No Favors – The Eleventh Hour
product: No Favors – The Eleventh Hourrelease date: 22.11.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: world Hailing from Stoke-on-Trent, England, close to the cradle of heavy metal in Birmingham, No Favors are a testament to classic rock’s relentless spirit. The band was formed in the ’80s by a group of local musicians, which included current guitarist Carl Ogden, who has maintained a strong and constant influence on the band since it’s inception. From the early days, playing alongside such acts as Saxon, Magnum and Wishbone Ash, to the present, which sees the band revitalised for today. Carl and new members Dani J Rankin, Tom Bevan, Pete Challinor and Dan Ogden have created an album of fresh, Classic Rock songs, inspired by and incorporating the timeless sounds of their history, that also speaks to many of the issues currently of concern to people around the world. In early 2024, the group went to the studio and recorded “The Eleventh Hour” which will be released on Pride & Joy Music on November 22nd, 2024. The album was engineered, produced and mastered at Lower Lane Studios, Stoke-on-Trent England, by Johnny Price. No Favors are:Dani J Rankin – lead vocals and keyboardsCarl Ogden – rhythm guitarDan Ogden – Lead guitarPete Challinor – bass and backing vocalsTom Bevan – drums Track list:1. The Monkey Are In Charge Of The Zoo2. Stop Where You Are3. Destiny4. Wild Days5. Need For Speed6. No Looking Back7. Never Let You Go8. Only Memories Remain9. My WorldYour WorldOur World10. Little White Lies https://www.facebook.com/nofavorsstoke
Mystery Moon – Shine
product: Mystery Moon – Shinerelease date: 18.10.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: world Kaiserslautern based guitarist and songwriter Markus Pfeffer (LAZARUS DREAM/ATLANTIS DRIVE) actually only wanted to record a single song with Swedish singer Rob Lundgren (MENTALIST) for his all-star project BARNABAS SKY. But then everything turned out quite differently… After the two of them met in person at a MENTALIST gig and immediately hit it off, it was clear that it couldn’t just be one song – a whole album was needed. The first song the creative duo wrote together, „The Mystery“, is therefore also the first video track as well as the deciding factor for the band name. With MYSTERY MOON, Pfeffer and Lundgren embark on an 11-song musical journey towards melodic hard rock with its own touch and one or two surprises, such as the subtle use of flute melodies in the heavy rocker „Mindset“ and the ballad „Nature’s Way“. Pfeffer’s groovy, edgy guitar riffs are heavier than ever, yet they are always combined with prominently shimmering keyboards that create a very own mystical atmosphere. The seven-minute opener „Now’s The Time“ ends with an opulent and impressive a capella part with over 100 vocal tracks, „The Hidden Magic“ captivates with oriental harmonies and hard-hitting riffs, the catchy power ballad „Moment Of Life“ is an ode to life and birth, the steam hammer „Sudden Rupture“ is a deliberate reminiscence of the JUDAS PRIEST albums of the late 1980s and in the 8-minute closing epic „Stars A Million Miles Away“ Rob Lundgren tells of a very personal, life-changing experience in his early youth, when he rode his bike across a field at night and perceived and felt the universe in its incomprehensible infinity for the very first time. The album was engineered and mixed by Markus Pfeffer, masted by JK Northrup and the cover designed by Artistic Ramzan. Line-up:Rob Lundgren: Vocals, Backing VocalsMarkus Pfeffer: Guitars, Bass, Guitar Synths, Synths, Backing Vocals Guests:Drums, Percussions: Thomas Rieder; Keyboards: Thomas Nitschke („The Mystery“, „The Hidden Magic“, „Nature’s Way“); Piano in „Moment Of Life (Piano Version)“: Jorris Guilbaud; Backing Vocals: Sabrina Roth, Stephan Hugo, Jürgen Walzer; Flute: Sabrina Roth Track list:1. Now’s The Time2. Shine3. The Hidden Magic4. The Mystery5. Moment Of Life6. Mindset (Road I’m On)7. Crossroad In My Heart8. Sudden Rupture9. Nature’s Way10. Frustration11. Stars A Million Miles Away12. Moment Of Life (Piano Version) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mysterymoonofficial
Osukaru – Starbound
