ECHOES - Dissonance Productions Newsletter - No.10 MAY/June '19
Welcome!
Sometimes things don’t quite go to plan – hey, there’s been a lot going on! – and May’s issue of Echoes got so delayed we decided to roll the contents into issue 10 and make up one bumper edition of the newsletter to see you through June. So, what have we got? It’s been a long time coming – it’s been almost five years since their last album – but we’re all really excited about Amulet’s ‘The Inevitable War’ (see the feature for more details). Also interviewed this time around are Quartz’s Malcolm Cope, Mindwars’ Mike Alvord and Dave Brunt from Deathwish, and Blitzkrieg’s debut album ‘A Time Of Changes’ goes under the spotlight for our Classic Album. See you next month! John Tucker
Amulet's Marek 'Heathen' Steven on 'The Inevitable War'...
“We all agreed that we loved Martin Birch’s work with Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Blue Öyster Cult and Eighties’ Sabbath etc – the sound and the clarity of the vocals and all the instruments and heaviness without being over-
bearing. That was the broad idea and Tom was a dream to work with... The aim was to come away with something we could be proud of for the rest of our lives – which is the idea with albums, right?”
STREET FIGHTING MAN
Quartz’s drummer Malcolm Cope reminisces about the band’s early days
MIND OVER MATTER
Mike Alvord tells tales of Mindwars Read More
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU (DEATH) WISH FOR
Dave Brunt on the trials and tribulations of Deathwish’s debut, ‘At The Edge Of Damnation’ Read More
CLASSIC ALBUM
Blitzkrieg’s ‘A Time Of Changes’ started life as a studio project and ended up giving the famous New Wave Of British Heavy Metal band a new lease of life
MAY/JUNE 2019 RELEASES Barbe-Q-Barbies 'BORROWED TIME' - Out Now! The Barbies’ fourth album, with a handful of surprises Grotesque 'IN THE EMBRACE OF EVIL' - Out Now! A compilation of the Swedish death metal band’s studio recordings Amulet 'THE INEVITABLE WAR' - Out Now! The long-awaited and hugely anticipated second album by the British metal band Desolation Angels 'DESOLATION ANGELS' - Out Now! Re-issue of the band’s debut, with bonus live disc
Full Catalogue at dissonanceproductions.co.uk
MORE NEWS STORIES
Primitai’s ‘Ten Years With Guy And Srdjan’ Celebration
Desolation Angels Record New Album
Acid Reign Sign On The Dotted Line
ALBUM REVIEWS
What the critics have been saying about Dissonance releases:
ARTILLERY – ‘Fear Of Tomorrow’ & ‘Terror Squad’ (joint review)
“The best thrash metal ever forged in Europe...” Wolfram Kuper, Rock Hard 384, 8/10 for each album CAULDRON – ‘New Gods’ “Eighties’ metal meets catchy hard rock – well done!” Andreas Stappert, Deaf Forever, 7/10 “Cauldron pay homage to their musical role models and they do it extremely well. Check it out - it's worth it!” Jens Peters, Rock Hard, 8.5/10 “Cauldron fans will love ‘New Gods’ from the first note! Honest and old school music!” Powermetal.de 8.5/10 “Like Judas Priest in the mid-Eighties, the Canadians tread the fine line between traditional metal and hard rock. Classic songwriting!” Legacy 10/15 NEURONSPOILER – ‘Second Sight’ “‘Second Sight’ is heavy metal for people who dislike pretension and enjoy strong, powerful songs played with an obvious passion.” Alan Holloway, Fireworks 81 QUARTZ – ‘Quartz & ‘Live Quartz’ “Quartz were definitely a blue-collar British metal outfit, cut from the same cloth as future giants Maiden, Saxon and Leppard. These albums prove that they deserved a lot more attention than they got as the NWOBHM flourished.” Malcolm Dome, Classic Rock 261 TOLEDO STEEL – ‘No Quarter’ “Toledo Steel really aren’t pushing any boundaries… However, they have turned out eight blazing, authentic, no-nonsense and no-frills NWOBHM songs. The fact they have done it forty years after the fact matters not one jot.” Helen Bradley Owers, Fireworks 83
AVENGER – ‘Blood Sports’ & ‘Killer Elite’ (joint review) “Tight and energetic… Meat with potatoes is on this menu, no garnish, but if that’s what you want, this is very satisfying. And in ‘NOTJ’ they have an important sounding wannabe epic.” [‘Blood Sports’] “It’s perhaps a little more sure of itself, this second release…” [‘Killer Elite’] Steve Swift, Powerplay 211, 7/10 KILL RITUAL – ‘All Men Shall Fall’ “Sun-drenched Californian metal tie-dyed in ‘Super Collider’-era Megadeth with a penchant for mind-bending riffs, a vocal performance that packs a punch even modern metal’s heavyweight vocalists can’t always reach and the ability to simply be a kick-ass heavy metal album in a world that takes itself far too seriously. That is Kill Ritual’s fourth studio outing in a nutshell.” Jack Press, Fireworks 82 PRIMITAI – ‘The Calling’ “…The excellent cover art was designed by Claudio Bergamin, the man also responsible for Judas Priest’s ‘Firepower’ design, and the mighty Priest are also the perfect example for a comparison to Primitai’s sound, along with the unmistakable Iron Maiden, Saxon, et al twin guitar references. Eschewing the routine, high-tempo power metal route, Primitai are firmly rooted in the more traditional NWOBHM/classic heavy metal style yet succeed in dragging the genre into the present day with modern production techniques. Yes, there is the occasional brief foray into power metal and even thrash territory, along with a definite progressive edge throughout the excellent arrangements of the nine full songs on offer, but most importantly, Primitai never lose sight of the crucial element – that the melody is king – and that is ultimately where their strength lies.” Ant Heeks, Fireworks 83
Full Catalogue at dissonanceproductions.co.uk
Tour & Gig Dates
New dates for Toledo Steel and Barbe-Q-Barbies, amongst others.
