Zonk Monk – Disorder ~ Out Of The Cosmos ~

A Japanese keyboard-beauty-based dramatic Neo-symphonic progressive rock.

ZONK MONK, a three-piece rock ensemble based upon twin keyboards, were founded by Keigo “Kegoi” TAKADA (drums), Shoko NAGASAKI (keyboards, organ), and Ai OHNUMA (keyboards, organ) in Osaka, Japan in 2008. This unique “guitar-less” formation draws out their original versatility across various musical genres. Via lots of gigs around Osaka, they’ve appeared upon stage in Tokyo in 2011. and finally their debut EP “Disorder – Out Of The Cosmos”, in collaboration with ISAO, the guitarist of Spark 7, saw the light in November, 2011.

Never forgotten their terrific impression given to me when I met them and watched their gig in Osaka. Ai and Shoko launch dramatic, classic-flavoured and perfectly harmonized keyboard sounds through the whole EP. And Kegoi plays drums along with his aggressive style, without pushing himself in front of the graceful twin keyboards (auditorily and also visually). Amazingly, each individual player – a cool beauty Shoko, a tragically passionate princess Ai, and … a killa drum tiger Kegoi – has her/his own personality and ability for encouraging and inspiring others to create more enthusiastic sounds. Also, the keyboard battles between Ai and Shoko are too hot and of passion for us to listen with keeping safe and sound.

“Into The Green World”, composed by Shoko, has so cool and fresh shower of green air like her, and simultaneously for us the most easily listenable (namely, a bit far from progressive) and the most light- and delightful-touched flavour. Suppose Kegoi’s drumming may be less outstanding in this stuff. Fresh and clear nature including lots of complex and colourful phrases created by Shoko intentionally, a dreamy one.

“U.T. – A Hole In Danger”, launched by Ai (you know the reason I’ve mentioned Ai is a tragically passionate princess above), possesses various appearances quite different from each other … a danceable rhythm groove created by percussive taps around the trio, highly intensive infernal keyboard shouts, magical synthesizer black fantasia, and hearty flower-sound-garden. Mystic and phantasmagorical appearance alterations they’ve shown, as if we saw the snowy light after passing through a long and dark tunnel by a train. Let me say that we can hear their mischievous originality in this stuff. (To be honest, this is my fave really.)

The last track (“Disorder – Out Of The Cosmos”) can let us know what they should mean in their masterpiece … contrary to a classic-tinged piano play, massive and straight symphonic keyboard sunshine plus deeply heavy pedal bass quakes, and explosive, eccentrically rhythmic drumming rumble (with a flood of sweat LOL) soon attacks our ears. A bit seasoned with mainstream but their attitude can be kept strictly, especially upon tense but comfortable keyboard chorus by two beauties, and persistently chivalrous drumming. ISAO’s speed guitar stunts can be fantastic, but amazingly his play may be blown away by the three … yes, ZONK MONK push their assertion forward fully and strongly, we can say?

In conclusion, the EP “Disorder – Out Of The Cosmos” is a good debut one indeed, but sadly it’s a bit tough to realize their actual originality. Looks like they play strictly Neo-symphonic progressive rock leaning toward a bundle of pioneers in the same scene (cannot know if true or not, because of too little and short material of them … they’ve said clearly “not” though). Anyhow, we can get amazed at their theatrical communication with fantastic twin keyboards and strongly passionate drums. Looking forward to their full-length creation maybe coming soon.

Tracklist:

1. Into The Green World (5:44)
2. U.T. – A Hole In Danger (6:25)
3. Disorder – Out Of The Cosmos (6:19)

Total Time 18:27

Line-up:

* Keigo “Kegoi” Takada – drums
* Shoko Nagasaki – keyboards, organ
* Ai Ohnuma – keyboards, organ
* ISAO – guitar (3)

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/zonkmonk3

Radio for the Daydreamers

Radio for the Daydreamers is a three piece experimental band hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their visual identity stayed unrevealed since the band’s formation in 2009. Since then they released two albums, one being the part of the triptych called “Praying for the Be(a)st”, which second part is due in this December. I talked to Aki Srivastava about the band’s tendencies and future.

Nick: Hello Aki, Radio for the Daydreamers is a pretty new name on the scene, mind introducing us to the band’s work?

Aki: Hi Nick. Certainly, Radio for the Daydreamers (RftD) was formed in 2009 with the best of intentions towards experimental music. We wrote our first album in the same year called “Clouds of Smoke and Poison” but it was more of a compilation of singles than an album. That record followed a dramatic change our approach to music and we have since been working on a triptych called “Praying for the Be(a)st”. We released the first part of the triptych called “Mother Superior and Her Fields of Migraine” in July, 2011 and are going to release the second part called “Praying for the Be(a)st” on December 2,2011.

Nick: It seems like your main interest is exploring the wide range of experimental music that threads through different subgenres. Have you reached the point beyond these subgenres that you can say “That’s it! No further“?

Aki: Actually, we don’t think that is possible at all. One should never have limitations when it comes to music. If we just keep following the same ideals then we are never going to be ourselves, which is why we try to keep an open mind about all music (mostly) and try to learn as much as we can about it.

