Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt To Curate 2014 Roadburn Festival
We’re elated to announce that Mikael Åkerfeldt is to curate Roadburn Festival 2014 on Friday, April 11th at the013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands. As curator, Mikael will personally select the bands for his special event, and play a headline show with Opeth, too!
Musically, Mikael has consistently pushed the boundaries. Over the last two decades, he guided Opeth‘s evolution, drawing the band out from under the doom-laden shade of occult-infused Scandinavian death metal and into a place in the sun as revered progressive rock / metal innovators, never once sacrificing the authentic spirit of previous artistic endeavours.
Mikael‘s steadfast devotion to aesthetic progression and perfection has proven ground-breaking and highly influential for an entire new generation of musicians practicing the art of progressive rock and psychedelica. At the same time, he has steadfastly honoured the mystical pioneers of late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic folk, rock and prog — some ofOpeth‘s albums are named after obscure psychedelic prog outfits or song titles — all of which is in perfect sync withRoadburn Festival.
Opeth‘s body of work is highly respected by Roadburn audiences, which makes Mikael the ideal choice to carry on the tradition that began in 2008 with David Tibet / Current 93, and continued with Neurosis, Tom G Warrior, Sunn 0))), Voivodand Jus Oborn / Electric Wizard.
“It’s with great honour that I accepted the invitation to be the curator for the 2014 Roadburn festival”, says Mikael Åkerfeldt,“I’m pretty damn far from being a professional booker / promotor, and I’ve never been part in choosing bands for an event apart from bands that Opeth has toured with. So this is a first for me, but I have to say I’m very excited.”
“I’ve reached out to a handful of my favourite bands from the past and present. As of now it looks like it will be an amazing musical event. Still brainstorming about possible bands for this glorious festival but I already know that I’m going to be like a kid at Christmas. It will be amazing! Plain and simple. Obviously Opeth will perform as well, but to be quite honest with you, our own performance doesn’t get me nearly as excited as the thought of experiencing the bands that have shown interest. It will be remarkable and memorable. A celebration, bitches!”
We are so excited and proud to be working with Mikael and to have Opeth headline his curated Roadburn 2014 event. It will truly be a celebration of progressive rock, psychedelic folk, the heavy 70s and beyond. We look forward to this collaboration and cannot wait to see how he will expand Roadburn Festival‘s musical horizons as well as explore more familiar territory from new angles. We will definitely be in for some artistic surprises.
Roadburn Festival 2014 will run for four days from Thursday, April 10th to Sunday, April 13th, 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
- August 29th, 2013
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PARADISE LOST – TRAGIC ILLUSION 25 (THE RARITIES)
From the harrowing doom of their 1990 debut Lost Paradise, to 1991’s genre-defining Gothic, to 1995’s break-out masterpiece Draconian Times, to 1997’s electronically-tinged One Second, to 2007’s return to a heavier form In Requiem, to last year’s opus Tragic Idol, PARADISE LOST has continued to evolve since their inception in 1988, inspiring countless artists throughout the years. To celebrate their influence on the scene, a special compilation will be released this fall to commemorate the band’s 25th anniversary landmark.
Entitled Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities), this album will be released on October 21st in Europe (digitally on October 29th in North America) and features artwork by Parisian designer Valnoir (www.metastazis.com), who has worked with artists such as ORPHANED LAND, MORBID ANGEL, WATAIN, and more than 150 others. All tracks found on the compilation are previously released rarities—except the new track “Loneliness Remains,” and newly recorded “Gothic 2013” and “Our Saviour 2013.”
Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities) track-listing:
1. Loneliness Remains
2. Never Take Me Alive (SPEAR OF DESTINY cover version)
3. Ending Through Changes
4. The Last Fallen Saviour
5. Last Regret (Lost in Prague Orchestra Mix)
6. Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us (Lost in Prague Orchestra Mix)
7. Cardinal Zero
8. Back On Disaster
9. Sons Of Perdition
10. Godless
11. Missing (EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL cover version)
12. Silent in Heart
13. Gothic 2013
14. Our Saviour 2013
PARADISE LOST’s Aaron Aedy (guitar) comments:
“The years surrounding our formation in the 20th century would have earmarked this as a B-sides collection. These were the songs that were left over from an album recording session you couldn’t fit on to the sound quality restrictive, optimal length of both sides of a vinyl LP. You then usually used these for the flip side of your single as a nice extra for fans and also perhaps, as an incentive for the collectors to purchase to help any important charting or sales which could facilitate radio airplay, the best and most important way for your band to heard at that time. Yes my friends, it’s hard to imagine now, there was a time before the internet!
A time when even during the recording and writing of songs for our ‘Lost Paradise’ album, tape trading demos and live tracks on the underground scene via mail (the real physical post kind!) were essential to a band’s chance of being known by the people who would ‘get it’. The magazines Metal Hammer, Metal Forces and Kerrang! also had a couple of champions of the underground scene too, helping bands like ourselves be known on a wider scale, but rarer still indeed back then were the audio and visual outlets– in the UK we had the legendary ‘Friday Rock Show with Tommy Vance’ who introduced myself and many others to a lot of the bands they went on to love for life. Later, TV shows The Powerhour, Raw Power and of course Headbangers Ball on MTV. All of course, pre-empted that Smörgåsbord of information, the internet, for the discerning and hungry-for-more Rock music fans to feast upon.
Twenty-five years has seen a lot of change, not just musically for the band– take ‘Our Saviour’ and ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’ for instance. The internet has broadened the choice of music we can readily hear enormously, and more importantly, hear and see for ourselves to form our own opinion– not just what the larger commercial companies and stations want us to hear!
Added to our extra tracks from the past, we’ve included the recent re-recordings of ‘Gothic’ and ‘Our Saviour’. This is something as a musician you find a strange experience. We as a band have always been an album rather a single band, and re-recording old songs is most often best left alone– but when we rehearsed ‘Our Saviour’, a song long lost from our live sets for a good twenty years, we found it pretty exciting and fun! We decided before hitting the studio that we would not record it as a perfect 21st century studio version, as I don’t feel this song would benefit from it (in fact more so, lose its original charm), but we decided to just do it quick and almost demo speed. Whilst recording to capture the most raw element, we drafted in our old friend and producer Simon Efemey, who worked on our ‘Shades of God’, ‘Icon’ and ‘Draconian Times’ recordings to capture this, which whilst working to make it sound raw, made it fun too! Don’t think of the re-recordings as replacements for our originals, but just as five blokes having fun and re-visiting the past in the studio.
I hope this collection helps some of the people who like our music have a more completed playlist of our most recent album sessions’ songs. I personally am very pleased that ‘The Last Fallen Saviour’ is here, as I would love to have had that on the ‘Tragic Idol’ album. Also ‘Cardinal Zero,’ which only just didn’t make the cut for ‘Faith Divides Us…’ due to it having a very different vibe to the other album tracks. Both nonetheless, I feel are very strong songs and show a slightly different side to those writing periods.
CD and downloads not having a ‘flip side’ or ‘side B’ had almost made that term redundant, but for a resurgent vinyl hardcore that has thankfully kept that one alive, I’m pleased to say. I often reminisce those teen years of travelling home excited on the bus with a new LP, reading all the lyrics, enjoying the large enough cover to make artwork intricately delightful and worthwhile. Great heart-warming memories for me indeed. Yet, the music new and old I’m discovering on the internet these days in the 21st century is an absolute joy! I’m pleased to have had both experiences during my years with PARADISE LOST and the future holds who knows what. I for one am very excited though to see where we go next!
Here’s wishing everyone all the best from PARADISE LOST and most importantly, thank you very much from us all for your amazing support, which humbles us greatly.
Twenty-five years and counting!”
– Aaron Aedy (PARADISE LOST)
PARADISE LOST is also pleased to confirm that their 25th anniversary “Tragic Illusion” tour has been extended to now include a number of European dates! As with the UK shows, the band will be supported by both LACUNA COIL and KATATONIA (who will be playing the entire Viva Emptiness album at all shows). See below for all upcoming tour dates.
