Remember Tellus Requiem? Their first selftitled album was really really awesome, although it was self released, still is one of my favs.
Invictus the 11th hour was released by Nightmare and is also great, but has new vocalist who is not half original and sounds really POLISHED.
And now here seems to be the follow up coming.
Enjoy….
I have been checking out some Finnish bands recently, just a quick share of some finds here:
Simulacrum
New album Sky Divided out now, will review soon
excellent!
Silent Voices
also known as “the other band” of Henrik Klingenberg, the keyboard player and Pasi Kauppinen, the bass player of Sonata Arctica
This is a new single, maybe new album soon? Impressive
Oddland
Where did these guys spring from? This is their debut, and it just kicks ass.
I could go on watching these fast fingers forever
CØNSTANTINE
Heavy and intense … I like the vocals a lot
Hve fun checking these out 🙂
Finnish progressive metallers SILENT VOICES has announced that their new front-man is Teemu Koskela (Winterborn). Teemu has already been singing 3 successful shows with SILENT VOICES in the UK and Czech Republic earlier this year.
“We are very excited to finally share with everyone that Teemu Koskela is the new vocalist of SILENT VOICES. Teemu is an incredible vocalist and a great guy. His voice is a very strong addition to the SILENT VOICES family.”
SILENT VOICES have also inked a new deal with the Swedish label Inner Wound Recordings for the release of the bands up-coming album “Reveal The Change“. More information will follow.
“The entire band and all the people we are working with are very excited about this new album. We cannot wait for everyone to hear the new songs and to be back on tour again.”
Silent Voices is also known as “the other band” of Henrik Klingenberg and Pasi Kauppinen of Sonata Arctica.
Darkness In A Different Light, 11th studio album and the first in nine years is going to be released via Inside Out at the 1st of October
Tracklist:
1. One Thousand Fires
2. Firefly
3. Desire
4. Falling
5. I Am
6. Lighthouse
7. Into The Black
8. Kneel And Obey
9. O Chloroform
10. And Yet It Moves
The Prog Magazine was chosen to present Transcend, a nine-minute epic song from the new upcoming Thought Chamber album Psykerion. Hear it below.
Vocalist Ted Leonard, now with Spock’s Beard, has reunited with multi-instrumentalist Michael Harris for the long-awaited follow-up to debut album Angular Perceptions. They’re joined by bassist Jeff Plant, keyboardist Bill Jenkins and drummer Mike Haid on the 16-track title.
Harris tells Prog Magazine: “Transcend kind of epitomises what Thought Chamber does: lots of melody, while getting our chops in, and we exploit a lot of styles in it, from metal to acoustic to fusion.”
He says of the lyrics: “Avakus’ mind has been awakened and inspired by his voyage to Psykerion, and he gets philosophical about what makes humans tick, from instinct to ego to the drive to succeed.”
Psykerion is released on September 16 via InsideOut.
01. Inceptus
02. Exodus
03. Psykerion: The Question
04. In The Words of Avakus
05. Light Year Time
06. Kerakryps
07. The Black Hole Lounge
08. Circuits of ODD
09. Behind the Eyes of Ikk
10. Isle of Bizen
11. Xyrethius II
12. Recoil
13. Breath of Life
14. Transcend
15. Planet Qwinkle
16. Inner Peace
The new self-titled album by Dream Theater is set for release on 24th of September on Roadrunner.
‘The Enemy Inside’, the first single from the album and the band’s first new music in nearly two years, premieres at USA TODAY right now, so go listen here if you are interested!
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2013/08/04/dream-theater-enemy-inside-premiere/2613895/
Momentum is my very first contact with the Italian progressive metallers DGM, shame on me…
For those who have never met them before like me, DGM is a band of long standing, founded in 1994, released eight studio albums, one double live CD and one self produced demo EP. Listening to their latest I think they take a lot of their musical inspiration from Symphony X (yeah 🙂 ), indeed, there is one track featuring Russel Allen on vocals. On their webpage they state that the album ‘represents the full stylistic maturity of a band’ and I’d totally agree, though listening through earlier releases quickly I’d say their style is very consistent throughout.
The instrumentals, especially the guitars are very reminiscent of Symphony X, whereas the vocals could fit equally well in 80ies Van Halen or even Toto, they are very hard rock, very melodic with catchy lines.
A bit back histroy of the band that should be more widely known imo
Their second release Wings of Time was a favourite of many Italian metal magazines and earned them lots of fame in Japan too, getting them an exclusive interview on the Japanese BURN! mag.
Different Shapes, which was released in 2007 was awarded top album by both Rock Hard and Metal Hammer.
DGM played twice at the Gods of MetalFestival together with Heaven&Hell, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Dark Tranquility among others, Lagoa Burning Festival (2007), Prog-Power Europe (2007 and 2013) and supported Symphony X on their European tour, sharing the stage with Pagan’s Mind to.
