PRIMAL FEAR + BRAINSTORM + STRIKER

PRIMAL FEAR + BRAINSTORM + STRIKER

11.02. Siegburg - Kubana
13.02. Cham - L.A. Cafe
14.02. Hamburg - Logo
16.02. Hannover - Musikzentrum
18.02. Stuttgart - LKA
19.02. CH-Pratteln - Z7
20.02. München - HEAVY METAL’S CALLING
23.02. AT-Wien - Szene
25.02. Berlin - K 17
26.02. Würzburg - Posthalle
27.02. Essen - Turock

THE HISTORY OF PRIMAL FEAR
If your talking about today’s European top metal acts, the discussion is heading straight towards Primal Fear. Former Gamma Ray vocalist Ralf Scheepers and bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner, two of the most respected German metal musicians founded the band in late 1997.
They recorded their first Primal Fear songs for the Japan based record company JVC Records and signed a deal with JVC for their debut album some weeks later. Germany’s best kept secret was soon a target for most of the European record companies and the band signed to Nuclear Blast Records in early 1998 for the rest ofthe world. The debut album, simply called Primal Fear was released in March 1998 and entered the German Media Control album charts straight ahead on position 48, soon followed by chart success in Japan.
After touring together with Running Wild and Hammerfall. The second PF album Jaws Of Death entered the German Charts on position 49 in July 1999, followed by their first headlining World Tour incl. countries like Brazil, Japan and of course Europe. A kind of PF hysteria broke free and surprised all metal heads, who couldn’t understand, what kind of thunder was raging above them! In this fantastic mood, PF started the songwriting for Nuclear Fire. The result was their heaviest and strongest album so far. Typical PF trademarks like twin guitar solos, killer riffs and a catchy choruses marks Nuclear Fire as a classic. Nuclear Fire has set new standards and charted in Germany Pos. 37, Italy Pos. 71, Switzerland Pos. 77 and Japan Pos. 23! The following headlining European Tour was a huge success and Primal Fear were named as one of the hottest live bands. PF played 10 countries with packed audiences and a fantastic response with co-headliners “Children of Bodom”.
Their 4th album Black Sun released on April 29th 2002 The album was mixed this time at the Sonic Ranch in El Paso/Texas. Black Sun charted in Germany on Pos. 55. The following tour through Europe and 11 countries was a huge success ,followed by a fantastic and successful
tour through South America in December 2002 with the highlight show in Sao Paulo/Brazil at the Via Funchal.
In April/May 2003 the band headed to their first US & Canada tour to be a part of the Metal Gods Tour together with Halford, Testament, Immortal and others. The long awaited first DVD The History Of Fear was released in September 2003 including a superb packaging with fantastic reviews by the metal media. During this time, the Metal Commando was actually in the recording studio and started the sessions for their new album Devils Ground. A video clip was shot in Stockholm/Sweden for the first single of the album and the all time metal hymn Metal Is Forever! After touring, the band started the songwriting for their sixth album Seven Seals and this album was a new start and a fresh breath to reload the sound of the band. The album was prodced in the legendary Warehouse Studioin Vancouver/Canada by Mat Sinner and AC/DC engineer & mixer Mike Frazer. Two video clips were shot for the songs Evil Spell and Seven Seals. The band toured together with Helloween for 3 month through Europe, followed by an extensive tour in Japan. Mat Sinner’s book biography The Book Of Seven Seals was released in the middle of the tour and the great packaging was sold out in a short time.
At the peak of their career, Primal Fear ended up the partnership with Nuclear Blast & JVC Records and signed a worldwide multi album deal with Frontiers Records. Both Nuclear Blast and JVC released a final BEST OF album Metal Is Forever, which was a huge success in Japan and stayed for three month in the album charts.
The first album for Frontiers Records was released in September 2007 and named “New Religion”. Epica’s lead singer Simone Simons was invited to studio to sing the first duet in the Primal Fear recording history and the first single “Everytime It Rains” plus the all time favorite “Fighting The Darkness. Magnus Karlsson from Sweden was introduced as the band’s new guitarist and the band embarked on their“10 Years Of Metal” 2008 anniversary tour! The next studio album named under the mysterious banner of “16.6” was released worldwide in May 2009. “16.6” charted in Germany onPos. 46 and the following 16.6 World Tour incl. shows in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, South America, USA, Canada & an extensive European tour. Some shows in the USA and Europe were recorded and ended up in the first official LIVE album “Live In The USA” and the concert DVD “All Over The World” incl. a playtime of 3 hours and total metal may hem, video clips and backstage scenes. Primal Fears new outstanding “Back To The Roots” message called “Unbreakable” and was released on 20 January 2012 incl. the video-clip and first single “Bad Guys Wear Black”.
Unbreakable charted in Germany #31, Sweden #48, Finland #50, Japan #27, Austria #74, Switzerland #51, Netherland Top 200 and in the US Billboard Heatseeker charts for the first time on #44. A second video clip was released for the opening track of the album “STRIKE” with now more than 1 million Youtube views. After a very serious songwriting sessions, the band started to record the new album “Delivering The Black” in summer 2013. The direction was to create the most powerful Primal Fear album ever. The band moved to Denmark in September to finish the album with
acclaimed producer/engineer Jacob Hansen (Volbeat)
handling the mix. “Delivering The Black” combines the strongest Primal Fear moments ever, with a well-balanced typical Primal Fear trademark riff-vibe crushing songs and some very ambitious musical journeys. Less experiments, more metal! “Delivering The Black” became the most successful album of Primal Fear’s history and charted in Germany #13 – the highest charts entry of the bands 10 released albums in Germany, plus chart entries in Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Japan and onthe US Heatseeker Billboard charts on #18. The band extensively toured Europe, North America, Japan and played Open Air festivals in Europe, plus the 70000 Tons Of Metal cruise and Latin America.
In summer 2015 Primal Fear will record their new album “THE END IS NEAR” with producer Mat Sinner and engineer/mixer Jacob Hansen. The new album will be released on January 15, 2016 in Europe/Japan and January 19, 2016 in North America by Frontiers Music!

