Hollow Giants - Dead In Me

In time for an upcoming EP launch this Saturday, London based Hollow Giants have made a mark with their new single which is due for release in less than two weeks.

It brought me back to my teenage years where I would listen to indie rock whilst hanging out with my friends. With it's enticing chorus, clean cut vocals and some excellent guitar riffs, Dead In Me has that chilled out yet ready to party vibe. 

They could actually be in line to support Muse in the near future as I think their sound is very much like theirs minus synthesisers. All I can say is if their EP is as good as this single I have nothing to worry about.

Hollow Giants - Dead In Me

Words by Charlotte Whittingham

For fans of Muse and Arctic Monkeys

Find Hollow Giants on here

Jettblack Needs You!

On the recent Facebook news feed I spied a post from personal favourite band Jettblack! They are about to make a new album but they need your help! Pledge any amount of money to gain goodies from the band but most importantly to help them produce a brand new album. Here you can watch the video of their press conference that took some shocking twists!

Click the link below to find out more! Pledge, retweet and most importantly share and share alike!!

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/jettblack

In the meantime enjoy some of my personal favourite Jettblack songs!!!

Prison Of Love

Sunshine

Get Your Hands Dirty

Skype interview with Liv Kristine (Leaves' Eyes)

On one particularly cold evening I had an interview on Skype with Leaves' Eyes frontwoman Liv Kristine, here we talked about their new album release next month, their appearance at a festival and who she would have headline her own festival. So here is the transcript of the interview, the audio version will be available on my Souncloud page very soon.

Charlotte:       Hello there I am Charlotte Whittingham from Loud Stuff.com, it’s a very cold autumn evening and I am on Skype with Liv Kristine from Leaves’ Eyes. So Liv the last we spoke you were on tour with Firewind in Southampton.

Liv:                  Yes yes, OK I remember now. That was about a year ago.

Charlotte:       According to some press information I received you will be releasing a brand new album soon Symphonies of The Night, how different is it to your previous one Meredead?

Liv:                  Meredead is a bit folkier and many of the songs include my native language Norwegian. Symphonies Of The Night is a lot bigger, more powerful and heavier. It sums up the 10 years of Leaves’ Eyes. We have a 10^th anniversary in 2013, which we realised in Spring. So when we started to compose for the pre-production of Symphonies Of The Night, we realised that we have to go with a creative flow and luckily we have our own studio so there is always something going on. The men like working at night and I just open the most recent files when everyone is sleeping but there is always something going on and it was a very creative process. It is a heavier album than Meredead and it sums up 10 years of Leave’s Eyes history, experience and dedication, some of us have been around for 20-25 years.

Charlotte:       Being it’s your 10^th anniversary of Leaves’ Eyes are you doing anything else to celebrate besides the album or is the album a celebration itself?

Liv:                  We haven’t really planned anything but we’ll see as soon as we get the finished CD. We’ll celebrate with a glass of wine.

Charlotte:       The track listing has recently been released, which songs do you think represent the album best?

Liv:                  That’s a very tricky question, I actually asked my husband [Alex Krull] to think about that question a couple of hours ago and he named Hell To The Heavens. I would say Ophelia, they are both straightforward rock songs and they might sound easily structured but they are not as they were recorded in the final third of the album process. Every song says a lot about the album when it comes to atmosphere and power. So probably Hell To The Heavens and Ophelia.

Charlotte:       Are there going to be any single releases from the album?

Liv:                  That’s up to our record label [Nuclear Blast], I wish I could make that decision.

Charlotte:       What’s your personal favourite song from the album and why?

Liv:                  I was listening to Ophelia in my car this morning and I would say that is my momentary favourite if I’m allowed to have one. Nightshade is my baby on the album because it struck me during my morning cup of coffee I just had the idea. Everyone went to bed after their nightshift in the studio. I just ran into the studio and recorded some vocal ideas, added some fake strings and after 48 hours the song was finished. Apart from the folk instruments but Nightshade is my baby.

Charlotte:       You are set to make an appearance at Female Metal Festival this weekend [18^th-20^th October]…

Liv:                  We’ve been practising a lot because we will play at least five songs from Symphonies Of The Night. We have been very busy and tomorrow the whole band will gather again for a Leaves’ Eyes rehearsal then a Liv Kristine rehearsal as I will performing on Friday with my solo project so double time.

