Electronic music pioneer dies after effects of a pulmonary embolism

Tangerine Dream founder Edgar Froese has died at the age of 70, it’s been announced.

He passed away on Tuesday after suffering a pulmonary embolism – a blockage in the artery that transports blood to the lungs – but news of his death was only made public this evening via the band’s Facebook page.

A statement reads: “On January 20th, Tuesday afternoon, Edgar Froese suddenly and unexpectedly passed away from the effects of a pulmonary embolism in Vienna. The sadness in our hearts is immense.

“Edgar once said, ‘There is no death, there is just a change of our cosmic address.’ Edgar, this is a little comfort to us.”

Froese formed Tangerine Dream in 1967 and released their debut Electronic Meditation in 1970. That sparked a rush of creativity, with the band releasing 10 more albums in the 70s, including classics Zeit, Atem, Phaedra, Rubycon and Ricochet.

Froese continued to release material on a regular basis throughout his career, and the band issued a wide range of albums, singles, compilations and EPs. Their last studio release was 2014’s Chandra – The Phantom Ferry Part II.

Froese is survived by wife Bianca Acquaye and son Jerome.

R40 shows "not to be missed" after prog giants' return proved to be "dilemma"

Rush say their 40th anniversary tour is likely to be the last of its kind.

The prog giants finally confirmed a 34-city US journey yesterday, after several months of discussion about whether to return to the road at all.

Guitarist Alex Lifeson had said he was looking forward to touring again while frontman Geddy Lee was less certain. And drummer Neil Peart admitted to Prog that the decision was a “true dilemma” for him because he felt he was “causing pain” to his family.

Now Rush say via a press release: “These not-to-be-missed concerts will highlight four decades of the band’s music. This will most likely be their last major tour of this magnitude.”

The US trek begins on May 8 in Oklahoma and ends on August 1 in Los Angeles. It’s not currently known whether shows in other parts of the world are planned.

Back Against The Wall features members of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Yes, ELP and others

All-star Pink Floyd tribute album Back Against The Wall has been re-released for its tenth anniversary, and made available on vinyl for the first time.

Originally launched via Purple Pyramid in 2005, it was produced by Billy Sherwood and included performances by Adrian Belew, Ian Anderson, Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman and others.

The label say: “The project garnered tremendous praise from discerning fans of both Pink Floyd and the prog rock genre as a whole. Now, 10 years later, Purple Pyramid proudly presents a reissue featuring all-new artwork and five bonus remixes. Plus, for the first time ever, this amazing recording will be available on vinyl in a deluxe gatefold 2LP set.”

Back Against The Wall is available on CD, vinyl and as a download.

Tracklist
Disc 1

In The Flesh? feat. Adrian Belew, Alan White & Steve Porcaro

The Thin Ice feat. Ian Anderson & Tony Levin

Another Brick In The Wall Part 1 feat. Steve Morse & Billy Sherwood

The Happiest Days Of Our Lives feat. Billy Sherwood & Vinnie Coliauta

Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 feat. Fee Waybill, Ronnie Montrose & Mike Porcaro

Mother feat. John Wetton, Adrian Belew & Alan White

Goodbye Blue Sky feat. Steve Howe & Billy Sherwood

Empty Spaces feat. Billy Sherwood & Robby Krieger

Young Lust feat. Glenn Hughes

One Of My Turns feat. Tommy Shaw

Don’t Leave Me Now feat. Tommy Shaw & Robby Krieger

Another Brick In The Wall Part 3 feat. Steve Lukather & Tony Levin
Goodbye Cruel World feat. Billy Sherwood & Tony Levin

