Oktober Promotion

Heart- "Heart-Live"
VÖ: 10.10.2008
Label/Vertireb: Soundstage/Soulfood Music

Heart – ‘Live’ captures sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson’s complete uncut performance on the acclaimed PBS concert series Soundstage. Smash hits like “Barracuda” and “Even It Up” share equal billing with the ‘80s ballad-tinged “These Dreams” along with songs off their latest album, “Jupiter’s Darling”.
From the band often hailed as “the female Led Zeppelin”, this incredible 23 song set also features rare covers of “The Battle Of Evermore”, “Black Dog” and “Misty Mountain Hop” as well as Elton John’s “Love Song”

REO Speedwagon - "Live In The Heartland"
VÖ: 10.10.2008
Label/Vertrieb: Soundstage/Soulfood Music

REO Speedwagon – ‘Live In The Heartland’ captures the band’s current line-up of Kevin Cronin (lead vocals, guitar), Bruce Hall (bass), Neal Doughty (keyboards), Dave Amato (lead guitar) and Bryan Hitt (drums) performing in front of adoring fans on their home turf in 2007.

P.O.D. - "When Angels And Serpents Dance"
VÖ: 17.10.2008
Label/Vertrieb: DBR Records/Cooking Vinyl/Indigo

P.O.D., the multi-plantinum, Grammy nominated rock band, have announced that they will be releasing a new album, When Angels & Serpents Dance on Friday 17th October. The album will be released on the bands own label, DBR Records, which is distributed by Cooking Vinyl.

DAVE STEWART - "The Dave Stewart Songbook Vol.1"
VÖ: 15.08.2008
Label/Vertrieb: Surfdog Records/Neo Distribution/Sony BMG

As a 30-piece orchestra digs into the opening riff of his haunting track “Sweet Dreams,” Dave Stewart, one of the most respected and accomplished artists in modern music, seems to enjoy a rare moment of looking back on his astonishing legacy. But Stewart is already onto to his next creative idea well before the second chorus begins.

ANA - "Slowly Sinking Deeper"
VÖ: 19.09.2008
Label/Vertrieb:Rebel Recordings/Rough Trade

Lieber keinen Sinn als keine Poesie
ANA sind fünf Musiker aus Hamburg, die sich vor ungefähr zwei Jahren zu ihrer jetzigen Formation zusammengefunden haben und die seitdem vor allem eines machen: richtig guten Punkrock. Bereits im Jahr 2000 mit dem für eine Punkkombo angemessenen und ziemlich bescheuerten Namen Anadrinksdogpiss gegründet, kann ANA heute bereits auf eine lange und erfahrungsreiche Historie zurückblicken: Unzählige Konzerte und Support Shows, bei denen man sich unter anderem auch den Backstagebereich und die Dusche mit Dee Dee Ramone teilen durfte („Er den Backstagebereich und wir die Dusche.“), eine ganze Menge Spaß, verschobene Alben, verpasste Chancen, wechselnde Besetzungen usw.
Wenn nun also im September das Album „Slowly Sinking Deeper“ bei REBEL Recordings erscheint, kann man zwar von einem Debütalbum sprechen, Debütanten sind ANA aber auf keinen Fall. Dass sie die Songs live gleichzeitig eingespielt haben, spricht für sich.

„Slowly Sinking Deeper“ besteht aus 15 Songs,die sich mit jedem mal hören, tiefer in die Gehörgänge fräsen und dort noch lange nachhallen. Lauter, brachialer Punkrock, der jedoch zugleich ausgesprochen melodiös und teilweise melancholisch klingt. Die Songs sind sehr emotional und kraftvoll ohne dabei überzogen oder aufgesetzt zu wirken und wenn Sänger André mit seiner charismatischen Stimme von innerer Zerrissenheit, Wut und komplizierter Liebe singt, bedient er sich der gesamten Klaviatur, die die menschliche Stimme für gute Rockmusik bereit hält.

