Thunderstone (power/speed mélodique, Finlande)

[Pierre]

Ils bossent sur leur prochain album


THUNDERSTONE are currently working on their fourth studio album at Sonic Pump Studios. Guitarist/produver Nino Laurenne has issued the following update:

"Well, here we are: starting the sessions for Thunderstone's fourth album. And like before, at this point there's no pressure at all, so the atmosphere and the feeling overall is almost bursting through the roof, which is, btw four meters high in the new Sonic Pump Studios! One thing that makes me very enthusiastic to start the recordings is that I've been working over a year in my new studio with several other bands and I know that the place is perfect for music production.

So everything seems to be just perfect...so far:-)

Saturday morning we started to build up the mics around Mirka's drum kit. This time I wanted to hire a professional engineer to record the drums because I wanted to concentrate 110% on producing. And the perfect guy for this job was Jesse Vainio, who actually is more known for making albums with gold/platinum selling mainstream artists in Finland. Since Mirka was working at his day job until 3pm, we started to set up the sounds etc etc. It took around three hours and the whole kit was miked and the overall sound was ok. And of course the final tuning had to happen with Mirka, since he hits like 1000 times harder than me:-))

Also one major thing that we did differently this time is that we used a 16 track 2 inch analog tape recorder. There IS something magical with the analog sound.

Mainly the whole drum session went pretty easily and we were having a great time. The drum sound is probably the best I've ever recorded so far, so I'm really happy and anxious to start play guitars next. We recorded 11 songs + 2 cover songs that I am not going to tell what they are:-)) All I can say that the other one will be quite a surprise. Let's see what our label will say about that;-)

That's all for now. I will write again after the rhythm guitars and the bass are done."

-Nino-

As previously reported, Thunderstone will play ProgPower in Atlanta, GA on September 16th.

[Ta'abacab]

Tain ils bossent sur leur prochain album alors qu'ils ont pas bosser le premier

ça va être du Stratovarius à combien de % ??

[True Belief]

Dire que leur premier album avait la couleur et le goût d'un Strato c'est pas faux.(encore que faire du bon Strato c'est plutôt un compliment surtout quand on ecoute le dernier Strato justement.).Mais leur troisiéme (déjà) album Tools Of Destruction etait excellent.Du tres bon Heavy/Speed.J'attends le prochain avec interêt.

[Miki]

D'accord à 100%. Je dirais même plus (comme diraient les Dupond-Dupont ) : ce dernier méfait est carrément MONSTRUEUX ! On est loin du pompage STRATO, les références sont amplement digérées sur ce "Tools of destruction". Les riffs me font parfois penser à ICED EARTH. Un disque que je conseille vivement, pour tout amateur de heavy metal burné et accrocheur.

[True Belief]

Le chanteur (rien que ça !!!) et le claviériste quittent le groupe...j'aimais beaucoup la voix de Pasi Rantanen... (superbe sur Tools of destruction & Evolution 4.0),l'info est pas toute fraiche mais pas déjà postée apparemment.

Site officiel :

Last August saw Thunderstone part ways with vocalist Pasi Rantanen and keyboard player Kari Tornack, leaving fans wondering about the future of the band. The band, however, did not rest on its heels and did a full European tour in October-December, recruiting vocalist Tommi .Tuple. Salmela from Tarot and keyboardist Jukka Karinen. The temporary line-up created a flood of speculation, which will come to an end with the announcement of the new line-up.

The new vocalist of Thunderstone is Rick Altzi from Sweden. Rick has contributed his wonderful voice to many metal albums, most recently with German band At Vance.

"Everybody knows that filling Pasi.s boots would be difficult for anybody, but Mr Altzi does it! We were looking around for a potential candidate and were impressed by Rick from the start. After he recorded some vocals for our songs, we were definitely convinced. We flew the guy over to Finland to check his drinking stamina. He came, drank and left as the new singer of Thunderstone! I can't wait to get to Progower UK with him and start working on our next album. We are BACK!", says Nino.