Disc 2

Hey You feat. John Wetton, Steve Lukather, Tommy Shaw & Alan White

Is There Anybody Out There? feat. Adrian Belew & Billy Sherwood

Nobody Home feat. Rick Wakeman

Vera feat. Tommy Shaw & Steve Howe

Bring The Boys Back Home feat. Billy Sherwood & Jay Schellen

Comfortably Numb feat. Chris Squire & Alan White

The Show Must Go On feat. Adrian Belew & Vinnie Coliauta

In The Flesh feat. Billy Sherwood, Steve Porcaro & Vinnie Coliauta

Run Like Hell feat. Jason Chefe, Dweezil Zappa & Tony Kaye

Waiting For The Worms feat. Billy Sherwood, Tony Levin & Vinnie Caliauta

Stop feat. Billy Sherwood

The Trial feat. Malcolm McDowell
Outside The Wall feat. Billy Sherwood

Bonus tracks

Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (Electro Remix)

Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (House Remix)

Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (Radio Remix)

Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (Dub Remix)
Comfortably Numb (Blackburner Remix)

View promo for opening track from upcoming 4th album

Toundra have released a video for their track Strelka.

It’s the opening number from the Spanish instrumental outfit’s upcoming album IV, out on January 26 via Superball Music. It follows the launch of an animated video for Oro Rojo last month.

The band say: “IV is the result of a year of hard work – 12 months that went by extremely quickly. This is what we are, honest and straight, and we feel extremely proud. Hope you dig it too.”

The album is available for pre-order via iTunes and Amazon. Toundra tour the UK in February:

Feb 15: Milton Keynes Craufurd Arms

Feb 16: London Sebright Arms

Feb 17: Glasgow Bar Bloc

Feb 18: Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach

Feb 19: Brighton Hope

IV tracklist

Strelka

Qarqom

Lluvia

Belenos

Viesca

Kitsune

MRWING
Oro Rojo

SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor says that his group "scares the shit out of" the music industry because "we do what we want and we say what we want," and insists that he and his bandmates "back it up, and we're as real as hell."

Speaking to The Guardian about SLIPKNOT's continued relevance more than 15 years after the release of the band's debut album, Taylor said: "No one's more surprised by our success than we are, believe me.

"If you sat down and drew this up as a play, in sports terms, it would blow up in your face.

"People have been trying to paint us into a corner and keep us down, because we scare the shit out of the rest of the industry. We do what we want and we say what we want.

"If a few people don't understand us … well, it's a war of art, in a lot of ways, and we win every time. I don't fucking know why, but one of the reasons is that we back it up, and we're as real as hell."

Corey elaborated on the reason for SLIPKNOT's unwavering success, explaining that there is substance and soul behind the cartoonish masks and outsider bravado.

"It can't just be fucking nuts all the time," Taylor said. "There's got to be something behind the eyes. That's what we've done so well. We've created something really artistic that can just turn on you at any second. It's like having that gorgeous dog … it's your pet, you love that fucking dog, it goes everywhere with you, but you never know when you're gonna wake up and its teeth are around your fucking neck. That's SLIPKNOT."

SLIPKNOT has confirmed a spring headlining tour of the U.S. with support from HATEBREED. The relatively short trek will include several festival stops and begin on April 25 at the Fort Rock festival in Fort Myers, Florida, ending on May 16 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is SLIPKNOT's second U.S. run in support of its latest album, ".5: The Gray Chapter", which came out in October.

ASKING ALEXANDRIA co-founder Ben Bruce has released a statement assuing fans that the band will continue following singer Danny Worsnop's shock departure.

On Thursday, Danny announced he was leaving ASKING ALEXANDRIA after eight years and will now concentrate on his other band WE ARE HARLOT. Worsnop issued a statement in which he said, "Over the last eight years together, we've done some amazing things and created something truly special. I now, same as then, want what's best for the band and at this point in time, that isn't me. ASKING ALEXANDRIA will continue to tour throughout the year and will be working on a new album."

Worsnop added, "I will always support and love ASKING ALEXANDRIA and cannot wait to see what the future holds for them."

ASKING ALEXANDRIA guitarist Ben Bruce wrote at the band's Facebook page, "It's with heavy heart that I must announce, yet I am sure comes as no surprise to you all, that Danny has decided to leave ASKING ALEXANDRIA to pursue other musical interests.

