Eagle Rock imprint Armoury Records confirms the upcoming debut album from Germany’s NEOPERA, founded by guitarist and driving force of German metal band Dark Age, Joern Schubert, and featuring Dirk Schlaechter, longtime bassist for German metal titans, Gamma Ray.
Founder, boss and lead guitarist Joern Schubert, who, has been composing music since he was seven years old, envisioned this expansive classical music vision and decided to set out to fulfill a personal dream and the create a perfectly balanced soundscape. Starting in 2010, Joern approached the project with increased pressure and the wish to find like-minded band members. His number one goal was to breathe life into his compositions with a band structure. Since both Dark Age and Gamma Ray regularly frequented the legendary Hammer Studios in Hamburg, Joern Schubert and Gamma Ray bass player Dirk Schlaechter quickly bonded and formed the core of NEOPERA. It was also the Gamma Ray connection that provided a link to Corvin Bahn who has been taking care of orchestrations for the band ever since. The right vocalists were found in Nina Jiers and Thorsten Schuck through metal and social media networks. In the studio, the band was joined by André Schumann (Dark Age) on drums and Henjo Richter (Gamma Ray) who delivered a guest solo part.
The ultimate fusion of classical music and modern heaviness, NEOPERA are very apt at avoiding genre classifications, clichés and the usual tags, instead they have concocted an amalgamation of a vast array of emotions. Sometimes tender and fragile, aggressive and fierce the next instant, NEOPERA delivers an unforgettable journey between shadow and light on Destined Ways. Schlaechter used his experience as a producer for Gamma Ray and took good care of the production of all guitar tracks, bass and choir elements. Luckily the recordings for Destined Ways were already finished when the Hammer Studios tragically burned down in the Autumn of 2013, after which producer Eike Freese was the driving force who intertwined all of the tracks and recordings.
Destined Ways Track Listing:
1. The Marvel Of Chimera
2. A Call To Arms
3. Remote
4. Destined Ways
5. Falling Water
6. The Greed
7. Error
8. Last Pantomime
9. Equilibria
10. Requiem
11. Song Of Revenge
12. The Unspeakable
Armoury Records will release Destined Ways in North America on August 29, 2014.
http://www.neopera.com
http://www.facebook.com/neopera
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