MVT Annual Report makes grim reading

Music Venue Trust Launch Annual Report

 

Grassroots Music Venues Contribute £500m to UK Economy

 

Live Performances Down by 16.7% as Profit Margins Shrink -New & Emerging Artists Hardest hit – Audience Numbers Down 11% as Cost of Living Crisis Bites

 

Sector Makes Urgent Call for Reductions in VAT & Business Rates and for New Arenas to Invest in Grassroots Music Eco-System

 

London, January 31st 2023 – Music Venue Trust (MVT), which represents almost 1000 UK grassroots music venues (GMVs) has launched its 2022 Annual Report, which highlights the important contribution that its members make to the UK economy while delivering sobering news about the challenges facing many in the sector. 

 

A survey of the 960 members of the Music Venue Alliance (MVA), who employ over 30,000 people throughout the sector, found that they staged 177,000 events in 2022, with 565,000 individual performances attracting audience visits of almost 22 million.  This, however, is a decline of 16.7% from 2019 as venues were forced to make significant cutbacks to continue operating solvently. 

This decrease saw the number of events staged per week in individual venues fall from 4.2 in 2019 to just 3.5 in 2022 with only 1.97 of those identified as ticketed live music shows. 

The report also identified that in 2022, the average grassroots music venue capacity was 308, of which 40% was utilised per event, which translates to an average of 124 audience members per event.  This is 11% down from 2019 when the average capacity was 51%. 

The total income from those events was over £500m but venues reported an average profit margin of just 0.2% resulting in them subsidising live music performances by around £79m last year. 

 

Mark Davyd, CEO of Music Venue Trust said, “Obviously we are pleased to highlight the fact that grassroots music venues contribute over half a billion pounds to the UK economy and to emphasise their enormous impact on the cultural life of our country; but it is also necessary to reiterate the precarious financial position that much of the sector still finds themselves in – the current economics no longer stack up.”

 

In the light of these findings MVT is calling on the government and the wider music industry to support the sector, which it says is “now past the tipping point.” 

 

As part of this call to action it has highlighted the VAT applied to venue ticket sales as on ongoing barrier to profitability which is “crushing the economic viability of this sector and reducing the ability of the grassroots to create new British talent.” Currently set at one of the highest rates in the world MVT is demanding it be reduced to the average European level of 5% or preferably removed entirely. 

 

Mark Davyd added, “We need urgent action from the government on all these factors as well as a full review of VAT on ticket sales. In short, we need a coherent long term economic plan that recognises the importance of what our members do and gives them a chance to keep nurturing up and coming artists and contributing to their local communities.”

 

MVT has also called for a thorough review of what it refers to as “excessive and anti-competitive” business rates, which are the result of a “completely broken” assessment system as a fundamental factor in the ongoing pressure on venues. 

 

Mark Davyd commented, “It doesn’t make any sense for the government to continue to tax what is clearly research and development. We don't penalise any other industry like this and we need to stop putting barriers in the way of risk taking and investment in new British talent.The spiralling cost of energy bills, rents, excessive & anti-competitive business rates, and other overheads, combined with the effects that the cost of living crisis is having on the disposable income of our audiences, means that venues are operating on razor thin margins and in many cases struggling to survive.” 

 

Additionally, MVT have outlined plans to ensure all new arenas opening in the UK contribute to the security of the wider music eco-system by investing a percentage of every ticket they sell into the grassroots music eco-system. To illustrate this, they have issued a direct request to the City of Manchester, The Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, Manchester City Council and all Manchester MPs to ensure that the new 23,500 cap. Co-op Live Arena, which is due to open in Manchester later this year, pledges a commitment to this initiative. 

 

Mark Davyd said, “We cannot go on building more and more arenas with no plan of how to fill the stages they create in five, ten or twenty years’ time and without these new facilities playing their part in helping protect the grassroots eco-system. The threat is real:  we need more from the music industry and we need it now, otherwise what is currently a crisis will soon become a terminal decline for venues, their staff, artists and audiences.”

 

For the full Music Venue Trust Annual Report 2022 please click here https://www.musicvenuetrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/MVT_Annual-Report_FINAL_web-enabled_Single-Page-version.pdf

New documentary from ROX Network! Rock DNA : Iron Maiden

 Released today!