PARADISE LOST tour dates
Sept. 3rd – Lille Vega – Copenhagen, Denmark w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 4th – Kulturbolaget – Malmö, Sweden w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 5th – Sticky Fingers – Gothenburg, Sweden w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 6th – John Dee – Sankt Hanshaugen, Norway w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 7th – Nalen – Stockholm, Sweden w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 9th – Nosturi – Helsinki, Finland w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 10th – Lutakko – Jyväskylä, Finland w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 11th – Pakkahuone – Tampere, Finland w/ OUTSHINE
Sept. 13th – Volta Club – Moscow, Russian Federation
Sept. 14th – KZ Aurora – Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
Sept. 15th – Premio Center – Nizhniy Novgorod, Russian Federation
Sept. 17th – Re:public – Minsk, Belarus
PARADISE LOST “Tragic Illusion 25th Anniversary” UK Tour w/ LACUNA COIL and KATATONIA
Oct. 30th – Wolverhampton – Wulfrun Hall (www.wolvescivic.co.uk)
Oct. 31st – Glasgow – ABC (www.ticketweb.co.uk)
Nov. 1st – Manchester – Ritz (www.kililive.com)
Nov. 3rd – London – Roundhouse (www.kililive.com)
PARADISE LOST “Tragic Illusion 25th Anniversary” EU Tour w/ LACUNA COIL and KATATONIA
Nov. 4th – Cologne, Germany – Essigfabrik
Nov. 6th – Herford, Germany – Club X
Nov. 7th – Aschaffenburg, Germany – Colos Saal
Nov. 8th – Dordrecht, Netherlands – Bibelot
Nov. 10th – Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli Oudegracht
Nov. 11th – Nuremberg, Germany – Hirsch
Nov. 12th – Vienna, Austria – Arena
Nov. 13th – Solothurn, Switzerland – Kofmehl
PARADISE LOST online:
http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/paradiselostofficial
http://twitter.com/officialpl
Press opportunities for PARADISE LOST are available, so please contact nikki.law@centurymedia.com to schedule!
- August 20th, 2013
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65DAYSOFSTATIC ‘PRISMS’
This week 65daysofstatic released the first single entitled ‘PRISMS’ from their upcoming album ‘Wild Light’.
View the video below…
Say the band: “We’re delighted to issue the first audio analgesic from Wild Light into your ears! ‘Prisms’ is the outcome of 65daysofstatic smashing itself into a million pieces and reassembling itself in the dark. We tried to write sad dance music to be danced to at the end of the world, a possibility that seems increasingly likely. Thanks for listening!”
Also available is an interactive remix app of the song which you can get here –
http://www.65daysofstatic.com/prisms/
If you like what you hear, pre-order the album on Omerch – CD (standard or digipak), vinyl and t-shirt bundles are available…
http://www.omerch.eu/shop/65daysofstatic/
- August 20th, 2013
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KATATONIA – LYRIC VIDEO
Katatonia recently posted a lyric video for ‘The One You Are Looking For is Not Here’, taken from ‘Dethroned & Uncrowned’…
Click below to pre-order the album here on Omerch and get 25% off a ‘Dethroned & Uncrowned’ t-shirt –
- August 20th, 2013
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DEVIN TOWNSEND PRESENTS: THE RETINAL CIRCUS PRE-ORDER!
Devin Townsend has confirmed the release date of his The Retinal Circus live DVD – it will appear on September 30.
The show, which sold out in advance, took place at London’s Roundhouse venue in October last year and included a three-hour concert with a full choir, art exhibition and performance art.
He called it “the most definitive Devin show to date – a culmination of my entire career with a star lineup and full supporting cast.”
The Retinal Circus will be available in 2DVD, Blu-Ray, 2CD and five-disc box set formats, plus a Diehard Deluxe box set with contents to be confirmed in the near future.
Check out a teaser of the DVD below…
- August 20th, 2013
- no responses