HELIX - Old School (2019)

  


"The OLD SCHOOL album came about quite by accident. In 2018 I was cleaning out the basement closet at Planet Helix. What I found were various tapes I had almost forgotten about-2”, ¼”, and a huge box of cassette tapes. I was going to throw out the 2” tapes until I got a frantic phone call from my old friend Greg Godovitz who realized the tapes’ value. Greg made me take a serious look at what I had and I realized there was at least a whole album of unreleased material-and so the idea of “OLD SCHOOL” was born. Incidentally, none of these tracks were ever released, although some of them might have been on our website as “rare tracks” in the past.

Three of the songs we were able to extract from 2” tape were recorded for the Back for Another Taste sessions in 1989: Games Mother Never Taught You, Tie Me Down, and Your Turn to Cry. Paul Hackman is playing guitar and singing on these tracks. To “extract” these recordings from the 2” tape we had to take the tapes to Beach Studios outside of Goderich, Ontario and get Siegfried Meier to thermally bake them. Upon doing so, the tracks were immediately transferred to digital. Later they were mixed by Siegfried; some with minor overdubs by Daryl Gray. One other track-“Cheers” was taken from a cassette tape and cleaned up by Siegfried as well. This song is a live recording off the floor of the studio.

The other tracks on the album, If Tears Could Talk, Whiskey Bent & Hell Bound, Southern Comfort, Closer, Coming Back with Bigger Guns, and Hound Dog Howlin’ Blues were re-recorded by “tracing” the songs from cassette tapes. This was done because the songs were either unfinished or the cassettes were in bad shape. This re-recording was done by Daryl Gray at Dawghawse Studios in St. Catherines. Daryl was also the producer of this album. Over the fall and spring of 2018/2019 Kaleb, Daryl, Fritz, Chris and myself all travelled to St. Catherines to add parts and advise Daryl on how we heard the songs. By April 2019 we were ready to take the tracks to Siegfried to mix with the help of Daryl and myself. The result is now before you.

This album is dedicated to the memory of Paul Hackman, who played on 3 of these tracks and was a co-writer on 8 of the tracks. He was/is a Canadian musical icon."

LINE-UP:

Vocals: Brian Vollmer / Guitar, BG vocals: Chris Julke , Kaleb Duck , Paul Hackman / Bass: Daryl Gray - Keyboards, additional guitars,

BG vocals / Drums: Greg “Fritz” Hinz - BG vocals / Piano: Sam Reid


TRACKLIST:

1. Coming Back With Bigger Guns

2. Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound

3. If Tears Could Talk

4. Your Turn To Cry

5. Tie Me Down

6. Closer

7. Games Mother Never Taught You

8. Southern Comfort

9. Hound Dog Howlin' Blues 10. Cheers

ROCKIN' ENGINE - Midnight Road Rage (2019)

"Rockin’ our way up, ready to hit hard!" - that's the strong motto of Canadian hopefuls ROCKIN' ENGINE.

Based in the Ottawa region, the band was founded in 2015 by two of their frontmen and lifetime friends, Steve O Leff on vocals and guitars, and Ste Vy Leff on lead guitars.

The determined bunch performs powerful, grooving and melodic HEAVY METAL with an very own edge!

LINE-UP:
Steve O Leff • Vocals, Guitars
Ste Vy Leff • Guitars
JP Buzzard • Bass
Joel Bilodeau • Drums

Later on, the talented Joel Bilodeau was added to the team on drums, showing some amazing skills and imagination with his wicked Hard Rock background. Bass powerhouse JP Buzzard completed the sworn gang.

Over time, the participants were working on their hard hitting sound ROCKIN' ENGINE is known for today.

March 31st, 2019 saw the release of the crispy debut album "Midnight Road Rage", available on all major platforms.

TRACKS:
01. Shake That Ass 04:33
02. Let's Roll The Dice    05:08
03. Livin' A Lie 04:31
04. When Engines Collide 04:12
05. Never Surrender    03:33
06. The State Of Nature    06:20
07. Hiding In Darkness 05:34
08. Road Rage Boogie 06:01

total: 39:52 min.

To this day, ROCKIN' ENGINE states that the true inspiration for their music remains the love, support and authenticity of their fans, friends and families.

