Sonic Perspectives
421 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★★ - 14 ratingsWhere Music Does The Talking
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Episodes
ANGRA’s Guitarist Rafael Bittencourt on ProgPower USA: “They didn’t try to scale it up and make it crazy-big. That keeps it very true and it’s the biggest prog-metal event in the States”
September 11, 2018 13:00 - 21 minutes - 49.3 MBAngra guitarist Rafael Bittencourt has proven himself to be among the most dedicated bandleaders in the metal world. Despite a constantly rotating roster that recently saw his fellow founder and guitar-slinger Kiko Loureiro leave for the greener pastures of Megadeth, Bittencourt has kept his beloved band both alive and relevant for nearly twenty years following [...]
URIAH HEEP’s Drummer RUSSELL GILBROOK: “When We Get Together in the Studio, the Music Just Comes Out as URIAH HEEP”
September 11, 2018 12:00 - 51 minutes - 119 MBRussell Gilbrook is one of those musicians who thrives on variety. He’s drummed for Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, with Van Morrison, with skiffle king Lonnie Donegan, and even a British Dixieland jazz band. But for the last eleven years, his main gig is manning the sticks and skins of the legendary Uriah Heep. The [...]
THE ROAD TO PROGSTOCK 2018: Interview with MYSTERY’s Michel St-Père
September 05, 2018 12:00 - 46 minutes - 106 MBProgStock 2018 is coming! The sophomore edition of the three-day Progressive Rock music Festival will take place Oct 5-7, 2018 at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, New Jersey, USA and tickets are already on sale at this location. ProgStock will be three days of fun, food, merriment, photos, recalling stories, hanging out with [...]
ARK’s Drummer JOHN MACALUSO: “When I Had to Fill In For JASON RULLO, I Learned the SYMPHONY X Songs in Two Weeks without a Drum-Kit”
September 04, 2018 12:00 - 45 minutes - 105 MBJohn Macaluso is a man who’s proud of his work. And judging by his output, he has every right to be: starting his career with American power-thrash metal band POWERMAD, he also worked with TNT and RIOT, before founding the groundbreaking ARK with Tore Østby and Jørn Lande. He went to on collaborate with a [...]
TV Director And Eclectic Art Rock Composer PHIDEAUX XAVIER: “I Now Have Several Albums That Are 80-95% Finished”
September 03, 2018 12:00 - 45 minutes - 105 MBFor many years Phideaux Xavier, head of Phideaux and Mogon was one of the most prolific writers on the prog-rock scene, netting eight studio albums in as many years. Snowtorch, which arrived in 2011 was the last new studio album until now, with Infernal finally being unveiled to the world. In our interview you can [...]
VOIVOD’s Drummer “Away”: Our New Album “The Wake” is Vintage VOIVOD with a New Twist
August 30, 2018 13:00 - 37 minutes - 86 MBThe only predictable thing about Canadian cosmic-metal warriors Voivod is that they will forever be unpredictable. During their 35-year career, they started as a punk/thrash band and with each album incorporated more prog influences, culminating with a few covers of Pink Floyd, and having Terry Brown (of Rush fame) producing one of their albums. Their [...]
RIVERSIDE’s Mariusz Duda: “In the Midst Of Last Year’s Tour, We Were Raised From the Ashes, and We Felt Powerful Again”
August 29, 2018 13:00 - 39 minutes - 90.5 MBIf ever there was a rebirth of a band, Riverside have experienced it. After losing their guitarist who passed away unexpectedly in 2016, the rest of the group took a break to recover from their shock, and ultimately decided to continue as a trio. Now they are ready to release their first studio album of [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 12 (Lux Terminus / Unpopular Opinions – Part 2 / Value in Music)
August 24, 2018 12:00 - 1 hour - 146 MBWelcome back my friends to the show that never ends, unless of course you count the part where it ends after about an hour! This week’s discussion features some usual suspects in Gonzo and Jordan, but we were also joined by a very special guest! You may recognize Vikram Shankar as the new keyboard player [...]