PRIMAL FEAR line-up:
Ralf Scheepers – Vocals
Alex Beyrodt – Guitars
Magnus Karlsson – Guitars
Aquiles Priester – Drums
Mat Sinner – Bass & Vocal

Brainstorm

BRAINSTORM
zählen zu den erfolgreichsten Power Metal-Bands Europas. Mit Alben
wie “Soul Temptation“(2003) und „Liquid Monster“
(2005) veröffentlichten die Schwaben Klassiker des Genres und machten unmissverständlich klar, wofür der Name BRAINSTORM steht: nämlich für kernigen und doch melodischen Metal der Güteklasse A. Beim neuesten Streich „Firesoul“schlägt die Band gleich in mehrerlei Weise die Brücke zur eigenen Vergangenheit. Und so erinnert nicht nur das Coverartwork an BRAINSTORMs Mitt-2000er-Veröffentlichungen; mit Achim Koehler ist auch der Mann zurück hinterm Mischpult, der u.a. schon „Liquid Monster“ und „Soul Temptation“veredelte. In Verbindung mit dem Band-typisch hochklassigen Songwriting und einem Frontmann Andy B. Franck in bestechender Form, machen BRAINSTORM vor, wie man „back to the roots“ geht und sich gleichzeitig treu bleibt. Im Videoclip zum Titeltrack zeigensich die Süddeutschen dann auch noch (visuell) von einer ganz neuen, unerwarteten Seite.Gitarrist Torsten Ihlenfeld:„Firesoul“ atmet ganz eindeutig die Aufbruchstimmung und den Spirit von „Soul Temptation“und „Metus Mortis“, übertrifft unserer Meinung nach aber sogar noch die früheren Alben und klingt dabei so dermaßen erfrischend hart und hymnisch zugleich. Alleine der Opener "Erased ByThe Dark" überfährt mich jedes Mal mit seiner Doublebass-Wucht und ich bekomme regelmäßig Gänsehaut,wenn zum erstenMal der Chor einsetzt. Der Titeltrack "Firesoul" lädt geradezu dazu ein, mit Tempo 200 über die Autobahn zu brettern und schiebt sich wie ein Leopard-Panzer unaufhaltsam in die Gehörgänge.
„
Firesoul“ist unser 10. Studioalbum und wir sind verdammt stolz darauf, ein Album erschaffen zu haben an dem wir uns in Zukunft wohl (aber sehr gerne) messen lassen müssen.“
Die Band wurde 1989 von den Gitarristen Torsten Ihlenfeld und Milan Loncaric sowie Schlagzeuger Dieter Bernert ins Leben gerufen. Die ersten Jahrwaren bestimmt von Demoaufnahmen und Liveauftritten, was das Bandgefüge festigte und einen soliden Grundstein für die weitere Karriere legte. 1997 dann unterschrieben BRAINSTORM ihren ersten Plattenvertrag und veröffentlichten das von ihnen selbst produzierte
Debütalbum “Hungry”, das bereits gute Kritiken erhielt. Nur ein Jahr später fand man sich erneut im Studio ein, um unter der Regie von Charlie Bauerfeind und Dirk  Schlächter das zweite Album „Unholy“zu produzieren. Auf Europa-Tour mit ICED EARTH konnten BRAINSTORM dann erstmals einem großen Publikum beweisen, dass sie zu den stärksten neuen Bands gehörten.1999 wurde mit Andy B. Franck. ein neuer Sänger vorgestellt und ein Deal mit Metal Blade Records folgte. Das mit Spannung erwartete dritte Album “Ambiguity” konnte erneut allerorts euphorische Reaktionen einheimsen. Und doch hatte die Band ihr Potential noch nicht vollends ausgeschöpft, wie das im Oktober 2001 veröffentlichte “Metus Mortis”bewies –der erste Meilenstein im reichen Bandkatalog war gesetzt. Mit „Soul Temptation“(2003) fand die rasante Entwicklung ihre Fortsetzung: große Charterfolge und intensive Liveshows manifestierten BRAINSTORM in der ChampionsLeague des Metal. Aber es sollte noch besser kommen: das sechste Album “Liquid Monster”wurde Anfang 2005 fertiggestellt und zeigte den enormen Fortschritt, den die Band gemacht hatte, und übertraf sogar die kühnsten Erwartungen. Europaweite Charteinstiege und eine höchst erfolgreiche Hitsingle („All Those Words“) sorgen dafür, dass BRAINSTORM auf allen wichtigen Festivals gastierten.Einige dieser Auftritte wurden auf der Doppel-DVD “Honey From The B’s” veröffentlicht, die allen Fans auf sehr angenehme Weise die Wartezeit bis zum nächsten Studioalbum verkürzte.
Dieses sollte im Januar 2008 unter dem Titel „Downburst“erscheinen. Nachdem BRAINSTORM im Herbst 2009 mit „Memorial Roots“ihren Einstand bei AFM Records  feierten, dauerte es erneut nicht einmal zwei Jahre und „On The Spur Of The Moment“ wurde veröffentlicht. Die folgenden Liveaktivitäten zählen zu den erfolgreichsten der  Bandgeschichte, BRAINSTORM wurden auf Festivals weltweit abgefeiert.
Wer hochklassigen Power Metal liebt, kommt an BRAINSTORM mehr denn je nicht vorbei.