product: Osukaru – Starboundrelease date: 18.10.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: Shop Exclusive Swedish melodic glam metal band OSUKARU 14 years ago first was just an idea in the mind of guitarist Oz Hawe Petersson (formerly known as Oz Osukaru) and it would take two more years and just as many EPs before they released their debut album „Salvation“ in the spring of 2012. Back then OSUKARU was merely a band formed around Oz as he saw his vision come alive. A few years and line-up changes later, the 3rd full length release suitably titled „Transition“ (2015) came out. That was, according to Oz himself, when OSUKARU truly started to become a band. With roots in classic stadium rock, the first few releases had a more clear and pure AOR flavour to them. With „Transition“ however, you could hear hints of a heavier spark deep within the tracks. Going forward, OSUKARU really started to gain a unique, harder yet melodic sound and with their last album „House of Mirrors“ (2018) they landed a rock & roll homerun on which they have built upon to create the comet ride titled „Starbound“ (2021). A new, yet untilted album by OSUKARU will be released in the first half of the year 2025 via Pride & Joy Music. On October 18th, 2024 Pride & Joy Music Classix will re-issue the sought after OSUKARU albums ”Transition”, ”House Of Mirrors” and ”Starbound” with several bonus tracks each as Vol. 12, 13 & 14 of their series. All 3 titles are limited to 300 copies only and available via shop.prideandjoy.de „Transition‘ and ‚House of Mirrors‘ have both been out of print for a long time“ Oz says, „and when we released ‚Starbound‘ a few years back, we got a lot of requests from people all over to put them back on the market. What a wonderful thing! I never would have anticipated that.“Oz continues „For our next album, we got in contact with the amazing label Pride & Joy Music to continue our catalogue moving forward and when I brought up the fact that there’s been a few requests as of late to reissue some of our older material, they happily took it upon themselves to help us make them something special, also adding our now sold out album ‚Starbound‘ to the mix as well.“ „Transition“, „House of Mirrors“ and „Starbound“ have all been graced with a 20 page booklet each including rare and never before published photos alongside brand new liner notes digging deeper into the mindset from when creating each album. „We are so bad at keeping the bread crumbles we drop while making a record“ Oz laughs. „So when they asked me for bonus tracks, I had a few issues finding anything interesting as we never really make demos. What I did instead was to put both our original bonus tracks from ‚Transition‘ (we had one for each format) onto the disc, as well as two instrumental demo mixes from the ‚House of Mirrors‘ sessions onto that album. Here you can really hear what’s going on behind the lead vocals. For ‚Starbound‘ we collaborated with Erik Modin (drummer of Wildness and Houston) and his side hustle Taekwondo for an instrumental synthwave rendition of ‚Tainted Heart‘. We sent Erik some of our recorded material and had him go nuts. He ended up making an absolute brilliant piece out of it.“ Oz Hawe Petersson – guitar, keyboards, backing vocalsFredrik Werner – lead vocals, guitarOlof Gadd – bass, backing vocalsC.D – drums & percussion Track list:01. Starbound02. Rise of the Underdog03. Tainted Heart04. Somewhere Sometime Somehow – feat. Mark Holden05. Joker (In the House of Cards)06. Go For the Legends07. Shut It Out08. On the Streets Again09. Within the Depths of Love10. All Up11. Tainted Heart (instrumental synthwave mix) – feat. Taekwondo
Osukaru – House Of Mirrors
product: Osukaru – House Of Mirrorsrelease date: 18.10.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: Shop Exclusive Swedish melodic glam metal band OSUKARU 14 years ago first was just an idea in the mind of guitarist Oz Hawe Petersson (formerly known as Oz Osukaru) and it would take two more years and just as many EPs before they released their debut album „Salvation“ in the spring of 2012. Back then OSUKARU was merely a band formed around Oz as he saw his vision come alive. A few years and line-up changes later, the 3rd full length release suitably titled „Transition“ (2015) came out. That was, according to Oz himself, when OSUKARU truly started to become a band. With roots in classic stadium rock, the first few releases had a more clear and pure AOR flavour to them. With „Transition“ however, you could hear hints of a heavier spark deep within the tracks. Going forward, OSUKARU really started to gain a unique, harder yet melodic sound and with their last album „House of Mirrors“ (2018) they landed a rock & roll homerun on which they have built upon to create the comet ride titled „Starbound“ (2021). A new, yet untilted album by OSUKARU will be released in the first half of the year 2025 via Pride & Joy Music. On October 18th, 2024 Pride & Joy Music Classix will re-issue the sought after OSUKARU albums ”Transition”, ”House Of Mirrors” and ”Starbound” with several bonus tracks each as Vol. 12, 13 & 14 of their series. All 3 titles are limited to 300 copies only and available via shop.prideandjoy.de „Transition‘ and ‚House of Mirrors‘ have both been out of print for a long time“ Oz says, „and when we released ‚Starbound‘ a few years back, we got a lot of requests from people all over to put them back on the market. What a wonderful thing! I never would have anticipated that.