Legendary Drummer TERRY BOZZIO: ‘My Solo Drum Music Has Absolute Freedom, And It’s Bliss to Play’
August 24, 2018 10:00 - 55 minutes - 128 MBTerry Bozzio is someone we could call “a drummer’s drummer”. Widely known for his work with Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Korn, UK, Missing Persons, Mick Jagger, Robbie Robertson, Alan Holdsworth, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, Quincy Jones, Ken Scott, Metropole Orkest – as well as film score composers Basil Poledouris, Mark Isham & Patrick O’Hearn, Bozzio [...]
TESTAMENT’s Front-man CHUCK BILLY: “When We Return Home After the Tour, No One Has to Go Back to A Job. It’s Almost Like an Early Retirement”
August 20, 2018 13:00 - 38 minutes - 88.5 MBFew people are as dedicated to metal as TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy. Billy, along with guitarist Eric Peterson, has steadfastly flown the metal flag for over thirty years, unwavering even in the darkest hours. Nine years and two bouts of cancer after the seminal album The Gathering, TESTAMENT came roaring back with 2008’s excellent The [...]
TESTAMENT/DRAGONLORD’s Guitarist ERIC PETERSON: “It’s Been Over a Decade, But The Last DRAGONLORD Album Still Sounds Fresh and Relevant”
August 15, 2018 11:55 - 35 minutes - 82.3 MBAs one half of TESTAMENT‘s heart and soul, Eric Peterson is reaping the benefits of his and Chuck Billy‘s fervent resolve. Never one to just sit around, Peterson recently resurrected his symphonic black metal side project DRAGONLORD, who will release their first album in thirteen years “Dominion” on September 21, via Spinefarm Records. “Dominion” features [...]
SOUTHERN EMPIRE’s Sean Timms: “In My Entire Career, This Second Album Is the Release that Has Garnered the Most Interest and Appreciation from the Progressive Rock Community”
August 14, 2018 11:00 - 51 minutes - 118 MBSymphonic Prog fans take note: Sean Timm’s band SOUTHERN EMPIRE’s has created a sumptuous feast for your ears with their sophomore album “Civilisation”. In between listenings, you can check out this interview with Sean where he discusses the new album, what makes this band so special, and the challenges of global domination when you’re originating [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 11 (The Pineapple Thief / Unpopular Opinions Discussion – Part 1 / A Dying Planet)
August 10, 2018 14:24 - 1 hour - 150 MBWelcome to what was a truly fun and powerhouse discussion, the middle section of which left friendships in tatters and battle scars for all. Joining Nick once again was Gonzolo and Jordan, and after discussing the upcoming Pineapple Thief album entitled Dissolution due out August 31 the group went on to discuss their unpopular opinions. [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 10 (Immediate Impact Albums vs Growers / Owning A Record Store)
August 08, 2018 22:45 - 1 hour - 152 MBFor the second straight week we have a discussion that involved Nick, Gonzo, and Jordan, this time talking mainly about albums we found had an immediate impact on us as opposed to those that took repeated listens for us to fully enjoy. We also dug into the archives and made the 2nd half of the [...]
Metal Queen DORO PESCH: ‘I Do Every Concert Like it Could be My Last Show Ever’
August 08, 2018 15:32 - 31 minutes - 71.6 MBOne of the pioneers of female fronted metal bands, Doro Pesch is back with a new album, and this time she really means business. With 25 tracks, “Forever Warriors, Forever United” is set for release on August 17th 2018, and showcases several guest appearances: Johan Hegg (Amon Amarth), Doug Aldrich (ex-Whitesnake, Dio, The Dead Daisies), [...]
ROBERT BERRY Talks 3.2 – ‘The Rules Have Changed” Album: “This Record Keeps the Keyboard Legend Of KEITH EMERSON and His Legacy Alive”
August 03, 2018 12:00 - 46 minutes - 106 MBRobert Berry is realizing a 30 year old dream with the release of 3.2 album “The Rules Have Changed”, scheduled to hits the streets on August 10, 2018 via Frontier Records. This is and forever will be the last works of keyboard legend Keith Emerson, as the two were working on this project when Keith passed away in [...]