Eingängige Gesangslinien, ordentlich wütende Riffs und extrem intelligente, poetische Texte sind charakteristisch für die Stücke auf „Slowly Sinking Deeper“. An Songs wie WHISKEY, mit dessen Hymnen Charakter einem sogar das Frustiertsein derbe viel Spaß macht, RADIO GRAVEYARD oder dem aggressiven FAVOUR wird in diesem Herbst definitiv keiner vorbeikommen.

PRO-PAIN-"No End In Sight"
VÖ: 22.08.2008
Label/Vertrieb: Rawhead Inc./Soulfood

Aggressive, meticulous, passionate, righteous - all distinguishing traits that have come to symbolize the fundamentals of metal/hardcore pioneers PRO-PAIN. Since their crushing 1992 NAIRD nominated debut album ’Foul Taste Of Freedom’, PRO-PAIN have become a staple in the diets of heavy music listeners around the globe. Their successful and enviable career has perpetually prospered throughout it's course, and yet they still manage to find room to improve, and more importantly, impress.

Formed by vocalist/bassist Gary Meskil (ex-Crumbsuckers), New York-based PRO-PAIN have over the years benefited from substantial support from an ever growing loyal fan base, the Metal Press, Hard Rock Radio, and MTV Headbanger’s Ball. In 2004, the band returned to MTV programming, clocking in regular and repeated rotation with “Can You Feel It.” With guitarists Tom Klimchuck, Eric Klinger (ex-Spudmonsters) and drummer JC Dwyer (ex-Paingod), the band’s worldwide catalogue sales nears one million units.. Their brand new ’back to the roots’ album features Ex-Böhse Onkelz member Stephan Weidner on ’Hour Of The Time’ and Rob Barrett of Cannibal Corpse on ’Phoenix Rising’.
Advance plans have the band set to tour the US and Europe extensively in support of ’No End In Sight’.
See you there!

http://www.pro-pain.com

http://www.myspace.com/propainspace

THE ACACIA STRAIN -"Continent"
VÖ: 22.08.2008
Label/Vertrieb:Prosthetic/Soulfood

It's a relatively cool night for May and the peaceful silence of a small Massachusetts town is shattered. Although it is not overbearingly loud, keen ears perk up as the members of THE ACACIA STRAIN turn their collective head towards the building. Production mastermind Zeuss (Shadows Fall, Hatebreed) is inside, dialing in the sounds at Studio Z during the band’s first excursion with the aural expert.

Then again, we are talking about THE ACACIA STRAIN, Springfield, Massachusetts' heaviest band, returning with their latest offering: Continent. The name alone implores and implies something massive and demanding, exactly what this album is.

"This album is definitely darker than anything we have done in the past. It's more proper, if that is even possible. It is our most angry release to date," says vocalist Vincent Bennett, with an ever so slight emphasis on the word ‘angry.’ From the social critique on the lull of cultural comfort, the deep-rooted resentment that festers inside has darkened. "Continent is basically my absolute disgust towards everything. The whole album is based on the concept of nihilism. The world as we know it was a fluke and there is no meaning in anything. It is about pulling yourself out of society because everything makes you sick. It is about purposefully leaving everything behind and destroying everything you think you love. It is about hatred, anger, rage and resentment. Nothing is sure to me anymore. Everything has been tainted. This album is pretty much exonerating myself from it all."

The band’s sound is undeniably darker on Continent, yet THE ACACIA STRAIN manages still to likewise hold true to the band’s established identity, retaining its signature sound while still combining more speed, brutality, and more atypical song construction. That said, THE ACACIA STRAIN has effectively established themselves at the front of a pack of ever-expanding – and equally evolving – extreme music contenders.

