Sacred Season – No Man’s Land
No Man’s Land (Pride & Joy Music Classixx Vol. 16) product: Sacred Season – No Man’s Landrelease date: 28.02.2025format: CDterritory: Shop Exclusive LINER NOTES Sacred Season? That’s fine melodic rock from Germany. The band from Raisdorf near Kiel in Northern Germany is actually part of the very first Wacken Open Air in 1990. Sacred Season is founded by Marco Schultz (v/g) and Oliver Kukla (d) in 1986 playing in a garage and soon after realizing that bass and keyboards are pretty crucial to their very sound. Thomas Rohwedder and Björn Gust, both on keys, join the ranks. Rohwedder leaves soon after. Little later, Wulf Rathke (b) is on board and the band puts out two demos, “Sacred Season“ (1988) and “Taste Of Paradise“ (1990) with four tracks each, on cassette, both selling 500 copies locally within a year. History sees them playing some small gigs around their hometown of Kiel and the band feels more and more that the time is right for a proper album. An offer by a German major record company is rejected due to their demand to firstly sing German and secondly to replace all musicians except Schultz. Well…friends don’t do that. 1990 sees the band playing some memorable shows, one of which takes places in the course of the reunification celebrations in October 1990 in front of 10.000 people and another one is Wacken Open Air which even sees the four-piece returning in 2014 to celebrate 25 years of Wacken Open Air Festival. Schultz’ father is responsible for the booking back then and by chance sees a flyer of a new festival in the little village of Wacken. He calls them and…they play. They do so under the mis-spelled name of Sacret Season on the festival posters, though. 25 years later that mistake is corrected and to the band’s sheer surprise, their AOR and melodic sounds are well-received by thousands of fans and even a Sacred Season “Meet & Greet“ takes place. “We were not sure who we would meet but the organizers quickly explained“, laughs Schultz. But back to 1990: Several sold-out shows in their hometown of Kiel take place, too, at the time. Then Sven „Willy“ Wilking (d) joins the band replacing Kukla, who joins the Kiel-based hard rock outfit Zötl. Wilking adds some more commercial sounds to the four-piece. The following two years sees several successful talent competition participations like “John Lennon Talent-Award“ or “Yamaha Band Explosion“ and some more which ended up in Sacred Season performing in several TV-Shows like e.g. „Hut Ab!“ with a blistering version of the track “Voices“. “It should have been on the first record but the producers changed too much and we could not stand it anymore, so it was left out of the debut“, Rathke remembers. Nevertheless, this track has always been an absolute fan favorite. In 1993, Gust leaves the band due to personal reasons and Christian Meier is the new keyboarder. Rathke and Meier know each other from school. Meier is crucial in the upcoming recording processes as he co-produces the songs and does everything from mix to master. “Christian joined our ranks and was instantly willing to pay his share to record the first album“, states Schultz. The production of the first CD demands an investment of 10.000 German Mark to which each member equally contributes. The CDs sell fast and even a small amount of money is left to record songs for the second album. In some of the songs Udo Dahmen and Benjamin Hüllenkremer, both ex-members of LAKE, take part in the production process. The year 1994 is a pretty defining one for the band as the debut album comes out, accompanied by more shows and by now the four-piece is nothing but a well-established live act. “Sacred Season“ with its rather dark artwork, which is inspired by Dream Theater’s “Images & Words“, one of the band members’ favorite album at the time, is a rare gem of German melodic rock. Tracks like “Change Your Heart“, “I Won’t Forget“ or “Childhunter“ easily still stand the test of time. In-between the two albums, Sacred Season puts out an EP called “So Much“ as part of a charity project comprised of four tracks from the two albums, two of them unreleased back then. The second album “No Man’s Land“ (1998) is a bit tough in the making as the band thinks the best songs have been used for the debut. Nevertheless, a few “leftovers“ are taken and refurbished as well as new material is written after the release of “Sacred Season“. The sound is slighty better or let’s say it’s more mature and finally even “Voices“ is on board. “Times were totally different back then because of the fact that, even though the studio, we worked in, took in new equipment back then, everything was still not digital like nowadays“, Meier explains. The artwork of “No Man’s Land“ is done by Oliver Wilking, brother of Willy. By the way, both albums arouse a considerable amount of interest in Japan, too, spreading the word about the German band on the other side of the world but a stock market crash at the time and last but not least modern rock already lurking around the corner end the dream of making Sacred Season big in a commercial way by giving them a record deal. “We always knew about being quite late with our sound“, the band members admit. „A song like ‘Voices‘ would have worked on radio end of the eighties, for sure.“ In the meantime, the band is a regular guest on many local festivals and stages throughout the country, establishing a great reputation as a fine live act playing their AOR and melodic rock sound. And they do so when basically no one else does. Times indeed are rough for polished, keyboard-driven AOR and partly high-pitched vocals end of the Nineties… There is no decision to end the band but soon after “No Man’s Land“, the members in Sacred Season happen