Charlotte:       You’ll be very busy

Liv:                  I’ll be busy but you know I’ll be able to stay around for two days so I hope to meet a few of my girlfriends, the other ladies.

Charlotte:       I recently asked this question to Heaven’s Basement frontman Aaron Buchanan as his band appeared at a lot of festivals over the summer. If you could be in charge of your ideal weekend festival, what would the festival be called and who would you have headline each day?

Liv:                  Oh dear oh dear, instinctly I would have Black Sabbath headline because that’s the music I grew up with and gave me the influence to form Theatre Of Tragedy almost twenty years ago. So Ozzy, Black Sabbath and get an autograph for my father. It was he who played Black Sabbath when I was a toddler. What would it be called, that’s a good question. Normally you would have an adjective like folky or female or symphonic or extreme symphonic female; none of that probably just Metal For Everyone.

Charlotte:       I’ll probably know the answer to this question but which iconic musician would you have coffee and a muffin with?

Liv:                  [laughs] Ozzy, if you asked me when I was a teenager I would have probably said Madonna which I’ve heard rumours that say she is quite difficult. I would choose to do yoga with Madonna and I will have a coffee with Ozzy.

Charlotte:       I’ve seen a recent news post that there will be a Leaves’ Eyes tour.

Liv:                  We have Female Metal Festival this weekend. We have just been told that we are able to get our visas for China finally, it’s the third time we have tried to get into China. So we’ll be appearing in China, Taiwan and Thailand, then it will be Romania, Bulgaria, Russia that’ll be all for Leaves’ Eyes and Atrocity then I will be doing two exclusive solo shows in Germany and Switzerland in December. Then we will do a little UK tour in January so I hope to see you there, then we will do 70,000 Tons Of Metal through the Carribean in February. Then a US tour, that’s about two thirds of the upcoming year. So after that we will see.

Charlotte:       Last question, aside from touring, album releasing and festival appearances what are the plans for Leaves’ Eyes for the rest of the year? I suppose it’s too early to think about Christmas…

Liv:                  I’ve already planned Christmas. I’m going to be very busy so I had to mark a few days, a week in December around Christmas and New Year where it’s just family time. We are going to Austria to stay in a little wooden house in the mountains with my best friends, my husband and my son. It has a sauna, a jacuzzi and a bubble bath. I’m looking forward to that, I had to plan it in July because if I were to do it now I just know there will be a concert that weekend because nobody wants to play a concert on Christmas Day or New Years. I’ve always been that kind of person where I think OK I’m here, if I’m not going home to Norway or booked my flight to Norway I might as well do it but not this year. I’m going to have some time off, apart from promoting Leaves’ Eyes, doing interviews and shows coming up. I will start working on my next solo album and I guess Atrocity will start to work on their next album so there is always something happening.

Charlotte:       Thank you very much Liv for taking some time out to talk to me tonight and best of luck with the new album and your festival appearance.  

Alter Bridge - Fortress

After a three year wait, Florida rock band Alter Bridge's brand new album Fortress hits the UK shelves of record shops and online retailers today. I received mine in the post today and after listening to it I have placed it on my top albums of 2013.

The first few songs of the album had me in chills; the opening song Cry Of Achilles was introduced by a Spanish guitar like riff that leaves the listener wanting to hear more, it then transforms to the heavy distorted guitars and the epicly recognisable voice from Myles Kennedy can be heard giving the ears a treat. The album's single Addicted To Pain is the second track on the album, I remember hearing it a few months ago and thinking the song was average, but having now listened to it as part of the album the song has grown on me the more I listen to it.

My personal favourite tracks on the album are Lover, Waters Rising and All Ends Well. Lover is the beautiful romantic ballad on the track with an amazing melody and shows off the skills of Mr Mark Tremonti via the original, slick guitar riff and solo. In Waters Rising, we see another talent from Tremonti and that is his singing, his voice suited the song perfectly and that is why it is a standout track. All Ends Well is like a reincarnation of  Life Must Go On; it has the perfect keep-strong-carry on vibe that most of us could use with now and again so this is the song to pick you up when you are down. 

Successfully closing with Fortress allows the listener to experience the heavier sounds of Alter Bridge one last time. I can therefore conclude that Fortress is indeed a rock gem that will treasured for years; Alter Bridge you have yourselves proud!