Nick: The identity of the members of Radio for the Daydreamers has not been revealed so far, but on the other hand you keep up the interactions with your fans through social networks. Do you think that music reached the level where people do not care about the band’s identity and visuality due to the ever-growing presence of the Internet in daily lives?

Aki: I think the reason that we are so secretive is that we are trying to make our art define us as human beings instead of the other way around. It seems that most of the recent art, especially music, is treated like a medium for an autobiography. People like to write songs about their personal lives and that is what we avoid. We try to make our art abstract to the point where you have very little external evidence to it, and you can focus on our art instead of on us. A preoccupation with the artists takes much away from their art. However, I don’t think that people have stopped caring about the identity of the bands but since it is more accessible, it has definitely lost its value.

It also depends a lot on what kind of music you are talking about. It seems like now there are a lot musicians that want to be just that, Musicians. And that is not a new concept at all. We have always had a glaring dichotomy of artists and performers. So when you talk about musicians and performers (For instance, Ella Fitzgerald, who was mainly a performer and Oh! what a great one at that) people like to see who the band’s lead vocalist is and so on, and that makes sense. But as artists, we would rather make our art be the spectacle.

Nick: Your first album “Clouds of Smoke and Poison“ was released in 2009. There was an accent placed on post-rock and ambience with some influences from electronica. Compared to your newer works (Praying for the Be(a)st triptych), you made a significant step changing the pace towards a more avant-garde sound. Did it come as a natural progression or simply as a tendency to change to something different?

Aki: It was definitely a more natural progression. We learned a lot since we wrote “Clouds of Smoke and Poison” about music, music theory, life and literature. “Praying for the Be(a)st” is a collective effort of all that. We did not make an active decision to change our sound to what it is now but as we listened to (and understood) more music, this is just where we ended up.

Nick: In July you released first part of the “Praying for the Be(a)st“ trilogy named as “Mother Superior and her Fields of Migraine“. The second part of the trilogy is due in December, so it comes naturally to ask you where these two records stand in comparison.

Aki: Well, the two records are incredibly different from each other since we used a different approach to tell the story in each section. In “Mother Superior and Her Fields of Migraine” (MSAHFOM), all the songs were written as a narrative, while “Praying for the Be(a)st” is a narrative of the character’s internal (and sometimes infernal) monologues. Hence, the second part of the triptych is written from the perspective of the protagonist and is therefore a lot more chaotic and delusional. The approach to song writing was different for this record too. While Mother Superior gradually brought the listener in to the story, “Praying for the Be(a)st” is more direct but also very dark. One major progression is the sound. MSAHFOM had a melancholic feel to it but it still had moments of calm secrecy and detached ambience. We took all that away and what is left is something far more personal and therefore a lot darker.

Nick: Which bands/musicians have influenced your work with RftD?

Aki: It is hard to say what bands inspired us because we have picked up something or the other from a lot of music we listen to. We draw most of our inspirations from jazz, classical music, metal, and a lot of trip-hop. But we try to learn from all music, so it is hard to be specific without doing disservice to the artists we might forget.

Nick: It’s a tough task being authentic today, but your tunes carefully form an entity of hi-quality work. What’s your secret?

Aki: Haha, I don’t think we have a secret. We are just lucky to be living in a time where we can find great music, new and old, written by artists a lot more skilled and people a lot wiser than us.

Nick: In the biography, you say that Praying for the B(e)ast is the band’s live inauguration. Judging by what can be heard off the studio releases, I’m sure Radio for the Daydreamers will be a nice experience to see live. What are your plans for having the band rolling its wheels on the stage?

Aki: The live shows are going to be exciting because that will be a time where we get to truly experiment with our music. The shows will be based on the studio versions of the songs but will not be limited to it. We have kept a lot of room for jazz improvs and other experimentations so it would be a great experience for us and hopefully for the people who share it with us.

Nick: Which albums released in 2011 left the best impression on you? And which albums disappointed you to the point of disgust?

Aki: Unfortunately, we are quite behind in discovering music, somewhere in the 50s when it comes to jazz and a lot longer before that when it comes to classical music. So 2011 is a long ways away still.

Nick: To summarize, what comes next for RtfD?

Aki: We are currently working on our live shows and are writing for the final part of the triptych. The next immediate step in RftD world is live music though.

Nick: Is there anything you would love to add at the end of the interview?

Aki: We would like to thank all our fans for supporting us and we hope our art continues to impress them.

STINKING LIZAVETA: Eclectic Philadelphia Trio Sign To Exile On Mainstream

This is what we received through the PR wire:

Infamous Philly avant/agro rock trio STINKING LIZAVETA have proudly joined forces with Germany’s Exile On Mainstream Records for the release of their forthcoming seventh full-length album. STINKING LIZAVETA’s near legendary cult status and blend of improvisational and otherworldly post-jazz/rock/freakout style now hitching to the exceptionally diverse purveyance of all forms of rock Exile On Mainstream’s roster already bears is an ideal alliance, and both sides are extremely excited about the signing.