Sacred Season – Sacred Season
Sacred Season (Pride & Joy Music Classixx Vol. 15) product: Sacred Season – Sacred Seasonrelease date: 28.02.2025format: CD & digitalterritory: Shop Exclusive LINER NOTES Sacred Season? That’s fine melodic rock from Germany. The band from Raisdorf near Kiel in Northern Germany is actually part of the very first Wacken Open Air in 1990. Sacred Season is founded by Marco Schultz (v/g) and Oliver Kukla (d) in 1986 playing in a garage and soon after realizing that bass and keyboards are pretty crucial to their very sound. Thomas Rohwedder and Björn Gust, both on keys, join the ranks. Rohwedder leaves soon after. Little later, Wulf Rathke (b) is on board and the band puts out two demos, “Sacred Season“ (1988) and “Taste Of Paradise“ (1990) with four tracks each, on cassette, both selling 500 copies locally within a year. History sees them playing some small gigs around their hometown of Kiel and the band feels more and more that the time is right for a proper album. An offer by a German major record company is rejected due to their demand to firstly sing German and secondly to replace all musicians except Schultz. Well…friends don’t do that. 1990 sees the band playing some memorable shows, one of which takes places in the course of the reunification celebrations in October 1990 in front of 10.000 people and another one is Wacken Open Air which even sees the four-piece returning in 2014 to celebrate 25 years of Wacken Open Air Festival. Schultz’ father is responsible for the booking back then and by chance sees a flyer of a new festival in the little village of Wacken. He calls them and…they play. They do so under the mis-spelled name of Sacret Season on the festival posters, though. 25 years later that mistake is corrected and to the band’s sheer surprise, their AOR and melodic sounds are well-received by thousands of fans and even a Sacred Season “Meet & Greet“ takes place. “We were not sure who we would meet but the organizers quickly explained“, laughs Schultz. But back to 1990: Several sold-out shows in their hometown of Kiel take place, too, at the time. Then Sven „Willy“ Wilking (d) joins the band replacing Kukla, who joins the Kiel-based hard rock outfit Zötl. Wilking adds some more commercial sounds to the four-piece. The following two years sees several successful talent competition participations like “John Lennon Talent-Award“ or “Yamaha Band Explosion“ and some more which ended up in Sacred Season performing in several TV-Shows like e.g. „Hut Ab!“ with a blistering version of the track “Voices“. “It should have been on the first record but the producers changed too much and we could not stand it anymore, so it was left out of the debut“, Rathke remembers. Nevertheless, this track has always been an absolute fan favorite. In 1993, Gust leaves the band due to personal reasons and Christian Meier is the new keyboarder. Rathke and Meier know each other from school. Meier is crucial in the upcoming recording processes as he co-produces the songs and does everything from mix to master. “Christian joined our ranks and was instantly willing to pay his share to record the first album“, states Schultz. The production of the first CD demands an investment of 10.000 German Mark to which each member equally contributes. The CDs sell fast and even a small amount of money is left to record songs for the second album. In some of the songs Udo Dahmen and Benjamin Hüllenkremer, both ex-members of LAKE, take part in the production process. The year 1994 is a pretty defining one for the band as the debut album comes out, accompanied by more shows and by now the four-piece is nothing but a well-established live act. “Sacred Season“ with its rather dark artwork, which is inspired by Dream Theater’s “Images & Words“, one of the band members’ favorite album at the time, is a rare gem of German melodic rock. Tracks like “Change Your Heart“, “I Won’t Forget“ or “Childhunter“ easily still stand the test of time. In-between the two albums, Sacred Season puts out an EP called “So Much“ as part of a charity project comprised of four tracks from the two albums, two of them unreleased back then. The second album “No Man’s Land“ (1998) is a bit tough in the making as the band thinks the best songs have been used for the debut. Nevertheless, a few “leftovers“ are taken and refurbished as well as new material is written after the release of “Sacred Season“. The sound is slighty better or let’s say it’s more mature and finally even “Voices“ is on board. “Times were totally different back then because of the fact that, even though the studio, we worked in, took in new equipment back then, everything was still not digital like nowadays“, Meier explains. The artwork of “No Man’s Land“ is done by Oliver Wilking, brother of Willy. By the way, both albums arouse a considerable amount of interest in Japan, too, spreading the word about the German band on the other side of the world but a stock market crash at the time and last but not least modern rock already lurking around the corner end the dream of making Sacred Season big in a commercial way by giving them a record deal. “We always knew about being quite late with our sound“, the band members admit. „A song like ‘Voices‘ would have worked on radio end of the eighties, for sure.“ In the meantime, the band is a regular guest on many local festivals and stages throughout the country, establishing a great reputation as a fine live act playing their AOR and melodic rock sound. And they do so when basically no one else does. Times indeed are rough for polished, keyboard-driven AOR and partly high-pitched vocals end of the Nineties… There is no decision to end the band but soon after “No Man’s Land“, the members in Sacred Season happen
