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CD/DVD Releases: Forthcoming Releases From Lion Music

Posted on Sunday, February 01 @ 21:00:00 UTC by nightowl

Three new releases are in the wings from Lion Music, beginning with Astra's From Within (Cat LMC257), which will be released on February 20, 2009.

One of the front runners of the Italian progressive metal scene, Astra mark their first release for Lion Music with the dazzling From Within.

Best described as a mixture of Symphony X, Vanden Plas, early Dream Theater and Queen crossed with some AOR touches; the new album sees Astra delivering an album of high quality from start to finish with a strong accessible punch to the music on offer.

Having made a good impression with press worldwide with their debut album About Me: Through Life And Beyond (Burning Star Records) the band have honed their style for From Within and look set to reach out to a wider audience of prog metal fans worldwide.



Possessing a more straightforward progressive metal sound, ten tracks of musically rich and melodically full metal, From Within is ultra powerful in song structure and musicianship all enhanced by an excellent production.

The creation of From Within began in late Dec 2007 with jams done by Titta (on the drums), Emanuele, Silvio and Andrea. Filippo then joined the band for a week and gave his help to create some tunes and finished other songs. A lot of pre-production was made and with the help of internet all the vocals line and keyboard parts were ready 5 months before the recording sessions. The recording sessions ran from February ? March 2008 and the mixing sessions finalised the album in September-October 2008 all being finalised with the release of From Within on February 20th 2009.

To sum up From Within is accessible, catchy and impressive as hell.

Track listing:

01. Over The Hills
02. Promises You Made
03. Memories Remain
04. The Rage Behind
05. Save Another Day
06. Hypocrisy
07. Road To Nowhere
08. Simple Mind
09. The Hitman
10. Never Say Goodbye

Musicians:

Titta Tani : Lead and Background vocals.
Andrea Casali : Bass and background vocals.
Emanuele Casali : Piano, Keyboards and acoustic guitars on "The Rage Behind".
Silvio D'onorio De Meo : Guitars.
Filippo Berlini : Drums.

MySpace site: www.myspace.com/astraprog

[See end of article for band history]

Lion Music is pleased to announce the signing of Italian metallers Ashent. Their debut album Deconstructive will be released in March 20th 2009. Deconstructive is a potent progressive experience with many techno-thrash elements, some melodic death references and gothic atmospheres. Each song has its own distinct style with a mix of huge riffs, great variety of tempo, persuasive harmonies, great melodies and shredding arrangements.

Essentially Ashent represents the darkest and heaviest side of progressive metal, sharing dramatic and intense emotions with the intimacy of an inner journey, all wrapped in a modern musical and lyrical language.

Ashent are:

Steve Braun ? Vocals
Onofrio Falanga ? Guitars
Cristiano Bergamo ? Guitars
Davide Buso ? Drums
Gianpaolo Falanga ? Bass and growls
Paolo Torresani - Keyboards

Deconstructive Track Listing:

01. Sinking Beneath
02. Imperfect
03. Ephemera
04. To Develop Self-Creativity
05. The Resonance Of Life
06. Cassandra
07. Spectral Vanity
08. How Could It Feel Like This?
09. Ebb And Flow Of Awareness
10. Starlinked Innerness
11. Eclipsing Binary
12. Music For Departure

Myspace site: www.myspace.com/ashentband

Tony Hernando's Actual Events (Cat LMC256) will be released February 20, 2009. Actual Events is Tony Hernando's strongest album to date, 11 furious instrumentals with a strong sense of melody and aggressive approach. With a top production, good compositions and a passionate playing by Tony Hernando and one of the best drumming performances in years by Mike Terrana, Actual Events is a heavy sounding yet catchy and interesting album.

Tony Hernando, the Spain based guitarist is one of the most exciting shredders in Europe today. Tony has released 4 solo albums and an outstanding CD/DVD, including the acclaimed III and has toured with some of the best players in business, like Andy Timmons and Richie Kotzen. Tony is an Ibanez and Bogner endorsee and since 2007 is also the new guitarist for the n?1 Metal act from Spain - Saratoga.

Actual Events shows Tony Hernando's progressive and neoclassical side more than ever, with an influence from the first Macalpine, Yngwie and Cacophony records. In addition there are some fusion and classical numbers too, making the record strong and interesting from start to finish. Actual Events has elements that can be found on Tony's previous releases giving fans something to grasp instantly and this variety of sound is due to Tony's wide spectrum of musical likes and knowledge, but Actual Events shows more than any other record of his a maturity in composition.

On drummer Mike Terrana who has played on all Tony's previous releases Hernando comments, "We are good friends and work together really well. He has said that this is one of his best recordings in years. I pushed him to play better than ever and the album not only has a guitar fest through out, but a drums fest as well." On the album creation Tony comments, "I began the compositions in Jan 08, made the demos for Mike around March and then we went to Roland Grapow's studios in Slovakia for recording in April. I finished additional tracks at my own studio after my summer tour with Saratoga and mixed the album in September 2008."

Actual Events Tracklisting:

01. Eyes of Orion
02. Totem
03. Stones Of Silence
04. Tomorrow's Rain
05. Land With No Sun
06. Signals Of Aggression
07. State Of Mind
08. Deathly Kiss
09. Side Effects
10. Driven By Fear
11. The Watcher

Musicians:

Tony Hernando / All guitars and additional bass.
Mike Terrana / Drums and percussion.
Niko Del Hierro / Bass.
V?ctor D?ez / Keyboards.

MySpace site: www.myspace.com/tonyhernando



BAND HISTORY - ASTRA

Astra started back in 2001 in Rome as an instrumental project. At the time a 4 piece 3 of which (keyboard, bass and guitar players) are still are in the current line-up. After several line-up changes they reached the current line up: Titta Tani (main vocals), Emanuele Casali (keyboards and chorus), Andrea Casali (bass and chorus), Silvio D'Onorio De Meo (guitars) and Filippo Berlini (drums). Titta Tani is also known as the drummer of Death Metal acts Necrophagia and Daemonia and is one of the most well known metal session musicians in Italy and he divides his career as a vocalist and as a drummer and is also a former member of DGM.

May 2002 saw the band win the first Italian Official Dream Theater Tribute Band Contest as undertaking a tour of Italy's clubs. They also performed featuring Dream Theater keybordist Jordan Rudess at the Italian Dream Theater fan club's 10-year party. In December 2005 Astra signed for Burning Star Records and got back to the studio to record their debut. In August 2006 Burning Star Records released About Me: Through Life And Beyond, which well received from press worldwide. Now Astra are back and completed the writing, recording and mixing of their new album From Within that will released on February 20th 2009 through Lion Music.

[Source: Lion Music]

Posted in Album Release News