Nova Luna – Nova Vita
product: Nova Luna – Nova Vita release date: 20.05.2022 territory: world formats: CD & digitally NOVA LUNA is an Italian band initially formed in 2019 by singer Mattia Martin, major writer and composer of the songs on the album entitled “Nova Vita”. Subsequently Alessandro Piputto on drums and Davide Martina on guitars were added, which mainly contributed to finish the work. During the next two years the final changes were made, and then recorded, mixed and mastered in studio by Michele Guaitoli (Temperance, Vision Of Atlantis). During the recordings and final changes of the works, Nicola Lardo mainly participated on bass and Valerio Simonini on keyboards. The group is inspired by Prog Metal, Pop Metal and with some hints of eighties Hard Rock and Japanese Pop. The album features various guests including Marco Minnemann (The Artistocrats), Reb Beach (Whitesnake), Michele Luppi (Whitesnake) and Mistheria (Vivaldi Metal Project). The songs on the “Nova Vita” album are a collection of stories that tell feelings and poetry, each song represents a narrated emotion, including depression, anger and love, then leaving space for technique and musical composition. It is inspired by prog metal music, including for example Symphony X and Dream Theater, passing through more pop and modern music, finally taking a cue from hard rock. In addition to these, Japanese culture and music also took part in certain songs, inspiring them through some of the greatest anime and videogame series.
Bobby Stoker – Everglow
product: Bobby Stoker – Everglow (in co-operation with Vivid Music Productions) release date: 20.05.2022 formats: CD & digitally (LP later in the year) territory: world Bobby Stoker (in German: Bobby Stöcker) took his first piano lessons at the age of 5. Born in Frankfurt am Main-Germany, he spent his entire childhood living abroad with his family. Having lived in Tunisia, South Korea and Egypt, he returned to Germany in 1981 at the age of 12. He knew from incredibly early on that music was his life. At the age of 14 he devoted himself to the guitar, founded his first band and at the age of 16 began writing his own songs . After graduating from school, the artist took the plunge and has been in the music business ever since. Since then, Stoker has been on stage with many greats such as Bobby Kimball (singer of TOTO), has organized and played at large events with his bands: he has played around 100 performances every year since the early 1990s. In 1995 – 1996 Bobby took part in the musical „Tommy“ by „The Who“ in Offenbach-Germany and then went on and founded his own recording studio in Frankfurt am Main. There he made a name for himself as a guitarist in the studio scene, recording commercials, songs, and commissioned productions. Through the various producers and artists he worked for there, he also met the exceptional singer Melanie Thornton and in 1999 wrote songs for her debut solo album „Ready To Fly“, which was released in 2001 and achieved gold status for 150,000 sales in 2002 and reached number 3 in the German album charts. In 2002, he then founded the production company „Vivid Music Productions“ (V.M.P) expanding his business beyond music production and song writing to include event planning. To this day, „Vivid Music Productions“ has established itself as an artist pool with a broad community roster of musicians & event networks and organizes around 100 -120 events every year. Since 2018, Bobby has been a member of Go Music, the touring band of ex Klaus Lage bassist Martin Engelien, and plays alongside other exceptional musicians such as Pitti Hecht (percussion – Scorpions), Cherry Gehring (keyboarder – Pur), Benne Neuner (drums – Glasperlenspiel) and Dirk Brand (drums – Axxis). At the end of 2020, unable to do live shows during the Corona pandemic, Bobby founded his own label and started work on his solo album „Everglow“, on which he took on the part of the lead vocals for the first time. After just over a year, together with the lyricist Nicole Göbel, 12 powerful rock songs were created, incorporating a heady mix of blues and soul. As a studio musician, he is accompanied by well-known and established names such as Willy Wagner (Fish/Marillion, Bobby Kimball, Tony Carey/Rainbow) on bass and singers such as Oliver Hartmann and Ina Morgan from Avantasia on backing vocals. The album was mixed & mastered, in early 2022 by Tommy Newton (producer of Helloween „Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part 1&2“, U.F.O, Ark, VoodooCult, Guano Apes and Molly Hatchett) The album „Everglow“ will be released on May 20th 2022, via V.M.P. in collaboration with Pride & Joy Music.