“We write music that we like playing,” Bennett continues. “Too many people in bands lately have just been putting out records and playing shows so they can BE in a band and be popular. There is no passion anymore; it’s all an internet popularity contest. We write the music we do because we like playing it, and if people are into it then that's an amazing bonus. There are so many useless arguments on the internet about what kind of band is metal or metalcore or deathcore or hardcore or whatever. Shut up. Listen to music. The minute you try to define it is the exact moment it loses all of its actual meaning.”

Undeniably, meaning is something high on the band’s list for the release of Continent, the third release for Prosthetic and fourth overall for THE ACACIA STRAIN. Tying lyrics and music with visual interpretation once again is artist Paul Romano, uniting Continent’s theme of nihilism and misanthropy with the album’s visually stunning mural of destruction. Now, with the band’s line-up stable, rounded out by guitarist DL, bassist Jack Strong and drummer Kevin Boutot, THE ACACIA STRAIN is poised to continue down the road of growth and progression, something they have been doing since The Dead Walk’s release in 2006. Proving their power on the road time and time again and leveraging their sonic devastation in cities across the US and Canada, 2008 shall be no different for THE ACACIA STRAIN. The only difference is Continent will be the end of everything.

www.myspace.com/theacaciastrain

BACKYARD BABIES- dto.
VÖ: 15.08.2008
Label/Vertrieb: AFM/Soulfood

Nach fast 20 Jahren Bandgeschichte haben sich die Backyard Babies nicht nur zu einer der bekanntesten Rockbands Schwedens entwickelt, sie haben mit ihrem Tattoo- und Rock’n’Roll-Kreuzzug auch den Rest der Welt erreicht.
Auf unzähligen Tourneen wurden neue Fans auf der ganzen Welt rekrutiert, und damit ein Status erreicht, der eine größere Vorstellung unnötig macht.

Am 15. August kommt endlich das sechste Backyard Babies-Album in die Platten-Läden. Der gleichnamige Longplayer wurde innerhalb von 90 verschwitzten Tagen und Nächten im Polar and Big Island Sound Studio zu Stockholm mit Produzent Jacob Hellner (u.a. Rammstein) aufgenommen. Die erste Single aus dem Album heißt ’Fuck Off And Die’.

“Already when we started with this album felt obvious that this album would be called just Backyard Babies. This record feels most like Backyard Babies. It was about time that we finally make an album that has all the ingredients that a classic rock album should have!”, und weiter meint Dregen “We aimed to give our listeners and fans an early Christmas present like no other. We feel that we have made good albums before, but that we haven’t been able to take the songs to the ‘next level’. The last couple of albums have felt so close, but not been able to make it to the finish line.”

Das Album kommt mehr auf den Punkt als vorangegangene Aufnahmen und untermauert die Aura einer selbstbewussten und einflussreichen gnadenlosen Rockband. Kein logischer, aber natürlicher Schritt in der Band-Entwicklung.

“We managed to get a hold of our self confidence on this album already in our rehearsal studio. The songs felt more clear and straight. Prouder and cockier. More Rock and more Roll. Then as it turned out Jacob Hellner and Backyard Babies were like Nitro and Glycerine! A very demanding producer with a very vengeful and keen band, proved to give result.”

Mit dem neuen Album im Rücken werden die Backyard Babies wieder erhobenen Hauptes auf Tour gehen um ihre Fans weltweit zu begeistern.

Congratulations people. Fuck Off And Die.

Backyard Babies:
Nicke Borg – lead vocals / guitar
Dregen – lead guitar / vocals
Johan Blomquist – bass
Peder Carlsson – drums

www.backyardbabies.com

www.myspace.com/backyardbabies

TRACEDAWN - "Tracedawn"
VÖ: 22.08.2008
Label/Vertrieb: Drakkar/Sony BMG
Presse/Online Promo