The brand new documentary from ROX Network.

Rock DNA: Iron Maiden looks at the early years of the band and the people that helped shaped the Maiden sound.

With rare concert and interview footage this is the first of this new series of documentaries from ROX Network. Available on YouTube as well as a higher definition DVD (contact us for details!)

Incoming! Arielle

 

Award-winning American singer-songwriter and guitarist Arielle will release her new studio album ‘73 on Friday 20 April 2023.

The album is available to pre-order from https://arielle.store/collections/73-pre-order.

The new album is a sentiment of love and an ode to her personal 1973 Volkswagen Bay Window Bus that Arielle lovingly refers to as Magick - a celebration of its 50 years of existence.

 

Mixing classic rock, the songwriting of the sixties, wanderlust, and plenty of The Who inspired guitar, Arielle’s new studio album is set to stun.


“I bought my bus because every time I step into it, I feel like it’s a time machine,” says Arielle. Every time I step in, it takes me back to ’73.”

The first single and title track ‘73, released Thursday 19 January 2023, is available to stream and download from https://hypeddit.com/arielle/73single.

Watch the official '73 music video on YouTube HERE.

 

The news follows Arielle’s special guest appearance on When Rivers Meet’s April and May 2023 UK tour. Tickets are available from https://imarielle.com/tour.

A self-proclaimed analog girl, it’s Arielle’s personal prerogative to keep the vintage vibes alive. Doting her retro Marshall full stacks, recording her tracks to tape and her self-built customized guitar Two-Tone, rest assured, the 21st century isn’t quieting classic rock any time soon.

The album features her brand-new BMG Arielle in cherry red; manufactured by Brian May Guitars. The first quantity of the BMG Arielle guitars sold out in 90 minutes. Due to popular demand, for the very first time, the BMG Arielle will be available in limited edition solid cherry red colour.

Order the BMG Arielle Guitar from https://shop.brianmayguitars.co.uk/the-bmg-arielle.html.

 

"To understand why this guitar was irresistible to me, you need to hold her in your hands,” says Arielle. “The guitar is light, and smooth and agile. The BMG Arielle sings like a bird.”

“Arielle’s guitar playing reaches places I never knew existed,” says Brian May. “I believe this guitar will do the same.”

Arielle is a young woman born in a different generation. As a child of the new millennium, Arielle has often faced depression, versus the music boom and creativity that emerged in the 1960s and the 1970s – a time where things were done by hand, with a level of craft that could not be hidden behind technology. 

 

ALBUM TRACK LISTING

1. The Dulcet
2. Somewhere Slow
3. '73
4. Goes Without Saying
5. Way You Look At me
6. Weakness For You
7. Kalypso
8. I Need an Angel
9. That’s Just Lonely
10. The Other Side (Let the Sun Set Down)
11. If
12. Wherever We Go from Here

ALBUM TRACK BY TRACK

The Dulcet
A symphony of Brian May-esque guitars welcoming you into an effervescent experience for your ears.

Somewhere Slow
The modern world is faster than ever. It’s not often we take the long way to our destination. This Led Zeppelin inspired track reminds us to take our time and smell the roses.

‘73
It’s the title track of the album, and a love song to my 1973 VW bus. I’ll pick you up in my time machine and take you back to 1973. Fast paced, slide guitar. ‘73 will have you checking your speedometer more than once.

Goes Without Saying
A paradoxical break-up song of things assumed in life, the sun sets at night, the tides will ebb and flow, but our love goes without saying a word.

The Way You Look At Me
Inspired by my time in the blues capitol of Austin Texas, this bluesy song is about unrequited love, It is not just what I feel. It is what I see. It’s the way you look at me.

Weakness For You
This song is like a warm breeze blowing through the Arizona canyons. Trying to enjoy the scenery at the journey you're on, while being almost haunted by the presence (and weakness) of that particular someone.

Kalypso
“I have been trying to out-write my instrumental Take II for almost a decade. A taste of Jeff Beck & some funky grooves, this banger covers a ton of rock guitar ground.

I Need An Angel
A desperate cry for help in a moment where life feels entirely alone.

That’s Just Lonely
In life, temptation sometimes cloaks itself in opportunity and sometimes even love. This is the internal dialogue of the proverbial angel and devil on the shoulder.

