Label Douchebaggery

For those of you who are fans of Delain, as I am, you might be interested in this interview my Sonic Cathedral colleague, Robin Stryker, did with mainman Martijn Westerholt and lead vocalist Charlotte Wessels.  In it, we learn why there has been such a long delay in the releasing of the band's third album, entitled We Are the Others.



Apparently, Roadrunner Records went through a major re-organization and is now being run by Warner Music Group, AKA WMG.  Says Martijn in the interview:

A lot of people left the company, were fired or restructured, etc., which meant for us that the guy who signed us and assisted us with our album process from the record company side was fired. They needed a new A&R manager for us. There was none in Holland, so it was quite a search to get the new structure working.  In the end, we had a new management, which also is the A&R and artist relations with Roadrunner. That took a lot of time, which meant that the whole album process was on hold as well.

The album was supposed to be released around a year ago, but to this day still has no release date, though late March was rumoured. The album is done and ready to go, and Delain is embarking on a headlining tour around Europe this spring.  The buzz around this album and the potential promotional opportunities such a tour would bring are huge.  Yet the label isn't onside with the record.



Martijn continues,

We heard that Warner Music didn’t want to release us because they just don’t get metal. They just don’t get it. They bought Roadrunner to get this metal DNA into their body, I would say. I have the feeling … I don’t know because I’m not in the organization itself … but I have the feeling that they are still searching for the right working method.  The Roadrunner company wants to release us, and there are several people within Roadrunner who are working to release us nonetheless. So actually, for us it’s a nightmare.

No kidding it's a nightmare!  I have no idea what WMG is thinking in doing this but it's ridiculous.  The album is mastered and ready to go, complete with artwork and the whole fucking shabang.  "Not getting metal" is a poor excuse - you're Warner fucking Music for crying out loud!  Incidentally, I have not failed to notice that WMG is one of the worst labels for yanking YouTube videos off YT for "proprietary reasons", causing them to miss out on numerous marketing and promotional opportunities.  I don't know the specific legal ins and outs of Delain's contract or what the label obligations towards the band are now that WMG has taken over, but it seems like utter douchebaggery to not release the CD because they "don't get it."  I don't get half the pop shit they release!



Anyway, I urge fellow Delain fans to join the "Petition for Warner Music to Release Delain - We Are the Others" page on Facebook to show their support for the band.  And let's hope WMG comes to its senses - quickly.

Short sample of Evanescence's new song

Amy had previously described the song as being "really different" from previous songs. "What You Want" is probably  the heaviest song Evanescence have ever made. According to Amy, the song is about freedom her relationship with the music and the fans.

The single "What You Want" will be released in early August and the new album "Evansecence" will be released on 11th October.

To see the short interview and hear the song check here.

Update on Imaginaerum

Slowly we're getting some news concerning Imaginaerum CD & film. According to Variety, Finnish Film Fundation will pay out $575,000 grant and the budget of the film will be $3.7 million.

Today TH website published an interview with Tuomas about Imaginaerum and other stuff. Check it out. 

Tuomas says they'll tour for 1 year, which should be 80-90 shows. 
Hopefully, this time I'll be able to go. Will see where I will be at the time of European tour.    

Fabio Lione talks about Kamelot & new CD of Rhapsody of Fire

Rhapsody of Fire's singer and current singer of Kamelot talks in an interview for Austrian Heavyzine about the new RoF album From Chaos to Eternity and touring with Kamelot. Fabio also revealed that he would be more than happy to join the band permanently if they aked him to do so.

Marco & Tuomas about Imaginaerum

I am so sorry that I haven't updated any news during the week but I'm so busy with school that only today I got a bit of time to go on the Internet so it will take some time to put here all the news.

Let's start with very good news/interview. Today Nightwish puts on thier website new interview with Marco and Tuomas speaking about Imaginaerum and the process of ''making of'''. Also Tuomas is playing the ''The Hearts Ask For Pleasure First'' song a bit. But check it out to learn more news.

Tarja & Liv interview

Today tarjaofficial put on YT interview with both singers who are going on German tour together.
You can hear the instrumental version of Underneath in the background which is on the Underneath single. 

Sonic Cathedral Interviews Imperia's Helena Iren Michaelsen

If you happen to be an Imperia fan, Robin from Sonic Cathedral had an opportunity to interview Helena Iren Michaelsen and you can read that here.  It's a great interview and Helena had a lot of interesting stories and insights to share. Definitely worth a read.

Interview with Rev. Rachel Mann

Following up on this post, I bring to you an interview conducted by The Quietus with Rev. Rachel Mann, who recently made headlines with her thoughts on Christianity and heavy metal.

The interview is here.

This is incredibly refreshing to read, and kinda helps me put a tad bit of my faith back in the Anglican Church, the church in which I was raised, then left at the age of 18. In my 30s, I worked for the Anglican Church of Canada at one of its largest retreat centres, and there I found some very forward-thinking, progressive people with views on the faith, the bible, and Christianity in general that Rachel echoes in her statements. Though I am still not involved with the church for a variety of reasons, it's heartening to read the thoughts & opinions of people like Rachel, and I think her speaking out was a very brave act and I hope it helps bring the church out of the dark ages.

* photo swiped from The Quietus

Dawn of Destiny's Jens Faber interview on The Abbey Metal Show

Dawn of Destiny's bassist and main songwriter Jens Faber got an interview with The Abbey Metal Show tonight. Here is a link to the streaming audio here!

This interview comes from this website. It is very interesting and worth checking out for anyone into heavy metal! ROCK ON! \m/