Stratovarius - DARKEST HOUS (Single)

Stratovarius are putting the finishing touches on their thirteenth full-length studio album “Elysium” in 5-by-5 studios, Pitäjänmäki, Helsinki, Finland. The album will be released on January 12th, 2011 by JVC in Asia and worldwide on January 14th, 2011 by Edel/EarMusic.
A single with two new songs of “Elysium” will be released on 26 November this year, coinciding with the start date of the “7 sinners world tour” on which Stratovarius will join Helloween as very special guests – kicking off the same day in the Szene, Vienna.

The single also contains a demo track, and two unreleased live tracks recorded earlier this year on Stratovarius’ wildly successful 2009/2010 “Polaris” world tour.

The following tracks will be part of the single:

Darkest Hours (from the upcoming album “Elysium”)
Infernal Maze (from the upcoming album “Elysium”)
Darkest Hours (demo version)
Against the Wind (live recording, Sofia, Bulgaria)
Black Diamond (live recording, Göteborg, Sweden)

Preliminary tracklist of “Elysium”: (order of songs and working titles are subject to change)

Heavenly Divine
Infernal Maze
Elysium, part I, II and III
Civilization
Darkest Hours
Under Flaming Skies
No return
New Horizon
Move the Mountain
Castaway (Japan Bonus Track)

Stratovarius - Elysium

Cover artwork by Gyula Havancsák. Band photo by Kimmo Syväri.

See information about upcoming live dates here, or below.

“Seven Sinners” tour together with Helloween
November 26, 2010: Szene, Vienna, Austria
November 27, 2010: Winter Masters of Rock, Zlin, Czech Republic
November 28, 2010: Petöfi Hall, budapest, Hungary
December 1, 2010: Neue Stadthalle, Langen, Germany
December 2, 2010: Hof Ter Lo, Antwerp, Belgium
December 4, 2010: Hardrock Hell Festival, Prestatyn, UK
December 5, 2010: The HMV Forum, London, UK
December 6, 2010: Effenaar, Eindhoven, Holland
December 8, 2010: Mejeriet, Lund, Sweden
December 9, 2010: Rockefeller, Oslo, Norway
December 10, 2010: Lisebergshallen, Gothenburg, Sweden
December 11, 2010: Arenan, Stockholm, Sweden
December 13, 2010: Rock Cafe, Tallinn, Estonia
December 14, 2010: Pakkahuone, Tampere, Finland
December 15, 2010: House Of Culture, Helsinki, Finland
December 17, 2010: Stodola, Warsaw, Poland
December 18, 2010: Studio, Cracow, Poland
December 19, 2010: Mala Sportovni Hala, Prague, Czech Republic
January 11, 2011 – Elysee Montmatre, Paris, France
January 12, 2011 – Le Transbordeur, Lyon, France
January 14, 2011 – Rockstar Live, Bilbao, Spain
January 15, 2011 – La Riviera, Madrid, Spain
January 16, 2011 – Razzmatazz I, Barcelona, Spain
January 18, 2011 – Alcatraz, Milan, Italy
January 19, 2011 – Altantico, Rome, Italy
January 21, 2011 – Fuzz Live Music Club, Athen, Greece
January 22, 2011 – Principal Club Theatre, Thessaloniki, Greece
January 23, 2011 – Hristo Botev Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria
January 24, 2011 – Hristo Botev Hall, Sofia, Bulgaria
January 26, 2011 – Boogaloo Club, Zagreb, Croatia
January 27, 2011 – Kino Siska Club, Ljubljana, Slovenia
January 28, 2011 – Sports Hall, Hlohovec, Slovakia
January 29, 2011 – Sports Hall, Presov, Slovakia
January 31, 2011 – Z7, Pratteln, Switzerland
February 01, 2011 – Garage, Saarbrücken, Germany
February 02, 2011 – Brückenforum, Bonn, Germany
February 04, 2011 – Capitol, Hannover, Germany
February 05, 2011 – Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany
February 06, 2011 – Halle Gartlage, Osnabrück, Germany
February 09, 2011 – Docks, Hamburg, Germany
February 10, 2011 – Jako Arena, Bamberg, Germany
February 11, 2011 – All-Kart-Halle, Kaufbeuren, Germany
February 12, 2011 – Volksbankmesse, Balingen, Germany

Helloween 2010

After their extremely successful Hellish Rock world tour 2007/08, leading HELLOWEEN through 40 countries on 4 continents, the German heavy metal legend soon will be touring the world again! Three weeks after the release of the new, yet untitled and highly anticipated studio album around Halloween (end of October) 2010, the band will hit the road again and start the tour in Europe.