The Other Side (Let The Sun Set Down)
When one door closes, another door opens. When one life opens, another one opens. But letting go of it is sometimes scarier than anything.

If
This is a cover of one of my favorite songs of all time by David Gates from the band Bread. When the end of the world comes, I would still want to be loving you.

Wherever We Go From Here
I based this song from The Who’s “This Song Is Over.” None of us can predict life, although we do our best to control the outcome. But wherever we go from here, I just want to know I’ll have you with me. 

 

ALBUM CREDITS

Arielle – Vocals, Backing Vocals, Acoustic and Electric guitar, Synths, Percussion
Devin North - Bass Guitar
Michael Davila - Drums
Joe Listrom - Piano (songs 5+ 7)
Loren Gold- Piano (song 8)
Adam Peri- Hammond, Piano, Synths

Engineered by Brendon Sanders & Brett Marcom (The Bubble, Austin, TX)
Arielle (My Bedroom, The World)
Mixed by Kevin Shirley
Mix Assisted - Arielle, Syrannoh & Michael Davis
Mastered by Bob Ludwig

 

/ / /

 

WHEN RIVERS MEET
BREAKER OF CHAINS

SPRING 2023 UK TOUR

 

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

ARIELLE

 

TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM 

https://imarielle.com/tour

 

Colchester, Arts Centre
Friday 28 April 2023

Norwich, Waterfront
Saturday 29 April 2023

Brighton, Komedia
Thursday 4 May 2023

London, Lafayette
Saturday 6 May 2023

Bristol Fleece
Thursday 11 May 2023

Birmingham, Asylum
Friday 12 May 2023

Southampton, 1865
Saturday 13 May 2023

Tavistock, Wharf
Sunday 14 May 2023

Barnard Castle, The Witham
Friday 19 May 2023

Glasgow, The Garage
Saturday 20 May 2023

Newcastle, University Students Union
Sunday 21 May 2023

Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
Thursday 25 May 2023

Bradford, Nightrain
Friday 26 May 2023

Manchester, Academy 3
Saturday 27 May 2023

/ / /

 

Photo of Arielle by Andrew McMeekin

Visit the official Arielle press release page:

www.noblepr.co.uk/press-releases/arielle/73.htm

Warbringer box set

 