"Before you lose your composure and think this is the end, I would like to say that myself, James, Cam and Sam have all been in this since day one. We love ASKING ALEXANDRIA and we love every single fan/AAFamily member around the world.

"As with any family, there are ups and downs. There are good times and hard times. A family is there to support you and help you in your darkest hours. We have been and always will be there for you guys and just this once we ask for you guys to help us out. Be our strength and our shoulder to lean on.

"ASKING ALEXANDRIA will not be slowing down. We are going to tour harder than ever and we are going to write the greatest record of our career.

"We are extremely excited to announce that we will be spending all summer touring the European festival circuit and across North America on the Vans Warped Tour with our new singer, playing a set list for the fans.

"We know you are here for us and we know this might seem like a scary time for us all, but we will be fine. We will stand tall and prove to the world that ASKING ALEXANDRIA is bigger than just one person. It's bigger than just myself, James, Cam and Sam.

"ASKING ALEXANDRIA is a family made up of the most dedicated fans around the globe and nothing and no one can hold us down.

"This isn't the end, this is the start of a whole new chapter. This is where we come together and make history.

"We want to thank the key people who have stood by us: Ash Avildsen and Sumerian Records, Kevin Lyman and Warped Tour, our management team Kyle, Diony and everyone at 5B, and most importantly YOU reading this. Yes, you, because without you, ASKING ALEXANDRIA would not be possible.

"I cannot wait to share our new songs with you and I'm so SO excited to get back on the road and see you all again. Stay tuned to find out who the new singer of ASKING ALEXANDRIA is."

Worsnop's departure comes just days after it was announced that WE ARE HARLOT will release its self-titled debut album on March 31.

Worsnop admitted last year to Kerrang! magazine that his involvement with WE ARE HARLOT had caused some friction with the members of ASKING ALEXANDRIA, saying, "Back when it started, there were maybe concerns and stress and bitterness from the guys. But over time they've realized that it's not detrimental to ASKING in any way."

"Moving On", the latest single from ASKING ALEXANDRIA's 2013 album "From Death To Destiny", is No. 8 on the rock radio chart.

FEAR FACTORY recently entered NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California with longtime producer/collaborator Rhys Fulber and engineer Mike Plotnikoff to begin tracking its new album for an early 2015 release via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The CD will be mixed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap, who has previously worked with MEGADETH, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, EXODUS, TESTAMENT and ACCEPT, among many others.

Asked by Silver Tiger Media how far into the recording process for the new album FEAR FACTORY is at the moment, the band's vocalist, Burton C. Bell, said: "We are still working on it. [It's taking] longer than expected, but, you know, it's classic FEAR FACTORY sound, the sound that fans have always expected, but I think because we are taking our time, the songs are really well crafted. Without losing the edge or the angst. Without losing the essence of FEAR FACTORY, but they are well-crafted songs. We are working on the album cover right now. We have really connected with artist Dave McKean, who did the album cover for 'Demanufacture' and 'Obsolete'. He is working on something. We have an album title that we are happy with which really represents a good FEAR FACTORY title." Asked if there is a particular subject focus of the album, Bell said: "It's based on science-fiction, essentially futuristic concepts. It's bringing the concept of man versus machine around again, but this time, the way I'm thinking about the machine is that it's fully cognitive and fully understands where its place is and what it needs to do. So the machine has very human qualities now."

In a separate interview, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares spoke about the musical direction of the band's new material. He said: "You do wanna take it to new places, but you never want to take it too far.

"FEAR FACTORY is a band that always been one that experiments a little here and there. From our very first record that came out in 1992, 'Soul Of A New Machine', there was a big jump between that record and 'Demanufacture', and then we just had to take it somewhere different on 'Obsolete' and then we took it somewhere different again on 'Digimortal'. Now when I re-entered the band, we took another big jump and we put out 'Mechanize' and then we kind of wanted to go back a little bit and we did 'The Industrialist'."

