On 20th & 21st July the ninth Amphi Festival starts off with more than 40 acts on three stages at the beautiful Tanzbrunnen Cologne. Headliners, legends, cult acts and newcomers, they all find their place in this year´s festival line up, ready to be celebrated, commemorated and discovered! With VNV NATION, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM, ALIEN SEX FIEND, AGONOIZE, LETZTE INSTANZ, ROME, DR. MARK BENECKE and many others there is a piece for every taste from heavy electronic music to talks about forensic science! Roughly two months before the festival we would like to address some important matters.

 

Saturday Tickets Sold Out:

The new album, produced by Steve Hillage and Tatsuki Masuko, is entitled “PHOENIX RISING” and will be released on Monday 23 September, followed by two UK concerts in March 2014.  

 

UK dates include Manchester Ritz (Friday 7 March) and London o2 Shepherd's Bush Empire (Saturday 8 March). Tickets are available Wednesday 29 May via Music Glue. Fans will receive a free mp3 download of the 5-track "Hinotori" EP when they order tickets.  

 

I remember happening upon this band during its early demo days when they used to be called Avalanche. Besides the gifted and beautiful Elize and the band’s mastermind Olof, I knew that this band generally had the talent and the will go big. I was impressed by their demo songs back in the day and I was waiting to see how they would evolve further.
 

The Italian gothic-rockers Naughty Whisper signs a management agreement with Rockshots Music Management.

 

Devoted to gothic rock/metal inspired by bands like 69 Eyes, Him, Lacrimas Profundere, but also influenced by electronic sounds of Rammstein, in 2012 the band has already toured with Misfits in the UK, participated in international festivals of the DMFs in Monaco /Germany, and after the release of last album "Addicted to Decadence" produced by Arnold Lindberg (In Flames, Hardcore Superstar, Evergrey), the band has been confirmed for this year's WAVE GOTIK TREFFEN Festival set to take place on May 17-20 in Leipzig (Germany).

Zarthas, the electrorockers from Oulu, Finland are back with their second album entitled “Spit/Ignite”. The album will be released via Violent Journey Records on June 7th 2013.

 

Seta is an electro/rock band that sees its members coming from various musical experiences and joining their common passion to express ideas with music, trying to strike the audience. Born in 2009, this project has been evolving through the years to become something peculiar that mix pure powerful rock with electronic melodies in constant experimentation and growth.

 

The creation of this album is like a path that, day after day, a rehearsal after another, arouses new emotions to be translated into music, like a trip where every stop is a new place to visit and discover, that imprints unforgettable situations and images to tell. 

30 years ago Howard Jones released his first single 'New Song' which urged listeners to challenge their preconceived ideas and throw off their mental chains. To celebrate this anniversary Howard is planning two special UK concerts in November 2013. 

 

Fans can order tickets on Wednesday 20 March via a special 48-hour pre-sale by signing up to Howard Jones mailing list to obtain a pre-sale code HERE.

 

I was pretty excited for this one when I found out the band name. I mean come on, what’s not to love about an Italian band called Nude? “Plastic Planet” is the band’s first release in over 10 years, and despite the extremely cheesy artwork, the album has got an interesting sound.
 

When I first heard that Galahad are about to release two albums in a 5 month period and of course in the same year, I was a bit skeptical of how they could keep it up at the same music level with each one of the works. After I had listened to “Battle Scars”, which is an exceptional album… I was more wary of how they could beat it… or at least reach it.