Rick is also very enthusiastic: "I feel lucky to have been given the chance to sing with this genuine metal band, Thunderstone!"

Many people thought that Tuple Salmela would be the permanent singer in the band. Titus Hjelm comments: .There was no drama with Tuple. It was clear to everybody from the beginning that the deal was for the tour only and then we would check the situation again. At the end of the day we were just more comfortable with Rick.s voice and we didn.t want to make any compromises in this issue. Tuple is an awesome singer and we are forever indebted to him for doing the tour with us and taking us through some hard times. And we will certainly drink vodka with him in the future also!. (You can read Tuple.s statement in Finnish here)

On the keyboards the band signed Jukka Karinen, who already handled the key duties on the European tour. "One of the most important things that has always driven this band ahead and helped us through hard times is humor. So having Jukka is just a great thing. This guy's sense of humor is definitely on the same level with us, so it makes him a perfect member! Oh, and he is a great player also:-))", comments Nino.

The new line up will perform for the first time at the ProgPower UK festival in Bristol, March 29th. Other future gigs will be announced on the website. Thank you and stay tuned!!!

[Tony Le Pouilleux]

Pauvre Fangface, c'était son groupe préféré.

Sinon, pour avouer, je ne connais que très peu. Ce que j'ai entendu ne m'a pas trop intéressé.

[Miki]

Ah ben shit alors ! J'adorais la voix du chanteur !

[Pierre]

Les Finlandais reviennent avec un nouveau chanteur suédois du nom de Rick Altzi. L'album est sorti depuis quelques mois en Finlande et est prévu dans les autres pays chez SPV pour le 24 mai.

Formed in early 2000 by ex-speed/thrash Antidote guitarist Nino Laurenne
as a project, his first demo was recorded at his personally owned Sonic
Pump Studios. With a growing awareness of the project's potential, a
commitment was made to create a full-fledged band. Laurenne then
recruited former Antidote bandmate Titus Hjelm on bass and backing
vocals, Pasi Rantanen on vocals and Mirka Rantanen on drums. By the
summer of 2001, Kari Tornack joined the ranks as keyboardist, and
Thunderstone evolved into a quintet. With a demo in circulation
garnishing positive praise and the new line-up concentrating on writing
new music, things came to the inevitable head in the Fall of 2001:
Nuclear Blast's attention was captured, a record deal was secured, and
Thunderstone rushed into the studio within two weeks of the ink drying.
Already preparing for a co-headlining tour with Swedish colleagues
Nocturnal Rites, the band announced a shocking surprise in August 2007:
Thunderstone had parted ways with singer Pasi Rantanen and keyboardist
Kari Tornack. Musical differences and motivation problems were quoted as
the main reasons for the unexpected split. Despite the difficult
situation, the rest of the band decided not to disappoint their fans and
do the planned European tour. The band recruited vocalist Tommi "Tuple"
Salmela from Tarot and keyboardist Jukka Karinen and kicked ass all
around the continent.
The temporary line-up created a flood of speculation, which came to an
end with the announcement of the new line-up in early February 2008. The
vocal duties were taken up by Rick Altzi, a Swedish powerhouse with an
incredible voice that ranges from a rough whisper to a full-fledged
scream. On the keyboards the band signed Jukka Karinen, who already
handled the key duties on the 2007 European tour.
Never stopping even in the face of hardship, Thunderstone rages on! In
July 2008, the now multinational line-up retired to a cabin in the
Finnish woods to write and record new songs. Inspired by the new sound,
the band started laying down basic tracks for their fifth studio effort
in August, while continuing pre-production on still more songs. The
result was the aptly titled Dirt Metal, an album which is no doubt the
culmination of the evolution toward a heavier and darker sound for
Thunderstone. Released in 2009 in Finland, the new masterpiece by the
Finnish-Swedish Mayhem Crew is finally available on May 24th in Europe
through Steamhammer/SPV! Hard-hitting yet ear-catching, rough yet
subtle, the future of heavy metal: Thunderstone!