Dino added: "Now this record, it's probably going to be somewhere in between 'Demanufacture' and 'Obsolete'. It's got the groovier darker elements of 'Obsolete', but it has the fast riffing and the cold harshness from 'Demanafacture'."

In addition to Cazares and Bell, FEAR FACTORY's current touring lineup features drummer Mike Heller and bassist Matt DeVries.

FEAR FACTORY's latest album, 2012's "The Industrialist", sold 9,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 38 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Over the Coals out of Vancouver, BC have released a new six song EP entitled Hyperborean. Check it out and purchase on the band's official Bandcamp page here or via the player below.

The tracklist is as follows:

"Forgotten Cravings"
"Butcher"
"Blood Of The Innocent"
"Purge Your Life"
"Crawling Away Bleeding"
"Versus Shadows"

Hyperborean by Over The Coals

According to an update from Over The Coals, they are currently working on a new video. Details will be revealed soon.

For information and updates go to the band's official Facebook page here.

Check out the band's first video, "My Worth", released in 2013:

Seven Year Storm, the Vancouver-based instrumental progressive metal band created by freelance drummer / instructor Sean Lang with added support from guitar-wizard and good friend Dean Lamb (Archspire) have announced he will be releasing Aion I, the first of two EPs for the year on February 24th.

Seven Year Storm is offering fans a FREE song download of "Dyatlov" from Aion I. The track is also streaming below.

Says Sean: "This is the first single off of Aion I, entitled "Dyatlov". It features Dean Lamb of Archspire on lead guitar, and I'm proud to finally release it. I'm making it available for free, so please share it around!"

To get your free download, visit tthis location.

"I'm really excited to finally release my first EP this February! It has been a long time coming, and it wouldn't have been possible without my many amazing supporters. Keep your eyes and ears open for my first single, coming very soon!" comments Lang.

 

 

Aion I tracklisting:

“Morphogenesis”
“Dyatlov”
“Virtue”
“Nazca Lines”
“Blue Car Syndrome”

"Dyatlov":

Dyatlov (single) by Seven Year Storm

Teaser:

Preorder a limited edition CD at Bandcamp.

 

Unisonic - featuring former Helloween members Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske - have been forced to cancel their show at BeatCon Music in Jyväskylä, Finland on January 30th. They have issued the following statement:

"Our show at the BeatCon Music & Game Festival in Jyväskylä, Finland, January 30th had to be cancelled due to problems with the venue. Although the promoter tried his best to book a new venue and the band was willing to compromise, no appropriate solution could be found. We deeply apologize we can´t play for you the first time in Finland and hope to be back within this year!"

In other news, Unisonic will support Accept on May 28th in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia at the Amphitheatre.

Fan-filmed video of the band performing "For The Kingdom" from their new album Light Of Dawn at Knockout Festival 2014 is available below:

Check out BraveWords scribe Mark Gromen's review of the Knockout Festival here.

Atlanta rockers, Blackberry Smoke, will release their new album, Holding All The Roses, on February 9th through Earache Records. The album cut, "Living In The Song", can be heard streaming below.

Produced by studio legend Brendan O'Brien (AC/DC, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, The Black Crowes), Holding All The Roses follows the band's double live album/DVD set, Leave A Scar; Live In North Carolina, and February 2014's Top 30 album, The Whippoorwill.

 

 

Tracklisting:

"Let Me Help You (Find The Door)"
"Holding All The Roses"
"Living In The Song"
"Rock And Roll Again"
"Woman In The Moon"
"Too High"
"Wish In One Hand"
"Randolph County Farewell"
"Payback's A Bitch"
"Lay It All On Me"
"No Way Back To Eden"
"Fire In The Hole"

"Living In The Song":

"Let Me Help You (Find The Door)" lyric video:

"Rock And Roll Again":

The album is available to pre-order from Amazon and iTunes and also comes in an array of collectable formats, including various CD/t-shirt bundles, delicious coloured vinyl versions, plus a special limited edition box set which can be pre-ordered at this location.

