The Police were more than just 1980's hit makers. Their influence on hard rock and even metal can be felt and heard even to this day. This week on the Loudini Hard Rock and Metal Circus Lou and Keith do a little undercover work and reveal how The Police have infiltrated rock music. Featured Loudini Artists: Almanac Kadavar Epica
Featured Loudini Artists:
Almanac
After 15 years and 10 CD’s as guitarist, producer and composer for the German Heavy Metal institution RAGE and with hits penned by him like “Down”, “Soundchaser”, “War of Worlds”, “Straight to Hell” (well-known from the German blockbuster movie “Manitou’s Shoe”), “Carved in Stone”, “Forever Dead”, “Empty Hollow” and “Cleansed by Fire”, Victor Smolski now continues his musical career with his new group ALMANAC.
The guitar virtuoso’s composition “Suite Lingua Mortis”, released first on the successful 2006 RAGE record “Speak Of The Dead”, built the Classical foundation for the new, more versatile yet even playful LINGUA MORTIS ORCHESTRA sound and their LMO release in 2013, which scored a big success by outselling all most recent RAGE releases and charted in Germany at #24 on the official album charts.
In comparison to RAGE, LMO offered fresh song material entirely composed by Smolski, a new musical concept combining Heavy Metal with Classical music, songs written especially for band & orchestra plus several male and female singers sharing the lead vocal job.
This successful story now continues with ALMANAC who add a powerful touch of heaviness to LMO’s unique sound. The Belarus-born guitarist with this new group is joined by former LMO band members Jeannette Marchewka (vocals), the “Orquestra Barcelona Filharmonia” with Enric Garcia on keyboards and “White Russian Symphony Orchestra”.
New members are Tim Rashid on bass and Athanasios "Zacky" Tsoukas on drums.
The two singers David Readman (PINK CREAM 69) and Andy B. Franck (BRAINSTORM) complete the line-up.
For all the members of ALMANAC the debut album is a new, exciting, and very interesting chapter that has now begun. Traditional power metal in conjunction with classical music, world music with a modern sound are making ALMANAC an absolute listening experience.
Fans with an interest in deeper subjects including history and culture will also be able to dive into a new world with their first album, which combines historic and modern parallels that will surprise many.
From the warlike nomadic horsemen in the steppes of Russia, to the Tsardom, Ivan the Terrible, warlike Cossacks who dominate the Tatar, the siege of Constantinople and the Mongol invasion are stories about battles, wars, intrigue, conquest, terror, power and love that can be heard vocally using the different styles of the singer’s voices.
ALMANAC has signed a record deal with the world’s leading Heavy Metal label Nuclear Blast.
ALMANAC's debut album »Tsar« is a new, exciting, and very interesting chapter that has now begun. Traditional power metal in conjunction with classical music, world music with a modern sound make ALMANAC for an absolute listening experience. ALMANAC's debut album »Tsar« ( release date March 18th 2016 through Nuclear Blast ) has entered the charts at the following positions: Germany #74, Swiss #87
Since the band was founded two years ago, ALMANAC played around 50 shows in 10 different countries, their first CD "Tsar" was also nominated at the Metal Hammer awards as best debut album 2016. Actually, the band members are working on a new CD production.
Press contact
markus.wosgien@nuclearblast.de
Booking agent
ITM Agency, Germany
fsuepfle@itm-agency.com
www.itm-agency.com
Kadavar
For the few lucky bands who live to see a career blossom out of their passion, even fewer manage to avoid the hopeless creative stagnation that happens when hobby turns into ”work”. We all know that as soon as rock n roll starts to resemble going to the office, there
are no winners – everybody's screwed. As the German trio KADAVAR – arguably the hardest working band in European rock – stand on the brink of releasing their fourth full length album, they look back at a seven year long career of doing things the other way around.
Rather than this being the time to start talking about how music is just another way of paying the bills, they could not be more in tune with the main reason anybody starts a band in the first place – liberation.
“We used to put ourselves under a lot of pressure,” says guitarist and vocalist Christoph ‘Lupus’ Lindemann. “We didn't want to be just another rock band, we wanted to be the best.
Now we are free from the idea that we need to hit the charts or fill big halls to become happy. To get to that point everyone involved needs mental maturity, and this satisfies me more than any full arena.”
Not that they are strangers to neither chart positions nor sold out venues. After being formed in the German capital city back in 2010, the word of KADAVAR playing in a different league from their retro rock-labelled peers quickly spread worldwide, resulting not only in
audiences growing past the 1000 mark on their many tours, but also in chart positions for their third and latest album »Berlin« – entering on position 18 in Germany and 21 in the US Heatseekers charts. Highly regarded as one of the most explosive live experiences on
contemporary rock scene, their secret seems to be boiled down and brewed from three ingredients: an accessible yet personalized brand of classic rock; a no-frills approach to everything they do (”minimal arrangement, maximum effect”); and that undeniable German
tenacity, yet again.
“Even in the early years there was somehow an implication that unless we gave it 120 per cent, nobody would ever recognise any of it,” says drummer Christoph ‘Tiger’ Bartelt. “That was one half. The other half was juveline over-confidence!” Him and Lupus both grew up working class, the latter in an over-achieving family of athletes,
which fueled his competitive side (”in our family, the second best was the first loser”). Both studied sound engineering after high school, and met in the beer-drenched Berlin underground at night time, as you do. Inspiration struck when the new wave of retro rock flooded the scene in the mid-00s, and together they built KADAVAR on the foundation of a
vintage sound with classic song structure – a conscious step away from the increasingly heavier stoner bands of the time (the name itself was inspired by the American underground heroes DANAVA). “If someone does a seven minute jam on one riff and sells it as something
cool I think he is just too stupid to write a good song!” Lupus says. “We wanted to sound more like a heavy garage band. We still do, maybe now more than ever.”
