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Tag: Joe Satriani

0 Rockshots Records: Out Now! TRITON DEVS’ New Album “Stay Alive”

  • June 18, 2021
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · TRITON DEVS (Rockshots Records)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – June 18, 2021

For fans of Helloween, Joe Satriani, Dream Theater

Rockshots Records: Out Now! TRITON DEVS’ New Album “Stay Alive”

 

Out now, as of June 18th, Rockshots Records present Triton Dev‘s new album “Stay Alive”. The band is the creation of composer/guitarist/sound engineer Blacky Lee Stone, aiming to embark on a new musical project to signify a rebirth of the world after this tragic past year and unexpected period spent in lockdown. Collaborating with vocalist Eric Castiglia, drummer Zamkenoby, bassist Anna Portalupi (Hardline, Tarja Turunen), and internationally renowned drummer Mike Terrana (Yngwie Malmsteen, Rage, Tarja Turunen, Axel Rudi Pell). The collective of musicians has created an energetic 10 track full length influenced by elements of classic heavy metal, hard and progressive rock.

Blacky Lee Stone comments:

“My favorite metal genres are speed metal, hard rock, and progressive, but as a musician, I think that if a song is beautiful, interesting and played well, it is regardless of the musical genre. That said, this album embodies that thought, despite having a decidedly metal imprint, each track is contaminated by different micro musical influences that make each track different from the other by exploring many nuances of the genre played as a whole. A direct and melodic album with songs that are not excessively complicated but which suggests the skill of the musicians themselves.”

For its release day, Triton Dev is sharing a visualizer for the album’s closing track “Metallus” – https://youtu.be/DmxYXfbtVTw

“A speed metal song for an epic story that tells of the adventures of Metallus… the superhero of the band. Using the most powerful weapon of Olympus, the “TRITON DEVS” defeats its opponents by making itself justice.”

Previous videos:
The Show –https://youtu.be/3icNr6pkDTM
Summer Day –https://youtu.be/m–0I-_n_DQ
The Light of Your Skin – https://youtu.be/MjmAczDCUto

“Stay Alive” available in both CD and digital format at the following links:
CD – http://bit.ly/StayAliveCD
Digital –http://bit.ly/StayAliveDIGITAL


Track Listing:
1. Black Angel (1:37)
2. Another Round (4:23)
3. This Summer Day (3:58)
4. The Light of Your Skin (5:03)
5. The Show (3:55)
6. Summer Day (4:16)
7. Higher (3:58)
8. Hell’s Fest (4:32)
9. Magic Rainbow (3:55)
10. Metallus (5:13)
Album Length: 40:54

TRITON DEVS:
Eric Castiglia (Vocals)
Blacky Lee Stone (Guitars)
Anna Portalupi (Bass)
Mike Terrana (Drums)
Zammkenoby (Drums)

More info:
Rockshots.eu
https://www.blackyleestone.com
https://www.annaportalupi.com
https://www.facebook.com/mike.terrana.7
https://www.ericcastiglia.com
https://www.facebook.com/ZammKenobyDrum

– 30 –

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS
Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780
jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Facebook @AsherMediaRelations
Instagram @AsherMedia
Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Rockshots Records: TRITON DEVS’ New Album “Stay Alive” Coming June 2021 + New Music Video “The Light of Your Skin”

  • May 19, 2021
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · TRITON DEVS (Rockshots Records)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – May 19, 2021

For fans of Helloween, Joe Satriani, Dream Theater

Rockshots Records: TRITON DEVS’ New Album “Stay Alive” Coming June 2021

New Music Video “The Light of Your Skin”

 

TRITON DEVS is the creation of composer/guitarist/sound engineer Blacky Lee Stone, aiming to embark on a new musical project to signify a rebirth of the world after this tragic past year and unexpected period spent in lockdown. Collaborating with vocalist Eric Castiglia, drummer Zamkenoby, bassist Anna Portalupi (Hardline, Tarja Turunen), and internationally renowned drummer Mike Terrana (Yngwie Malmsteen, Rage, Tarja Turunen, Axel Rudi Pell). The collective of musicians has created an energetic 10 track full length influenced by elements of classic heavy metal, hard and progressive rock.

Entitled “Stay Alive”, the record shifts from the classic cannons of metal towards new arrangements and sounds. Each musical composition has its own magic and atmosphere that act as the soundtrack to the narration of the lyrics.

Blacky Lee Stone comments:

“My favorite Metal genres are speed metal, hard rock, and progressive, but as a musician, I think that if a song is beautiful, interesting and played well, it is regardless of the musical genre. That said, this album embodies that thought, despite having a decidedly metal imprint, each track is contaminated by different micro musical influences that make each track different from the other by exploring many nuances of the genre played as a whole. A direct and melodic album with songs that are not excessively complicated but which suggests the skill of the musicians themselves.”