Stated Exile On Mainstream owner Andreas Kohl on the signing: “I am thrilled and very enthusiastic about the Stinking ship steering into our harbor! This band has always been one of my all-time favorites since I started working for and with them for the first time approximately 100 years ago as PR dude when III came out. Now they are signed to this label and I’m one step closer to personal heaven. There isn’t many more on this stairway. I am happy. Just über-fucking happy. Welcome STINKING LIZAVETA!”

The new album from STINKING LIZAVETA will be released in the fall of 2012. More information on the album will be released over the coming weeks. This week the band launched a Kickstarter page to raise funds to help get this album off the ground. The page will remain active until mid-December; check it out now RIGHT HERE.

Since 1994 the name STINKING LIZAVETA has made its way well beyond the crusty punk and indie clubs in the band’s West Philadelphia stomping grounds where they first tore into the music scene. The trio’s instrumental, organic fusion of post-jazz, progressive rock, punk, world music, sludge and whatever else you might care to attach to their plainly distinctive resonance has become a cult phenomenon to fans of all forms of interesting heavy music the world over. Having released six full-lengths albums to date — several self-released and the others released by Tolotta, At A Loss — in addition to a plethora of EP’s, demos, compilation appearances.

While STINKING LIZAVETA’s recordings are fascinating on their own, the band is even well known for their brilliant, energetic live shows. The trio’s explosive energy is guaranteed to hit you like an electrified avalanche every time, in front of an audience of 12 or 1200, propelled through a modest setup, comprised of a drum kit, electric guitar and upright electric bass. They have toured relentlessly throughout North America, Europe and beyond over the past seventeen years alongside eclectic rock acts of all kinds along with some of the biggest and most respected names in the rock, stoner and sludge scenes including Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, The Rollins Band, Fugazi, Zeni Geva, Today Is The Day, Weedeater, The Hidden Hand, Don Vito, The Antikaroshi, End of Level Boss, Beehoover and more. Watch for them to take to the road again throughout the coming year as they create their forthcoming seventh opus.

STINKING LIZAVETA is:

Cheshire Agusta – drums
Yanni Papadopoulos – guitar
Alexi Papadopoulos – upright electric bass

http://www.stinkinglizaveta.com
http://www.exileonmainstream.de

The Obelisk streaming new RIOTGOD song

The Obelisk is hosting an exclusive premiere of a new track from RIOTGOD’s upcoming release “Invisible Empire“. “Invisible Empire” is the follow up to the band’s self-titled, critically acclaimed debut album. Get a first listen to “Fool” HERE courtesy of The Obelisk.

RIOTGOD began in spirit through the conversations of Monster Magnet’s Bob Pantella and Jim Baglino while out on tour as early as 2006.

While touring with Monster Magnet provided them with some great times and afforded them the opportunity to perform around the world, each communicated a desire to express their own musical ideas.

During their time off the road, the pair began exploring the possibilities of creating their own band . Bob began to lay down some ideas to get the ball rolling come 2007.

Bob while recording ideas that would become many of the songs on RIOTGOD’s first CD, also sought out musicians that would fill out the guitar and vocal slots for the then nameless band. Contacted first was Garrett Sweeny for guitar.

For the vocals, many possible names had been discussed, including some notable voices familiar via other established bands yet in the end the local NJ connection would lead to Mark Sunshine.

The band began to look for shows locally booking in NYC, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The venues would range from nationally familiar clubs such as Asbury Park’s Stone Pony to a gig in a Brooklyn loft.

Touring for the band would be another story. Each member still fulfilled their other musical obligations, most notably Jim and Bob being called out to tour with Monster Magnet, However challenging it may always be owing to scheduling — touring is a given.

RIOTGOD did its first mini-tour in 2009, hitting the road with fellow NJ rockers The Friends of Bill Wilson. RIOTGOD would visit the US mid-west and Canada, playing venues such as Chicago’s Double Door, Detroit’s Blondies, Toronto’s Bovine Sex Club as well as some lesser known colorful establishments along the way.

RIOTGOD is now back – with their second album. More straight, more rock, more stoner – more RIOTGOD.

Invisible Empire Track Listing:

1. Breed
2. Fool
3. Crossfade
4. Slow Death
5. Firebrand
6. Gas Station Roses
7. Tomorrow`s Today
8. Saving It Up
9. Loosily Bound
10. Lost
11. Hollow Mirror
12. Rebirth

For more info visit:

http://www.riotgod.com
http://www.facebook.com/riotgod999
http://www.metalville.de

Slocombe’s Pussy – Tattoo

SLOCOMBE’S PUSSY celebrate themselves with their debut work of a drastically mystic suite called “Tattoo“.

SLOCOMBE’S PUSSY got started in 2008 as a “sonic bedlam emitter”, according to what they say. Their formation and membership have been fluctuated frequently, featuring not only drums / percussion, bass, twin guitars, keyboards / effectors but also saxophone, violin, computer-generated noise or so. Quite influenced by 70s psychedelic progressive / space rock like Hawkwind, Acid Mothers Temple, or Krautrock like Can, Faust, they have drawn their original inspiration blended with a bundle of social essence.