Thrash metal force WARBRINGER in cooperation with M-Theory Audio is releasing Total War – The Complete Cassette Box Set February 10th. Collecting all 6 of the new era metal band’s albums with bonus tracks on each from the same recording sessions. Additionally, the box includes the band’s sought-after demo recordings, 2005’s Born Of The Ruins and 2006’s One By One The Wicked Fall. Housed in a camo matchbox style box with Warbringer patch, sticker and pin and limited to 250 copies Spanning over 15 years of music one can hear and appreciate the journey begun by teenagers inspired by their influences to an international recording and touring juggernaut trailblazing new paths and inspiring a next generation. Officially licensed from past label Century Media and current label Napalm Records Total War… introduces each of their albums onto the classic cassette format each with its own unique colored shell. And each album collecting bonus tracks from the same sessions including b-sides and cover versions totaling 12 additional songs. “Road Warriors! Starting off the new year “locked & loaded” and we’re excited to announce our collaboration with M-Theory Audio to bring you Total War - The Complete Cassette Box Set,” exclaims drummer Carlos Cruz. “This is a limited release you don’t want to miss out on, so pre-order yours now! We’ll see you on the road!” WARBRINGER continues to tour in support of their 2020 Napalm Records release, Weapons of Tomorrow. The noteworthy release proves the true mastery of their craft, and spurred a forward shift of an entire genre – transporting thrash into a brand-new era. Building upon their internationally-acclaimed blistering attack, with Weapons of Tomorrow, WARBRINGER showcases a refreshed technical approach and a heightened focus on unique lyrical and vocal style. The record takes the promise of the band’s previous release, Woe to the Vanquished, and carries it onward, presenting WARBRINGER at their absolute best. Unfortunately releasing the band’s sixth album on the onset of the pandemic and mandated shutdowns proved difficult for these diehards who were forced to sit off the road for two years coming back to stages across America last year first supporting Cavalera’s ‘Beneath the Arise’ tour, and then headlining their own trek with Bay Area legends Heathen and young upstarts Misfire. Next up, WARBRINGER will return to the seas aboard this year’s 70000 Tons of Metal cruise, before a couple of Southern California crossover shows performing Feb 10th in Oxnard with Dead Heat and Feb 11th in Pomona with Excel and Fueled By Fire. All of the shows are just the warm-up to their European spring dates where they will crisscross the continent performing alongside bands like Belgium’s Evil Invaders and Schizophrenia, Australia’s Mason and finally Scotland’s Hellripper for the UK dates. With a return planned in August to perform at prestigious European festivals. Formed in late 2004, WARBRINGER has gone on to be one of the most consistent and well-regarded thrash metal bands of the new generation. After releasing two demos, the band broke out with their 2008 debut, War Without End – a record illustrating a frantic energy and aggression which had been absent from metal for some time. The band continued to redefine their sound on each of their next four career-defining albums – 2009’s Waking Into Nightmares, 2011’s Worlds Torn Asunder, 2013’s Warbringer IV: Empires Collapse and 2017’s Woe To The Vanquished, their first via Napalm Records (Billboard - #8 New Artist Albums, #17 Hard Music Albums, #26 Current Rock and #29 Independent Current Albums). WARBRINGER has bolstered their performance roster by relentlessly touring internationally throughout five continents with iconic artists such as Megadeth, Exodus, Arch Enemy, Testament, Napalm Death, Iced Earth, Nile, Suffocation, Kreator, Soilwork, Overkill, Sepultura, Hatebreed, Nevermore, Dark Tranquillity and many more, and found themselves working with industry greats on each new album – creating with producers such as Steve Evetts (Symphony X, DevilDriver, The Dillinger Escape Plan), Bill Metoyer (Slayer, D.R.I., Dark Angel), thrash legend Gary Holt (guitarist, Slayer/Exodus) and Mike Plotnikoff (In Flames, All That Remains, Fear Factory). The ever-evolving quintet continues to renovate their potent concept with each passing year, without ever losing focus on the future. Metal Injection said it best, “…the almighty WARBRINGER have proven that they reign eternal… no matter what the circumstances.” WARBRINGER Upcoming Live Shows 1/30 – 2/3 – 70000 Tons of Metal Cruise 2/10 – Oxnard Performing Arts Center – Oxnard, CA w/ Dead Heat 2/11 – The Glass House – Pomona, CA w/ Excel and Fueled By Fire EU tour with Evil Invaders, Schizophrenia, Mason 3/24 – Oilsjt Ontploft – Aalst, Belgium 3/25 – Turock – Essen, Germany 3/26 – Le Grillen – Colmar, France 3/28 – Goldgrube – Kassel, Germany 3/29 – 7er – Mannheim, Germany 3/30 – Hellraiser – Leipzig, Germany 3/31 – Bfh Pauli – Hamburg, Germany 4/1 – Beta – Copenhagen, Denmark 4/2 – Cassiopeia – Berlin, Germany 4/3 – Hydrozagadka – Warsaw, Poland 4/4 – Kamienna 12 – Krakow, Poland 4/5 – Backstage Halle – Munich, Germany 4/6 – Modra Vopice – Prague, Czech Republic 4/7 – Barba Negra – Budapest, Hungary 4/8 – Kulturwerk 118 – Sursee, Switzerland 4/9 – Schlachthaus – Dornbirn, Austria 4/10 – Viper Room – Vienna, Austria 4/11 – Cave du Manoir – Martigny, France 4/13 – Rock N Eat – Lyon, France 4/14 – L’ampli – Pau, France 4/15 – La Nau – Barcelona, Spain 4/16 – Nazca – Madrid, Spain 4/17 – Sala Rebullon – Mos Pontreveda, Spain 4/18 – Sala El Tren – Granada, Spain 4/19 – Sala Lo Intento – Zaragoza, Spain 4/20 – Le Ferrailleur – Nantes, France 4/21 – Backstage By the Mill – Paris, France 4/22 – Willemeen - Arnhem, Netherlands 4/23 – Cacaofabriek – Helmond, Netherlands 4/24 – Café Glocksee – Hannover, Germany 4/26 – Asylum – Birmingham, England w/Hellripper 4/27 – The Bread Shed – Manchester, England w/ Hellripper 4/28 – Cathouse – Glasgow, Scotland 4/29 – Boston Music Room – London, England w/ Hellripper 4/30 – Baroeg – Rotterdam, Netherlands w/ Evil Invaders, Schizophrenia, Mason 8/18 – Kaltenbach Open Air Fest – Kaltenbach, Germany 8/20 – Dynamo Metalfest - Eindhoven, Netherlands WARBRINGER is: John Kevill - Vocals Adam Carroll - Guitar Carlos Cruz - Drums Chase Becker - Guitar Chase Bryant - Bass More Info: FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM TWITTER www.m-theoryaudio.com