Time to dive into the back catalougue! 
1994 – Random Access Zone (mini CD)
1997 – Change Direction
1999 – Wings of Time
2001 – Dreamland
2003 – Hidden Place
2004 – Misplaced
2007 – Different Shapes
2009 – Frame
2010 – Synthesis (DVD + CD)
2013 – Momentum
Tracklist:
1. Reason (feat. Russell Allen)
2. Trust
3. Universe
4. Numb
5. Pages
6. Repay
7. Chaos (feat. Viggo Lofstad)
8. Remembrance
9. Overload
10. Void
11. Blame
Current Line-Up
Mark Basile – Vocals
Simone Mularoni – Guitars
Andrea Arcangeli – Bass
Emanuele Casali – Keyboards
Fabio Costantino – Drums
Thy Majestie is a Power metal band from Palermo in Italy that formed in 1998.
Their 6th studio album, ShiHuangDi, released in 2012 was my first encounter with the band and I am still asking myself, why this band is not better known. Reading their Wiki page it seems like they missed out on some important opportunities, like touring with Kamelot in 2002: They were invited by Thomas Youngblood but couldn’t afford the travel expenses and had to fulfill recording duties (for Scarlet Records). Or signing with LIMB music, duties with Scarlet Records again.
The album is a concept album, like some of the earlier releases about Jeanne D’Ark for instance. ShiHuangDi refers to the first Chinese emperor, and this sets the lyrical concept for the album. A few musical references to Eastern music here are overpowered by the unique power metal style. Bands like very early Kamelot come to mind, but not when it comes to vocals that are more high pitched, maybe like Fabio Leone (who actually sings on one track here) or again, someone compared the vocal style to Sonata Arctica. The approach is symphonic and epic, but never cheesy, and slightly progressive. I especially like the drums, hard ‘n’ heavy, like they should be. Lots of keyboards and some nice string arrangements, well fitted and not overdone. This is more metal than Royal Hunt’s latest release (where guitars are too much in the background and keys too much in the front) but otherwise this reference works well too. Jump down there to listen for yourself ….
ShiHuangDi (2012)
1. Zhongguo
2. Seven Reigns
3. Harbinger Of New Dawn
4. Siblings Of Tian
5. Walls Of Emperor
6. Under The Same Sky
7. Farewell
8. Huanghun
9. Ephemeral
10. End Of The Days (featuring Fabio Lione)
11. Requiem
I’ll surely dive into the back catalogue of this band. Hastings 1066, a concept album (guess about what) seems to have been one of the most celebrated releases in Italy and maybe even whole of Europe, and progressive elements were more marked on some albums I heard.
Their releases:
Perpetual Glory (self released, 1999)
The Lasting Power (2000)
1066 (demo, 2001)
Hastings 1066 ( 2002)
Jeanne d’Arc (2005)
Dawn (2008)
ShiHuangDi (2012)
ALL IS ONE (2013)
01. All Is One
02. The Simple Man
03. Brother
04. Let The Truce Be Known
05. Through Fire And Water
06. Fail
07. Freedom
08. Shama’im
09. Ya Benaye
10. Our Own Messiah
11. Children
All Is One is best described with one word: epic. Never has the fusion of metal, folk and oriental music sounded more harmonic than here. The melodic and folk (both Arabic and Yiddish) influences make themseves strongly felt on this album, replacing earlier death tendencies almost completely. The album is almost all clean vocals, there are lots of ethnic instruments and some very beautiful string arrangements. These almost cover the fact that this is a progressive metal band. But there’s also a lot of epic guitarwork and pounding drums and a few songs, like ‘Faith’ for instance, that show heavier metal influences and some death vocals.
Over 40 musicians were used to flesh out the sound of All Is One, including 25 choir singers and eight classical violin, viola and cello players from Turkey. Mira Awad guests on female vocals. If I am informed right, she is very popular in Israel.
In August Orphaned Land are playing some Festivals and on Sept. 20th they kick off their European tour.
Three years have passed since the release of The Never Ending Way Of ORWarriOR, a time for touring, says the band, and a time for the band’s fans: They started an online petition in 2012 to nominate Orphaned Land for the coveted Nobel Prize. Well deserved, that music unites all, across differecies of religion and cultural background, has been the message and purpose of this Israeli band all along, ever since they started out 20 years ago. I’d like to cite metalholic: ‘there just aren’t enough superlatives in the English language to express how significantly this album touches the heart and soul of the listener’
All Is One was mixed by Jens Bogren (Kreator, Amon Amarth, James LaBrie, Devin Townsend Project, Opeth) and was recorded in three different countries: Israel, Turkey and Sweden. Ironically, countries that are Jewish, Muslim and Christian respectively, which strengthens the Orphaned Land message of unity through music.
Read more on http://www.orphaned-land.com
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