In 2009, SLOCOMBE’S PUSSY finally saw the light … they joined a record show of “Schrödinger’s Cat” with VicMod, a Melbourne synthesizer group, and together they played upon The Tattoo Show for the 2009 Melbourne Fringe Festival, that could be released as CD / DVD material in 2011 … namely, this album.

The first track “Intro” is completely an improvised / experimental / noise one, that sounds like Acid Mothers Temple launch on stage loudly with bulky feedback doses. As though we saw dreadful bubbles and horrible monotone shout / appearance via a infernal lake, various sounds and effects filled with painful squeeze tighten our minds up.

“((((((13))))))” shoots deep flexible space rock via their organically achy brain, just in the same vein of Ash Ra Tempel. Dry-fruity, heavy brass sounds should give more and more spiritualized meaning into their “rock”. Electric spacey noise kicks shake our brain by such a nauseous whacky movements, but fuzzy swift guitar firecracker is, on the contrary, comfortable and courageous for us, mysteriously.

Anyway, the following one “Skin, Needle, Ink” is a serious, really serious blues … reminds us massive pain of physical or mental manner whilst getting a artistic tattoo for cool future. Based upon dark synthesizer (not percussive), heavier darker guitar solo riffs might give more and more darker tattoo upon arms and back of someone, tinged with funky brass colour and sharp-edged atmosphere. A quite impressive tune, that can give a hint of that cool heavenly future into the next bluesy Kraut-ish stuff “To The Land Of Darkness“, that grabs the previous air and flavour into its core of mind, under stoner bluesy avantgarde jazz rock, and furthermore “Je Ne Regrette Rien“, sticky deep dark psychedelia (but a simple stuff, at the same time).

The longest improvisation “‘O’ Negative” may absolutely be the closest to Krautrock scene I feel. Various sound spice and noise footprints are around there … sounds like spiritual fog over the sacred mountain, or a loose avantgarde jam session under mind-expanding situation when all players are jammed into a dark narrow space. And simultaneously, they can explode some optimistic bomb I can feel, to be honest. A bit too long and fatigued experimentalism but also great for precursor to the last advanced, aggressive, addictive tattoo Armageddon “The Face“, a very sensitive and stressful masterpiece with the very last orgasmic catastrophic whoomp to death.

A terrific debut creation indeed, with a methodology that they create an altered state of mind with typical rock instruments plus a brass section or drastic sound effects. Recommended.

Tracklist (CD / DVD):

1. Intro (9:23)
2. ((((((13)))))) (3:59)
3. Skin, Needle, Ink (4:34)
4. To The Land Of Darkness (6:46)
5. Je Ne Regrette Rien (6:45)
6. ‘O’ Negative (15:38)
7. The Face (7:04)

Total Time 54:09

Line-up:

* Jon Perring
* Paul Crick
* Morgan Fayle
* Matt Murphy
* Dan McKay
* Jason Montero
* Adam Simmons (New Blood Horns)
* Ben Carr (New Blood Horns)
* Tony “The Face” Cronin

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/slocombespussy666

Heavy Jam at Roadburn Festival 2012

Roadburn announces a very special one-off show at Roadburn 2012: A Heavy Jam by J Mascis (guitar – Witch / Dinosaur Jr), Mario Rubalcaba (drums – Earthless), Mike Eginton (bass – Earthless) and Graham Clise (guitar – Witch / Lecherous Gaze) on Saturday, April 14th.

This will be one epic jam session for fans of shredding psychedelia. Expect hard rock blues, underpinned by the muscular rhythmic sensibilities of kraut-rock, and then have the lid blasted off with the unbridled energy of  70′s psychedelic guitar rock.

The rock solid foundation laid by drummer Mario Rubalcaba is a jumping off point for guitarists J Mascis, Graham Clise, and bassist Mike Eighton to explore the outer cosmos for consciousness expanding riffs and music-induced psychedelic experiences. Flame retardant clothing is highly recommended!

An interview with Brendan James Hayter of Truthseeker

Truthseeker hails from Boston, Massachusetts and is all about explorations beyond the instrumental side of progressive music. Their wide spectrum of influences set them aside as one of the promising bands for which the world will already hear about. I hooked up recently for an interview with the songwriter and the man behind the Truthseeker story, Brendan James Hayter.

Nick: Hello Brendan, thanks for having time to answer some questions for Prog Sphere.

Brendan: Of course. My pleasure.

Nick: How did you guys go about forming Truthseeker? Did you have any exact plan for what kind of music you want to play back when you decided to form the band?

Brendan: Yes, there was a specific idea of what kind of music the band would make. The band was formed to play slow, atmospheric hard rock with a psychedelic and progressive edge. The intent was to transcend all subgenres though, which inherently happened without much effort; what I mean is, the psychedelic rock influence was initially much more obvious on the songs, and as we began to record them they took on a life of their own, and the more obvious coats of “prog” or “psych-rock” became less visible.

I suppose the number one intent of Truthseeker was to make the most emotionally and atmospherically profound hard rock possible. I want it to inspire people, to make positive decisions with their life, and seek their own respective truths, leave their fears and complacence behind and fulfill their lives’ potential.

