EPK – Marco Bojkovic – Powercore (2025) – Out Jan 24th
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
“Those familiar with my album Venom may be caught a bit off guard given the drastic change in my style, but this album Powercore is meant to be accessible to metal fans and non-metal fans alike. It’s a positive listening experience that motivates the listener to go out and accomplish a task and not want to give up. Also a bit of self-reflection such as wanting a better life but having to deal with a lot of bullshit or if a best friend was a real one.” – Marko Bojkovic
For fans of Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, Periphery, Dream Theater, Firewind
Facebook.com/markobojkovicmusic | Instagram.com/markobojkovicshredsguitar | Youtube.com/@markob.19
Spotify | Apple Music | Amazon
Album pre-save – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/markobojkovic/powercore
“You can do stuff on lead guitar that no one else can do, such as your economy picking.” – Patrick Finster – Producer
“Venom is a very heavy album and I absolutely loved the guitar work. The self-titled track really showcased the heavy riffs and helped set the course for the rest of the album. ‘Maximum Carnage’ also had nice guitar work as well. Hard, heavy, and head bang worthy riffs…. In all I highly recommend this album for fans of bands like Trivium and Meshuggah. With Marko’s guitar work plus the vocals, it’s definitely worth a listen for anyone that enjoys heavy metal, with some screaming vocals.” – Music Crowns
“Florida metal guitarist Marko Bojkovic has released his latest album, Venom. Musically, the album is a mixture of progressive metal, death metal, power metal, and thrash metal, with a hint of influence from anime and video game OSTs… Marko’s music is perfect for fans of Trivium, Meshuggah, Allegeaon, Obscura, Dream Theater, Firewind, Sabaton, Powerwolf, Iron Maiden, Kiko Loureiro/Angra, and Leprous.” – Punkerton Records
“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Marko and mentoring his playing for over 2 years now and can easily see he’s one of the most capable, hardest working and fastest learning guitarists I’ve ever come across!” – Bradley Hall, guitar Youtuber
1. Anesthesia (No Easy Way Out) – 3:58
2. From Within – 5:29
3. Sacrifice For Sanity – 3:50
4. What We Accomplished – 3:17
5. Find Your Flame – 4:00
6. Thrown – 5:41
7. To Reminisce – 4:54
Album Length: 31:11
Album Credits:
Songs Written by Marko Bojkovic
Produced and mixed by Patrick Finster
Mastered by James Lewis
Artwork by Regis Lima
Album Lineup:
Marko Bojkovic – Guitar
Chris Thomas – Growling vocals, clean vocals
Gabe Vermund – Clean vocals
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About The Album Artwork:
Three power cores come together to form a molecule, which serves as a metaphor for strengthening yourself and the bond you share with your loved ones.
About the album as a whole (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):
Lyrically: The album is meant to send positive messages such as being able to accomplish anything you set your mind to and believing in yourself.
Musically: The music is my own genre of metal called “Progressive PowerCore.” It’s a blend of progressive metal, power metal, metalcore, and djent! I have a lot of influences that went into making this style of metal, so you can imagine how hard it was for me to choose 5 artists! There are also influences from other genres such as jazz fusion and classical music.
Track by Track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY)
1. Anesthesia (No Easy Way Out) is about me addressing my uncertainty about returning to the medical field. I had almost died in medical school and was cheated out of nursing school. I spent all of last year wondering what to do next, but a family friend offered me his help to introduce me to a great medical profession called anesthesiologist assistance. It is of peak interest to me and I am going to go for it!
2. From Within states that we all have a power within us, and we already have that power! We didn’t get it from training or experience; we just have it! All you have to do to realize you have it is to believe in yourself! This song also has the best guitar solo that I’ve written by far because it’s the perfect showcase for my current style!
3. Sacrifice for Sanity is a self-reflective experience for the listener. I have lived a very blessed life with hard-working parents who run a very successful business but they had to deal with a lot of bullshit to get to where they are today. The question that this song asks the listener is “The better the life you want for yourself, the more bullshit you have to deal with. Are you prepared for it?” This song also doesn’t feature a solo; I let the riffs do the talking (And Chris, of course)! It’s also the proggiest song on the album due to the constant time signature changes, subtle key changes, and the harmonic djent breakdown.