PRIMAL FEAR’s Tom Naumann: “We Always Strive to Improve Ourselves As a Band, Without Losing Our Musical Roots”
August 01, 2018 09:00 - 37 minutes - 86.4 MBFormed in 1997 by members and ex-members of Sinner and Gamma Ray, the German metal band Primal Fear has made a name for itself for consistently delivering high-caliber, Judas Priest-inspired, adrenaline-fueled metal that never. Along with Sweden’s Hammerfall, they are widely credited for revitalizing heavy metal during the grunge-alternative heyday of the 90s and have [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 9 (Michael Romeo / 80’s Prog-Rock Scene / Night of The Prog Festival / 2018 Upcoming Albums)
July 27, 2018 03:18 - 1 hour - 158 MBSorry it’s been awhile since one of our spirited musical discussions! Nick was off to Europe for a few weeks that ended with some festivities at Night of the Prog, which is one of the topics he ended up talking about with Gonzo and Jordan. Coming out the same day as this podcast is the [...]
HAVOK’s Front-man David Sanchez: ‘We Are Going to Stop Touring Soon and We’ll Begin Writing Towards Our New Album, Which Hopefully will be Out by the Summer of 2019’
July 20, 2018 11:00 - 27 minutes - 62.3 MBFormed in 2004 in Denver, Colorado, Havok reached a peak with the release of 2017’s “Conformicide”, their fourth full-length. While keeping their thrash metal roots, the band expanded their horizons and incorporated other influences, taking advantage of a composition process that was a lot more inclusive than in their other efforts. Guitarist Reece Scruggs, drummer [...]
PINEAPPLE THIEF’s Frontman BRUCE SOORD: “We Wanted the Melodies to Hit People in the First Listen, But then for Them to Go Away and Say: Oh My God, I Have to Listen to that Again.”
July 19, 2018 11:00 - 39 minutes - 90.5 MBBruce Soord started The Pineapple Thief nearly twenty years ago, but almost feels like they have become a new band in the best sense of the word. The group has been reinvigorated by drummer extraordinaire Gavin Harrison joining the band as a full-time member, who also collaborates with Bruce on their new material. This has [...]
REDEMPTION’s Nick Van Dyk: “I Feel That Now We Have the Most Talented Line-Up REDEMPTION Has Ever Had”
July 18, 2018 12:00 - 1 hour - 138 MBFew bands are as consequential as Southern California’s Redemption. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Nick van Dyk, Redemption quickly shed its side project status and became a proper band, stunning prog-metal fans with its seminal 2005 sophomore record, The Fullness of Time. In the years since, van Dyk and his band-mates have released some of the [...]
BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME’s Tommy Rogers: “We Are Very Grateful to Have the Freedom to Be Able To Write Songs That Aren’t Normal”
July 13, 2018 02:52 - 34 minutes - 79.4 MBOne of progressive metal’s most ground-breaking and innovative artists is unquestionably BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, a band which after 15 years as a band continues to push themselves to new dimensions with their song-writing. The newest accomplishment, adding to their vast catalog, is the conceptual, two-part, epic album, Automata, which now has Part II [...]
JOHNNY GIOELI: ‘Reconnecting with DEEN CASTRONOVO to Work on this Project Was One of the Most Rewarding Experiences of My Musical Career’
July 12, 2018 10:00 - 34 minutes - 79.4 MBHard rock/AOR connoisseurs hold a special place in their hearts for Hardline. Formed in 1991 by brothers Johnny and Joey Gioeli, the band also counted with Neal Schon on guitars, Todd Jensen on bass and Deen Castronovo on drums. They’re still making music today, although Johnny remains the sole original member. Fast forward to 2018, [...]
