Prior to its release in the last quarter of 2014, Portland’s Witch Mountain proclaimed ‘Mobile of Angels’ to be their “most complete album yet”. At that time, the band had already survived seventeen years of changing musical fashions alongside shifting personnel; the core of their sound now resembling an uncompromising, crushing slowness inflected with a bluesy tone. ‘Mobile’ certainly shows a hugely broad confidence and its material, for the most part, represents top class doom metal. Granted, the bulk of the songs do not necessarily represent anything that anyone bar the more committed doom fan would reach for on a regular basis, but then, it’s unlikely that Witch Mountain were ever looking for mass acceptance with this album – but in terms of becoming one of the strongest acts within their field, it’s a resounding success. It also acts as an epitaph for another phase of the band’s journey, being the last in a trilogy of discs to feature lead vocalist Uta Plotkin.
Lagwagon US/Canada tour dates
To coincide with the release of their new album, punk stalwarts Lagwagon head out for a US/Canadian tour in November, with support from Swingin’ Utters and This Legend.
All confirmed dates are listed below. Lagwagon release ‘Hang On’ via Fat Wreck Chords on October 28th.
New video from the Levellers & Imelda May
Following the promo clip for ‘Hope Street’ with Billy Bragg, the Levellers present another new video in the run up to the release of their expansive ‘Greatest Hits’ anthology.
Taking one of their best known hits, the band give ‘What a Beautiful Day’ a makeover with Imelda May. The official promo clip can be seen in full below.
JIMI JAMISON: August 23, 1951 – August 31, 2014
On August 31st 2014 AOR vocalist Jimi Jamison died following a heart attack. He was 63 years old.
Best known as vocalist for Survivor, Jamison possessed one of the finest voices within the melodic rock scene. His range, although similar to previous Survivor vocalist Dave Bickler (singer of the band’s biggest hit ‘Eye of the Tiger’) was superior; his soaring tones second only to Journey’s Steve Perry for a pure AOR sound. Jamison recorded vocals for the band’s second biggest hit ‘Burning Heart’ (from Rocky IV) and for three Survivor albums in the 1980s: ‘Vital Signs’, ‘When Seconds Count’ and the harder sounding ‘Too Hot To Sleep’ – each one vital for any respectable melodic rock album collection. A further Survivor album, ‘Reach’, was released eight years later to critical praise but lesser commercial success.
At The Gates, Destruction & Dark Funeral announced for BlastFest 2015
German thrash legends Destruction, Dark Funeral and black metallers At The Gates are among the first brace of bands confirmed for BlastFest 2015, a new extreme metal festival held in Norway. With a handful of bands already announced and twenty more to be confirmed, it’s set to put itself firmly upon the metal calendar.
The full press release can be read below.