AMULET 1 June - OBERNDORF Metalheadz Open Air, Germany 31 Aug - ATTEINS Hard & Heavy Fest VIII, Austria (with Seven Sisters) 3 Oct - MANNHEIM New Wave Of Heavy Metal, MS Connexion Complex, Germany (with Seven Sisters) DESOLATION ANGELS 8 June - LONDON Cart & Horses, Stratford, UK 6 July - LUTON George III Cyberfest, UK TOLEDO STEEL 7 June - SHEFFIELD RS Bar, UK 13 June - BREE Ragnarok, Belgium (with Eliminator) 14 June - OLDENBURG MTS Records, Germany (with Eliminator) 15 June - HAMBURG Bambi Galore, Germany (with Eliminator) 16 June - KIEL Schaubude, Germany 13 July - PRESTWICH SOS Festival, UK 2 Aug - DIEST Moonlight Music Hall, Belgium 3 Aug - OSTEND OHK, Belgium 12 Sept - NEWCASTLE Head Of Steam, UK 13 Sept - SOUTHAMPTON The Firehouse, UK 14 Sept - LONDON The Black Heart, UK 27 Sept - LENS Titans Club, Belgium 28 Sept - LAIGNEVILLE Le Black Pearl, France 29 Sept - PARIS Le Klub, France 10 Oct - MANCHESTER The Star And Garter, UK 11 Oct - SOUTHAMPTON The Firehouse, UK 12 Oct - LONDON The Devonshire Arms, UK 24 Oct - MARBURG Szenario, Germany 25 Oct - KOBLENZ Florinsmarkt, Germany 26 Oct - OBERHAUSEN Helvete Club, Germany 3 Nov - ILFRACOMBE Ilfracombe Rocks Festival, UK
BARBE-Q-BARBIES 28 Jun - SEINÄJOKI Provinssi, Finland 29 Jun - MANAMANSALO Gneissirock, Finland 19 Jul - PORVOO Tirmo Blues, Finland 20 July - TAMPERE Tammerfest, Finland 26 July - KUOPIO RockCock, Finland 27 July - OULU Qstock Oy, Finland 17 Aug - HELSINKI Lekafest, Finland 6 Sept - JYVÄSKYLÄ Hemingways, Finland 7 Sept - IISALMI Graceville, Finland SEVEN SISTERS 1 June - OBERNDORF AM LECH Metalheadz Open Air, DE 25 July - BRANDE-HORNERKIRCHEN Headbangers Open Air, DE 31 Aug - SATTEINS Hard And Heavy Fest VIII, Austria 3 Oct - MANNHEIM New Wave Of Heavy Metal, MS Connexion Complex, Germany (with Amulet) ELIMINATOR 13 June - BREE Ragnarok, Belgium (with Toledo Steel) 14 June - OLDENBURG MTS Records, Germany (with Toledo Steel) 15 June - HAMBURG Bambi Galore, Germany (with Toledo Steel) PRIMITAI 8 Jun - VRSAC Lake Rock Festival, Serbia 29 Jun - READING Afterdark, UK 20 July - EASTINGHTON Amplified Festival, UK 23 Aug - MACHYNLLETH Rock And Metal Circus, Y Llew Coch, UK 14 Sept - NEWCASTLE Think Tank Underground, UK 15 Sept - MANCHESTER Twatterfest 2019, Rebellion, UK 6 Oct - SOUTHAMPTON Joiners, UK 14 Dec - ABERTILLY Rock And Roll Circus, Dolls House, UK
Full tour dates at dissonanceproductions.co.uk