 

 

Incoming! Narrow Head

 

Narrow Head release new single 'Caroline' Moments of Clarity album released 10th February via Church Road Records

Credit: Nate Kahn US alt-grunge group Narrow Head have released their gorgeous new single 'Caroline', another glimpse of their mighty new album Moments of Clarity, out 10th February via Church Road Records. Stream here: https://lnk.to/nh-caroline Pre-order here. The latest single captures the band at their most nakedly pop-inflected moment yet. Washes of melody and A/B song-structures are subsumed in an ocean-spray of glimmering distortion and aired with sweetly sung words, generating Moments of Clarity’s soft album centrepiece. “I’ve always thought Caroline was such a singable name,” frontman Jacob Duarte admits. “I’ve written dozens of songs using that name but never really brought them to life. I guess Caroline is a pseudo name I use for lyrics. Just rolls off the tongue. So when people listen to this and think to themselves ‘who’s Caroline?’ I don’t think I know who they are either.” Solitude, melancholy, and revelation bleed into each other throughout Narrow Head’s, Moments of Clarity, transporting the listener through a vast terrain of emotional spaces. Traversing the depths of towering, churning riffs, bouncing, lock-grooved rhythms, and crystalline, gorgeously constructed hooks, the Houston-based outfit puts on a masterclass in the art of writing songs that match the pain, pleasure, and confusion of modern living. Each track is sentimental without being precious, heavy without unnecessary griminess, pop-forward without letting the listener off the hook easy: these songs ask for some form of hurt or desire to be paid back to them in return, some promise that the listener is putting equal skin into the game. Moments of Clarity’s title-track lyrically evokes images of numbed psyches and deep loathing, yet all the while holds out a sense of forgiveness in not knowing how to get better, a sense of forgiveness in the fact that, “it’s ok to say you want more.” Moments of Clarity tunnels through a thick morass of sticky rhythms, eventually exposing a melody so triumphant and stadium-sized in its confidence that it almost seems to channel the ghosts of Oasis’s Knebworth 1996.  The record’s title came to vocalist/guitarist Jacob Duarte in an ambient, almost haunting fashion. The months surrounding the release of Narrow Head’s prior record, 12th House Rock, were marked by a series of personal losses and spiritual trials. Throughout the writing process of this most recent record, the turn of phrase “moments of clarity” appeared to materialise wherever Duarte looked in an almost serendipitous fashion. The notion of moments clarity seemed to coalesce as if it were a totem to the desire to keep on living, a counterweight to the self-inflected damage and depravity that defined much of 12th House Rock’s lyrics. “The phrase created a space for me to reflect upon my own life,” Duarte admits, “since our last record I’ve had plenty of moments of realization like that… when you experience friends dying, you’re forced to see life a little differently.” Moments of Clarity reflects this matured sense of purpose. Longtime Narrow Head fans will undoubtedly still recognise the band’s signature marriage of brutality and grace, and many of the core themes of desolation, loss, and self-medication that the band established on their prior records Satisfaction (2016) and 12th House Rock (2020) continue to haunt the edges of Moments of Clarity. All the same, Moments rises above the darkness with a sense of elegant repose. While not exactly optimistic in outlook, these songs simmer with a certain life affirming desire, a burning passion to transcend pure cynicism and self-destruction, if only for even a few seconds. This newfound lust for life is baked into the essence of the songs themselves. Each riff, melody, and drum fill has been rigorously constructed and pushed towards its most simplified, base instinct. There are no frills or unnecessary ornamentation, only pure sensation in the absence of conscious thought. Duarte credits the presence of Sonny DiPerri (NIN, Protomartyr, My Bloody Valentine), who recorded, mixed, and produced the record, with elevating Narrow Head’s sound. Prior to recording, the band spent a week with DiPerri at a house in Sherman, TX, reworking and refining the record with a sense of surgical intent, sculpting each melody and hook until it had reached its logical conclusion. The band then relocated with DiPerri to Jeff Friedl’s (Devo, A Perfect Circle) home-studio in Los Angeles, where they completed the tracking of the record under the reprieve of an uncharacteristically mild Californian late-summer. The addition of Kora Puckett (Solo, Bugg, Sheer Mag), who was promoted from touring guitarist to permanent band member, further bolstered the writing process, expanding the band’s traditional songwriting trio of Duarte, guitarist William Menjivar, and drummer Carson Wilcox and pushing the songs towards a broader minded, arrangement-by-committee register. An ecstatic sense of group cohesion shines through in each individual performance. The songs on Moments lurch and pulse with a sense of breathless, single-minded determination, reflecting the fine-tuned tightness of a band coming off of a heavy touring cycle that saw them play alongside the likes of Quicksand, Turnstile, Gatecreeper, Chubby and the Gang, Young Guv, and Fury. The band eschews any sort of overt reliance upon studio effects in order to convey dynamic shifts, leaning instead upon the strength of the songwriting itself, as well as their intimate familiarities with one another as musicians, to carry the momentum of each track directly. With Moments of Clarity, the band’s third full-length, Narrow Head dash away any shadow of romantic nostalgia or indulgent self-deprecation. Channelling equal parts pop-star conceit and weathered sobriety, the band have, in the truest and most basic sense, arrived at a record that only they could have written. Moments of Clarity does not speak to or build upon the past. Rather, it cuts straight to the heart of the matter, taking the struggle, brilliance, and mystery of contemporary life as its direct subject. Moments of Clarity sees its release on Church Road Records (UK/EU) / Run For Cover Records (ROW) on vinyl, CD and all digital streaming platforms. Just after a successful, headlining fall North American run, Narrow Head are thrilled to announce they’ll be back on the road in the US in February 2023 with White Reaper. For more information: https://www.facebook.com/narrowheadtx https://www.instagram.com/narrow_head https://narrowheadtx.bandcamp.com Tracklisting: 1- The Real 2- Moments of Clarity 3- Sunday 4- Trepanation 5- Breakup Song 6- Fine Day 7- Caroline 8- The World 9- Gearhead 10- Flesh & Solitude 11- The Comedown 12- Soft To Touch Narrow Head - Gearhead

