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This is the story of how an Irish Nuclear Construction Safety Inspector brought ten ex members of Black Sabbath together to produce a tribute album to one of the greatest bands ever.

The ‘Ninth Star’ album is an ambitious epic rock & classical music tribute to Black Sabbath.

‘Ninth Star’ by Emerald Sabbath features 10 former members of Black Sabbath and much more, including: Adam Wakeman (Black Sabbath/Ozzy Osbourne), Bev Bevan (Black Sabbath/ELO), Neil Murray (Black Sabbath/Whitesnake), Terry Chimes (Black Sabbath/The Clash), Laurence Cottle (Black Sabbath/The Alan Parsons Project), Ron Keel (Black Sabbath/Ron Keel Band), Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell), Dave Walker (Black Sabbath/Fleetwood Mac), Bobby Rondinelli (Black Sabbath/Rainbow), Tony Martin (Black Sabbath/Headless Cross), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne/Whitesnake) and The English Chamber Choir. Other Emerald Sabbath contributors include Will Malone and Mike Lewis (Sabotage/Technical Ecstasy) Mike Exeter (Black Sabbath/Judas Priest), Jeremy J. Lewis (Headless Cross), Mike Lewis (She’s Gone) Skaila Kanja (Royal Academy Of Music) PLUS Black Sabbath album graphic designers Richard Manning and Colin Elgie (Technical Ecstasy) and Hugh Gilmour (Born Again).

Welcome All Black Sabbath And Rock Fans Worldwide

“This is a quick note to all of those fans. I have been a Black Sabbath fan since 1983, when I heard them for first time. Like a lot of fans it was Black Sabbath’s debut album I heard first, and as they say, the rest is history. Over the years, I have since seen Black Sabbath a total of 82 times with every line-up [except with Ray Gillen].

I also have a great passion for classical music, and in May 2015 I decided to mix both of them. Adam Wakeman was the first to contribute to the project, with keyboards on ‘Changes’, and then it snowballed into this final product. I decided to re-record Black Sabbath tracks and instrumentals with as many as ex-members of Black Sabbath as possible. A lot of the artists also played on the originals (such as Vinny Appice, who joined Sabbath on drums for the Heaven And Hell tour, and The English Chamber Choir on Supertzar). I then brought in a string quartet along with various classical players.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be able to do this, but my persistence paid off. I would like to thank all the ex-Black Sabbath guys for helping me with this, as well as the former Black Sabbath graphic designers, string arrangers and producers. I hope that everyone will enjoy this album.”

The ‘Ninth Star’ album is dedicated to Black Sabbath and their Fans Worldwide.

Michael Suilleabhain (Emerald Sabbath founder/producer/singer)

‘Ninth Star‘ is released via Plastic Head Distribution on the 15th of February 2019.

Pre-Order: https://smarturl.it/emeraldsabbath

Tracklist and credits:

1.  Embyro
Adam Wakeman: Keyboards
Bev Bevan: Percussion
Laurence Cottle: Bass
Anneka Sutcliffe: Violin
Sarah Tobias: Flute/Clarinet

2. Die Young
Ron Keel: Vocals
Vinny Appice: Drums
Rudy Sarzo: Bass
DC Cothern: Guitar
Pete Rinaldi: Guitar
Ellen Morgan: Keyboards

3. Fluff
Sarah Tobias: Flute/Clarinet
Ardeton String Quartet
Pete Rinaldi: Guitar

4. Trashed
Ron Keel: Vocals
Vinny Appice: Drums
Bev Bevan: Percussion
Laurence Cottle: Bass
Pete Rinaldi: Guitar

5. Stonehenge
Adam Wakeman: Keyboards
Laurence Cottle: Bass
Pete Rinaldi: Guitar
Sarah Tobias: Flute

6. She’s Gone
Dave Walker: Vocals
Neill Murray: Bass
Bill Dwyer: Drums
Ardeton String Quartet
Lisa Ljungberg: Backing Vocals

7. In For The Kill
Tony Martin: Vocals
Laurence Cottle: Bass
Bobby Rondinelli: Drums
Pete Rinaldi: Guitars
Adam Wakeman: Keyboards

8. Orchid
Neil Murray: Bass
Sarah Tobias: Flute/Clarinet
Ardeton String Quartet
Pete Rinaldi: Guitar

9. Hole In The Sky
Ron Keel: Vocals
Bobby Rondinelli: Drums
Laurence Cottle: Bass
Pete Rinaldi: Guitar

10. Changes
Michael Suilleabhain: Vocals
Adam Wakeman: Keyboards
Laurence Cottle: Bass
Bev Bevan: Percussion
Queenie May: Backing Vocals
Annela Sutcliffe: Violin
Sarah Tobias: Flute/Clarinet

11. Supertzar
English Chamber Choir
Adam Wakeman: Keyboards
Terry Chimes: Drums
Laurence Cottle: Bass
Pete Rinaldi: Guitar
Skaila Kanja: Harp
Elen Morgan: Glockenspiel

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British rock band Lionheart are in the running for the Christmas Number 1 with their new single ‘Mary Did You Know‘.