Track Listing: 01. Rebirth 02. I Almighty 03. Dirt Metal 04. Blood That
I Bleed 05. Star 06. Ghosts Of Youth 07. Counting Hours 08. Dodge Te
Bullet 09. Deadlights 10. At The Feet Of Fools 11. Suffering Song.
LIVE 15.04. GB-London - The Lexington 05.06. D-Euskirchen -
Multi-Kulti-Art Festival

[Gandalf]

Le communiqué promo:



Sortie le 24 mai 2010

THUNDERSTONE "Dirt Metal"

01. Rebirth

02. I Almighty

03. Dirt Metal

04. Blood That I Bleed

05. Star

06. Ghosts Of Youth

07. Counting Hours

08. Dodge Te Bullet

09. Deadlights

10. At The Feet Of Fools

11. Suffering Song



Ce cinquième album studio marque une étape importante dans la carrière du groupe finlandais Thunderstone. En effet, sortant 3 ans après « Evolution 4.0 », son prédécesseur, « Dirt Metal » est synonyme de plusieurs changements majeurs. Une nouvelle maison de disques Sony Finlande (qui vient de signer un deal Européen avec le label Allemand SPV), nouveau clavier (Jukka Karinen), nouveau chanteur (le suédois Rick Altzi) et, enfin, nouveau style... pour ce dernier point l’on devrait plutôt parler d’évolution de style, puisque Thunderstone a eu l’intelligence de délaisser son power metal mélodique basique et très (trop ?) influencé par Stratovarius et Sonata Arctica, au profit d’un heavy metal plus agressif, plus sombre et, surtout, beaucoup plus personnel. Il faut dire qu’en 10 ans, Nino Laurenne, le guitariste / leader du groupe, est aussi devenu un producteur « important » de la scène finlandaise et que ses différentes expériences en temps que tel lui ont certainement values de réfléchir sur l’avenir artistique de sa propre formation. Bref, le résultat est brillant et avec ce « Dirt Metal », Thunderstone a parfaitement réussi à négocier cette transition parfois délicate pour certains groupes. L’arrivée du chanteur Rick Altzi n’est sans doute étrangère à cette réussite. En effet d’un morceau à l’autre ce nouveau frontman fait preuve d’une diversité vocale tout à fait étonnante, il suffit d’écouter des morceaux tel que « Star » ou « Ghosts of Youth » pour s’en rendre compte… parfois l’ombre d’un certain Jorn, qui aurait pris des amphétamines, plane ici et là… c’est dire à quel point sa prestation d’un bout à l’autre de cette galette est impressionnante…

Suite à son concert mémorable au Zénith de Paris avec Stratovarius & Symphony X et sa tournée avec Manigance, Thunderstone a toujours entretenu un rapport particulier avec la France et il y a fort à parier que cette évolution de style ne fasse que renforcer son statut dans l’Hexagone.

[Mr. Sandman]

Le nouvel album va enfin sortir chez AFM Records, le 1er avril.

[Everflow]

ça serait un retour aux sources :

Says guitarist Nino Laurenne: "This is in many ways a return to form—not just in a nostalgic sense, but going back to what we started with and creating something new at the same time. We really wanted to honour all the fans and friends who have stuck with us from the beginning, and I think everyone who picked up our first album all those years ago will be massively happy with Apocalypse Again. We sure as hell are! Expect melody overkill, sing-along choruses, fast lead runs and overall arse-kickery! We're back!"

[Mr. Sandman]

Visu', tracklist et un extrait disponibles :



1. Veterans Of The Apocalypse
2. The Path
3. Fire And Ice
4. Through The Pain
5. Walk Away Free
6. Higher
7. Wounds
8. Days Of Our Lives
9. Barren Land

[Everflow]

Meilleur que dans mes souvenirs. Mais faut dire que j'aime la soupe maintenant.

Nan bon, le chanteur a un grain sympa, un peu dans le style du mec des Poodles (en moins bon quand même).

[Everflow]

[Mr. Sandman]

Le disque est sympa, juste les claviers parfois bien cheaps :

[Everflow]