 

Today, Hells Headbangers confirms March 24th as the international release date for Perdition Temple's second album, The Tempter's Victorious.

The American black/death barbarians' first album for new label home Hells Headbangers, The Tempter's Victorious follows Perdition Temple's celebrated debut album, Edict Of The Antichrist Elect, from 2010. Though many years have passed, the (hell)fire stills burns brightly in the Perdition Temple, and The Tempter's Victorious sees the band perfecting their militant, malevolent brand of blackened death metal.

 

 

However, band founder/scene veteran Gene Palubicki is joined by an elite cadre of new members here, including his old Angelcorpse guitar foil Bill Taylor (also of Immolation) and, on vocals, Black Witchery's intimidating Impurath. Together, the revitalized quintet peal off one surging, contorting attack after another, their crush chaotic yet controlled, making The Tempter's Victorious a swift eight-track tornado. Finally, The Tempter's Victorious!

 

 

The Tempter's Victorious tracklisting:

"The Tempter's Victorious"
"Extinction Synagogue"
"Scythes Of Antichrist"
"Goddess In Death"
"The Doomsday Chosen"
"Chambers Of Predation"
"Diluvium Ignus"
"Devil's Blessed"

 

 
In other Perdition Temple news, the band is slated to play Hells Headbangers' forthcoming Hells Headbash 2 label anniversary festival, set for September 4th - 6th in Cleveland, Ohio. The band will join other such Hells Headbangers-affiliated bands as Profanatica, Archgoat, Midnight, Black Witchery, Deceased, Cianide, Shitfucker, Nexul, and more bands to be announced during the coming months. More info about Hells Headbash can be found here.

 

 

 

Perdition Temple lineup:

Gene Palubicki - guitars (Apocalypse Command, Blasphemic Cruelty, ex-Angelcorpse)
Bill Taylor - guitars (Immolation, ex-Angelcorpse, ex-Feldgrau, ex-Xenomorph)
Impurath - vocals (Black Witchery, ex-Irreverent)
Ronnie Parmer - drums (Catalysis)
Gabriel Gozainy - bass

With the re-release of their Psychogenocide full-length now just days away, Dubai-based death/thrash collective, Nervecell, have unleashed a video for  "Amok Doctrine". The five-plus minute clip hurls fans head first into the sinister pandemonium of a Nervecell live performance.

Nervecell will reissue Psychogenocide on January 27th In anticipation of its release on North American shores, Nervecell revisits their video for "Shunq (To The Despaired...King Of Darkness)" featuring Nile's Karl Sanders on guest vocals.

Elaborates the band: "This particular song is special as it marks the first extreme metal track ever to include both Arabic lyrics mixed in with English lyrics, and who better else to have come on board and collaborate on this theme with us than the legendary Karl Sanders from Nile. The word 'Shunq' in Arabic has two meanings: to choke or to be hung by the neck. The song consists mainly of ideas and knowledge gathered from sources that speak about Lucifer and the demons that serve him. The song 'Shunq (To The Despaired...King Of Darkness)' speaks about the battle of us humans and these demons in reality, in the end Satan himself brought forth to justice. The clip was directed by Shane De Almeida and edited by Ahmad Al Sharif in the city of Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates."

Adds Karl Sanders, "As an American, hearing the Arabic growl is scary, as you have an immediate association with it. Also, given the nature of death metal itself - which aims to frighten - people are becoming used to English, so it's not that scary. Arabic gives it a new level."

During the shoot, The National News Paper of Abu Dhabi (capital city of the UAE) came out to interview the band where vocalist/bassist James Khazaal talks in-depth about the video's concept. Check it out at this location and view the video below:

Initially released via Lifeforce Records in 2011, Psychogenocide was produced and engineered by Rami H. Mustafa at Spellbind Studio in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with drums engineered by Joe Haley at Red Planet Studios in Australia, then mixed and mastered by Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawscy at Hertz Studios (Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated) in Bialystok, Poland. The album features a guest vocal appearance by Nile's Karl Sanders on the song "Shunq (To The Despaired...King Of Darkness)."