The four members take pride in firing up the audience with their charismatic energy and entertaining scenes, making everyone believe that Hard Rock and Heavy Metal will never die!

ROCKIN' ENGINE • Online:
► Facebook
► Instagram
► Bandcamp
► Spotify

DAMAGE S.F.P. - DAMAGE S.F.P. (2019)

Finland's Damage SFP have unleashed their single "Ruthless Fate" off their upcoming self-titled debut album due out on June 14th via Rockshots Records. The album is an amalgamation of 30 years of music created by the band after first forming in 1989 as three childhood friends.
Listen to "Ruthless Fate" . https://youtu.be/qzJZb1ui6Ck

"The album is like a time-leap straight to ’90s, since all of the tracks were composed between 1991-1994." states the band.

During the band's existence, they released three demos in the ’90s: 1992, 1993 and 1996 along with a promo tape in 1994 and continued performing until 1996 before disbanding. Moshing in 2018, DAMAGE S.F.P. was reformed by guitarist Nikkilä and drummer Lipsonen with bassist Remes hearing the call to arms to rejoin his schoolyard headbangers. Solidifying the original line-up, the trio returns 30 years after first picking up their instruments to destroy audiences and are now ready to unleash what has been a long time coming in their debut self-titled album, which features eleven of their best whip lashing tracks.

The band adds:
"This album is our debut, but at the same time collection of our best songs. It is diverse, bringing in influences from both thrash and death metal, but not forgetting the beautiful melodies of heavy metal. At the far end of the album you can find a short track called 'Grain Brain', which is almost grindcore, then on the other end is 'In Termination', an epic song with Amorphis and Iron Maiden vibes."

ALBUM PRE ORDER http://bit.ly/DamageSFP_CD    

Track Listing:
1. Ride
2. Death of Innocent
3. Ruthless Fate
4. Tyrants
5. Insomnium (inst.)
6. Ode to Sorrow
7. Tragedy
8. Grain Brain
9. Crying for Relief
10. In Termination
11. Burst of Rage

DAMAGE S.F.P. is:
Jarkko ”Jaake” Nikkilä – Vocals and Guitars
Antti Remes – Bass
Tero Lipsonen – Drums

Ian Blurton - Signals Through The Flame (2019)

It’s time for a veteran to show the new generation how it’s done. After 35+ years in the Canadian music industry, playing in over 40 bands and producing, engineering and mixing over 100 albums, Ian Blurton is finally releasing a solo record. You’ve probably seen Blurton play in your town, fronting Change of Heart, Blurtonia, Bionic, C’mon, or the still-active Public Animal. If you missed those bands, his name is still likely to pop up somewhere in your record collection; you’ll find Blurton’s producer credit on career-defining albums for Blood Ceremony, Cursed, Tricky Woo, the Weakerthans and more. Or you may have caught him guest with acts as diverse as Richard Lloyd, Buffy Sainte-Marie , the Sadies, Teenage Head, Twink or The Viletones.

It’s no surprise that Blurton’s inaugural solo effort pulls from an impressive pool of talent and a range of influences. In 2017 a sudden torrent of inspiration brought him a slew of songs best suited to a power-trio format. Enlisting friends who also happened to be some of his favorite drummers and bassists, he set out on a quest to create a combination of dark pop hooks, molten riffage and ambient soundscapes that is his heaviest work to date. Between Blurton’s layers-upon-layers of guitar, a plethora of gifted musicians such as Mike Armstrong (King Cobb Steelie), PJ Dunphy (Iron Giant), Eric Larock (Tricky Woo), Glenn Milchem (Blue Rodeo), Damon Richardson (Danko Jones), Anna Ruddick (Randy Bachman), Nick Sewell (Biblical), and Darcy Yates (Flash Lightnin’) all make appearance on Signals Through the Flames. The result is a heavy music melting pot with one foot in the past and the other planted firmly in the future.

Mixed by Daryl Smith (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) at Chemical West and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Signals Through The Flames will be released by new Toronto imprint Pajama Party digitally, on vinyl and cassette June 7, 2019.