Stand out tracks:  Lover, Waters Rising and All Ends Well

R.I.Y.L:  Creed and Slash

Words by Charlotte Whittingham

Find Alter Bridge here

Two amazing videos!!!

Hello everyone I hope you are well! On this post I am sharing two videos that have caught my attention!!

The first one comes from Dutch Symphonic metal heads Within Temptation; it features not one but two of metal's leading ladies, front lady Sharon Den Adel and ex-Nightwish turned solo vocalist Tarja Turunen. The song is just flawless, both voices compliment each other remarkably. Within Temptation released The Unforgiving two years ago so it is refreshing to see some excellent new material from them. It has been a long time since we have seen Tarja in the spotlight but it is great to see her back and better than ever. If this video isn't further proof that Within Temptation continue to produce original haunting material then I don't what it.

The next video I understand it was released a month ago but I have finally got round to watching it. It's from London hard rockers New Device and it's the second single of their latest album Here We Stand. It is my personal favourite song off the album so I was pleased to see it released as a single and a video. I love the catchy melody of the chorus and it makes an excellent opening track for the album.

So those are the two brilliant videos I thought I must share! Take care now and stay musical!

Musical Lotty!!

The Distorting Glass

We are getting a taste of heavy rock and electronic beats cleverly merging into one with this recently released EP from London based The Distorting Glass.

The first two tracks provide a brilliant introduction to the bands music. Variance is a fantastic opening track for the EP as you get your first taste of memorable guitar riffs and incredible vocal work. Imagine Muse meeting Rammstein and you get the incredible, cinematic sounds of The Distorting Glass. Kilometre Zero is very different sounding to Variance; it allows you to take a break from the distortion of the heavy guitars in exchange for acoustic strums. It has a very summery vibe but I like how it also maintains a dark atmosphere.

My personal favourite track on the EP has got to be The City That Always Sleeps, the melody for this song is just beautiful and I was blown away instantly at first listen. I also think the song shows off vocalist Pablo Bellinghausen’s ability perfectly; this provides a softer side to the band that I like very much.

Clockwork is a brilliantly dark track that is very cinematic, I would love to see this track performed live as I believe the clock like sound effects will go down perfectly with audiences. This track most certainly goes onto my list of one-word epic tracks alongside Mountains by Biffy Clyro and Alter Bridge’s Blackbird.

Fear and Wonder closes the album excellently with its Mission Impossible type vibe and infectious melody making it stand out track number two.

From listening to this EP I can conclude that this band most certainly have the potential to go further up the music ladder. Definitely a band to keep a look out for, all I can say is that I hope they decide to visit Southampton sometime.

Words by Charlotte Whittingham

R.I.Y.L:   Muse, Rammstein and Rush

Stand out tracks:  The City That Always Sleeps, Clockworks and Fear and Wonder

Find The Distorting Glass on Facebook

Imaginareum (Film)

First came the album, then came the score; the final outcome? A visually beautiful film with a strong story line that has the greatest impact on whoever sees it. The film I am talking about is Nightwish's Imaginareum.

It was 2011 where there came news from Nightwish about a new album in the making and a film to go alongside it. Naturally being a fan of Nightwish I was very excited as no other band has made a film to go with their album, the album itself was fantastic as you can read here in a previous post. So seeing the video Storytime where there was behind the scenes action and various trailers different feelings of anxiety, excitement and curiosity welled within me.

The film's plot revolves around an elderly composer who is suffering severe dementia that has regressed him into his childhood state. He cannot remember anything from his adult life including his estranged daughter and his friends, he goes into a coma that allows him to try and find his lost memories.

So today I watched the film for the very first time; the first thing I hear is the beautiful music of the authentic Finnish track Taikatalvi whilst a winter scene which consists of the main character Tom Whitman building a snowman is shown. Coincidently Taikatalvi means magic winter so to have this tune play over this sequence was a remarkable idea. You are than taken into the surreal world of Tom's memories as he tries to take back his memories before they are lost. The film most certainly has a hypnotic effect on you as like the character of Tom, once you have entered Imaginareum you have to find a way out.

Performances of album tracks Slow Love Slow and Scaretale were brilliantly added to the plot; particularly Scaretale being performed in the circus sequence showed in Storytime. So naturally we saw appearances from Nightwish themselves.

I don't want to give too much away so I will conclude that this film was most certainly very moving and I believe the music played a huge part. So my journey to Imaginareum is now complete.