Dark Side 50

Coming soon on ROX Network. A documentary celebrating 50 years of Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. We would love to hear your thoughts on the album 

David Crosby has died

RIP David Crosby who died yesterday after a long illness. He was aged 81. 

New show on ROX Radio: Retro Rock with Rhett Butler

 

NEW Edition every Thursday at 8pm UK Time

ON ROX Radio

To The SHOWS!

We're stoked to announce that the Retro Rock Rewind Show with DJ Rhett Butler is now on ROX Radio!
Packed with classics every week, you don't wanna miss this!

The Show's Facebook page

Website

Incoming! Avaland

 

Rockshots Records - Return To AVALAND - New Album "The Legend of the Storyteller" Out March 2023

Streaming First Single "Crimson Tyranny"

Album Guests Zak Stevens (ex-Savatage/TSO), Madie (ex-Nightmare/Faith In Agony), Pierre “Cara” Carabalona (Eltharia),
Ivan Castelli (Lionsoul), Angèle Macabiès, Jens Ludwig (Edguy), Bruno Ramos (Sortilège/ex-Manigance)

The mystical world of Avaland returns in 2023 with the fantasy symphonic power metal band's sophomore full-length "The Legend of the Storyteller" due out on March 31st, 2023 via Rockshots Records following their 2021 debut "Theater of Sorcery".

Compared to its predecessor, “The Legend Of The Storyteller” is heavier and is a much more epic power metal record full of anthems upon anthems for fans to chant to as they are taken on a journey over twelve theatric tracks. The record also hears double vocal duties from Adrien G. Gzagg and Jeff Kanji along with album guests that include Zak Stevens (ex-Savatage/TSO), Madie (ex-Nightmare/Faith In Agony), Pierre “Cara” Carabalona (Eltharia), Ivan Castelli (Lionsoul), Angèle Macabiès, Jens Ludwig (Edguy) and Bruno Ramos (Sortilège/ex-Manigance).