Heaven’s Reign – Northern Lights
product: Heaven’s Reign – Northern Lightsrelease date: 28.02.2025format: CD & digitalterritory: world Heaven’s Reign are a powerhouse of classic rock energy, hailing from the UK and deeply inspired by the golden era of rock and roll. The band features three founding members of Rollin Thunder (Rik Cayton, Ian Lynan, Ste Birch), Faster than Bulls (Ricky Moss) & Sketcher/Deep Cellar (Gaz Birch) Collectively the band shared stages with legends like Bryan Adams, Blue Öyster Cult & UFO. Cementing their reputation for high-energy, electrifying shows. They’ve also been featured on major radio stations like BBC Radio One and highlighted in renowned publications such as Total & Classic Rock magazine. Their upcoming album, Northern Lights, captures the band’s raw energy, featuring songs like „City Sights“ and „Listen to Your Heart.“ With powerful riffs, infectious rhythms, and lyrics that celebrate freedom, live music, and the thrill of the weekend, the album promises to be a rock anthem for the ages. The title track and “Here We Go Again” will be released as singles in advance. Recorded at RT Studios & Inspire studios. UK. Mixing, mastering, and programming by Dražen Kecman from Cirith Ungol Studio Bosnia And Herzegovina. Track list:1. City Sights2. Here We Go Again3. Fire In My Blood4. Lady Of The Night5. Born To Fly6. Northern Lights7. Listen To Your Heart8. Bad Boys9. The Good Die Young10. Never Again https://www.facebook.com/heavensreignuk
Trishula – Becoming The Enemy
product: Trishula – Becoming The Enemyrelease date: 24.01.2025format: CD & digitalterritory: world UK guitarist and songwriter Neil Fraser previously has worked/recorded with the likes of TEN, Rage of Angels/Ged Rylands (Tyketto), Tony Mills (TNT, SHY). Trishula started out as Neil’s solo project back in 2015. Fraser had previously worked with Welsh vocalist Jason Morgan in the band Rage of Angels, so Jason was Neil’s first choice for lead vocal duties when it came to assembling the band members for Trishula. It took another 4 years of song writing from 2015 before the debut album ‘Scared to breathe’ was released in 2019. Whilst recording the debut, the UK based group were joined by Neil’s long-time friend and MAGNUM keyboard player Rick Benton and bass player Dan Clark from the Rebecca Downes Band. One year after the release of the debut, Trishula released their second album ‘Time waits for no man’ in 2020. It was at this point that Neil Ogden (DEMON) became their new drummer. A third album, ‘We all fall down’, was released in 2022. The brand new fourth CD is titled ‘Becoming the enemy’ and the first one to be released on the band’s new label Pride & Joy Music. Recorded at: Farmyard Studios, Resonance Music College, Loud Noises ProductionProduced, Mixed & Mastered by: Sheena SearAlbum cover artwork by: Alina SliwinskaCD Booklet design by: Ingo Ertl Line up: Neil Fraser: Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals; Jason Morgan: Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals; Rick Benton: Keyboards; Dan Clark: Bass Guitar; Neil Ogden: Drums. Track list:1. Wardance (Long live the rising)2. Will heaven ever give us what we need3. When I gave you everything4. The walls of Eden5. The long goodbye6. You’re my detonation7. Here comes the night8. Wait for a minute9. Down down down10. Hold my hand Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neilfraserguitarist
Mikael Erlandsson – The Second 1
product: Mikael Erlandsson – The Second 1release date: 24.01.2025format: CD & digitalterritory: world Mikael Erlandsson has spanned a long career in the music business and today is a household name when it comes to quality Melodic Rock. Erlandsson was the frontman of the super group Secret Service for 12 years singing their smash hits ”Oh Susie” and ”10 o’clock Postman“ in packed arenas all over the world. The world class singer also released albums with Phenomena, Radioactive, Sapphire Eyes, Heartbreak Radio, Salute, Love Under Cover amongst others but is best known for his work with his own bands ”Last Autumns Dream” (14 albums) and ”Autumn’s Child” (5 albums so far). Autumn’s Child will return with a new release in 2026. Additionally to this, Erlandsson also appeared at the Eurovision Song Contest finals for Sweden, Poland, Denmark and Latvia. The Swedish artist has had a successful solo career as well, which started started with his smash debut album ”The 1”in 1994 that sold enormous copies over the world. Erlandsson to this day released 6 solo albums and now returns with a new one entitled ”The Second 1”. The title is of course aspiring to the fact that it is exactly 30 years since his first soloalbum ”The 1”. Therefore the Swede recorded the real follow-up to his first solo album in the same feel of ”The 1” capturing his own unique style of songwriting. This time, he teamed up with producer Mats M.P. Persson (Roxette) for the mixing & mastering – just as it was for his solo debut 30 years ago! Keyboards & all vocals – Mikael ErlandssonGuitars – Rasmus Ehrnborn & Mikael Erlandsson Drums – Richard JohnssonBass – Mats Mp Persson & Martin Olsson Track list:1. Evil Eye2. Call My Name3. Ricochet4. Paper Moon5. CircusFlamenco In The Snow7. Bug8. C’est La Vie9. Put Some Love In The World10. Knocking On A Broken Heart11. Geronimo Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mikael.erlandsson1
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