 

 

Adds the band in a collective statement, "Psychogenocide is an album about manipulation and the deception of the human race for an agenda of a higher purpose. A modern approach to the old-school death/thrash metal sound, that is both technical yet melodic and full of the Nervecell signature Middle Eastern twist."

Track-by-track video:

 

Legendary death metal drummer, George Kollias, from the band Nile, has just announced that he will be playing drums on the new Demonstealer album. Sahil Makhija, the frontman of Indian metal band Demonic Resurrection, who writes his solo material under the moniker Demonstealer, is gearing up to release his sophomore album in May.

 

 

Commented Demonstealer: "Having George be a part of this album and to play drums on it is a huge honour for me. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever expect something like that to happen. I had the pleasure of meeting George personally in 2011 to interview him for my show Headbanger's Kitchen and we became good friends, but still I'm only going to believe it when I have the drum tracks in my hands."

 

 

"This album has been four years in the making and often took a backseat due to my work with DR, RD and Workshop, all who released albums over the last two years. The music is quite melodic and I think there is a lot of emotion in this album. The music is more melodic death metal so it's going to be very interesting to hear George play on this because it's definitely not as ferocious or fast as Nile so definitely excited to see what he brings to the table."

Watch the announcement video below:

Demonstealer is also running a crowd funding campaign for the album where fans can pre-order the music and merchandise. The campaign can be found at this location.

 

Los Angeles-based metallers, Bloodscribe, have released their latest single, "Shadows", taken from their upcoming debut album. Listen to the new track below:

"Prologue To The Apocalypse is our long awaited first full length album. It embodies Bloodscribe as a whole and showcases the sound we have long been evolving into", states vocalist Jasan Perez. "Prologue To The Apocalypse is not just another death metal album, but rather a statement of self-reliance that goes against social standards that have weakened our society. We hope the listeners can appreciate the unique sound we have constructed as well as the message behind our album."

Featuring album art by Indonesian illustrator Mondo Borneo, Prologue To The Apocalypse was recorded, mixed and mastered by Chris Garcia at the Morgue Music Studio (Stages of Decomposition) in Los Angeles, CA.

 

 

The album is set for release on February 9th in the UK and February 10th in North America via Gore House Productions on CD and digital. Pre-orders can be placed at this location.

 

California technical death metal collective, Wrath Of Vesuvius, now more commonly known as WRVTH, recently joined forces with extreme metal powerhouse, Unique Leader Records, for the release of their third full-length this Spring.

Established in 2007, WRVTH self-financed their 2009 A World In Peril EP, followed by their 2010 debut long player, Portals Through Ophiuchus, before piquing the interest of Mediaskare Records who released sophomore rager, Revelation, in 2013. Following two years of maniacal tour schedules, personnel shifts, and a wholly matured approach to their sound, Wrath Of Vesuvius will drop their self-titled third offering this Spring.

Comments the band of their union with Unique Leader, "We are beyond excited to be working with Unique Leader Records. They have always had cutting edge heavy bands that stand out among the modern metal scene. They're a solid label which means a lot these days, and we couldn't have asked for a better partner in taking our next step. We took a fresh approach to writing this record and its really starting to come together. This band has changed a lot over the last few years, and we think this record will display the distinctive character and eclectic personality that we bring to each song."

In related Wrath Of Vesuvius missives, the band will level stages alongside tech death behemoths/labelmates Inanimate Existence on a two-plus week takeover. The Enter Into Atonement Tour 2015 is scheduled for liftoff on February 26th in Stockton, California and will wind through 18 cities with additional onstage demolitions being announced in the coming months.