In lead up to the album’s release on June 18, 2021 via Rockshots Records, TRITON DEVS is sharing their latest music video for their fourth single “The Light of Your Skin”, which can be viewed at https://youtu.be/MjmAczDCUto

 

“Within an album, a ballad certainly cannot be missing, here it is … the slow song of the disc that contains progressive nuances,” adds Blacky Lee Stone.

Previous videos:

CD pre-order – http://bit.ly/StayAliveCD
Digital pre-save –http://bit.ly/StayAliveDIGITAL
Spotify
Track Listing:
1. Black Angel (1:37)
2. Another Round (4:23)
3. This Summer Day (3:58)
4. The Light of Your Skin (5:03)
5. The Show (3:55)
6. Summer Day (4:16)
7. Higher (3:58)
8. Hell’s Fest (4:32)
9. Magic Rainbow (3:55)
10. Metallus (5:13)
Album Length: 40:54

 

TRITON DEVS:
Eric Castiglia (Vocals)
Blacky Lee Stone (Guitars)
Anna Portalupi (Bass)
Mike Terrana (Drums)
Zammkenoby (Drums)

More info:
Rockshots.eu
https://www.blackyleestone.com
https://www.annaportalupi.com
https://www.facebook.com/mike.terrana.7
https://www.ericcastiglia.com
https://www.facebook.com/ZammKenobyDrum

– 30 –

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS
Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780
jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Facebook @AsherMediaRelations
Instagram @AsherMedia
Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Shares Guitar Playthrough ‘F-22 Raptor’; New Album “Edge of The Black” Out Now!

  • February 4, 2020
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · Pyramids On Mars

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – February 4, 2020

For fans of Joe Satriani, Rush, Yngwie J Malmsteen, Steve Vai

Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Shares Guitar Playthrough ‘F-22 Raptor’

New Album “Edge of The Black” Out Now!

Guitarist Kevin Estrella is sharing his latest guitar playthrough video for the track ‘F-22 Raptor’ off the third full length “Edge of the Black” released this past December from his project Pyramids On Mars. The album offers up an aural palette of intense instrumental progressive shredding rock that’s emotional, provocative and 4-dimensional.

Watch the playthough here: https://youtu.be/-SV7BF5mnKM

“Edge of the Black” follows Pyramids On Mars‘ two previous albums and was written, composed and performed solely by Kevin Estrella who cites influences from musical greats including J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi along with today’s guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. “Edge of the Black” pays homage to these artists while still maintaining Estrella’s own creative flair.

Estrella explains the track in further detail:

“‘F-22 Raptor’ was inspired from watching several videos on the incredible flying capabilities of the super jet.  I have gotten inspiration for songs from watching videos.  For example ‘Battle from Rome’ off my previous release Echo Cosmic was inspired by watching the video game trailer for Ryse, Son of Rome.  Watch the trailer, and you can imagine hearing the song Battle for Rome in it.

Many people comment that my music would make great video game soundtracks.

‘F-22 Raptor’ is inspired by Ozzy Osbourne’s song ‘Miracle Man’ off No Rest for the Wicked.  The breakout album for Zakk Wylde.  With its driving rhythm.  I didn’t make the comparison until after my song was written.  Then I heard the unconscious influence.  I thought it was pretty cool!  Zakk Wylde is a big inspiration for Edge of the Black.  The end of the guitar solo on Nacht Waffen has a wide vibrato screaming ending very much influenced by Zakk Wylde.      

The guitar solo in F-22 is obviously influenced by my other greatest influence, Yngwie J Malmsteen.  The whole song is played on my custom-built Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster that you see me playing in the playthrough video.  I built that guitar myself and gave it a custom ‘crop circle’ paint job.  Has a scalloped maple neck, brass nut, DiMarzio HS-3 humbucker in neck position, DiMarzio PAF-Pro humbucker in the bridge (Joe Satriani’s pickup).  Everything else is stock from my ’88 Stratocaster.  The guitar is amazing.”

“Edge of The Black” is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music.

Track Listing:
1. Blood Moon 5:42
2. Nacht Waffen 6:56
3. Song of Light 5:44
4. F-22 Raptor 5:53
5. The Ambassador 4:57
6. Mercury Magnetar 4:58
7. Arcturian Rain 4:38
8. Time to Believe 4:40
9. Arioso Lullaby 4:39
10. Whale Song 4:28
Album Length: 52:40

For more info:
PyramidsOnMars.com
Facebook
Instagram

About:

Every once in a while there comes along a band that is so different or unique, you would think they were dropped on Earth from another planet.  Pyramids On Mars is one of those bands. What first catches you, is that they are an instrumental band. A combination of elements such as hard rock, industrial, metal and psychedelic rock: and then the lead guitar comes soaring in.  Well crafted, beautiful, melodic phrases so catchy and memorable they will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Pyramids On Mars is the solo project of guitarist Kevin Estrella.  He wanted to do something musically different that would stand out from the crowd. Estrella’s musical style is very similar to world-renowned rock guitarist Joe Satriani, so much so that Estrella has nicknamed himself the “Satriani of the North.”