Lead by Adrien G. Gzagg (Autor/Composer/Lead Singer/Synths and Orchestrations), the album's storyline is aprequel to the band's first album "Theater of Sorcery" as he explains further:

"This album, as the first one, is a journey, a trip out of our world, into the universe of Avaland. We enjoy seeing Avaland as a great saga, as a movie, or series. We feel like listening to Avaland is like watching Game Of Thrones, The Lord Of The Rings, or reading comics, it’s an escape from everyday life. For this album, we took a lot of inspiration from Game Of Thrones and Arthurian Myths. We love fantasy and mythologies and we also find ourselves having a great fascination for alchemy and esoterism. Time is also a great subject, it's mystical… in fact, time will be at the center of this saga. This new opus is showing a heavier and darker atmosphere of Avaland’s theatrical universe. Are you ready to be part of “The Legend Of The Storyteller”?"

Avaland's first single in support of “The Legend Of The Storyteller” is entitled "Crimson Tyranny" (feat. Cara, Madie & Zak Stevens).

“This song is the first one I composed for this album. It defines the atmosphere for this new album: darker than “Theater Of Sorcery”, but also more epic, especially with its mighty chorus (with some Blind Guardian influences). It’s a mind-sticking song, beware of this infernal hook “Crimson! Tyranny!”. The title of the song is a tribute to “In the Court of the Crimson King” by King Crimson." adds Adrien G. Gzagg.

Listen to "Crimson Tyranny" (feat. Cara, Madie & Zak Stevens) at the following links:

Lyric Video - https://youtu.be/InA_q25NMm4

Digital - https://bfan.link/crimson-tyranny

In additional news, Avaland will be touring Europe during spring 2023 supporting legendary bands Rhapsody Of Fire and Sortilège.

Avaland is recommended for fans of Savatage, Angra, Avantasia, Symphony X, and Queen.

Album pre-order - https://bit.ly/StorytellerCD

Album Pre Save - https://bfan.link/the-legend-of-the-storyteller

Track Listing:
1. The Vision - 2:03
2. Crimson Tyranny - 6:45
3. Insurrection - 4:42
4. To Be The King - 4:34
5. Secret Night - 3:24
6. Kingslayer - 4:10
7. The Gift - 4:48
8. Out Of The Fog - 5:11
9. Betrayers - 5:23
10. Madness Of The Wise - 5:27
11. You’ll Be The Legend - 5:17
12. Lies - 10:29
(Bonus Track - La Folie Du Sage)
Album Length: 1:02:19

Avaland is:
Adrien G. Gzagg (Autor/Composer/Lead Singer/Synths and Orchestrations)
Jeff Kanji (Lead Singer/Additional Voices and Guitars)
Lucas Martinez (Guitars)
Camille Souffron (Bass)
Leo Mouchonay (Drums)

For more info:
Rockshots.eu
Avaland-themetalopera.com
Facebook.com/avaland.metal.opera
Instagram.com/avaland_metal_opera
Twitter.com/AvalandMetal

Heavy Pettin still kickin ass!

 