WRVTH with Inanimate Existence:

February

26 - The 207 - Stockton, CA

27 - EPEK Print Shop - Salinas, CA

28 - Musichead - Medford, OR

March

1 - The Third Street Pub - Bend, OR

2 - The Pin - Spokane, WA

3 - The Palace Lounge - Missoula, MT

4 - Machinery Row - Great Falls, MT

5 - Loading Dock - Salt Lake City, UT

6 - Bushwackers Saloon - Denver, CO

7 - The Blu Phoenix - Albuquerque, NM

8 - Joe's Grotto - Phoenix, AZ

9 - Slidebar - Fullerton, CA

10 - Boondocks Tavern - Banning, CA

11 - White Oak Music - Van Nuys, CA

12 - Strummer's - Fresno, CA - Free Show!

13 - The Divebar - Las Vegas, NV

14 - Arlene Francis Center - Santa Rosa, CA

15 - On The Y - Sacramento, CA

 

UDR will release guitar legend Uli Jon Roth's brand new double album of 19 re-invented SCORPIONS tracks, titled "Scorpions Revisited", on March 10. Pre-orders are available now via iTunes. When you pre-order, you get the song "Catch Your Train" as an instant grat track. You can now listen to the song below. For over four decades, Uli Jon Roth has forged new frontiers in the world of guitar, both in terms of approach and style. He even managed to invent the "sky guitar," a six-octave lead instrument that remains unparalleled. But before he started to explore the creative worlds of music, philosophy and art, Uli Jon Roth was a member of German rock giants SCORPIONS, a band with which he helped create a new path in hard rock music. In 2013, venerated for his originality and dynamism at the time, Roth found himself intrigued by the memory of those early days which began 40 years ago, and specifically by the music he helped write, perform and occasionally sing on the albums "Fly To The Rainbow", "In Trance", "Virgin Killer" and "Taken By Force". It led to Roth deciding to spend a year re-visiting, exploring, performing and re-recording his favorite SCORPIONS songs. The first results of this magical, mystical journey into his own past can be heard on "Scorpions Revisited", a double-disc CD recorded in Hanover, Germany which sees the maestro re-harness all the collective power and poise of those original SCORPIONS classics, and re-imagine them as he feels today. No one in their right mind would dare call these mere re-recordings, as it's clear that Uli Jon Roth reinvents these songs from the soul up.

"The material for this double CD was recorded last year in the same hall in Hanover that we used for the SCORPIONS rehearsals 1973-1978," explains Roth. "Together with an amazing bunch of very talented young musicians, I revisited my personal favourites from the early SCORPIONS period, some of which were written in that same hall. It was an emotional few days and I am very pleased with the results in more ways than one. The idea was to stay truthful to the original spirit of the music, while also putting a new slant on it whenever it felt like the right thing to do. I feel we really succeeded in this and I'm very excited about this project. It was a intense journey into the past and I think we really managed to bring the songs back to life with a vengeance." The band which performed with Roth for these historic shows was Nathan James (vocals), Jamie Little (drums), Ule W. Ritgen (bass), Niklas Turmann (guitar, vocals), Corvin Bahn (keyboards, vocals) and David Klosinski (guitar). "Scorpions Revisited" track listing:

CD1:

01. The Sails Of Charon02. Longing For Fire03. Crying Days04. Virgin Killer05. In Trance06. Sun In My Hand07. Yellow Raven08. Polar Nights09. Dark Lady CD2:

01. Catch Your Train02. Evening Wind03. All Night Long04. We'll Burn In The Sky05. Pictured Life06. Hell Cat07. Life's Like A River08. Drifting Sun09. Rainbow Dream Prelude10. Fly To The Rainbow As noted, this is the first fruit from a re-engagement with his history that left Uli Jon Roth enjoying a surge of fresh creativity and approach to this classic material. Expect a further announcement for 2015. But for now, feast your ears, heart and emotions on Uli Jon Roth's unique return to his most famous musical legacy.