“Oz continues „For our next album, we got in contact with the amazing label Pride & Joy Music to continue our catalogue moving forward and when I brought up the fact that there’s been a few requests as of late to reissue some of our older material, they happily took it upon themselves to help us make them something special, also adding our now sold out album ‚Starbound‘ to the mix as well.“ „Transition“, „House of Mirrors“ and „Starbound“ have all been graced with a 20 page booklet each including rare and never before published photos alongside brand new liner notes digging deeper into the mindset from when creating each album. „We are so bad at keeping the bread crumbles we drop while making a record“ Oz laughs. „So when they asked me for bonus tracks, I had a few issues finding anything interesting as we never really make demos. What I did instead was to put both our original bonus tracks from ‚Transition‘ (we had one for each format) onto the disc, as well as two instrumental demo mixes from the ‚House of Mirrors‘ sessions onto that album. Here you can really hear what’s going on behind the lead vocals. For ‚Starbound‘ we collaborated with Erik Modin (drummer of Wildness and Houston) and his side hustle Taekwondo for an instrumental synthwave rendition of ‚Tainted Heart‘. We sent Erik some of our recorded material and had him go nuts. He ended up making an absolute brilliant piece out of it.“ Oz Hawe Petersson – guitar, keyboards, backing vocalsFredrik Werner – lead & backing vocals, guitarOlof Gadd – bass, backing vocalsVidar Mårtensson – drums & percussion Tracklist:01. Past the Present02. You’ve Been Waiting03. Ritual04. Ain’t Too Late (For Love)05. X Marks the Spot06. Until Forever Ends07. All Guns Blazing – feat. Magnus Mild08. MacGyver It09. Red Heat10. Inception – feat. Anna Savage11. Felicity Drive12. Ritual (instrumental demo mix) – bonus track13. MacGyver It (instrumental demo mix) – bonus track
Osukaru – Transition
product: Osukaru – Transitionrelease date: 18.10.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: Shop Exclusive Swedish melodic glam metal band OSUKARU 14 years ago first was just an idea in the mind of guitarist Oz Hawe Petersson (formerly known as Oz Osukaru) and it would take two more years and just as many EPs before they released their debut album „Salvation“ in the spring of 2012. Back then OSUKARU was merely a band formed around Oz as he saw his vision come alive. A few years and line-up changes later, the 3rd full length release suitably titled „Transition“ (2015) came out. That was, according to Oz himself, when OSUKARU truly started to become a band. With roots in classic stadium rock, the first few releases had a more clear and pure AOR flavour to them. With „Transition“ however, you could hear hints of a heavier spark deep within the tracks. Going forward, OSUKARU really started to gain a unique, harder yet melodic sound and with their last album „House of Mirrors“ (2018) they landed a rock & roll homerun on which they have built upon to create the comet ride titled „Starbound“ (2021). A new, yet untilted album by OSUKARU will be released in the first half of the year 2025 via Pride & Joy Music. On October 18th, 2024 Pride & Joy Music Classix will re-issue the sought after OSUKARU albums ”Transition”, ”House Of Mirrors” and ”Starbound” with several bonus tracks each as Vol. 12, 13 & 14 of their series. All 3 titles are limited to 300 copies only and available via shop.prideandjoy.de „Transition‘ and ‚House of Mirrors‘ have both been out of print for a long time“ Oz says, „and when we released ‚Starbound‘ a few years back, we got a lot of requests from people all over to put them back on the market. What a wonderful thing! I never would have anticipated that.“Oz continues „For our next album, we got in contact with the amazing label Pride & Joy Music to continue our catalogue moving forward and when I brought up the fact that there’s been a few requests as of late to reissue some of our older material, they happily took it upon themselves to help us make them something special, also adding our now sold out album ‚Starbound‘ to the mix as well.