“Of course Satriani has had a huge influence on me,” he says “But he (Satriani) does more of a bluesy thing whereas I am more influenced by classical music.  I absolutely love the Baroque classical composers J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi who are my biggest musical influences.

Estrella recorded, produced, engineered and mastered his debut album, self-titled “Pyramids On Mars” in 2013.  Since then, he has been capturing music industry attention-getting international radio airplay in the U.S, Canada, South America, and Europe.  He is a regular guest on Brian ‘the hammer’ Jackson radio (Los Angeles) to over 4 million listeners and a weekly speaker on Real Rock Radio (Chicago).

– 30 –

“Not only is Kevin Estrella a understated multi instrumentalist but he can write some amazing pieces of music that have influences of Bach and Vivaldi whilst marrying the best guitar virtuosos of today. This is the must have guitar instrumental album of 2019.” – All About The Rock

“The whole album is persistently conceptualising the idea of a place beyond the black, leaving a lingering sense of both existentialism and awe at Kevin Estrella’s musical talent and ability.  He fully allocates all the elements of the band equal respect to create a holistic and visceral thrill that emotionally charges the whole album whilst telling a story that has to be listened to.” – Original Rock 

“What we have here is over 50 minutes of intensive guitar playing that holds the attention by being layered with varied tempos, melodies and hooks.” – Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life

“No lyrics are necessary for the dynamic Estrella, who delivers every shred of guitar you hear throughout the entirety of Edge of The Black’s ten tracks. The album is as daring and progressive as the classic Joe Satriani instrumental record Surfing With The Alien was upon its release in 1987. It drips with passion, energy, and melody, and pays homage to not only Satriani but also Estrella’s other important influences, such as Rush. Rush is ingrained in the circuitry of Estrella, a band that was very much “instrumental” in Estrella going the route he did with his musical career. ” – PureGrainAudio

“This album was interesting. It does take the listener on a journey, and it cannot be denied that Estrella is unbelievably talented. The sci-fi, edge of the universe subject matter is very clear, and fans of this kind of thing will love this album.” – Grater Mag
—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS

Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780
asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Facebook @AsherMediaRelations
Instagram @AsherMedia
Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Shares Guitar Playthrough ‘The Ambassador’; New Album “Edge of The Black” Out Now!

  • January 21, 2020
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · Pyramids On Mars

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – January 21, 2020

For fans of Joe Satriani, Rush, Yngwie J Malmsteen, Steve Vai

Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Shares Guitar Playthrough ‘The Ambassador’

New Album “Edge of The Black” Out Now!

Guitarist Kevin Estrella is sharing his latest guitar playthrough video for the track ‘The Ambassador’ off the third full length “Edge of the Black” released this past December from his project Pyramids On Mars. The album offers up an aural palette of intense instrumental progressive shredding rock that’s emotional, provocative and 4-dimensional.

Watch the playthough here: https://youtu.be/mFPp247iOak

“Edge of the Black” follows Pyramids On Mars‘ two previous albums and was written, composed and performed solely by Kevin Estrella who cites influences from musical greats including J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi along with today’s guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. “Edge of the Black” pays homage to these artists while still maintaining Estrella’s own creative flair.

Estrella explains the track in further detail:

“The idea for The Ambassador was actually sparked from the guitar it was played on. It is played on a Signature ‘Aurora’ Guitar. Built by the Signature Guitar Company sometime around 1987. Alex Lifeson of Rush made the guitar famous playing it exclusively for the albums “Hold Your Fire” and “Show of Hands”. Alex designed the guitar, along with Russ Heinl. What makes it unique is the balance of Basswood (from a rare variety found only in Quebec) and has the three active single-coil pickups, giving the guitar a very unique: clear, bright yet warm distinctive sound. No guitar sounds like it. It was meant to be the ultimate Superstrat. It’s almost like an acoustic guitar on hyperdrive. Only 500 Signatures were ever made. My Signature Aurora is quite unique. The original owner purchased it from Steve’s Music Store in Toronto back in the late eighties. It was a floor model. It doesn’t even have a serial number. It is quite the collector’s item.  

The Ambassador was written by-that-guitar. I didn’t write the song, the Signature guitar did. Speaking of Rush, the song is heavily influenced by Rush’s early works from the eighties. The concert video Show of Hands comes to mind was a huge influence on the Edge of the Black sound, particularly in the songs The Ambassador and Arcturian Rain.