It would be fantastic to actually get a rock band to the prestigious No 1 slot rather than the usual X Factor nobody!

You can stream or download the song Here

Line up:

Dennis Stratton (Iron Maiden)
Steve Mann (MSG)
Rocky Newton (MSG)
Clive Edwards (UFO)
Lee Small (SHY)

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On 8th February 2019, Eric Gales returns with his brand new album ‘The Bookends’ on Provogue/Mascot Label Group and it features collaborations with B. Slade, Doyle Bramhall II and Beth Hart.

The challenge for making ‘The Bookends’ was for Gales to challenge himself. “As a guitar player it’s been established that I can play a little bit, just a little bit,” he smiles. But for this album he not only wanted to push himself as a musician, but also as a vocalist, to build up his vocal discography. “What spearheaded that was the artists that I have on the record,” he says.

Written over a nine month period, the album was recorded at Recorded at Studio Delux, Van Nuys (CA), The Dog House, Woodland Hills (CA), Blakeslee Recording, North Hollywood (CA) and the day before he was due to fly to LA for pre-production the original producer David Bianco tragically died. It was Bianco’s management who then suggested Matt Wallace. “I heard his work and the kind of people he has produced such as Maroon 5, Faith No More and all these sorta cats. When we met up together it was just perfect. I just trusted the guy and it ended up being great, I love Matt Wallace,” says Gales.

Three-time Grammy nominated and Emmy Award winning vocalist B. Slade appears on two songs, ‘Something’s Gotta Give’ and bonus track ‘Pedal to the Metal.’  “When he came in during pre-production and we were writing, it was so intense. At first I was a little afraid to sing in front of this guy, because this is what this dude does, he’s a phenomenal person and he just brought it out of me,” he says before continuing. “I don’t know if he was really aware of who I was before we met, but the day that he walked in and he heard the songs, his mind was blown. That was before he even saw me playing guitar, so when he saw me playing he said ‘in my life I ain’t never seen nobody that can play like this.’”

The notions of change (‘Reaching for a Change’, ‘Somebody Lied’) and love (‘How Do I Get You’, ‘Whatcha Gon’ Do’) are throughout the album. On ‘Something’s Gotta Give’, Slade’s and Gales vocals take turns to yearn “I tell ya people have lost their mind, happy children so hard to find, desolation all in the streets, plenty babies don’t have food to eat, hey, I ain’t preaching, that’s not my thang, I just know we’ve got to make a change.” ‘It Just Beez That Way’ features Gales beatboxing and playing Slide guitar on record for the first time.

Talking about being in the studio he elaborates; “The whole vocal thing was something I consciously wanted to push and Matt was on the same page, saying, ‘there’s gonna be sometimes you might not like me because I’m gonna push you because I feel that I know what you can do, and its more than just guitar playing’. It was just really powerful and moving.”

Doyle Bramhall II and Gales’ friendship dates back to the 1990s and Eric Clapton’s right hand man features on the triumphant ‘Southpaw Serenade’, while powerhouse vocalist Beth Hart joins Gales on a rousing rendition of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends.’ “Why that song? Well we both have similar stories,” he says. “We’re survivors you know, drug addiction and her from depression. If you’ve got the right support and you can have help from your friends it will all be awesome. It is such a powerful piece.”

Previous album ‘Middle of the Road’, was released in February 2017 and reached #1 on the iTunes Blues chart and #4 on the Billboard Blues chart. It made Classic Rock Magazine and Total Guitar albums of the year with the latter saying it was “the album that should define his career.” Classic Rock said “the notes drip from Gales’ fretboard like warm honey”, The Guitar Magazine exclaimed it’s the “the injection of danger and unpredictability that the blues-rock scene desperately needs”, Blues Matters professed “truly the man is blessed”, whilst Powerplay said “the more you listen to it the more the brilliance of Eric Gales becomes apparent.”