DeVicious – Black Heart
product: DeVicious – Black Heart release date: 14.04.2022 territory: world formats: CD, LP, MC and digital After the surprising success of their previous long player “Phase Three” DeVicious is back with their highly anticipated 4th Studio album “Black Heart”!eartHeart Having previously produced three albums in only three years, the international outfit based in Germany decided to use the pandemic enforced break wisely to take their time for the song writing and production and eventually ended up 137 days producing their most melodic, heaviest, most angry yet freshest and most unique album to date. Being in Lockdown for 1,5 years and being forced to see the events going down around the world had a big impact on the lyrics and the music. DeVicious went back to the studio with one cardinal rule: don’t copy yourself and no stylistic influence is off the table as long as it is fun to play and the melody is big enough. Band leader & producer Alex Frey wanted to create a different atmosphere as on the previous albums. DeVicious have always defined themselves through big arena type melodies, which often comes with limitations of style and a particular lack of freedom. Black Heart” contains influences from traditional Hard Rock, Metal, Melodic Metal, Progressive Rock and even EDM sounds found their way into the production. DeVicious will also release their own comic book series “Dollhouse DV” in 2022. The main characters of the comics are the models on the covers for the “Black Heart” album and its singles. The comics and artwork were created in entirety by the band. Three of the 12 songs are part of the official Soundtrack for the comic books… “Black Heart” was produced by Alex Frey at Tower 13 Studios, Karlsruhe, mixed by Patrick Damiani at Tidalwave Studios Karlsdorf and mastered by Robin Schmidt at 24-96 Mastering Karlsruhe. Additional backing vocals by Michael Bormann (Michael Bormann’s Jaded Hard) and Baol Bardot Bulsara (TNT).
Sign X – Back to Eden
product: Sign X – Back To Eden release date: 13.08.2022 territory: world formats: CD & digital SIGN X is back! After their first album „Like A Fire“, which received excellent reviews worldwide and also was helped to build up a large fan base, the group’s new output „Back To Eden“ now is ready to be released! SIGN X emerged from the Hamburg based cult band Châlice who have released 7 CD’s since the beginning of the 90s and successfully played various shows & tours with rock greats like Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Uriah Heep, Saga, Doro and many more. With the arrival of singer Sebastian Zierof (known as ‘Udo’ in the successful musical „Hinterm Horizont ‚“), Sign X began to work on their own sound, which already has been offered on the first album, the first single and title track of the new album „Back To Eden“, still supported by Michel Jotzer on keyboards. After causing quite a stir with the first EP at the beginning of 2018 (number 1 in the Classic Rock Charts on Amazon), the first album „Like A Fire“, due to the collaboration with the label „Pride & Glory Music“, was able to increase the level of awareness once again tremendously. Again backed up with the mixing & mastering genius Andy Horn (The Red Room Studios), the new songs have once more have taken the step onto the next level!
Steve Dalton – Primitve
product: Steve Dalton – Primitive release date: 18.03.2022 territory: world formats: CD & digital Steve Dalton is a guitarist, composer and multi-instrumentalist who was born in Sheffield, England and now is living in Sölvesborg in Southern Sweden. In 2016, Steve Dalton released a first solo project called Steel City which consisted of demos featuring Alessandro Del Vecchio (Hardline, Edge Of Forever) on vocals. Following on from Steel City, Steve Dalton wrote another set of songs which culminated in his debut album “Primitive”. All compositions were written by the artist himself who also played all instruments. The production was handled by Brazilian producer & vocalist Raphael Gazal who performed lead vocals on 7 out of the 9 tracks. The other 2 tracks feature English vocalist Ross Griggs and the late, great singer David Saylor. This album offers a wide variety of styles, from classic melodic rock to power metal.
Re-Machined – Brain Dead
product: Re-Machined – Brain Dead release date: 18.02.2022 territory: world formats: CD & digital After the big success of their debut album “Wheels Of Time”, the German Heavy Metal machine RE-MACHINED returns on February 18th, 2022 with its sophomore release “Brain Dead” which will be released once again by German Heavy Metal label Pride & Joy Music! Following the motto “never change a winning team”, the band from Hessia stays true to oneself. The high class production by producer Markus Teske (The New Roses, U.D.O.) again is the icing on the cake. “Brain Dead” also combines elements from various classic Heavy Metal acts but nevertheless manages the transfer into the new century. RE-MACHINED’s solid sound still is based on by the impressive twin guitars by Horst Pflaumer and Andreas Glanz, the pumping bass courtesy of Bruno Strasser, the shocking screams by singer Thomas Ritter and the classic metal beats by Volker Brecher. In conclusion, RE-MACHINED once again offer first Class Heavy Rock which will please old and new Metal fans alike. The 11 songs powerfully breathe the spirit of classic 80’s bands such as Sinner, Trance, (the German group) Bullet or Cacumen!
Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord – Human Heredity
product: Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord – Human Heredity release date: 18.02.2022 territory: world (-JP) formats: CD & digital Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord is a Neoclassical Power Metal band based in Poland which was founded in 2009. The band centered around guitarist Balcerak so far has released two albums (“Blood Of The Prophets” (2011) and “Gates Of Valhalla” (2014). The release of the band’s 3rd full length-album “Human Heredity” is now more representing a kind of hard rock sound but nevertheless still also showcases the previous, unique neoclassical style. “Human Heredity” is scheduled for a release via Pride & Joy Music on February 18th 2022. Boguslaw Balcerak – guitars, bass, keys Jeremiasz Baum – drums Track list & list of singers: Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord – “Human Heredity” 1. It’s just a wind (04:12) feat. Göran Edman 2. Thunderbolt (03:54) feat. Rick Altzi 3. Death is rising (04:31) feat. David Akesson 4. Set my heart on fire (04:06) feat. Göran Edman 5. Falling for you (05:01) feat. Ryan Beck 6. Scary dream (04:23) feat. David Akesson 7. Eyes of fire (03:39) feat. Jota Fortihno 8. Lord of the light (04:16) feat. David Akesson 9. Wind me up (04:11) feat. Göran Edman 10.Wolf at the gates (04:56) feat. Tim „Ripper” Owens 11.You are my only relief (04:36) feat. David Akesson
Voodoma – Hellbound
product: Voodoma – Hellbound release date: 14.01.2022 territory: world formats: CD & digital VOODOMA are a Dark Rock band with Gothic and Metal influences from Düsseldorf, Germany. “Hellbound” is their second release on Pride & Joy Music after “Gotland” which saw the light of day in 2017. After numerous album releases and festival appearances incl. „Wacken Open Air“, „Ragnaröck Festival“ and „Castle Rock“, a new chapter now opens for the band: catchy melodies meet with tons of hooks, eclectic arrangements and a dark but still rocking atmosphere. The group’s sound still can be described as melodic, catchy Dark Rock which offers a wide range of elements and songs which will appeal to Gothic and Metal fans alike. Recorded at Doomsday Club Studio in Düsseldorf between January 2019 and September 2021, “Hellbound” was produced & mixed by Mikk Hollenberg. The mastering was handled by Chris Beyerlein at Stem Masters in Nürnberg, Germany. Artwork designed by Martina Peschel.
Tristan Harders‘ Twilight Theatre – Drifting Into Insanity
product: Tristan Harders‘ Twilight Theatre – Drifting Into Insanity release date: 14.01.2022 territory: world formats: CD & digital Tristan Harders‘ Twilight Theatre is the solo project by German Power Metal Band Terra Atlantica’s vocalist and guitarist Tristan Harders. The intention behind this project is to fill the void and lack of live concerts which was created by the global pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Tristan used the obtained free time to finally record a couple of songs that were gathered over the last decade but never put to an appropriate use. Musically the project is very close to Terra Atlantica’s style of early 2000’s melodic power metal with lots of catchy choruses and choirs but less dramatic and lyrically more personal in a direct sense.
Autumn’s Child – Zenith
product: Autumn’s Child – Zenith release date: 14.01.2022 territory: world (-Asia) formats: CD & digital Mikael Erlandsson needs no further introduction when it comes to melodic rock. He has released six successful solo albums and a lot of titles with groups like Phenomena, Salute among others. Between 2006-2018 Erlandsson fronted the Swedish super group Secret Service which he toured with live all over the world. Together with the fantastic guitar player Andy Malecek from the successful German hard rock band Fair Warning he founded the band LAST AUTUMNS DREAM in 2003 which also featured Ian Haugland, Mic Michaeli and John Leven of Europe fame at the time. The self-titled debut album was produced by Claes Andreasson and became a great success. Last Autumn’s Dream went on releasing another 14 albums with different line ups including great musicians like Jamie Borger (Treat) and Marcel Jacob (Talisman). They toured Japan, England and Germany but decided to take a break in 2018. Shortly after, Erlandsson founded the group AUTUMN’S CHILD. Their self-titled debut album was released in January 2019 through AOR Heaven feat. Jona Tee on keyboards (H.E.A.T), Robban Bäck, former drummer of Eclipse and currently in the line-up with Swedish rock band Mustasch, Claes Andreasson of Swedish Westcoast/AOR band Heartbreak Radio who also produced the first Autumns Child album together with Mikael Erlandsson. Guitars come courtesy of Pontus Åkesson (Moon Safari). In 2020, the group released the sophomore album „Angel’s Gate“. January 2022 sees Autumn’s Child returning with album 3, „Zenith“, this time via Pride & Joy Music, which once again features Michael Erlandsson on vocals, keyboards & guitars, Pontus Åkesson on lead guitar, Robban Bäck on drums, Claes Andreasson on piano and Magnus Rosen on bass. Guests include Jona T. (Heat) with a keyboard solo on “Emergency”, Sayit Dölen on rhythm guitar on “High On Love”, Martin Olsson on bass on „Angel Of Danger“, „Evangeline“, „Love Is A Fighter“ & „Nightingale“, Anna-Mia Bonde on background vocals on “Emergency”, Rasmus Ehrnborn (Soilwork, Night Flight Orchestra ) on guest guitar on the track ” Don’t Wanna ” and Roberth Nygren on acoustic guitar on “Heaven Can Wait”. “Zenith” was produced by Erlandsson & Claes Andreasson, mixed and mastered by Mikael Andersson at Soundport Studios, Sweden; drums recorded by Mikael Andersson at Soundport Studios.