets are already appearing on tout sites at vastly inflated prices. One does wonder exactly what proportion of the better seats actually went to genuine fans.
A rather splendid live improvisation from Chantel McGregor’s recent gig in Brighton. Reminds me of some of King Crimson’s work from the Starless and Bible Black era, which starts sounding like tuning up, then a theme develops and builds.
Thanks to occasional commenter Steve Hughes for sending me the link, and Chantel herself for letting me post it here.
Panic Room have announced the Panic Room Weekend, a two-day event at Bilston Robin 2 on the weekend of 21st and 22nd May 2016.
Full details will be announced in due course, but the weekend promises two full-length headline sets from Panic Room themselves with completely different songs each night. There will also be performances from the acoustic side-project Luna Rossa and a host of yet-to-be announced guests with connections to the band. I would be very surprised if we didn’t see a solo acoustic set from Anne-Marie at some point. It all promises to be a great gathering of the band’s fandom.
Tickets cost £40 for the full weekend, with day tickets for £25, and doors open at 3pm each day, so there will be a lot of music. Tickets are now on sale from The Robin 2 website.
Jess Cope’s heartbreaking animation for Steven Wilson’s “Routine”, a song covering themes of loss and denial, that was projected onto a screen behind the band during this year’s live shows.
Touchstone have announced that the two farewell shows for Kim Seviour in November will also be Rob Cottingham’s final gigs with the band. As quoted in Prog:
“It’s been a privilege to see the band grow from the very early days when I kicked the band off with a totally different line up in a small village hall.
“After recent discussions, however, the time is clearly right for me to bow out gracefully at the same time as Kim. I want to thank my bandmates old and new for everything, and wish them every success in their exploits going forward”.
The band had previously announced that they’d be going on indefinite hiatus while various members worked on individual projects, but this announcement implies that the three remaining members intend to continue to work together under the Touchstone name. It’s a case of “watch this space”.
Rob Reed, leader and keyboard player of Magenta has announced a new supergroup featuring Luke Machin of Maschine and The Tangent on lead guitar, Dylan Thompson of Shadow of the Sun and formerly of The Reasoning on lead vocals, and Andy Edwards of Frost* on drums.
The album is due on January 18th, and you can pre-order it now from the Kiama website right now.
Mostly Autumn have announced a Live Acoustic EP featuring Bryan and Olivia as a duo, recorded when they supported Steve Hackett last year.
They have also announced that they will be joined by Anna Phoebe on violin and Chris Backhouse on sax for their showcase gig at The Grand Opera House in York in November, as well as at the December Christmas show in Leamington Spa. The latter will also include a support set by Anna Phoebe.
But before then, the band hit the road this coming weekend, with shows in Crewe on Friday 23rd, Wath upon Dearne on Saturday 24th, Norwich on Sunday 25th and Southampton on Monday 26th. Full details on the Mostly Autumn website.