Nick: Two months ago you released the EP called “Weightless at Dawn“ and according to what can be heard out of it, your influential spectrum is pretty wide. Tell us about this.

Brendan: I suppose the spectrum is pretty wide, but it was not premeditated. I tried to be inspired by nothing other than my own musical visions, the vague music that floats through my head at night that sounds like no pre-existing band. With that being said, there are a couple bands that inspired the writing in the sense that their purity and originality inspired me to hold on to my own purity and originality, and be true to the sounds in my mind, if you know what I mean. Those bands are (in no order) Alcest, Katatonia, Agalloch, Earth, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and early Metallica actually. Cliff Burton was the sole inspiration for me to become a musician…and still now, his song “Orion” inspires me in Truthseeker.

Nick: The sound presented on Weightless at Dawn relies heavily on its atmosphere, trying to reach out to extreme depths in a multidimensional soundwave exploration. What makes you take this direction?

Brendan: That’s the way I always thought heavy music should sound. I think the idea with atmospheric music is to let yourself put on the headphones and fall into a miniature world that reflects your own unique impressions of life, dreams, and even spirituality at times. That’s why the song titles and poems are kept simple. For example with Daybreak, the song is simply about watching the sun rise and watching the day form and feeling inspired and happy. The record is called Weightless at Dawn because with that song I imagine floating in the sky while morning rises and the atmosphere fills with sunlight. Also, that’s just how I feel at Dawn anyway, is weightless. Unencumbered by the stressful things in life, just savoring nature’s beauty and nothing more.

Nick: Did it intrigue you to bring a death metal drummer to play slow rock beats? How did Alex fit into the whole story?

Brendan: It was intriguing, yes! It was Dan’s suggestion to bring him in, because he knew Alex was a very professional drummer with one of the strongest drum sounds and techniques in town, and that he was a Berklee School of Music grad that would be interested in session work. Even in his fast music he kept a strong groove, which was one of the things that made his bands some of the better metal around. It was enticing to see how much groove he could provide in slower tempo songs. That’s what he provided, power and groove! He liked the music enough to want to work with the band further, so that is the plan.

Nick: Weightless at Dawn is a fully instrumental record, but you decided to have the lyrical segment covered for each of the songs on the EP (except Submerged) in the form of poems. Why is that? Is it to be expected that at some point in time you will have a singer? Would you still attach poetry if you have a singer?

Brendan: We currently don’t have any plans to recruit a singer. There was an intent to have vocals in the formation of the band, but as the music took on its own life there left little opportunity for vocals. It works in my opinion. As for the poems, it was an idea that was at the very beginning of the band if I remember properly. I’ve always loved writing poems, and I liked the idea of having one for each song that sums up the visual and emotional content of the track. It is also an opportunity to present little concepts on life and further inspire people.

Nick: The mastering duties of the EP were completed by New Alliance East (Isis, Morne, Converge, Cave-In). How did you come to point to work with them? Speaking of the production, I find it pretty impressive for a completely new band to have such a well-produced release. Would you mind telling us something more about this?

Brendan: The production was really important for this kind of music I think. It had to be a wide, 3-dimensional type of sound, in order to bring the listener’s imagination alive in the way I wanted to. I also knew that it had to be a professional-level production, in order to make the impact on the music scene that I imagined it could. Dan Gonzalez was/is a Berklee student majoring in Music Production & Engineering. He really knew what he was doing, and took advantage of all resources available to make this the best sounding EP possible. We had access to a real mixing console and some great microphones, which brought the sound into the realms I had dreamed of!

I knew New Alliance East from my last band, After My Own, we had them master our full-length. They do good work and they happened to have a last-minute opening in their schedule right when I e-mailed them about doing the EP, so we got it done pretty fast.

Nick: What equipment did you use during production of the recording?

Brendan: The bass guitar was recorded directly into the recording program with a tube preamp, using a vintage Big Muff distortion, as well as chorus and delay. Distorted bass will probably remain a staple of the Truthseeker sound. I used a Steinberger 5-string and a Fender Jazz Bass 4-string. The rhythm guitar sound is a Peavey 5150 combo amp, which can be very harmonically rich and textural with chords if you set it the right way. The lead guitar is a Marshall Mode-Four, which may come as a surprise to gear-heads, because this is a solid-state amp that Marshall made in the early 2000’s! No tubes on this one! Nevertheless the “Crunch” channel had a very unique voice and a perfect amount of sustain. We could have used a JCM-800, but there are thousands of records driven by that Marshall sound. I thought it would sound more unearthly with this obscure and frankly unpopular Marshall head. I used Dan’s awesome rare Schecter Stiletto guitar for all the guitar tracks, because it had a locking tremolo that kept the guitar in tune throughout the sessions.

Alex plays Trick drums, which are aluminum-based drums that are very resonant, boomy and loud. They drove the record’s sound perfectly.

Nick: In the biography, you give a clue of how the upcoming album will sound, saying that the emphasis will be placed on much longer and more progressive songs, as well as a much stronger metal presence. Introduce us in the whole story, what can we expect?