HEAVY PETTIN Dominates Leyendas del Rock 2022!   January 10, 2023 - Scottish, Heavy Rock legends HEAVY PETTIN have released the live video from their electrifying performance at Leyendas del Rock! Signed with MUSIC GALLERY INTERNATIONAL, Heavy Pettin is managed by Shawn Barusch and Lee Langton     "Hey guys it’s Hamie coming attacha Live !!!! Hope u like our new Video … Taken from the Heavy Pettin European tour 22…. This show was in Spain August 5th at the famous. Leyendas del Rock Festival. A Hot ‘ N ‘ Sweaty Rockin Night…….Hope you like it. !!! Can’t wait for u guys to hear the new single and Album this Summer. Till then Take It Lite" - Hamie     When they first burst out of Glasgow in 1981, they were vibrant, priapic, anthemic and focused. As they showed on a three-tarck demo, and on the subsequent debut single for independent label Neat (‘Roll The Dice’/’Love Xs Love’), they were much much more than mere Def Leppard slaves. In fact, the Pettin had an international sound that owed something to AC/DC, UFO, Thin Lizzy and Foreigner, but also had its own raging momentum. Not that the band found the road forward straightforward. But, thanks to a work ethic that took them around the country, plus a valuable session for Radio 1’s prestigious ‘Friday Rock Show’, the band eventually landed a crucial deal with the major Polydor Records. Moreover, their 1983 debut album (Lettin’ Loose) was co-produced by the creative Mack…together with Queen guitarist Brian May. Now, that’s pedigree. Amazingly, that album has survived more than 25 years of high-speed, hi-tech developments intact. While other, more celebrated records have dated badly, Lettin’ Loose re-affirms the belief back then that the Pettin would plunge to big time stature. What went wrong at the time has little to do with band, or lack of ambition/talent. In America, where they should have broken big, long before Bon Jovi gave Love A Bad Name, they were held back by the label’s insistence on an anaemic re-mix (as well as a title change to ‘Heavy Pettin’, which caused more confusion than anything else). If the band’s essential, vital British brio had been left as conceived in the first place, who knows what might have been achieved. Still, a slot on the bill for the 1983 Reading Festival, the day that Black Sabbath infamously headlined when fronted by Ian Gillan, did them no harm. And touring with both Kiss and Ozzy helped the quintet’s progress. Two years later, the Pettin return to the studio, this time with producer Mark Dearnley (who’d worked with AC/DC and Krokus). The result? Rock Ain’t Dead, which surprised many with a slicker yet conversely tougher approach. The lads really had progressed, although ironically if things had gone to plan, this would have been produced by Lance Quinn, of Bon Jovi and Lita Ford fame. However, just hours before the band were due to fly to Philadelphia, to work with Quinn at his Warehouse Studios, the decision was taken by PolyGram (to whom both Heavy Pettin and Bon Jovi were signed in the US) that, instead, he should start work immediately on what was to be Jovi’s second record, 7800 Degrees Fahrenheit. Perhaps then, it should have been obvious that record company politics were to scupper Pettin.. A third album, The Big Bang, was released by FM Revolver in 1989 – and still proved this lot were way ahead of so many others who were selling truckloads of ‘units’ and getting acclaim from the media But, as the 1980s faded into memory, so too did Heavy Pettin. However, what has happened over the past two decades is that every so often, people will dust down those Pettin recordings, scratch their heads in confusion and wonder what went wrong. Well, recriminations never help; they only serve to fuel frustrations. But now the band are back ! – not for nostalgic reasons, not re- capture a long past youth. Not to right past wrongs. But to make music. So, here we are, not looking backwards to those years, when this lot were ready to take on the world and toured with Motley Crue and Ratt. No, this is about the 21st Century. Driven by a desire, passion, and a capacity simply to invoke the simple magic and rapport of what this band once stood for. Since stepping back out in 2017 the new line up fronted by frontman Stephen “Hamie” Hayman, the band have been going about the business of reclaiming their reputation as a “tour de force” live. 2018 saw them on tour in the UK with American legends Angel. 2019 a headline set at HRH hell followed by another headline appearance this time in Germany at the Headbangers festival, rounding off the year with another tour around the UK with Rockgoddess. 2020 promised to be the best yet, starting off with the amazing Monsters of Rock Cruise X followed by another headline festival appearance at the Brofest festival in Newcastle. Then of course Covid happened! In August 2022 after which felt like an eternity the band went out on a run of shows that would see them play in 5 deferent countries across Europe. Kicking off with a headline slot at the Legends of Rock Festival followed by a triumphant return to their hometown of Glasgow as “Special guests” to the legend that is Michael Schenker! The band have their eyes set firmly on 2023. This will be the 40th anniversary of the debut album Letting Loose. To mark the occasion a new remastered version of the Brian May produced original is slated for a March release followed by a run of shows. The plan is to record these shows for a 40th anniversary Live release later in the year. During the lock down period a new album was written, which is high on the agenda to round off 2023. With a new management deal and solid line up in place the future looks bright. Rock ain’t Dead!   Contact: Management: Shawn Barusch & Lee Langton Music Gallery International Publicity: Thomas George - tomgeorgepr@gmail.com TAG Publicity   Click to Follow HEAVY PETTIN on Facebook       ©2023 TAG Publicity | 215 4th Ave W Cresco, IA 52136