Since then he has toured almost non-stop; playing shows with Gary Clark Jr., Beth Hart, Gov’t Mule and called through Australia, Argentina, Chile, US and Europe – including the Rockin’ The Blues run with Gary Hoey, Quinn Sullivan and Lance Lopez. He played his first ever headline tour in the UK and Ireland to sold out crowds, took a starring role as part of Supersonic Blues Machine at the UK’s Ramblin’ Man Fair and also found time to play a one off reunion show as The Eric Gales Band.  This is not to mention his collaborations with funk royalty Bootsy Collins (‘World Wide Funk’), The Apocalypse Blues Revue (Shannon Larkin/Tony Rombola of Godsmack) and Supersonic Blues Machine (‘Californisoul’).

It’s no wonder why he is the guitarists’ favourite guitarist, counting fans in the likes of Carlos Santana, Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction, Red Hot Chili Peppers), Mark Tremonti (Alter Bridge), Joe Bonamassa,  Tony Rombola (Godsmack) and Tosin Abasi (Animals as Leaders).

Gales’ story is an incredible one, he was a child prodigy and released his debut album The Eric Gales Band in 1991 as a 16 year old on Elektra Records. It was the first of 10 albums on a major label through a blistering career. He has released 15 studio albums in total ahead of ‘The Bookends’ and a host of other collaborations. He has battled drink and drug issues and spent time in jail in 2009 for possession of drugs and a weapon.

Gales proudly tells his story every night before every show, now over two years sober he is creating some of the most breath-taking music he has ever made. Talking about his approach to song writing in this time he reflects. “I guess the songs would answer the question more or less, I definitely don’t have anything clouding my view and it’s definitely a much more pure place its coming from.”

If ‘Middle of the Road’ was the rebirth of Eric Gales, then ‘The Bookends’ is him knocking away his boundaries and taking flight on a voyage of self-discovery asking himself what do you think you can do and pushing that into the stratosphere.

Track Listing:
1. Intro
2. Something’s Gotta Give (feat. B. Slade)
3. Watcha Gon’ Do
4. It Just Beez That Way
5. How Do I Get You
6. Southpaw Serenade (feat. Doyle Bramhall II)
7. Reaching For A Change
8. Somebody Lied
9. With A Little Help From My Friend (feat. Beth Hart)
10. Resolution
11. Pedal To The Metal (feat. B. Slade) [Bonus Track]

Line up:

Eric Gales (Guitar, Vocals)

Mono Neon (Bass)

Aaron Haggerty (Drums)

LaDonna Gales (Backing vocals, Percussion)

Dylan Wiggins (Organ)

 

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HERMAN FRANK releases his second single ‘Hail And Row‘, along with lyric video on the 7th December. The track is taken off the new album ‘Fight The Fear‘ which will be released on the 8th February via AFM Records.

Herman Frank has been an integral part of the German metal scene since the early 80s. From Accept to Victory to his solo project started in 2009 and his work as a producer, the Hanoverian has proved a recipe for uncompromising Heavy Metal.

With the first three albums ‘Loyal To None‘, ‘Right In The Guts‘ and ‘The Devils Ride Out‘, Frank and his comrades-in-arms are causing storms of enthusiasm in both the press and the fans. And the fourth album ‘Fight The Fear‘, cast in the same mold, will not change that. The Heavy Metal veteran and his men bring to proof, that the former solo project is much more
than a mere one-man show of the name giver.

Together with Masterplan front vocalist Rick Altzi, guitarist Heiko Schröder, former RAGE drummer André Hilgers and Jaded Heart bassist Michael Müller, the musicians show that this is the perfect teamwork for a close-knit band. With razor-sharp riffs, sublime, hell for leather solos, consistently delivered high-class vocals between melody and heaviness, and a rhythm section, that drives every single song forward like clockwork, Herman Frank presents a flawless metal album, without even a single second of boredom.

 “We’ve never had this kind of band structure before,” Herman enthuses, “Each of us plays an active part in our collaboration, and the result is a fantastic and highly constructive approach to our work.”

In particular when it comes to the group’s lyrics, Frank has always believed in his proven dictum: “I feel that the vocalist should contribute the lyrics, because at the end of the day he’s the one who has to get them across to the audience and fill them with life. That’s the way I’ve been working with Rick since ‘Right In The Guts’ and the result speaks for itself.” Altzi sums up the lyric´s sense: “It wasn’t my intention to make any political statement on this album but my frustration concerning where we are in the world today somehow led me to write lyrics about that. How do we adapt to the threat and the fear of violence? Mankind seems to have a short memory keeps on doing the same mistakes over and over again. How we in modern time still let’s religion dictate and form the decisions made by people and governments?”

With a slight grin, Rick adds,”but I only wrote eight out of fourteen lyrics, so there’s enough room for love songs and pure rock’n roll.”