While rumors promise the album to be the band’s heaviest and fastest effort in years, Helloween can announce nobody less than the Finland-based heavy metal supergroup STRATOVARIUS for the slot of the very special guest!

Says singer Andi Deris: “We had a great package with GAMMA RAY last time, and we are very proud to have Stratovarius with us this time. We look forward to have another power metal party with our fans all over the planet – see you soon!”

The 7 Sinners World Tour 2010/11 European Part I

November
26 – Wien, Austria – Szene
27 – Zlin, Czech Republic – Winter Masters of Rock
28 – Budapest, Hungary – Petöfi Hall

December
1 – Langen, Germany – Neue Stadthalle
2 – Antwerp, Belgium – Hof Ter Lo
4 – Prestatyn, UK – Hardrock Hell Festival
5 – London, UK – The HMV Forum
6 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Effenaar
8 – Lund, Sweden – Mejeriet
9 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller
10 – Gothenburg, Sweden – Lisebergshallen
11 – Stockholm, Sweden – Arenan
13 – Tallinn, Estonia – Rock Cafe
14 – Tampere, Finland – Pakkahuone
15 – Helsinki, Finland – House Of Culture
17 – Warsaw, Poland – Stodola
18 – Cracow, Poland – Studio
19 – Prague, Czech Republic – Mala Sportovni Hala

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(Ed. note: We hope this tour comes to all of North America as well!)

SWEDENROCK FESTIVAL 2010

MARKO SYRJÄLÄ, ARTO LEHTINEN, PATRICK CLEMENT

Jävlä Swedenrock, här kommer vi igen. The annual roadtrip to Swedenrock by the Finnish Metal‑Rules.Com  team is already the tenth time in a row.  The  2010 line‑up presented a wide range of metal and hard rock. Therefore, over 70 bands offered nothing but an utter blast and a helluv an experience for the attendees to enjoy metal and rock. Swedenrock has been successful during the past ten years as the festival has always been sold out. This year wasn’t any exception as the fest was sold out despite the lousy economomic situation worldwide. As mentioned in the first sentence, this is the tenth time in a row when Sweden Rock has been featured on Metal‑Rules.com, so it is quite logical for us to give a real in‑depth article of several bands performing at Sweden Rock. The  weather wasn’t ideal compared to previous years. It either rained or was windy with a little sunshine. But we were there for bands, not for having some beach party. We are not able to cover every bloody band, but hopefully you will have a pleasant reading experience… Enjoy or die !!!

 

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Timo Kotipelto

Finnish power metallers STRATOVARIUS continue work on the follow-up to 2009′s Polaris. Singer Timo Kotipelto checks in with BraveWords.com from the studio. “Right now we are recording some new demos,” he reveals. “I think we have more than 20 songs sort of demoed out. I still have to sing the demo vocals, but all the other instruments are done, and in the next couple of weeks, I hope I’ll do that. But of course, the next week we’re going to go to China and do some gigs over there, so nothing is going to happen that week. But then the plan is to start recording the actual album later this year, and the album should come out… it’s hard to say, maybe early next year between January and May, somewhere in there. But that’s the plan. Hopefully there will be a new Stratovarius album then.”

So how would you describe the music?

“That’s a good question. Songs from Matias (Kupiainen – new guitarist) are more progressive, but then again, there is still some more traditional stuff. But the songs that will be on the final album, it’s hard to say. I think we are maybe following the path of the last album, but maybe more progressive stuff. We’ll see – I don’t know yet.”