SYMPHONY X’ Michael Romeo: “I Really Wanted My Solo Record to Be Different from The Band’s Sound: More Orchestral and Cinematic, with some Sabbath and Pantera Influences”
July 06, 2018 13:00 - 2 minutes - 6 MBInternationally acclaimed guitar hero Michael Romeo announced a while back the release of his eagerly anticipated first official solo album, War of the Worlds / Pt. 1, on July 27th. The wildly ambitious 10-song disc sees the founder, chief songwriter and prime mover of the progressive titans Symphony X furthering his reputation as one of [...]
MARCO MINNEMANN: “There’s a Difference between the Musical Chemistry Being Right, and Actually Creating Magic”
June 29, 2018 22:14 - 38 minutes - 88.1 MBMarco Minnemann has to be one of the most prolific drummers on the scene today, in large part due to the fact that he also happens to be one of the most talented. Along with Bryan Beller and Guthrie Govan, Marco fills out the trio known as The Aristocrats which is a primary vessel for [...]
JASON BONHAM on Playing with ZEPPELIN: “We rehearsed Kashmir and Jimmy Page turned around to Robert Plant and said: Well, that’s as good as it’s ever sounded”
June 28, 2018 12:00 - 30 minutes - 69.3 MBWith his pedigree coming not only from his family name but his extensive recording and gigging history, Jason Bonham can hold his own when playing Zeppelin material and beyond. He is currently on tour with his Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening, with headlining shows and also opening for Whitesnake and Foreigner. In addition, Jason plays [...]
RAUSCH’S Doug Rausch: “Whatever You Call My Music, Don’t Call It Prog-Rock!”
June 26, 2018 12:00 - 54 minutes - 125 MBDoug Rausch is a driven man, a man who releases no music before its time – or at least until he’s darned good and ready. He’s been creating clever, intricate, piano-based music for more than 15 years, and yet he’s only released two albums in that time: 2009’s Rausch and this year’s Book II. Each [...]
AMANDA SOMERVILLE: “My Foot in the Door of the Metal Scene Came After Sascha Paeth Called And Asked If I Wanted to Write a Metal Opera”
June 23, 2018 16:00 - 30 minutes - 69.1 MBConsidered a Metal Diva in the European symphonic metal scene (through her work with Avantasia, Epica, Kamelot, and a duet album entitled Kiske-Somerville with metal legend Michael Kiske), Amanda Somerville is a singer-songwriter originally of the pop / rock vein who’s been roughed up at the edges with a razor blade, painted over the scars [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 8 (Haken / Forgotten Bands: Lilitu / Devin Townsend / 2018 Half Year Wrap-Up)
June 22, 2018 12:00 - 1 hour - 237 MBAlthough they may not be household names like Justin Bieber or Bruno Mars, it’s a pretty big deal around these parts to be able to discuss new stuff from both Haken and Devin Townsend! When this podcast airs on June 22 the world will have just experienced the release of the new Haken live album, [...]
HAKEN’s Ray Hearne: “Our 5th Album Will Be Out By the End of the Year”
June 21, 2018 12:00 - 51 minutes - 119 MBFew progressive metal bands have seen the type of steady growth Haken has over the past ten years. Followed and enjoyed by older traditional prog enthusiasts and a younger metal leaning crowd, the band has steadily become a staple in the genre over the course of four studio albums and ever-growing tours. I had the [...]
DEVIN TOWNSEND: “Trying To Get An Orchestra And Choir Into This Music Was Like Trying To Get 5 Fat People Through A Door”
June 19, 2018 12:00 - 31 minutes - 72.2 MBDevin Townsend has been expanding the horizons of metal, sound, and brutality for over a quarter century. During that time, he has released records both groundbreaking and diverse under a number of monikers, including the sweeping Terria and Strapping Young Lad‘s seminal sophomore album City. Last year, Devin commemorated the twentieth anniversary of his first [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 7 (The Fierce And The Dead / Fates Warning / Between The Buried And Me / Iron Maiden)
June 15, 2018 11:30 - 1 hour - 210 MBTalking Perspectives‘ episode number 7 is here, and was there some heavy hitters discussed on this week’s episode! We started off with a band that was just nominated as a UK Act of the Year for the PROG sponsored Progressive Music Awards, The Fierce and the Dead. We were joined by the band’s Matt Stevens [...]