“ „Transition“, „House of Mirrors“ and „Starbound“ have all been graced with a 20 page booklet each including rare and never before published photos alongside brand new liner notes digging deeper into the mindset from when creating each album. „We are so bad at keeping the bread crumbles we drop while making a record“ Oz laughs. „So when they asked me for bonus tracks, I had a few issues finding anything interesting as we never really make demos. What I did instead was to put both our original bonus tracks from ‚Transition‘ (we had one for each format) onto the disc, as well as two instrumental demo mixes from the ‚House of Mirrors‘ sessions onto that album. Here you can really hear what’s going on behind the lead vocals. For ‚Starbound‘ we collaborated with Erik Modin (drummer of Wildness and Houston) and his side hustle Taekwondo for an instrumental synthwave rendition of ‚Tainted Heart‘. We sent Erik some of our recorded material and had him go nuts. He ended up making an absolute brilliant piece out of it.“ Oz Hawe Petersson – guitar, keyboards, backing vocalsFredrik Werner – lead & backing vocals, guitarCecilia Camuii – lead & backing vocalsVidar Mårtensson – drums & percussion Track list:01. Arrows02. Strangled Emotions03. Edge of a Broken Heart03. Play04. Blinded Eyes06. FM Rocks 98.5 [Redux]07. Tell Me You’ll Stay (2015)08. Out of Touch (2015)09. Mafia Rules (2015) – feat. Jules Millis and Erik Heikne10. Promised Land (2015)11. Change of Heart [reimagined] – bonus track12. City Lights [reimagined] – bonus track
Nationwide – Echoes
product: Nationwide – Echoesrelease date: 18.10.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: world In 2023 longtime friends and songwriters Carl Berglund and Peter Ledin decided to put together the band that they dreamed of, a band that would close the gap between classic AOR and modern rock and bring something new to the melodic rock scene. They teamed up with bass player Mikael Hagström (ex- Age of Reflection), drummer Richard Holmgren (ex: Scaar, Grand Design, Wolf) to form the new melodic rock group NATIONWIDE. The band searched for a completely new voice and are happy to introduce singer Daniel Groth. Daniel was an immediate perfect match, and his voice became the color and nuances that completed the musical artwork that Peter and Carl had begun sketching. NATIONWIDE is all about the refuge that music means to us all. That music has no national borders, it is NATIONWIDE. Recorded & produced by: Carl Berglund at Studio RainRoom, Västerås, SwedenMixed & Mastered by: Erik MartenssonArtwork by: Carl BerglundPhoto by: Patrik Hellstrom Line up: Carl Berglund: Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals; Daniel Groth: Lead Vocals, Keyboards; Peter Ledin: Guitar, Backing Vocals; Richard Holmgren: Drums, Backing Vocals; Mikael Hagström: Bass, Backing Vocals Track list:1. Fade Away2. Dreams3. Can’t Get Over You4. Without You5. In Your Eyes6. Passion Ignite7. Echoes8. The One9. The Last Goodbye10. Reason11. The other Side Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NATIONWIDESweden
Winding Road – Fill My Sails
product: Winding Road – Fill My Sailsrelease date: 18.10.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: world Winding Road was formed in 2018 by Jan Hedlund (Coastline) and Magnus Åkerlund (Blender). The two musicians have played in numerous bands and played loads of different genres touring all over Sweden before. Their true love however was Melodic Rock and AOR. First, Winding Road recruited singer Jonas Tyskagen (Domino Drive) and began writing songs with the intention to make an album, i.e. their self-titled debut which was released in March 2021 on AOR Heaven. Now they are back with Pride & Joy Music as their new label and the follow-up release entitled “Fill My Sails” which once again includes 11 songs of pure melodic rock/AOR, again produced, mixed and mastered by Magnus Åkerlund. “Fill My Sails” also features some great guest musicians like Thomas Larsson (Glenn Hughes) and Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed). Line Up:Jonas Tyskhagen: Lead VocalsMagnus Åkerlund: Guitars, Bass, Keyboards and Background VocalsJan Hedlund: Drums and Background Vocals Track list:1. Close My Eyes In Tokyo2. Fill My Sails3. I’m Alive4. I’ll Give My Heart To You5. Love’s Walking Out Of Sight6. Hang Tough7. Devils Daughter8. Closer To The Truth9. Healing Touch10. Jackie Lee11. When The Lights Go Down https://www.facebook.com/WindingRoadSweden