Striker

“Full Speed or No Speed”: prophetic words to live by from Striker’s debut full length release “Eyes in the Night”. Since forming nearly 8 years ago, not a day goes by without the pedal to the metal attitude that smashes through the traffic jam of modern metal. “Stand in the Fire”, Striker’s 4th studio album, prepares to shift the band into high gear and leave the competition in the dust. Guest performances from some of metal’s premiere players as well as other unprecedented collaborations preparea high octane mix that is ready for ignition. This will be Striker’s strongest album to date, living a life set by one rule: no limits! Striker has come a long with since their 2007 formation in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The band’s first demo immediately caught international attention from notable German record label, Iron Kodex. Backed by the label’s support, Striker went on to record and release their first EP, “Road Warrior”, in early 2009. The EP spread like wildfire among metal fansin Canada, Germany, and Spain. It was this first major stepping-stone inkick starting a promising career. In 2010 the band released their first full-length recording, “Eyes in the Night”, which reinforced Striker’s presence in both the domestic and international metal scene. The release initiated the band’s touring career: including Canada coast to coast, and over a dozen European countries with several festival appearances (Metal Assault Festival, and Headbangers Open Air) overseas. This established the credibility of Striker as a hardworking, dedicated band, willing to take the risks necessary to make it to the next level of their musical career.

Over the years Striker continued to refine their public image, hone their product, and solicit support within the music industry. Having completed the Iron Kodex contract with Eyes in the Night, the band looked towards greater achievements and began working with producer Michael Wagener (Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Skid Row) in Nashville, Tennessee.
After spending over two months recording in the USA the band completed their 2nd album, “Armed to the Teeth”, and was promptly signed by prominent Austrian label Napalm Records July 27, 2012. Hot off the heels of the album release announcement, Striker was selected to directly support heavy metal giants Metallica for 2 sold out shows at Rexall Place in Edmonton. The shows were a huge boost to the band and showed them the inner workings ofone of the most successful bands in history. With a newfound work ethic, the band set to work planning their biggest Canadian and European tours to date, breaking into new territories such as the UK and Japan.
With the desire to improve and expand to even greater heights, the band remained in Europe after a headlining tour and began to work on the album “City of Gold” with visionary producer Frederik Nordstrom, a founding member of the melodic death metal sound. “City of Gold”was critically acclaimed and propelled Striker forward in the industry, directly  supporting veteran acts such as Bullet and Artillery on extensive tours of Europe and the United States. Major European festivals began to take interest, with the band headlining smaller festivals  such as Devilstone Festival and Headbangers Open Air, and headlining the second stage at major festivals such as Metal Days Festival to enormous crowds. Working again with Frederik Nordstrom, “Stand in the Fire” sees Striker taking their destiny into their own hands by releasing the album on their own label “Record Breaking Records”, ushering in a new era of decisive action, dedication and forward thinking. Live life by one rule: No Limits!