Personality-wise, they couldn't be more different. Lupus is social and opinionated. An emotional straight-shooter, or ”East German” - as he himself sums it up. Where he wears his heart on his sleeve, Tiger on the other hand keeps his neatly tucked inside, only to be
exposed to the outside world on stage. Where Lupus speaks, Tiger thinks.
“It's not by chance that he calls himself Lupus - ”wolf”,” the drummer says. “He has killer instinct and he is a loyal warrior. He is impulsive and it somehow feels like he enjoys being uncomfortable. Getting on the same page with him requires a lot of friction and a strong
stance. It sounds rough, but I really like it.“
“Tiger takes the time it needs to really understand a situation and make a decision based on
it. I trust him and rely on him and without him the band would be dead,” Lupus says. In between them two balances Simon ‘Dragon’ Bouteloup, the bassist who replaced the original member Phillip ‘Mammut’ Lippitz. There is nothing German about this Parisian bohemian. Simon spent his late teenage years drifting around Europe intuitively – just like
his style of playing – later ending up with the infamous French psychonauts in AQUA NEBULA OSCILLATOR. He moved to Berlin in 2012 to play with THE OATH, and joined KADAVAR two years later.
“Simon is a really great, beloved person who changed the band so much. He has a totally different background music-wise, and also is attitude to life. If you don't give it time and learn
how to slow down and listen to him, you will never find out who he is. But if you do a whole new world opens up,” Lupus says. “His dedication to music is remarkable,” Tiger adds. “That's something I've always adored about him.”
Together the trio form a uniqe symbiose, challenging each other to fill the sonic space between them when the curtain goes up – and to grow even closer after it's gone down.
“Being only three on stage does not give you much margin of error, so each and every one of us need to kick ass every night. But at least it gives everyone enough space to express himself, sonically and physically on stage,” Simon says.
In the beginning of 2017 the band prepared to start a new album cycle by literally rolling up their sleeves and building a brand new recording studio from scratch. Over 100 square
metres inside an industrial complex in the area of Neukölln in Berlin is now their creative haven and workplace alike, and this is where the follow-up to »Berlin« has started to take form.
“We have been giving it quite a lot of thought, how we want to continue after the last album,” says Tiger. “Maybe I try not to only be a musician, but to think, write and play like an artist. It sounds corny, but I mean it in the way a brick layer differs from an architecht. Not to
only lay brick by brick, but create a nice vision of a house with different rooms.” Intentionally or not, the act of manual labor – like building a house in arrival of a new baby – gives a poetic layer to the album process. “It is a big challenge,” Simon says. “But also a positive
period where we are able to question everything we've already established in order to move forward as a band. We would not respect ourselves and our followers by putting out just
another KADAVAR album. It needs to be different and hopefully better!“
They might have eased up on the competitive attitude, but don't believe for a second the
hunger is gone. Take it from the wolf himself: “When you realize you have taken it to the next level, where you can live from music and see the world – you work your ass off to keep
that. What else should we do? We are useless in the normal world. And maybe it looks harder
than it is...“
Personal Information
http://facebook.com/KadavarOfficial http://youtube.com/KadavarOfficial http://twitter.com/KadavarOfficial
Current Location
Berlin
Press contact
markus.jakob@nuclearblast.de
Booking agent
worldwide:
Kingstar Music / Thomas Respondek
tr@kingstar-music.com
Epica
Excellence. Power. Intelligence. Creativity. Ambition.
The world of symphonic metal is all about big ideas and high standards, but few bands have taken this most bombastic of genres to such momentous creative heights as EPICA. Formed in the Netherlands in 2002, these perennially dynamic masters of sonic opulence swiftly grabbed the world’s attention with their 2003 debut album The Phantom Agony. With a fresh and vital sound that struck a sublime balance between orchestral grandeur and pure heavy metal grit, EPICA’s music showcased the compelling contrast between singer Simone Simons’ soaring vocals and guitarist Mark Jansen’s guttural growls; between Isaac Delahaye’s unstoppable core of scything riffs and keyboard maestro Coen Janssen’s intricate, hugely cinematic arrangements and embellishments. All of this backed by a powerful tandem: Ariën van Weesenbeek blasting his drums and Rob van der Loo providing tasteful low end.
The lyrics, too, made EPICA stand out from the crowd, as they eschewed the traditional symphonic trope of fantasy and began to explore and dissect notions of philosophy, science and spirituality. By the time they released 2005’s grand evolutionary step Consign To Oblivion, the Dutch sextet were widely regarded as the genre’s brightest hopes and international success was in their grasp.
The decade that followed has seen EPICA grow from plucky contenders to their current status as symphonic metal heavyweights with a huge and still expanding worldwide
General Manager
Daniel Regan @ Feat First Management, dregan@featfirstmanagement.com
Press contact
mail[at]nuclearblastusa.com (US) / info[at]nuclearblast.de (EU)
Booking agent
Contra (EU/Asia/AUS), Enrico@contrapromotion.com / Circle Agency (North America), dan@circletalentagency.com / Miracle Artists (South America) , nick@miracle-artists.com / Mojo (NL), J.Salfischberger@mojo.nl