Line up:

Rick Altzi – vocals

Herman Frank – guitar

Michael Müller – bass

André Hilgers – drums

Pre-order the new album here: https://shop.afm-records.de/herman-frank/

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US heavy/power metal band REVERENCE, feat. former members of Savatage, Mrtal Church and Tokyo Blade have released a new live video and single for ‘Until My Dying Breath‘, the track is taken from their forthcoming live album entitled ‘Vengeance Is…LIVE’. It’s the brand new 15 song platter to be delivered to the masses on December 7th, 2018 via ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records.

Vengeance Is…LIVE’s showcasing highlights from their previous three album such as the ominous ’When Darkness Calls’, classic ’Bleed For Me’, ‘Until My Dying Breath‘ and ‘Angel In Black’, also includes the monster riffage of ‘Race To Obscene’….and never forgotten epic title-track ’Gods Of War’ as well as three brand new songs from their latest EP release, ‘Fire Lord’, ‘Phoenix Rising’ and the crowd chanting ‘New Order’.

The album also includes two classic covers, Iron Maiden’s ’Wasted Years’ and Savatage’s ‘Power Of The Night’ and finally closing the disc with the classic fan favorite ‘Revolution Rising’.

Tracklisting:

  1. When Darkness Calls
  2. Until My Dying Breath
  3. FireLord
  4. Angel In Black
  5. Too Late
  6. Bleed For Me
  7. New Order
  8. Gods Of War
  9. Power Of The Night
  10. The Price You Pay
  11. Race To Obscene
  12. Phoenix Rising
  13. Vengeance Is Mine
  14. Wasted Years
  15. Revolution Rising

The band is comprised of veteran members from many known-named bands. Scott Oliva (ex-Wind Wraith, Innerstrength, vocals), Steve ‘Dr. Killdrums’ Wacholz (ex-Savatage/Crimson Glory, drums), Bryan Holland (ex-Tokyo Blade, guitars), Paul Kleff (ex-Metal Church live, FireWolfe, guitars), Russ Pzutto (Twisted Sister live, Dee Snider, bass).

Originally formed in 2010, REVERENCE, as their name describes, brings a sonic cocktail of classic era Savatage, Queensryche and Judas Priest with soaring vocals, brutal guitar riffage and face melting guitar solos in addition to the massive thunder from Savatage’s own original drummer ‘Dr. Killdrums’ behind the kit!

Line up:

Scott Oliva – Lead Vocals (Wind Wraith, ex Inner Strenght)
Bryan Holland – Lead Guitar (ex Tokyo Blade)
Steve ‘Dr. Killdrums Wacholz – Drums (ex Crimson Glory, Savatage)
Paul Kleff – Lead Guitar (ex FireWölfe, Metal Church – live)
Russell Pzütto – Bass (Dee Snider, Twisted Sister)
Rob Matheson – Touring Drummer

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British melodic rock band The Room have released a video for the track ‘Broken‘.

The track is taken from the band’s upcoming new album, ‘Caught By The Machine‘, which is scheduled for release in February 2019.

The new album will be their first at their new label home White Star Records. S

White Star Records‘ Chris Hillman said, “I’d been aware of The Room for some time and became very impressed with their musicianship, however the thing that really won me over was this huge step up in their melodic, anthemic quality. It feels like The Room are growing and developing with every album, and I find many of their melodies going around in my head after listening – real “ear worms” that I think will resonate with a large audience. Get ready for some quality prog with sticky, memorable moments!”

The Room‘s vocalist Martin Wilson said, “I had to think long and hard about how ‘Broken‘ was to be approached. I’d always wanted to play with the idea that most problems people have are brought on by themselves; Wrong life decisions, bad investments, excessive drink and drugs abuse, mistreatment of others and so on. Often, I have found that people in these positions are the first to complain, but the last to admit fault. With ‘Broken‘, the instrumental backdrop is uplifting, with this jaunty feel to it, but I wanted to find something different – a juxtaposition, if you like – to the lyrics, adding a little more intrigue to the song. So we’ve got this upbeat instrumental backing, while the lyrics offer a slightly darker picture. Spiraling out of control because of one’s own actions, how life can crash over negativity you’ve brought on yourself and so on…and yet you still complain and pass blame.”

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CORRODED have released a brand new video and single, ‘Burn‘, taken from their upcoming ‘Bitter’ album.