The first single, Space Is Forever b/w Upon Yesterday, is out May 4 on Yeah Right! Records, launching at a release show at Toronto’s Dakota Tavern and can be heard here: ianblurton.bandcamp.comThe live band, Ian Blurton’s Future Now, draws from the same talent as the record, and currently features drummer Glenn Milchem, bassist Anna Ruddick and Aaron Goldstein as second guitarist. This spring and summer sees the band playing dates between Montreal and Calgary, including appearances at Sled Island and Hillside Festival.

Links
ianblurton.bandcamp.com
twitter.com/ianblurton

Hidden Lapse - Butterflies (2019)

Power-progressive metal band HIDDEN LAPSE has just unleashed “Dead Jester”, the first single off their sophomore album “Butterflies” due out May 31, 2019 via Rockshots Records.

The official audio is streaming at the following link: https://youtu.be/g9XlHXYFLe4

The band comments on the album:

“We are all ‘Butterflies’, our lives spring into each other, too fast. This album puts us behind the eyes of eight unique anti-heroes and victims of our time, who don’t belong here though. ‘Butterflies’ is all about being trapped in recursive routines and still remaining on the outside.”
The new album “Butterflies” is an aggressive and melancholic power prog album, with ethereal vocals, abrasive riffing and pounding drums.

Album pre-orders are now available at the Rockshots Records‘ official store: http://bit.ly/Butterflies_CD

Track Listing:
1. Dead Jester
2. Third
3. The Letter 0
4. Stone Mask
5. Glitchers
6. Grim Poet
7. Sleeping Beauty Syndrome
8. Cruel Enigma
9. Dust
10. “Silent Sacrifice (rearmed)” – bonus track

HIDDEN LAPSE are:
Alessia Marchigiani – Vocals
Marco Ricco – Guitars and Vocals
Romina Pantanetti – Bass
Alessio Monacelli – Drums

Furthermore, the band has announced two Italian shows as support of Seventh Wonder, Tommy Karevik’s band:
12 April – Dagda Live Club (Retorbido)
13 April – Alchemica Live Club – Bologna

More info:
https://www.facebook.com/hiddenlapse
https://spoti.fi/2GOEMSW
www.rockshots.eu

CONSTANTINE - Aftermath (2019)

After almost 7 years of absence, renowned Greek guitar hero CONSTANTINE has released his most promising work to date, his second solo album “Aftermath” is now available as of on May 31, 2019 via Rockshots Records.

''Aftermath'' itself is a modern metal masterpiece with CONSTANTINE delivering his most soulful, technical, inspired performances & compositions with collaborations with some of the most prominent vocalists in the world of metal & rock, such as: Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Bjorn ''Speed'' Strid (Soilwork), Schmier (Destruction), Apollo Papathanasio (Spiritual Beggars, ex-Firewind) & Chris Clancy (Wearing Scars).

With a wide variety of influences, this release promises to question genre boundaries and push limits:

“The new record is in its entirety a collection of songs that cover the whole spectrum of the heavy metal genre combining the best elements of modern & classic metal/rock as well. I think that it's an album that will provide a listening pleasure to everybody who's into this genre of music.”

CONSTANTINE is confident that his work will invoke a great response from fans around the world:

“I'm actually very eager and to be honest, I cannot hide my anticipation to share the new music with the fans. I'm also really positive about how the fans will receive it since the album itself includes not only some brilliant guitar work, but phenomenal performances from the vocalists participating on the songs as well.”

"Aftermath" is available on the following links:Spotify - https://spoti.fi/30Vendw
Buy / Listen https://smarturl.it/ConstantineAftermath

Song Stream - 'Press on Regardless' - (feat. Ralf Scheepers - Primal Fear) - https://youtu.be/mOgabKQsaoQ 

Music Video - 'Bushido' - https://youtu.be/yA7VLt73bxo

Track Listing:1. Bushido (Instrumental)
2. Hellfire Club - (feat. Bjorn ''Speed'' Strid)
3. Press on Regardless - (feat. Ralf Scheepers)
4. Another Day  (feat. Apollo Papathanasio)
5. Holding on 'til the end (feat. Chris Clancy)
6. Deliver Us (feat. Apollo Papathanasio)
7. Elegy (feat. Bill Manthos)
8. War and Pain - (feat. Schirmer)


  

More info:Rockshots: http://www.rockshots.eu 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/constantineofficialpage 
Twitter: http://ww.twitter.com/MrConstantine_K 
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/itsconstantine_insta