Bereits seit geraumer Zeit wird die finnische Musikszene von einer eher düsteren Richtung des Heavy Metal dominiert. Die offiziellen Album- und Singlecharts werden von Metal-Releases angeführt, und zum zweiten Mal wurde ein Metal-Act als Repräsentant des Landes beim Eurovision Song Contest nominiert. Im Grunde war es also nur eine Frage der Zeit, bis diese Entwicklung die nächste Generation beeinflussen würde: Tracedawn ist der lebendige Beweis dafür, wie sehr der Heavy Metal den finnischen Musikernachwuchs geprägt hat. Das Durchschnittsalter der Gruppe liegt immer noch unterhalb der Volljährigkeitsgrenze, und doch datieren die Ursprünge ihres technisch versierten, melodischen Death Metal in die Ära gut ein Jahrzehnt vor ihrer Geburt zurück.

Die Geschichte von Tracedawn nimmt ihren Anfang mit dem Weihnachtsfest 2005, als Tuomas Yli-Jaskari eine Inspiration hatte, die zunächst den Namen Moravia trug und später in Tracedawn umbenannt wurde. Nachdem er bereits bei zahlreichen Projekten mitgewirkt hatte, wusste der junge Musiker, dass er seine eigene Band gründen musste, um die Musik spielen zu können, die er wirklich spielen wollte. Er begann damit, einen Song zu komponieren (der später den Titel des Videoclips „Without Walls“ tragen sollte), und nachdem er eine Instrumentalversion dieses Stücks aufgenommen hatte, bestand für ihn kein Zweifel daran, dass ihm eine kompetente Mannschaft fehlte, um seinen Ideen Leben einzuhauchen.

Und so machte sich Tuomas im Sommer 2006 per Internet auf die Suche nach dem perfekten Line-up und fand sich bald umgeben von einer Gruppe extrem talentierter junger Mitstreiter. Nachdem ein funktionsfähiges Line-up stand, zog sich die Band ins Redhouse-Studio zurück und nahm ein Demo mit dem Titel „Path of Reality“ auf. Dieses wiederum stieß im Netz auf außerordentlich positive Resonanzen und weckte das Interesse einer Reihe von Plattenfirmen.
Nachdem sie eine Zeitlang regelmäßig zusammen gespielt hatten, nahm der Traum vom eigenen Album konkrete Formen an: Ende 2007 unterschrieben Tracedawn einen Vertrag bei Redhouse FMP und machten sich sofort mit Feuereifer daran, ihre erste offizielle Veröffentlichung aufzunehmen. Das Resultat war eine EP mit vier Songs. Tracedawn sahen sich nach geeigneten Partnern um und konnten schon bald mit den Labels Playground Music Scandinavia, Drakkar Entertainment und der legendären Booking Agentur Live Nation die richtigen Partner für sich gewinnen. Die Aufnahmen zum Album fanden in den Sonic Pump Studios unter der Regie von Nino Laurenne statt, bekannt durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit Bands wie u.a. Thunderstone, Stratovarius, Children Of Bodom und mehr.

„Das Erste, was mir an Tracedawn auffiel, waren ihre unglaublichen technischen Fähigkeiten! Diese Songs sind mit großem Respekt vor den alten Heavy Metal-Legenden entstanden, kombinieren diese Wertschätzung jedoch mit einem modernen, frischen und sehr eigenständigen Sound. Ich bin schon darauf gespannt, wie weit diese Jungs es in den nächsten 5 Jahren bringen werden.“ – Nino Laurenne / Thunderstone
Das nun vorliegende, selbstbetitelte Metalmonster wurde von Mikko Karmila (Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Amorphis …) gemischt und von Mika Jussila (Nightwish etc …) in den berüchtigten Finnvox Studios gemastert.
Tracedawn machen sich mit diesem Killer-Debut auf den Weg die Metal Welt zu erobern und wer dieses gelungene Album hört und sich die entschlossenen Jungs dazu ansieht, dem kommt kein Zweifel: sie werden es schaffen!
www.myspace.com/tracedawn

ROSE HILL DRIVE - "Moon Is The New Earth"
VÖ: 25.07.2008
Label/Vertrieb: Megaforce Records/Neo Distribution/Sony BMG
Presse/Online Promo