The band’s previous release, ‘Defcon Zero’ was an album borne out of frustration and anger due, in no small part to on-going label politics, and although the album finally saw the light of day last year, it was actually held in limbo for five years. Despite that delay, the band used the time wisely, getting to grips with every aspect of recording; from mic placement and different amps right through to mixing and mastering. Signing a new deal with Despotz Records saw the band effectively restarting their career; (‘We had to make up for lost time’ lead guitarist Tomas comments now) and with that in mind, the band wasted no time in getting back into the studio to record the follow-up to their Despotz Records debut. Following a successful run of dates with Pain and their own headlining run, CORRODED were battle ready and soon began work on what would become ‘Bitter’. With time conspiring against them, the band found themselves left with one weekend available to begin putting together song ideas. Working in such a pressurised way only brought the very best out of each of the band members, the kind of connection that only comes from years of playing together meant that the songs were soon coming together.

The last album CORRODED recorded was nearly 5 years ago. Due to a shift of labels that album was released just last year. Since that the band had to make up for lost time and that meant an awful lot of touring. As fun as it is to travel the world and play shows for their loyal fans they also knew they had to make another album as quickly as possible not to lose the momentum again. That left the band with an extremely short amount of time. With only a handful of song ideas laying around and only one weekend to write new material the odds were once again not looking too good for the band.

“We made three songs that weekend and together with the rest of the ideas we had we started to build what would become the finished album” – says Tomas, guitar and backing vocals. 

“The whole process was best compared to Frankenstein’s monster. We cut everything up and put it back together a couple of times until we felt that we were on the right track.” -Tomas says.

“When it was finally time to start writing the lyrics it wasn’t very hard to find topics to write about. The break with our first record label and the political state of the world had us all irritated and angry. The album title came quite easy and is the perfect sum up word for how we’d felt over the last couple of years. We also felt it was time to move on and there’s no better way to do that than to make a hard-hitting metal album.” Says Jens, lead singer and guitar.

“We started all stressed out and weren’t even sure we’d make the album done in time but not only did we get it done in time, it came out far greater than we could have hoped for! It’s brutal, honest, melodic yet edgy. It’s CORRODED and it’s BITTER!” -Jens, Per, Bjarne and Tomas

‘Bitter’ is released via Despotz Records on January 25th 2019

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REƎCE have released an Official video for the track ‘Two Coins And A Dead Man‘, taken from their latest album ‘Resilient Heart‘ which was released on Mighty Music. Order the album at www.targetshop.dk

REƎCE, ex-voice of ACCEPT, has also been confirmed as special guest for the U.D.O. live dates from February 1st til February 13th 2019.

01.02.2019 D-Heidelberg – Halle 02
02.02.2019 D-Regensburg – Eventhall Airport
03.02.2019 D-Stuttgart – LKA
06.02.2019 D-München – Backstage
07.02.2019 CH-Pratteln – Z7
08.02.2019 D-Memmingen – Kaminwerk
09.02.2019 D-Schwalmstadt – Festhalle Treysa
10.02.2019 D-Leipzig – Felsenkeller
12.02.2019 D-Oberhausen – Turbinenhalle
13.02.2019 D-Hannover – Capitol

There is no doubt, that this will be a blast for all fans of Accept and heavy metal in general.

David Reece comments “I wanted to create something different with this video. Back to more of a short movie type of thing. Being it was one of the first songs written for the album I’ve always felt it’s needed to be seen visually along with the sonics. Valerio Fea was the director I found him through Fiorella Scatena who’s Andrea Vergori our keyboard players love. Valerio was great capturing my vision for the song in my head. The original model flaked on day of shooting so I made my first choice who was my lovely wife Nadia to step in (hopefully I’m safe with her and Knives now?) Lena Angioni added her talents with Malte Frederik Burkert, Martin Jepsen Andersen and Marco Angioni in the black and white footage. I’m very pleased with the songs response it seems to be a fan and media favorite so enjoy people and stay Resilient!”

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Walter Trout will release his new album ‘Survivor’s Blues‘ globally on January 25, 2019.

The album is available to Pre-order on CD, Black 2LP or Limited edition Orange 2LP. A
free poster included with MLG store pre-orders, while stocks last!

Trout is no ordinary artist and this is no ordinary covers album. From the day he conceived the project to the moment he counted off the first song in the studio, he had a bolder plan for this release.  Trout shares. “I’m riding in my car sometimes, and I’ve got a blues station on – and here’s another band doing Got My Mojo Workin’. And there’s a little voice in me that says, ‘Does The World need another version of that song?’ So I came up with an idea. I didn’t want to do ‘Stormy Monday’ or ‘Messin’ With The Kid.’ I didn’t want to do the Blues greatest hits. I wanted to do old, obscure songs that have hardly been covered. And that’s how Survivor Blues started…”

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