The theme of the song is about an Ambassador who has been selected from Earth, chosen to be a spokesperson for the people of Earth. Scientists found a way to open a portal to another galaxy and he was chosen to go through it and hopefully meet some Extraterrestrial nation on the other side. Some other interesting things come to mind in the song. The guitar solo is doing some interesting combinations of two-note per string sweep picking, combined with string skipping arpeggios a-la Paul Gilbert style. The solo ends in a nice diatonic extension arpeggio legato phrasing. These and other techniques I teach on my online instructional guitar lessons https://pyramidsonmarsguitarlessons.pivotshare.com“

“Edge of The Black” is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music.


Track Listing:
1. Blood Moon 5:42
2. Nacht Waffen 6:56
3. Song of Light 5:44
4. F-22 Raptor 5:53
5. The Ambassador 4:57
6. Mercury Magnetar 4:58
7. Arcturian Rain 4:38
8. Time to Believe 4:40
9. Arioso Lullaby 4:39
10. Whale Song 4:28
Album Length: 52:40

For more info:
PyramidsOnMars.com
Facebook
Instagram

About:

Every once in a while there comes along a band that is so different or unique, you would think they were dropped on Earth from another planet.  Pyramids On Mars is one of those bands. What first catches you, is that they are an instrumental band. A combination of elements such as hard rock, industrial, metal and psychedelic rock: and then the lead guitar comes soaring in.  Well crafted, beautiful, melodic phrases so catchy and memorable they will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Pyramids On Mars is the solo project of guitarist Kevin Estrella.  He wanted to do something musically different that would stand out from the crowd. Estrella’s musical style is very similar to world-renowned rock guitarist Joe Satriani, so much so that Estrella has nicknamed himself the “Satriani of the North.”

“Of course Satriani has had a huge influence on me,” he says “But he (Satriani) does more of a bluesy thing whereas I am more influenced by classical music.  I absolutely love the Baroque classical composers J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi who are my biggest musical influences.

Estrella recorded, produced, engineered and mastered his debut album, self-titled “Pyramids On Mars” in 2013.  Since then, he has been capturing music industry attention-getting international radio airplay in the U.S, Canada, South America, and Europe.  He is a regular guest on Brian ‘the hammer’ Jackson radio (Los Angeles) to over 4 million listeners and a weekly speaker on Real Rock Radio (Chicago).

– 30 –

“Not only is Kevin Estrella a understated multi instrumentalist but he can write some amazing pieces of music that have influences of Bach and Vivaldi whilst marrying the best guitar virtuosos of today. This is the must have guitar instrumental album of 2019.” – All About The Rock

“The whole album is persistently conceptualising the idea of a place beyond the black, leaving a lingering sense of both existentialism and awe at Kevin Estrella’s musical talent and ability.  He fully allocates all the elements of the band equal respect to create a holistic and visceral thrill that emotionally charges the whole album whilst telling a story that has to be listened to.” – Original Rock 

“What we have here is over 50 minutes of intensive guitar playing that holds the attention by being layered with varied tempos, melodies and hooks.” – Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life

“No lyrics are necessary for the dynamic Estrella, who delivers every shred of guitar you hear throughout the entirety of Edge of The Black’s ten tracks. The album is as daring and progressive as the classic Joe Satriani instrumental record Surfing With The Alien was upon its release in 1987. It drips with passion, energy, and melody, and pays homage to not only Satriani but also Estrella’s other important influences, such as Rush. Rush is ingrained in the circuitry of Estrella, a band that was very much “instrumental” in Estrella going the route he did with his musical career. ” – PureGrainAudio

“This album was interesting. It does take the listener on a journey, and it cannot be denied that Estrella is unbelievably talented. The sci-fi, edge of the universe subject matter is very clear, and fans of this kind of thing will love this album.” – Grater Mag
—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS

Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780
asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Facebook @AsherMediaRelations
Instagram @AsherMedia
Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Premieres Full Stream of Third Album “Edge of The Black” via Bravewords

  • December 19, 2019
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · Pyramids On Mars

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – December 19, 2019

For fans of Joe Satriani, Rush, Yngwie J Malmsteen, Steve Vai

Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Premieres Full Stream of Third Album “Edge of The Black”

Guitarist Kevin Estrella’s project Pyramids On Mars has a new album being released on December 21, 2019, entitled “Edge of the Black”. This third full length from Pyramids On Mars offers up an aural palette of intense instrumental progressive shredding rock that’s emotional, provocative and 4-dimensional.

Teaming up with Bravewords, Pyramids On Mars is premiering the album’s full stream before it officially drops HERE.