Stratovarius’ brand new studio album will be released in early 2011 through JVC in Asia and Edel throughout the rest of the world. 2011 will see another Stratovarius world tour.

In other news, Stratovarius’ highly acclaimed Infinite album (from 2000) will be re-released on June 26th internationally after the band recently reacquired the rights to the album.

Stratovarius with Pagan’s Mind

Local openers – Borealis, Lords of Hera

Sept. 18^th, 2009 @ The Opera House

Toronto, Canada

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Tuska Open Air Metal Festival

The 29th of June ? The 1st of July 2007

The Central Park of Kaisaniemi

Helsinki Finland

Review and pics by Luxi Lahtinen and Arto Lehtinen

(additional comments by Mika Hankaniemi)

Once again the prestigious Tuska open air metal festival is here. Thousands of metalheads have travelled from all around Finland and other countries to the central park of Kaisaniemi in order to celebrate the real metal inferno in the middle of Helsinki. This year the Tuska metal festival celebrates its tenth anniversary and of course the offering of the line-up of bands is as colorful as in the previous events.

Getting the mighty Norwegian black metal legends like Emperor and Immortal have been the most awaited ones amongst the audience for sure. However although these so-called big black metal legends definitely attract more of the extreme metal fans, the festival is not limited to one certain metal category. Everyone has something to feel and see and taste during these three days. Above all, power metal had a strong line up - for example Blind Guardian and Stratovarius, being the most known names in Tuska?s bill in 2007.

The festival has become a real guaranteed pure metal festival and has had massive popularity amongst all kinds of metalheads of all ages. The majority of the tickets were already sold out quickly in the advance sales a long time ago. However there were some leftovers if someone was willing to buy, and taste a feeling of metal after all.

Metal-Rules.com was again at Tuska to give an exact review and article on bands. Therefore sit down and enjoy your reading. 

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Live And Louder Rock Fest
8th of October 2006,
Palacio de los Deportes (México)

Article by Chico Migraña, Pics by OCESA

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Timo Tolkki of Stratovarius
Interviewed in March 1999 by David Lee

STRATOVARIUS is the oldest “new” band on the metal scene today. While they have been thrilling throngs of fans across Europe and Japan since the mid-eighties, they have gone virtually unheard of in the U.S. Were it not for the advent of the Internet, only a handful of people Stateside would have ever had the chance to bask in the magnificently brilliant glow of these power metal kings. With less than a single calendar’s worth of days left until the new millennium it is somehow fitting that STRATOVARIUS should finally be allowed to make its mark here via a reborn NOISE RECORDS.

“DESTINY” is a record with a classic power metal feel that may, at first, bring images of Blackmore and Malmsteen’s work but soon sets itself apart in every considerable aspect. The melodies are involved but not standoffish. The musicianship is crisp, powerful and most important, so obviously heartfelt. This is a work of power and passion of epic proportions and has the added feature of being eminently listenable. It is likely that this disc won’t leave your player for weeks at a time. It is just that good.

Complimenting the music is the personableness of the players themselves, in this case Timo Tolkki. Timo is every bit the guitar god in Europe that Blackmore and Malmsteen have been, yet he is so easy to converse with that you could easily feel like you are speaking to an old friend. He doesn’t go in much for the idol worship thing and would rather that people simply concentrate on the music which, in this case, is exceedingly easy. I caught Timo as he was waiting for the bus to take the band to France so that they could begin yet another European tour.

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Stratovarius Keyboardist Jens Johansson
Interview By EvilG / Transcription by Duke
Live Pics Metal-Rules.com, Promo Pics from SanctuaryRecords

After a turbulent year, Stratovarius has emerged from the soap opera that was the band with a new self-titled album and a new approach. The music is still easily identifiable as Stratovarius, but the trademark speed is completely absent from the new album as is the presence of most (not all) shredding guitars and most of the blazing keyboard solos that the pair are known for. Despite the changes, and the missing ingredients, the songs are catchy and quite good. I questioned Jens on the new direction, the past year?s events, and among other things touched upon the infamous ?release the fury? Yngwie recording for which he was present as a member of Yngwie?s Rising Force band.

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