Toronto-based instrumental metal group Intervals have finally released their first EP, The Space Between. If you’re into the likes of Bulb/Periphery and melodic guitar oriented music like Piotrek Gruszka, then Intervals are a band to watch out for. The Space Between was mixed and mastered by Red Seas Fire‘s Adam “Nolly” Getgood, so you know you’re getting some quality sound. Stream it below and download it at Bandcamp!
- JR
Periphery‘s self-titled debut record was hands-down my favorite record from last year. Since then, much has happened in the Periphery camp, losing guitarist Alex Bois and bassist Tom Murphy and gaining Haunted Shores‘ Mark Holcomb and currently-temp bass player Adam “Nolly” Getgood of Red Seas Fire, both of whom will be taking part in the production of the upcoming Periphery records, one of which is titled Juggernaut. A lot has happened to me as well in terms of taste, so will Juggernaut end up as a year-end favorite for 2012? I certainly hope so!
The band have put out a couple of quick studio updates. Here’s some neat tidbits of what we know so far:
NEAT. I leave you with Nolly making total destroy.
- JR
Ever since the departure of “arms of steel” Alex Bois from Periphery, Haunted Shores guitarist Mark Holcomb has been on tour with the group as a fill in. We all knew where this was going to lead, as Mark and Periphery have been friends and collaborators for years. Finally, it is official — Mark Holcomb is now a full member of Periphery. Great success!
Here’s an array of quotes!
Misha Mansoor states: “We are happy to announce that Mark Holcomb (Haunted Shores) will be joining the Periphery ranks as a full time guitarist! He toured with with us our headlining run of Australia, our Frak The Gods US headliner and our 2 shows opening for Dream Theater, and we feel that we have found a perfect fit for us both live and in the studio. We are extremely excited to have him on board, and cant wait to show you all the cool new music we have been working on together! Since we made arrangements for the tour before Mark was inducted, our good friend Nolly (Red Seas Fire) will be filling in on the European tour opening for Dream Theater. However that will be the last tour we do with a fill-in guitarist, as Mark will join on full time after that!”
Thomas Murphy (bass) states: “The most important thing about a band is the chemistry between its members. We’ve all known Mark for years and are very proud to announce him as our newest member. Not only is he an amazing writer and guitarist, but also an amazing person. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for the band now that he has joined.”
Mark Holcomb further comments: “I couldn’t be more excited as not only have these guys been great friends of mine for a long time, but I consider every last one of them musical siblings in a sense. Each of us brings something different to the table and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish.”
If for some reason you are not familiar with Mark’s body of work and have some sort of ill-placed doubts, behold:
Perfect fit for Periphery. They couldn’t have found a better replacement for Alex! So congrats go out to Mark; hope you kill it out there!
After the jump, check out the tour dates for their 2012 tour with Dream Theater!
There’s a raging debate in the metal community when it comes to how far-reaching digital influence has on modern recording. Purists yearn for the old analog sound, where drums were tracked unreplaced, guitars still had amps, and everything was recorded to tape. Like it or not, the digital revolution is happening; amps are modeled and drummers need no longer apply for bedroom products.
Programs like EZ Drummer and Superior Drummer have been a source of controversy since their inception. Meshuggah‘s caught some initial flack when Tomas Haake worked with Toontrack for creating Drumkit From Hell, an EZ Drummer plugin where Haake’s playing was sampled, allowing anyone to create drum tracks that sounded like they were played by Haake himself. Their 2005 album Catch Thirtythree was groundbreaking in its programmed drum tracks, using the Drumkit From Hell product they helped create. This paved the way for many other metal acts to obtain a painlessly perfect rhythm section, including Devin Townsend with his DKFH-programmed prog classic Ziltoid The Omniscient (2007).
Now, anyone with a guitar and some money to spare can afford a home studio capable of churning out some quality recordings. Periphery‘s 2010 self-titled album was finished way before Sumerian Records offered them a record deal because of guitarist Misha Mansoor’s home recording techniques, recording guitar parts with interfaces and modelers like Line 6′s POD and Fractal Audio’s Axe-FX and drum programming software Superior Drummer. Misha handled the production and mixing himself, and the record sounds quite polished; such a high quality recording was not so readily available and cheaply until the last decade or so.