Estrella adds:

“On ‘Edge of The Black’, I wanted to put emphasis on songwriting and telling a story. The emphasis is not just on the lead guitar melody, but on the band as a whole. Harmonic variations on repeating themes are strongly utilized; like rhyming phrases in spoken language that allows easier accurate retelling of the original story. This idea of repeating music phrases/themes so the audience can easily recall it and hum it all the way home.

Many people would think that being an instrumental guitarist that I must listen to a lot of guitar players.  On the contrary, I do not.  Yes, I was originally influenced by guitar players like Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen and spent many years learning their style.  But my own sense of identity has come from the music I am most passionate about, which is Baroque Classical Music. I am a huge Yngwie Malmsteen fan. I spent two years, in fact, listening to nothing, but Malmsteen and studied his style.  But I did not want to become another Malmsteen clone. I realized that in order to play like him, I had to listen to his influences. My life changed when I started listening to Bach, Vivaldi, and Paganini. It was like hearing music for the very first time.  I listen to mostly classical music these days.  

When you listen to Edge of the Black, most of the guitar melodies are actually violin melodies.  And many of them are found in my online instructional guitar lessons. There are a few other people who inspired Edge of the Black.  You will hear Iron Maiden, Rammstein and Queen influences. Some of the bass parts are inspired by Steve Harris (Iron Maiden) and John Deacon (Queen).

Personally ‘Edge of The Black’ sounds like if Joe Satriani and Yngwie Malmsteen joined Rush.”

“Edge of the Black” follows Pyramids On Mars‘ two previous albums and was written, composed and performed solely by Kevin Estrella who cites influences from musical greats including J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi along with today’s guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. “Edge of the Black” pays homage to these artists while still maintaining Estrella’s own creative flair. Estrella shares his thoughts on the album

“Edge of The Black” pre-order available on Bandcamp.


Track Listing:
1. Blood Moon 5:42
2. Nacht Waffen 6:56
3. Song of Light 5:44
4. F-22 Raptor 5:53
5. The Ambassador 4:57
6. Mercury Magnetar 4:58
7. Arcturian Rain 4:38
8. Time to Believe 4:40
9. Arioso Lullaby 4:39
10. Whale Song 4:28
Album Length: 52:40

For more info:
PyramidsOnMars.com
Facebook
Instagram

About:

Every once in a while there comes along a band that is so different or unique, you would think they were dropped on Earth from another planet.  Pyramids On Mars is one of those bands. What first catches you, is that they are an instrumental band. A combination of elements such as hard rock, industrial, metal and psychedelic rock: and then the lead guitar comes soaring in.  Well crafted, beautiful, melodic phrases so catchy and memorable they will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Pyramids On Mars is the solo project of guitarist Kevin Estrella.  He wanted to do something musically different that would stand out from the crowd. Estrella’s musical style is very similar to world-renowned rock guitarist Joe Satriani, so much so that Estrella has nicknamed himself the “Satriani of the North.”

“Of course Satriani has had a huge influence on me,” he says “But he (Satriani) does more of a bluesy thing whereas I am more influenced by classical music.  I absolutely love the Baroque classical composers J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi who are my biggest musical influences.

Estrella recorded, produced, engineered and mastered his debut album, self-titled “Pyramids On Mars” in 2013.  Since then, he has been capturing music industry attention-getting international radio airplay in the U.S, Canada, South America, and Europe.  He is a regular guest on Brian ‘the hammer’ Jackson radio (Los Angeles) to over 4 million listeners and a weekly speaker on Real Rock Radio (Chicago).

– 30 –

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS

Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780
asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Facebook @AsherMediaRelations
Instagram @AsherMedia
Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Next Single ‘The Ambassador’ Off Upcoming Album Out Dec 21st

  • December 13, 2019
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · Pyramids On Mars

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – December 12, 2019

For fans of Joe Satriani, Rush, Yngwie J Malmsteen, Steve Vai

Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Next Single ‘The Ambassador’ Off Upcoming Album Out Dec 21st

Guitarist Kevin Estrella’s project Pyramids On Mars has a new album being released on December 21, 2019, entitled “Edge of the Black”. The full length offers up an aural palette of intense instrumental progressive shredding rock that’s emotional, provocative and 4-dimensional.

Teaming up with MusicLegends.ca, Pyramids On Mars is premiering the next single ‘The Ambassador’ here.