Brendan: I’m afraid I may have over-estimated the length of the new songs when I made that statement. I have timed the songs, and they’re actually not that long! There is one song that nears 8 minutes, but the others average around 5 minutes. The songs are much more progressive though, and heavy.

All I can say is that it is the full manifestation of the Truthseeker sound. It is lush, emotional, nostalgic. I can’t wait to record and release it!

Nick: You are also the member of other bands/projects, Obsidian Tongue and Blood of the Gods. What are these all about?

Brendan: Obsidian Tongue is the other hemisphere of my creative world I guess you can say. Truthseeker and Obsidian Tongue are equally important to me and I spend the equal amount of time and energy on them. While Truthseeker is positive and dreamy rock, Obsidian Tongue is cathartic black metal that is pretty atmospheric in its own respect. I have a huge amount of passion for it and a very big vision that we’re just getting started with manifesting. People can listen to that here: http://www.myspace.com/obsidiantongue666

Blood of the Gods was Greg’s other band that he drummed in when he joined Obsidian Tongue. It’s old-school death metal with a crust-punk twist, reminiscent of Entombed and Bolt Thrower and all those guys. Earlier this year they were in need of a new guitar player, and we were all good friends at this point and the band only does shows occasionally, So I joined and it worked out for all of us. I can focus a lot on Truthseeker and OT and then get together with some friends and let loose with some really cool death-metal! http://www.myspace.com/botgcrust

Alex also plays in two death metal bands, Scaphism and Forced Asphyxiation. These bands are very respected in the Boston scene for having nothing trendy or annoyingly technical about them, just a classic 90’s vibe and some great riffs!

http://www.facebook.com/Scaphism

http://www.facebook.com/ForcedAsphyxiation

Nick: Do you plan to set Truthseeker on a stage at some point in future?

Brendan: Absolutely! We are auditioning guitarists right now to get the live band ready to go. This music is definitely meant to be played live. I will be playing bass, so Alex and myself will be accompanied by 2 guitarists.

Nick: As we are getting closer to the end of 2011, what are some of the albums you enjoyed at the most in the year? The highlights and disappointments?

Brendan: Boston natives Morne put out their second LP “Asylum” this year, and at the moment I’d say that’s my favorite record I’ve picked up this year. Timeless, epic music. Although there are probably a lot of albums that were put out his year that I simply forgot about or haven’t picked up yet, I am happy with the new offerings of Opeth, Mastodon, Burzum and the re-released Dark Side of the Moon with that unbelievable live recording on the second disc. Also, Enslaved released the digital EP “The Sleeping Gods” which I thought was fantastic, they are one of my favorite bands! Steven Wilson’s “Grace for Drowning” sounds beautiful although I haven’t heard the whole thing yet, just a few songs. I also discovered a project called A Midnight Odyssey who put out a double album this year, which is one of my favorite recent black metal releases.

Nick: Is there anything you would love to add at the end of the interview?

Brendan: Thank you for having us on your website! Keep in touch with us online as we get closer to the recording of the full-length.

Nick: Thanks a lot, Brendan!

Haken’s Visions

If you have been keeping a close enough eye on the modern scene in prog rock, you have no doubt heard of Haken, a virtuosic group of musicians who took prog by storm in 2010 with their opus ‘Aquarius.’ Now only a year later, these talented artists are back with another excellent record. Richard Henshall and Ross Jennings from the band were kind enough to take some time out of their schedules and give us some insight into the band, their music, and their ‘Visions.’

Conor: How are all of you doing?

Richard Henshall: All is good in the Haken camp. It has been an exciting and eventful year for us, so our spirits are high. We’ve had the opportunity to play at Night of the Prog festival along with likes of DT and Anathema, and we were also lucky enough to perform at Prog Power USA, along with many other great acts. They were huge gigs for us and were a step up from anything we had done in the past.

On top of all the gigging, we’ve been working hard on our second album, ‘Visions’, which has just been released. Individually and as a band we have tried to push our boundaries with this album by expanding upon the ideas laid down on our debut album, ‘Aquarius’. We’ve poured our hearts and souls into this album!

Conor: How would you describe your music to someone who has not heard it before?

Richard : I have always thought of Haken as a celebration of music, and feel that our sound is too broad to be pigeon holed into one specific genre. We have songs that juxtapose zappa-like quirkiness with extreme metal riffage, as well as Dixie land jazz sections with sweeping solo classical piano. Our music travels through various soundscapes and different emotions, taking the listener on a journey. There is also a strong cinematic vibe to our sound, which acts like a harmonic thread that binds our music together and compliments the conceptual lyrics.

Conor: How did you get started with music? How were you led to join/form the band?

Richard: My Mum’s a piano teacher and my Dad’s a music enthusiast so I was introduced to music from a young age. Being in this environment sparked my ambition and led me to start playing the piano at the age of 7. I also experimented with playing the drums and clarinet for a while until I discovered the guitar when I was about 11 and haven’t stopped playing since.