"The songwriting is fierce and sharp." -- David Fricke of Rolling Stone
 
"If this doesn't make you want to pick up a Les Paul, you have no soul." -- Guitarist
 
"Youth be damned, these three guys are already composing some impressive music. Earning praise from rock luminaries such as Pete Townshend, Rose Hill Drive have a promising future ahead of them." -- Relix
 
"Rose Hill Drive left my jaw on the skeezy floor of Emo's front room." -- Raoul Hernandez of Austin Chronicle

Jake Sproul – Vox/Bass, Daniel Sproul – Guitars/Vox, Nathan Barnes -- Drums

Rose Hill Drive grew up worshipping guitar-shredding groups like The Who and Van Halen. They never imagined the band they formed in high school would open up for both groups before even releasing an album.

In 2003, guitarist Daniel Sproul, his bassist brother Jacob and drummer friend Nathan Barnes began practicing in the basement of the house on Rose Hill Drive in Boulder, CO, that the Sproul brothers grew up in. The house had been taken over by the boys and their friends, the band was loud, and it was not long before the neighbors took up a petition to kick them out of the neighborhood.

The band headed out on the road, where they quickly built an underground fan base with thrilling live shows, lyrics that connect and a completely earnest approach. This organic and grass roots process has let the fans and then the music business come to them. It's very important to the band that it happened in that order - music first, business later.

Early on the band attracted major label interest, but the band was reluctant to go that route. “I just thought we weren’t ripe for the picking,” says Jake. The band went into the studio to record an album they planned to sell to the major labels, but when the recording was finished they found that the finished product just didn’t reflect their true identities.

Choosing to sign with Megaforce Records, the band went back into the studio in January 2006 to record their self-titled debut album -- written by all three band members, produced by Rose Hill Drive and Nick DiDia and recorded at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, Georgia. The album was released in August 2006.

After generating great reviews and building an even bigger fan base around the world, 2007 proved to be a major step forward for Rose Hill Drive. They were honored to play with some of their biggest idols. The boys did a string of dates opening for The Who in 2007 and they were even joined on stage in Chicago by none other than Pete Townshend, who jammed on The Who classic “Young Man Blues” and Rose Hill Drive's very own “Raise Your Hands.” Then, Rolling Stone named them "One of the Top 10 Artists to Watch" in 2007.

After months of relentless touring, hard work and travel around the Universe, Rose Hill Drive returned home to Boulder, CO to write and record their second album, Moon is the new Earth. The new album represents the intense “live” feeling of their show and showcases some the band’s finest songwriting. 12 songs run the gamut of emotions from the head-spinning “Sneak Out” to the muscle-bound “Trans Am” to the tongue-in-cheek “Do You Wanna Get High?” It’s an album that is shaped by an organic nature and is a clear record of their maturity, life experiences and musical explorations. Moon is the new Earth unveils the sound that is Rose Hill Drive.

 “Recorded in our hometown in our favorite studio with our favorite people, this music bears our most authentic signature of anything we have created so far. To have made an album like this with my brother and my best friend has been a dream come true,” says Jake.

 “To me, this album is who we are creatively as a group. With a little help from our friends, we wrote, produced, recorded, and mixed it ourselves.  These songs are mementos of our memories experiencing life as musical gypsies, and were born on the road in sweat and blood and the search for a deeper love while constantly moving. They give me that one of a kind feeling of keeping it together.”

Rose Hill Drive’s raw, emotive rock has earned the group high praises from both critics and fellow musicians alike. The band have done dates with Wilco, The Black Crowes, Queens Of The Stone Age, Van Halen, Aerosmith and The Who; and also performed at Bonnaroo, Red Rocks, Bumpershoot, Austin City Limits, Azkena Festival, Hyde Park Calling and the Warped Tour.

www.rosehilldrive.com