Estrella explains the track in further detail:

“The idea for The Ambassador was actually sparked from the guitar it was played on. It is played on a Signature ‘Aurora’ Guitar. Built by the Signature Guitar Company sometime around 1987. Alex Lifeson of Rush made the guitar famous playing it exclusively for the albums “Hold Your Fire” and “Show of Hands”. Alex designed the guitar, along with Russ Heinl. What makes it unique is the balance of Basswood (from a rare variety found only in Quebec) and has the three active single-coil pickups, giving the guitar a very unique: clear, bright yet warm distinctive sound. No guitar sounds like it. It was meant to be the ultimate Superstrat. It’s almost like an acoustic guitar on hyperdrive. Only 500 Signatures were ever made. My Signature Aurora is quite unique. The original owner purchased it from Steve’s Music Store in Toronto back in the late eighties. It was a floor model. It doesn’t even have a serial number. It is quite the collector’s item.  

 

The Ambassador was written by-that-guitar. I didn’t write the song, the Signature guitar did.

Speaking of Rush, the song is heavily influenced by Rush’s early works from the eighties. The concert video Show of Hands comes to mind was a huge influence on the Edge of the Black sound, particularly in the songs The Ambassador and Arcturian Rain.

 

The theme of the song is about an Ambassador who has been selected from Earth, chosen to be a spokesperson for the people of Earth. Scientists found a way to open a portal to another galaxy and he was chosen to go through it and hopefully meet some Extraterrestrial nation on the other side. 

Some other interesting things come to mind in the song. The guitar solo is doing some interesting combinations of two-note per string sweep picking, combined with string skipping arpeggios a-la Paul Gilbert style. The solo ends in a nice diatonic extension arpeggio legato phrasing. These and other techniques I teach on my online instructional guitar lessons https://pyramidsonmarsguitarlessons.pivotshare.com/“

Following Pyramids On Mars’ two previous albums, “Edge of the Black” was written, composed and performed solely by Kevin Estrella who cites influences from musical greats including J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi along with today’s guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. “Edge of the Black” pays homage to these artists while still maintaining Estrella’s own creative flair. Estrella shares his thoughts on the album:

“On Edge of The Black, I wanted to put emphasis on songwriting and telling a story. The emphasis is not just on the lead guitar melody, but on the band as a whole. Harmonic variations on repeating themes are strongly utilized; like rhyming phrases in spoken language that allows easier accurate retelling of the original story. This idea of repeating music phrases/themes so the audience can easily recall it and hum it all the way home.” 

“Edge of The Black” pre-order available on Bandcamp.

Singles:
‘F-22 Raptor’ here.
‘Song of Light’ here.
‘Nacht Waffen’ here.


Track Listing:
1. Blood Moon 5:42
2. Nacht Waffen 6:56
3. Song of Light 5:44
4. F-22 Raptor 5:53
5. The Ambassador 4:57
6. Mercury Magnetar 4:58
7. Arcturian Rain 4:38
8. Time to Believe 4:40
9. Arioso Lullaby 4:39
10. Whale Song 4:28
Album Length: 52:40

For more info:
PyramidsOnMars.com
Facebook
Instagram

About:

Every once in awhile there comes along a band that is so different or unique, you would think they were dropped on Earth from another planet.  Pyramids On Mars is one of those bands. What first catches you, is that they are an instrumental band. A combination of elements such as hard rock, industrial, metal and psychedelic rock: and then the lead guitar comes soaring in.  Well crafted, beautiful, melodic phrases so catchy and memorable they will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Pyramids On Mars is the solo project of guitarist Kevin Estrella.  He wanted to do something musically different that would stand out from the crowd. Estrella’s musical style is very similar to world-renowned rock guitarist Joe Satriani, so much so that Estrella has nicknamed himself the “Satriani of the North.”

“Of course Satriani has had a huge influence on me,” he says “But he (Satriani) does more of a bluesy thing whereas I am more influenced by classical music.  I absolutely love the Baroque classical composers J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi who are my biggest musical influences.

Estrella recorded, produced, engineered and mastered his debut album, self-titled “Pyramids On Mars” in 2013.  Since then, he has been capturing music industry attention-getting international radio airplay in the U.S, Canada, South America, and Europe.  He is a regular guest on Brian ‘the hammer’ Jackson radio (Los Angeles) to over 4 million listeners and a weekly speaker on Real Rock Radio (Chicago).

– 30 –

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS

Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780
asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Facebook @AsherMediaRelations
Instagram @AsherMedia
Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Shreds ‘Nacht Waffen’ Off Upcoming Album Out Dec 21st

  • December 5, 2019
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · Pyramids On Mars

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – December 5, 2019

For fans of Joe Satriani, Rush, Yngwie J Malmsteen, Steve Vai

Canadian Guitar Prog PYRAMIDS ON MARS Shreds ‘Nacht Waffen’ Off Upcoming Album Out Dec 21st

Guitarist Kevin Estrella’s project Pyramids On Mars has a new album being released on December 21, 2019, entitled “Edge of the Black”. The full length offers up an aural palette of intense instrumental progressive shredding rock that’s emotional, provocative and 4-dimensional.