Hydra – ReHydration
product: Hydra – ReHydrationrelease date: 20.09.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: world Swedish AOR group Hydra returns on September 20th, 2024 with their sophomore release “ReHydration”!With a stable line-up, the band still consists of long-time friends from the Swedish rock scene, i.e. song-writer/ musician Henrik Hedström (First Signal, Angelica), drummer/ producer Daniel Flores (Find Me, First Signal etc.), bassist Jonny Trobro (First Signal, Find Me) and singer Andi Kravljaca (Aeon Zen, Seventh Wonder). Hydra once again delivers a high-class AOR release with some obvious influences from the Westcoast genre as well. The opening track “We Belong” will be released on August 16th, 2024 as single in advance. Line-up: Henrik Hedström – keyboards, backing vocals; Andi Kravljaca – lead vocals, guitars; Daniel Flores – drums, keyboards, backing vocals; Jonny Trobro – bass Discography: Tracklist:1. We belong2. Marionette3. Still the same4. Eye of the storm5. Made up stories6. Clown without a circus7. Two of a kind8. I remember9. Out in the cold10. Love remains11. Me minus you Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/henrikhydra
Heartwind – Heartwind III
product: Heartwind – Heartwind IIIrelease date: 20.09.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: world Heartwind is a Swedish hard rock band that was formed in Stockholm in 2017. The current line-up consists of the three core members: Göran Engvall (guitars), Mikael Rosengren (keyboards) and Peter Svensson (drums). The band plays melodic hard rock with influences from the classic rock bands of the 80s such as Journey, Whitesnake and Europe and has released two albums, “Higher and Higher” (2018) and “Strangers” (2020) so far which both received positive reviews from fans and critics alike, showcasing the band’s ability to create powerful and emotional songs with strong melodies and choruses. In early 2024, Heartwind reached 1 million streams on Spotify. After signing a new record deal with German label Pride & Joy Music, Heartwind’s third album, Heartwind III, is set for release on September 20th 2024. It features 10 new original songs feat. an amazing line up of guest singers and musicians! The single from the album, “Struck by Love” featuring rock legend Matti Alfonzetti on vocals, was released in December 2023 in advance. Other songs on Heartwind III feature the great talents of Nalle Påhlsson (Treat), Rick Altzi (Gathering of Kings), Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed), Jakob Samuel (The Poodles), Henrik Bergqvist (Prins Svart/The Poodles), Thomas Vikström (Candlemass/Therion), Andreas Novak (House of Shakira) Robert van der Zwan (Remedy), Carl Berglund (Age of Reflection/Nationwide), Matt Marinelli (Borealis) and Nina Söderquist (solo), to name a few (or not so few)! 1. Warrior2. Facing the Night3. Struck by Love4. Now is the Time5. One Reason6. Blink of an Eye7. Cry for Love8. Brothers9. Crying in the Rain10. Rocking Heroes https://www.facebook.com/Heartwindtheband
Nighthawk – Vampire Blues
product: Nighthawk – Vampire Bluesrelease date: 30.08.2024format: CD & digitalterritory: world Nighthawk was formed during the pandemic by bass player Robert Majd (Metalite, Captain Black Beard) as a project where he got to play some guitar and work with different musicians. 2024’s „Vampire Blues“ is the second album and features Linnea Vikström (Thundermother) on vocals, Robban Eriksson (The Hellacopters) & Peter Hermansson (220 Volt) on drums, Nalle Påhlsson (Treat) on bass and Richard Hamilton (Houston) on keyboards. It’s a compilation of fast paced, spontanious, action rock n roll songs with two covers; Aerosmith’s S.O.S. (Too Bad) and Sam & Dave’s Hold It Baby (featuring Danny Hynes from Weapon). Nighthawk’s second album was called „Prowler“ and was recorded at the world famous Abbey Road Studios. It was hailed in the press and featured Björn Strid (Soilwork, The Night Flight Orchestra) on vocals. A fourth album was recorded together with Björn at the legendary Rockfield Studios in Wales, late 2023, and will be ready for release soon… Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atlantisdrivemusic Track list:1. Evermore, 2. Feel My Heartbeat, 3. Higher, 4. My Redemption, 5. Call My Name, 6. Build This House, 7. Live Life On The Run, 8. You Don’t Know Love, 9. Rise, 10. I Can’t Believe (That This Is Love), 11. Stand Up, 12. Tears I Cry