I for one welcome the availability of these tools where bands can get their music to the masses much faster. However, with the creation of new guitar-sampling software by 8Dio centered around metal seeing release, it leads one to question how far this push for ease and digital perfection has gone.
What is becoming Europe’s premier showcase of progressive metal, Euroblast Festival is fast approaching, and in anticipation they’ve released this trailer, with music courtesy of Monuments mastermind John Browne.
It shows just how diverse the line-up is, and how widespread the progressive metal scene has spread. A band called Syrianic have just been added to the bill for the two-day event in Cologne, Germany which will take place on October 21st and 22nd.
Additionally Browne, along with Pete Graves of Red Seas Fire and a chap called Jan Hoeglund have been contributing to a progressive guitar library for 8Dio, a “next-generation developer of new virtual instruments” which will allow you to manipulate a massive selection of riffs into whatever you want.
As Nolly of Red Seas Fire explains:
“Say you’re a composer, say you want to incorporate some progressive style guitar playing in one of your tracks but you personally cannot compose in that style well or perhaps even play guitar much at all (that last one is particularly relevant given the difficulty level of the guitar style), and don’t want to have to employ someone to do it for you. This library allows composers and producers to do just that as they would with any other style of loop.”
One of Browne’s contributions, in a neat Monuments-style package, is up for streaming below.
Something to tide us over until that Susan Boyle-fronted album, eh?
- CG
This one has been quite a while in the making, but UK progressive metal outfit Red Seas Fire’s brand new, debut self-titled album is now available for free download!
The band have been cagey on details – at least since I heard about them at the beginning of this year – but it was released yesterday afternoon (Sunday is an odd day to release a new album, but I’m sure they had their reasons), so go out and grab your copy; unless you’re a chump. You’re not a chump, are you?
For those unfamiliar with these chaps, you may have seen one of their guitarists Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood covering from Jake Bowen of Periphery on the LXD tour at the beginning of 2011, or more recently for the recently departed Alex Bois at Sonisphere.
- CG
Some of you may remember us mentioning Bristol/Bath-based progressive metal band Red Seas Fire back at the beginning of the year. They were brought to my attention thanks to guitarist Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood’s stint helping Periphery out on the UK leg of the League of Extraordinary Djentlemen tour when Jake Bowen got a boo-boo on his finger. Up until now we’ve been lacking any solid recordings from them, but they’ve finally released a new video of their own.
It’s a playthrough video of guitarists Nolly and Pete jamming a new track called “Cipher” from their forthcoming six-track debut record, due out on the tantalisingly close September 4th.
These guys are super awesome, and I’m looking forward to their first proper release. I AM EXCITE.
- CG
Red Seas Fire are from the Bristol/Bath area (yes, we have a town named after that thing next to the toilet). They play instrumentuhl metuhls. Not much material yet, so here’s a guitar cover of one of their songs, which is the best version I can find on YouTube. C’mon guys, we want to hear more stuff!
I actually mentioned these guys yesterday; they supported [Ed - filmed from the wings (I GOT IT WRONG, K?)] the LXD Tour when it passed through Bristol, and guitarist Adam Getgood has been filling in for injured Periphery axe-man Jake Bowen.
- CG
More footage from the LXD (League of Extraordinary Djentlemen) Tour, featuring Periphery, TesseracT and Monuments, which recently stopped in the British town of Bristol in the South-West of England. There they were supported by Red Seas Fire, a lucky local band who are apparently quite good themselves.
Guitarist Pete Graves was kind enough to film part of Periphery’s set in fairly high-quality, including the songs “Jetpacks Was Yes!“, “Buttersnips” (here), and “Icarus Lives!” and “The Walk” (after the djump).
This weekend, both Architects and Red Seas Fire have uploaded new studio footage for their respective upcoming albums. Check these bad boys out.
Architects completed recording their new album, The Here And Now, with Every Time I Die and Dillinger Escape Plan producer Steve Evetts. The album is currently due out early 2011 on Century Media. I hope it’s at least as good as 2009′s Hollow Crown was. 2011 is already looking up!