Teaming up with MetalRules.com, Pyramids On Mars is premiering the next single ‘Nacht Waffen’, a track influenced by Estrella’s love for the band Rammstein and fascination for Germany’s Secret Space Program as he explains further.

“There are a lot of interesting things going on with Nacht Waffen.  First being, the song is heavily influenced by Rammstein.  I am a huge Rammstein fan.  The title Nacht Waffen is about the Secret Space Program (SSP).  Nacht Waffen (Dark Fleet in German) is the breakaway society that evolved after WWII when Germany lost the war.  The Nazi’s had already reverse engineered UFO’s from extraterrestrial technology and built their own fleet of flying saucers called Haunebu II.  Because of my deep connection in the UFO community, I have been pulled into the SSP world.  I am friends with many veterans like Penny Bradley who are outspoken about the program. 

But there are other interesting things going on in the song.  Its an instrumental song, but the verse is actually speaking in a tonal language.  It is saying “DO YOU HEAR ME.”  How is this possible?  You will need to visit www.pyramidsonmars.com and listen to the radio interviews about my ongoing extraterrestrial contact and how they downloaded me with the Tonal Language of the Whales.

Truth is stranger than fiction.”

Listen to ‘Nacht Waffen’ HERE.

Following Pyramids On Mars’ two previous albums, “Edge of the Black” was written, composed and performed solely by Kevin Estrella who cites influences from musical greats including J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi along with today’s guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. “Edge of the Black” pays homage to these artists while still maintaining Estrella’s own creative flair. Estrella shares his thoughts on the album:

“On Edge of The Black, I wanted to put emphasis on songwriting and telling a story. The emphasis is not just on the lead guitar melody, but on the band as a whole. Harmonic variations on repeating themes are strongly utilized; like rhyming phrases in spoken language that allows easier accurate retelling of the original story. This idea of repeating music phrases/themes so the audience can easily recall it and hum it all the way home.” 

“Edge of The Black” pre-order available on Bandcamp.

Singles:
‘F-22 Raptor’ here.
‘Song of Light’ here.


Track Listing:
1. Blood Moon 5:42
2. Nacht Waffen 6:56
3. Song of Light 5:44
4. F-22 Raptor 5:53
5. The Ambassador 4:57
6. Mercury Magnetar 4:58
7. Arcturian Rain 4:38
8. Time to Believe 4:40
9. Arioso Lullaby 4:39
10. Whale Song 4:28
Album Length: 52:40

For more info:
PyramidsOnMars.com
Facebook
Instagram

About:

Every once in awhile there comes along a band that is so different or unique, you would think they were dropped on Earth from another planet.  Pyramids on Mars is one of those bands. What first catches you, is that they are an instrumental band. A combination of elements such as hard rock, industrial, metal and psychedelic rock: and then the lead guitar comes soaring in.  Well crafted, beautiful, melodic phrases so catchy and memorable they will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Pyramids on Mars is the solo project of guitarist Kevin Estrella.  He wanted to do something musically different that would stand out from the crowd. Estrella’s musical style is very similar to world-renowned rock guitarist Joe Satriani, so much so that Estrella has nicknamed himself the “Satriani of the North.”

“Of course Satriani has had a huge influence on me,” he says “But he (Satriani) does more of a bluesy thing whereas I am more influenced by classical music.  I absolutely love the Baroque classical composers J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi who are my biggest musical influences.

Estrella recorded, produced, engineered and mastered his debut album, self-titled “Pyramids on Mars” in 2013.  Since then, he has been capturing music industry attention-getting international radio airplay in the U.S, Canada, South America, and Europe.  He is a regular guest on Brian ‘the hammer’ Jackson radio (Los Angeles) to over 4 million listeners and a weekly speaker on Real Rock Radio (Chicago).

– 30 –

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS

Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780
asher[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
Facebook @AsherMediaRelations
Instagram @AsherMedia
Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Soar Away With Powerful Solos With ‘F-22 Raptor’ From PYRAMIDS ON MARS

  • November 5, 2019
  • by Asher
  • · Music News · Pyramids On Mars

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – November 5, 2019

For fans of Joe Satriani, Rush, Yngwie J Malmsteen, Steve Vai

Soar Away With Powerful Solos With ‘F-22 Raptor’ From PYRAMIDS ON MARS

Guitarist Kevin Estrella’s project Pyramids On Mars has a new album being released on December 21, 2019, entitled “Edge of the Black”. Offering an aural palette of intense instrumental rock, it’s emotional, provocative and 4-dimensional

The first single from this album is ‘F-22 Raptor’, the song soars like the jet itself, with intricate riffs set alongside aggressive chugging and the visuals are of the USAF stealth tactical fighter the song is named after.