About ten years ago, Matthew Marshall (ex guitarist), Ross and I used to meet on a regular basis to have casual jams in our bedrooms; this is when the idea of Haken was born. Over time we began to take our chosen instruments more seriously and formed a pact that we would each go and complete our studies before persuing the band any further. So three year later, we returned from our universities and have gradually built the band into what it is today.

Conor: What is the creative process of Haken? How do you first get ideas for a song, and how are they then fleshed out into larger compositions?

Richard: I’ll usually get an idea for a melody, riff or chord progression whilst practising, which I’ll then play around with for while to allow it to grow naturally. When I feel it’s ready to be developed further, I’ll program it into Logic and begin constructing a song around it. This is the part that takes the most time; for example, the title track on ‘Visions’ took me about a year to write!

Besides strong melodies and emotive progressions, one of the most important things to me, whilst writing, is the overall flow of the piece. I feel it’s crucial to have a healthy balance of light and shade within each song and also the album as a whole. Therefore I dedicate a lot of time in creating smooth transition between the contrasting sections.

Once the framework for a song is complete, I send it to the rest of the guys who provide feedback. We then take the songs to the rehearsal room and begin adding flesh to the structures. This is when everyone adds their personality to the tracks which brings them to life. I feel blessed to be working with such a talented group of musicians.

There were also a couple tracks on ‘Visions’ that were more of a collaborative effort. For instance, Diego and I wrote ‘Premonition’ together. We met regularly over the space of a few months, bouncing ideas of each other until the piece was complete. A lot of the ideas from this track were built around the main themes that appear throughout the album. ‘Insomnia’ was pretty much a song we wrote in the rehearsal room as a band. It’s a great representation of all our eclectic tastes.

Conor: Highly conceptual lyrics are a trademark of Haken. What is Ross’ inspiration and process for putting these stories together? Do lyrics come first, or the music?

Ross Jennings: Conceptually, the process for both Aquarius and Visions were similar. Richard would have some musical ideas and share them with the band. At the same time I would be mapping out some themes and narrative ideas and discuss them with Richard so that the music and lyrics would be coherent. As the arrangements come together, the lyrics will be written with more attention to detail and edited to lock in with the music. On occasion, the vocal melody ideas that I come up with will influence the direction various sections take, that’s all part of the team-work that shapes the final piece.

On Visions, the verses and choruses on the first half of the title track were among the first lyrics written for the album and the story evolved from there as the music was written, whereas Aquarius was pretty much mapped out before any music was written.

Aquarius is purely fantasy. That was the sole intention, to be all-out prog cliche, but at the same time, you can find deeper meanings and themes within the songs such as love, death, and sacrifice.

Conor: Last year, you released your debut album ‘Aquarius’, which met some wide acclaim and excitement from the prog community. What are your reflections, looking back on the album? Is there anything you may have wanted to do differently?

Richard: We we’re completely blown away by all the positive feedback we received for ‘Aquarius’, it was beyond our wildest dreams to get such great critical acclaim for essentially something we love to do, we couldn’t have hoped for a better start to our career. When looking back at any work you’ve done in the past, I guess it’s natural to find points which you’d like to improve, as tastes change with time. However, I feel ‘Aquarius’ has a certain charm that represents where we were at that time, and successfully built the foundations for where we are now.

Conor: Haken’s follow-up album ‘Visions’ is now upon us in 2011. What is different for Haken this time around?

Richard: I came up with a lot of the initial ideas for ‘Visions’ on the guitar, whereas the majority of ‘Aquarius’ was written on the piano, so naturally each album has its own vibe. Generally, ‘Visions’ feels heavier than our previous work and leans towards the metal side of the prog spectrum. However, there are still plenty of nutty keyboard breaks to keep the listener entertained. There are two instrumental tracks on this album, which gave us the opportunity to build some of our wackier and experimental ideas into whole pieces. There are also a few shorter and more digestible tracks which help the overall flow of the album, they’ll hopefully give the listener a bit of respite between the lengthier songs. I’d say our Piece de Resistance is the closing title track, which has many of the themes that occur throughout the album. It’s a lengthy beast that combines many of the elements that make up our sound; there’s plenty of riffage, Zappa-like-quirkiness and even a west end inspired theatrical section. If someone asked me to describe our sound to them, I’d save my words and point them in the direction of this track.

Another important thing to mention is that we have a live string quartet in various parts of the album, which was an effective way for us to reintroduce certain themes in a different context. The quartet did an amazing job of enhancing the pathos within our music; there are a few moments that really tug at the heartstrings. In the spirit of including live orchestral instruments, we decided to ask a friend of Ray’s, Joey ‘Dah Lipz’ Ryan, to double all of the brass parts with his French Horn, which turned out to be very effective and made our grand sections even grander!

Conor: Briefly describe the concept of ‘Visions’. It appears to be a little more complex than ‘Aquarius’…

Ross Jennings: The concept of ‘Visions’ spawned from a dream I had where I saw my own demise that felt insanely real! The idea of confronting one’s own death fascinated me, so that was the initial inspiration. Throughout the writing process it developed into a more complicated story exploring themes such as the nature of consciousness, the transience of life and a couple of the tracks on the album explore the concept of dreams within a dream. Our narrative is told through the eyes of an innocent boy, who has a nightmare in which he is murdered – it seems so real that he convinces himself that it was a premonition and spends the rest of his waking life trying to track down his killer, whilst mentally preparing to meet his death, perhaps leading to his psychological undoing. All is revealed in the closing 22 minute title track, but ultimately it’s up to the listener to decide how much was real and how much was imagined.