4. What We Accomplished is the first song that I wrote for this album. In spring of 2023, I went through the roughest moment of my life. People spread lies about me and because of that, I couldn’t be with an amazing group of friends that I made as long as we were hoping, which caused me to go through heartbreak. When I tried to state my innocence, they fought alongside me and helped me try to stay with them. Although we failed to keep me with the group, we formed an even stronger friendship through the experience, and we accomplished a greater goal…becoming eternal friends. This song is dedicated to them.
5. Find Your Flame is a cover of the song from the video game Sonic Frontiers. It plays when you fight the titan Night on Chaos Island. For several years, It Doesn’t Matter was my favorite Sonic song, but Find Your Flame dethroned it due to its djent riff, amazing chorus, stellar guitar solo, and beautiful clean outro. When I first heard the song, the first thing I thought to myself was “I NEED to learn this song on guitar.” I covered it on Youtube along with the other Titans’ songs (I’ll admit I played it incorrectly, but you live and learn!). The power metal-style vocals that the Mourning’s Johnny Ray did add to the power metal feel of my version, enabling it to keep with the progressive power core feel of my album!
6. Thrown is about losing your best friend over something completely foolish. A lot of people lost best friends for the stupidest reasons, so this song can provide them with some closure. It happened to me with Spiritual Chaos. It was a band I co-founded with my ex-best friend, only to be brainwashed by someone who was jealous of me.
7. To Reminisce is the last song I wrote for Spiritual Chaos, and I guarantee you the band would’ve considered it the best song.
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Fun Facts – Story Angles
1. I was stranded on a Caribbean island after a category 5 hurricane, Maria. I was in medical school at the time, but eventually left due to my health deteriorating following evacuation.
2. I use Jackson and Ibanez guitars, and I have a kickass Aristides on the way!
3. The album was mixed by Patrick Finster and mastered by James Lewis
4. My favorite gig was in August 2019 with my first band Particle Effect. We opened for a very popular local Tampa band called Voxx. They’re dear homies of ours and I hope Particle Effect can reunite in the near future!
5. I come from a musical family. Both my sisters play piano and my dad plays accordion. It was genetically imprinted on me to play music!
What started from playing Sonic Adventure on Sega Dreamcast, and a soundtrack that interested him in guitar sounds, prog guitarist Marko Bojkovic comes forth with his latest and eighth studio album “Powercore” for release in January 2025.
Packing the most punch with perfectly combined progressive metal, power metal, metalcore, and djent along with influences from jazz fusion to classical music, Bojkovic’s new album “Powercore” (named after his own dubbed genre of metal called Progressive PowerCore) is meant to send positive messages such as being able to accomplish anything you set your mind to and believing in yourself. Musically, the album’s guitar solos are among the best he’s ever written. As a small content creator on YouTube and Patreon, Bojkovic has become known on the internet for his economy-picking prowess, which he showcases to excellent use on the songs featured in this full-length.
“My guitar teacher Francesco Pinter and the popular YouTube guitarist Bradley Hall have told me that my economy picking separates me from other guitarists! Now I want to see if I can have people comment on my vibrato…” adds Bojkovic.
In addition to the guitar work, Bojkovic played all the bass lines on “Powercore” along with recruiting guest vocals from Chris Thomas (growling vocals, clean vocals) and Gabe Vermund (clean vocals).
Bojkovic comments:
“Those familiar with my album Venom may be caught a bit off guard given the drastic change in my style, but this album Powercore is meant to be accessible to metal fans and non-metal fans alike. It’s a positive listening experience that motivates the listener to go out and accomplish a task and not want to give up. Also a bit of self-reflection such as wanting a better life but having to deal with a lot of bullshit or if a best friend was a real one.”
Recommended for fans Trivium, Avenged Sevenfold, Periphery, Dream Theater, Firewind, Marko Bojkovic’s new album “Powercore” is due out on January 24, 2025, on Forerunner Recordings, and available for pre-save at the following link – https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/markobojkovic/powercore
Fans interested in Bojkovic’s Patreon Page to get exclusive content about his guitar playing and techniques, please subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/MarkoBojkovic
2011 – Memories Revisited…How Quickly Time Flies – Album
2011 – The Newcomer – Album
2012 – Shadow of the Pain – Album
2012 – The Statistics Album – Album
2015 – Emerald Theory – Album
2018 – Guitars Roasting on an Open Fire – Album
2022 – Venom – Album
2025 – PowerCore – Album
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