GRUESOME’s Matt Harvey: ‘Our Goal Was to Make an Album that Sounded Like Sides 3 and 4 of DEATH’s Spiritual Healing’
June 15, 2018 11:00 - 40 minutes - 93 MBThe metal world is yet to see a paradigm shift with such impact as the one brought by Death in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Adding sophistication to their usual dose of straight ahead death metal, they helped reinventing a whole genre. Suddenly they showed it was Ok to mix Rush and Slayer, King Crimson [...]
BEASTO BLANCO’s Chuck Garric: ‘ALICE COOPER Is Thrilled With What We Do Musically’
June 13, 2018 12:30 - 36 minutes - 83.5 MBYou’d be forgiven for not knowing who Beasto Blanco is – six years into their career, they’re not a household name yet. However, if you’re a fan of rock music infused with theatric chops and a hypnotizing stage presence, get off your chair and find all about them, pronto! With two albums under their belts [...]
THE ROAD TO PROGSTOCK 2018: Interview with ORPHEUS NINE’s Jason Kresge And Mark DeGregory
June 11, 2018 11:00 - 1 hour - 157 MBProgStock 2018 is coming! The sophomore edition of the three-day Progressive Rock music Festival will take place Oct 5-7, 2018 at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, New Jersey, USA and tickets are already on sale at this location. ProgStock will be three days of fun, food, merriment, photos, recalling stories, hanging out with [...]
Interview With Ray Alder (Fates Warning, Redemption, Engine)
June 08, 2018 13:00 - 35 minutes - 82.3 MBRay Alder has been singing his heart out for prog metal giants Fates Warning since 1987. Over those three decades, he has inspired generations of fans, risen to new vocal challenges, and even let James LaBrie sing backup with him when nobody knew who James LaBrie was. Alder began performing professionally in high school and [...]
Interview With Andre Andersen (Royal Hunt)
June 06, 2018 04:32 - 55 minutes - 127 MBSometimes lost in a space between being too keyboard leaning for the average power metal fan and too heavy for the average prog-rock fan is a band I’ve followed for over a decade, Royal Hunt. However, even if your initial impression is that the band is just outside your wheelhouse I must suggest you give [...]
Interview with Chen Balbus (Orphaned Land, The Secret Saints)
June 04, 2018 16:15 - 44 minutes - 82.3 MBChen Balbus is an Israeli guitarist, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and composer currently playing with Orphaned Land and The Secret Saints. Orphaned Land is widely regarded as the pioneers of “oriental metal,” and are one of the biggest musical acts to come from Israel, using religious allusions and iconography to hold up a mirror to the world [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 6 (Technology In Recording / GHOST And Marketing in Music / DREAM THEATER’s New Album Expectations)
June 01, 2018 16:00 - 58 minutes - 133 MBTalking Perspectives‘ episode number 6 is here, and we have some exciting content for you this time around! Our first topic was inspired by a Facebook post form KYROS singer and keyboard player Adam Warne, and so we had him and KYROS bandmate Joey Frevola (also of Edge of Reality) join us for a discussion in [...]
THE ROAD TO PROGSTOCK 2018: Interview with IN CONTINUUM’s mastermind Dave Kerzner
May 24, 2018 09:00 - 1 hour - 157 MBProgStock 2018 is coming! The sophomore edition of the three-day Progressive Rock music Festival will take place Oct 5-7, 2018 at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, New Jersey, USA and tickets are already on sale at this location. ProgStock will be three days of fun, food, merriment, photos, recalling stories, hanging out with [...]