Conor: How did Haken record their material for ‘Visions’?

Richard: We recorded ‘Visions’ in the same way as ‘Aquarius’. Ray recorded down his drum parts first, which were engineered by John Papas at Hardbeat Studios in Wembley. Each of us then took the drum tracks home to our personal studios and recorded our instruments over the space of a month or so. We then hired a microphone and recorded the vocals, over a two week period, within a makeshift vocal booth in my loft.

We decided to ask Chrsitian ‘Moos’ Moschus to mix ‘Visions’ as we were extremely impressed with his work on ‘Aquarius’. In my opinion, he has surpassed himself with his work on this album. We sent him dry signals for all the guitar and bass tracks, which he later re-amped through an Engl Powerball amp.

Our recording schedule was incredibly tight as we wanted to make the disc available, ahead of release, to everyone attending Prog Power USA, so you can probably imagine that it was pretty agonising at times. To add to the intensity, we had to prepare for our performance at Night of The Prog festival, conveniently placed right in the middle of the whole process. Thankfully the gig was a success!

Conor: What prog rock or metal bands have you been listening to lately?

Richard: I recently came across a great band called ‘Shaolin Death Squad’. Their latest album, ‘The Five Deadly Venoms’, is a superb album that was released last year. To me this band sounds like an interesting cross between Mr Bungle and Pain of Salvation. The album also shares its name with a classic Shaw Brothers kung fu film, which is what initially grabbed my attention.

I’ve also been listening to a lot of Gentle Giant recently. To me, they are the epitome of prog, they represent everything that is right about this vast and colourful genre. I just wish I could travel back in time to see the whole line-up in action, I’m sure it was a joy to behold!

Conor: What advice would you give to someone first starting music and trying to ‘make it’ in the prog world?

Richard: Back in the day, when Haken was in its embrionic stage, I used to practise for many hours, preparing myself for when the band would actually become a reality. I used to tell myself that practice, patience and perseverance would equal success. Practice is crucial for building your technique andmusicality, without it you’re not going to progress at all. Patience is alsoan essential tool; no one will be able to play like Malmsteen in a week! And lastly, you must persevere at everything you do; it’s about having the resilience to keep pushing yourself to the next level.

I guess everyone’s musical journey will be different as each individual has their own dreams and aspirations. One thing I’m certain of is that to achieve anything worthwhile you need to retain a certain level of self discipline; I guess the level of your discipline should depend on the size of your dream. There’s nothing more satisfying than fulfilling your ambitions.

You can apply the same philosophy to running a band. It is important that the group rehearses regularly to build chemistry and comradery. Bands need to be patient, not only when writing songs, but also when waiting for their break; it will eventually happen if you persevere. I think it’s important for bands to have aims, so they have a clear idea of where they’re heading. Back in the early days of Haken we set small realistic targets which over time turned into big dreams; to this day, we’re still working towards achieving them.

Conor: Any final comments?

Richard: Thanks to everyone who has already purchased the album, and to those who haven’t… what are you waiting for?

Fourteen Twentysix – New album “In Halflight Our Soul Glows”

The Dutch dark rock / ambient / electronic ensemle Fourteen Twentysix revealed the title of their second full-lentgh record. The album, which album cover is shown below, is named In Halflight Our Soul Glows and is due in January 2012. The album will be available in three versions:

• High quality download
• Digipack CD
• Handmade, numbered, signed and limited to 25 boxsets

On http://fourteentwentysix.bandcamp.com/album/in-halflight-our-soul-glows-sampler you can listen to the 8 track sampler, including the song Every Line which features Antimatter singer/songwriter Mick Moss.

Here are some of the facts about the album:

From solo project to band…
The new Fourteen Twentysix album has been written and recorded by the entire band. After Lighttown Closure we decided it was time to depart the solo-project roots. The process of becoming a band evolved our sound, way of working and outlook. All of this has clearly influenced the sound of our new album.

The beginning…
We kickstarting the project with a recording weekend in 2010 (broadcasted Live)  in an old farmhouse in the Dutch countryside. We continued work in our home studio this entire year. Working as a group has resulted in a varied and rich sound, marrying acoustic, every day object-sampled sounds and clinically digital synthesizers.

Evolution…
We’ve chosen a pre-determined concept as our starting point, which has resulted in an expansive and movie-like album. The story about birth, growth, death and re-birth spans the entire arc of light and dark, with a few unexpected shades in between…

NEARfest Apocalypse Line-up Announced

In order to commemorate the final NEARfest in 2012, we have worked hard to bring together the best possible lineup for the progressive rock community. Featuring outstanding newer bands and legendary artists from across diverse progressive music subgenres, we hope that we can provide a wonderful weekend of musical memories to last a lifetime. We hope you can join us at the Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania next June, for the NEARfest Apocalypse!

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