PRYDAIN – The Gates of Aramore is coming June 2, 2023!
Austin Dixon had been working on the song ideas for PRYDAIN over several years, but the real work began to happen during the Covid pandemic. Since no suitable musicians with the talent and enthusiasm for melodic power metal could be found locally and the Covid lockdown was also having ist effects, Austin started approaching some of his favourite musicians via internet in order to bring his songs to life.
First guy aboard was Pyramaze keyboardist Jonah Weingarten. Austin says „I’ve loved Pyramaze since their wonderful album ‚Legend of the Bone Carver‘. His orchestrations really helped bring the visions of my guitar riffs and structures to life.“
Katagory V mastermind Dustin Mitchell, another local Utah musician, contributed some initial bass tracks, and Firewind’s Bob Katsionis „has been on my radar since he blew me away live in Salt Lake City a few years ago with his dual-shred solos between guitar and keyboard, so I reached out.“
Bob agreed to produce and mix Prydain. He also brought in fellow Greek countryman Mike Livas (Silent Winter, Keepers of Jericho, Timo Tolkki) to sing. Next, Austin dared to approach three of his favourite guitarists to see if they would each contribute a solo: Mikael Dahl (Crystal Eyes), Jimmy Hedlund (Falconer), and Jens Ludwig (Edguy). „To my surprise, they were all up for it right away! This collaboration with so many of my heroes is the coolest aspect.“
Line-Up:
MIKE LIVAS – Vocals (Silent Winter)
AUSTIN DIXON – Lead & Rhythm Guitars (Sonic Prophecy)
JONAH WEINGARTEN – Keyboards & Orchestration (Pyramaze)
BOB KATSIONIS – Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Bass (ex Firewind, Wonders, Outloud, Stray Gods, Warrior Path)
Honored Guests:
Mikael Dahl (Crystal Eyes) – guitar solo
Jens Ludwig (Edguy) – guitar solo
Jimmy Hedlund (Falconer) – guitar solo
Dustin Mitchell (Katagory V) – bass guitar
John Yelland (Judicator) – additional vocals
David Åkesson (Qantice, Moonlight Agony, Symphonity) – additional vocals
➡️ Audio samples, videos and online stores ⬅️
➡️ YouTube Video ⬅️
More about ROGER STAFFELBACH
On May 12, 2023 „The Quest“, the instrumental album by ROGER STAFFELBACH (Artension, Artlantica, Angel of Eden), will be released on Limb Music (digital) and No Dust Records (CD).
ROGER STAFFELBACH has been one of the respected exponents of neoclassical power guitar since the mid-1990s. The genre was largely defined in the 1980s by pioneers such as Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony MacAlpine. 1986, Staffelbach dove into a „completely new universe“ as a 14-year-old when he first listened to Yngwie’s „Trilogy“ album, which encouraged him to switch from trumpet to electric guitar. His father, however, did not fund the purchase of an Aria Pro II Flying V unless Roger would prove him he could play something significantly melodic on a rocked-down acoustic guitar. The culmination of his years of studying was a course of study at the renowned GIT, the Guitar Institute of Technology in Los Angeles.
Over the years of his music career, he has come together with various greats of his guild, including bassist John Onder (Michael Schenker), guitarist Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra), drummers Mike Terrana (Rage, Tarja) and Dani Löble (Helloween), and multi-instrumentalist Shane Gaalaas (Uli Jon Roth, Yngwie) to name a few.
Artension’s chemistry, and with it the foundation of an illustrious seven-album career, was based on Roger’s longtime partnership with pianist Vitalij Kuprij (Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and singer John West (Royal Hunt) – a perfect fit for Shrapnel Records, the label of Mike Varney, wo had discovered Malmsteen and MacAlpine.
In addition, there were two albums with Angel of Eden („The End of Never“) and Artlantica („Across the Seven Seas“) in collaboration with Italian keyboardist Mistheria (Bruce Dickinson), who also enlisted Roger for his solo albums „Dragon Fire“ and „Gemini“ as well as for the two long players of the Vivaldi Metal Project.
➡️ Check out even more about Roger here ⬅️
➡️ Here’s the first video from the album ⬅️
WONDERS new album pre-order and tracklisting
„Beyond The Mirage“ is up for pre-order now! The upcoming album contains 10 songs + 1 bonus track on CD only!
Skillful, progressive, catchy Power Metal, partially played with speed elements.
For fans of the entire spectrum of Melodic heavy Metal – from Angra to Stratovarius.
Tracklisting:
01. One Million Miles
02. Breaking The Chains
03. Here I Go Again
04. Hold Me, Save Me
05. Once Upon A Time
06. In & Out Of Time
07. Coming Home
08. All My Dreams
09. Into The Light
10. The Time Of Your Life
CD only Bonus Track:
11. Come On
„Beyond The Mirage“ will be released on June 16, 2023.
Pre-order now
Audio samples, videos and online stores
ROGER STAFFELBACH – first videoclip release
Follow ROGER STAFFELBACH on his journey through space and time in the epic new video for ‚The Quest‘!
Quote by Roger:
„When the idea of shooting a video came up i was looking up Frank Kollbrunners work and spotted a trailer of a video animation which had that dystopian kinda vibe. Luckily, it was still available to me so we could build the video around that theme. I think it turned out just great and exceeded my expectations by far, it also fits the music perfectly.“
‚The Quest‘ will be released on May 12th, 2023.
CD release by NO DUST RECORDS
Worldwide digital release by LIMB MUSIC
➡️ Audio samples, videos & online stores ⬅️
ROGER STAFFELBACH – teaser for first videoclip
The first single „The Quest“ by ROGER STAFFELBACH is a breathtaking musical adventure that will be celebrated with a spectacular video on next Wednesday. Viewers will be taken on a spectacular journey through space that they won’t soon forget!
‚The Quest‘ will be released on May 12th, 2023.
CD release by NO DUST RECORDS
Worldwide digital release by LIMB MUSIC
YouTube Video Premiere:
Audio samples, videos & online stores:
PRYDAIN first single & video out now!
The first digital single and video from the album is the title track „The Gates of Aramore“. This was the first full song written for the album and helped to set the tone for the thematic elements that would come to define the PRYDAIN sound.
This song is a straightforward Power Metal anthem and features guest vocals by David Åkesson (Qantice, Moonlight Agony, Symphonity) and Stefani Keogh, thundering bass from Utah’s own Dustin Mitchell (Katagory V), as well as a blistering guitar solo from Mikael Dahl of the fantastic band CRYSTAL EYES.
We hope you enjoy this first taste of PRYDAIN!
The album „The Gates of Aramore“ will be released on June 2, 2023.
For fans of: Avantasia, Edguy, Staratovarius, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian
Pre-order now
PRYDAIN announces first single & video!
PRYDAIN announces their first single and video entitled „The Gates of Aramore“! Both will be released on April 22 via your favorite streaming platforms and on YouTube.
The wait to get some music into the hands of the fans has been a long one and we are so excited for you to hear this first sample of the album to come! Check out the video teaser.
The album „The Gates of Aramore“ will be released on June 2, 2023.
For fans of: Avantasia, Edguy, Staratovarius, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian
Pre-order now
YouTube Video Premiere
SYMPHONITY – EUROPEAN TOUR 2023 continues…
All bands were a blast yesterday in Hamburg. Some more shows to pay in Poland, Austria, Czech Republic and Italy.
SYMPHONITY audio samples, videos & online stores/streaming platforms
Release date: June 2, 2023
Release date: May 12, 2023