Interview with Roine Stolt (The Sea Within, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Kaipa, Agents of Mercy)
May 22, 2018 00:24 - 43 minutes - 99.4 MBIn anticipation of the forthcoming debut album release from The Sea Within, we are pleased to present this interview with group founder Roine Stolt. Starting off his progressive rock adventures when he was just 17 with the Swedish band Kaipa in 1974, Roine is perhaps best known for his band The Flower Kings and being [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 5 (MARBIN – “Israeli Jazz” and THE SEA WITHIN Debut Album)
May 18, 2018 14:49 - 58 minutes - 133 MBTalking Perspectives‘ episode number 5 is here, and we have some exciting content for you this time around! For the first half we got to talk to Danny Markovitch, saxophone player and one of the founding members of the band Marbin. We talked about their new album Israeli Jazz and talked about their life on [...]
Interview with Steve Hackett (Genesis, GTR, Djabe, Squackett)
May 18, 2018 12:00 - 55 minutes - 126 MBLegendary musician Steve Hackett joins us for this lengthy interview upon completion of his North and South America tour, which mixed songs from his vast solo repertoire with selections from Genesis’ history. Steve continues to create new music at a steady pace, releasing studio and live albums to much acclaim and success. He just released [...]
Interview With Tony Hernando (Lords Of Black)
May 17, 2018 12:00 - 48 minutes - 111 MBAfter publishing the review of Angelus Apatrida‘s new album, Lords of Black is the second Spanish band to be featured here at Sonic Perspectives in less than a month, so it seems the Don Quixote compatriots must be doing something right. Formed in Madrid in 2014, the melodic progressive metal collective quickly gained popularity after their self [...]
Interview with Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Storm Corrosion, Blackfield, No-Man and more)
May 10, 2018 11:00 - 43 minutes - 100 MBHaving just reached the age of 50, Steven Wilson is one of progressive rock’s most celebrated artists, though he constantly strives to defy the categorization of progressive rock and would prefer to be known as an artist of good music, without being tied to any specific genre. Best known for the band Porcupine Tree which [...]
Interview with Gus G (Firewind, Ozzy Osbourne, Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, and Dream Evil)
May 03, 2018 12:00 - 23 minutes - 55 MBKonstantinos Karamitroudis, aka Gus G. has spent the past decade quietly affirming his place as one of metal’s reigning guitar virtuosos. He has recorded more than a dozen studio albums, performed around the world as a member of acts ranging from Arch Enemy and Dream Evil to his own band Firewind, and he was Ozzy [...]
Interview With Tony Franklin (The Firm, Jimmy Page, Blue Murder, David Gilmour, Whitesnake and many others)
May 02, 2018 11:30 - 55 minutes - 127 MBIf you like hard and classic rock, chances are that without you even being aware, Tony Franklin, also known as The Fretless Monster, might be the bass player on half of your album collection. Starting his career with Roy Harper, he also played with Jimmy Page in The Firm and with John Sykes in Blue Murder, among [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 4 (Spock’s Beard – “Noise Floor”, the 2018 RoSfest Festival and Threshold – “Legends Of The Shires”)
April 30, 2018 11:00 - 1 hour - 245 MBTalking Perspectives‘ episode number 4 is here, and it’s our longest one to date, yet we promise you it’s worth your time! We had two special guest with us for this episode, and their insightful comments and opinions took our conversation to a whole new level. In this fourth episode of the series we discussed [...]
Interview With Robert Richardson (Cell15)
April 27, 2018 14:00 - 36 minutes - 84.9 MBFor musicians, the road to success can be marked with figurative potholes, stop signs, wrecks and flat tires. Some abandon the journey; others use the challenges as motivations, even providing artistic ideas for their work. Robert Scott Richardson is one of those who has used personal difficulties as an inspiration. His group, Cell15, created 2014’s [...]
TALKING PERSPECTIVES: Episode No. 3 (Rikard Sjöblom’s Box Set, Amorphis – “Queen Of Time”, And Nightwish – “Decades”)
April 25, 2018 13:00 - 1 hour - 5 MBTalking Perspectives is back! Once again some of us here at Sonic Perspectives got together in a phone conversation, where we discussed relevant – recent and past – music releases, and talked about some other meaningful topics related to the music industry. Joining some of the regular cast and crew this week was the focus [...]