Following up on the two previous albums from Pyramids On Mars, “Edge of the Black” was written, composed and performed solely by Keven Estrella who cites influences from musical greats including J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi with today’s guitar virtuosos Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani. Edge of Black pays homage to these artists while still maintaining Estrella’s own creative flair. Estrella shares his thoughts on the album:

“On Edge of The Black, I wanted to put emphasis on songwriting and telling a story. The emphasis is not just on the lead guitar melody, but on the band as a whole. Harmonic variations on repeating themes are strongly utilized; like rhyming phrases in spoken language that allows easier accurate retelling of the original story. This idea of repeating music phrases/themes so the audience can easily recall it and hum it all the way home.” 

Full of determination and talent, Estrella compares his music to that of Satriani and Rush. In his own words:

“I honestly think ‘Edge of the Black’ will do for this decade what Joe Satriani’s ‘Surfing With The Alien’ did for instrumental rock back in the ’80s.  It captures the same passion, energy, and melodic hooks, yet it has an updated sound. It is no secret I am heavily influenced by the band Rush. They are a part of my circuitry.”

Listen to ‘F-22 Raptor’ via its premiere on Prog-Sphere HERE.

“Edge of The Black” pre-order available on Bandcamp.


Track Listing:
1. Blood Moon 5:42
2. Nacht Waffen 6:56
3. Song of Light 5:44
4. F-22 Raptor 5:53
5. The Ambassador 4:57
6. Mercury Magnetar 4:58
7. Arcturian Rain 4:38
8. Time to Believe 4:40
9. Arioso Lullaby 4:39
10. Whale Song 4:28
Album Length: 52:40

For more info:
PyramidsOnMars.com
Facebook
Instagram

About:

Every once in awhile there comes along a band that is so different or unique, you would think they were dropped on Earth from another planet.  Pyramids on Mars is one of those bands. What first catches you, is that they are an instrumental band. A combination of elements such as hard rock, industrial, metal and psychedelic rock: and then the lead guitar comes soaring in.  Well crafted, beautiful, melodic phrases so catchy and memorable they will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Pyramids on Mars is the solo project of guitarist Kevin Estrella.  He wanted to do something musically different that would stand out from the crowd. Estrella’s musical style is very similar to world-renowned rock guitarist Joe Satriani, so much so that Estrella has nicknamed himself the “Satriani of the North.”

“Of course Satriani has had a huge influence on me,” he says “But he (Satriani) does more of a bluesy thing whereas I am more influenced by classical music.  I absolutely love the Baroque classical composers J.S Bach and Antonio Vivaldi who are my biggest musical influences.

Estrella recorded, produced, engineered and mastered his debut album, self-titled “Pyramids on Mars” in 2013.  Since then, he has been capturing music industry attention-getting international radio airplay in the U.S, Canada, South America, and Europe.  He is a regular guest on Brian ‘the hammer’ Jackson radio (Los Angeles) to over 4 million listeners and a weekly speaker on Real Rock Radio (Chicago).

– 30 –

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS

Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780 | asher[@]ashermediarelations.com
Facebook @AsherMedia | Instagram @AsherMedia | Tweet @AsherMedia

0 Out Now! CONSTANTINE Returns With His Newest Solo Record Entitled “Aftermath”  ft. Guests From Primal Fear, Soilwork, Destruction

  • May 31, 2019
  • by Asher
  • · Constantine · Music News

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – May 31, 2019



For fans of Joe Satriani, Firewind, Iron Maiden

Out Now! CONSTANTINE Returns With His Newest Solo Record Entitled “Aftermath”
ft. Guests From Primal Fear, Soilwork, Destruction

“Aftermath” Out May 31, 2019, via Rockshots Records


After almost 7 years of absence, renowned Greek guitar hero CONSTANTINE has released his most promising work to date, his second solo album “Aftermath” is now available as of on May 31, 2019 via Rockshots Records.

”Aftermath” itself is a modern metal masterpiece with CONSTANTINE delivering his most soulful, technical, inspired performances & compositions with collaborations with some of the most prominent vocalists in the world of metal & rock, such as: Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Bjorn ”Speed” Strid (Soilwork), Schmier (Destruction), Apollo Papathanasio (Spiritual Beggars, ex-Firewind) & Chris Clancy (Wearing Scars).

With a wide variety of influences, this release promises to question genre boundaries and push limits:

“The new record is in its entirety a collection of songs that cover the whole spectrum of the heavy metal genre combining the best elements of modern & classic metal/rock as well. I think that it’s an album that will provide a listening pleasure to everybody who’s into this genre of music.”

CONSTANTINE is confident that his work will invoke a great response from fans around the world:

“I’m actually very eager and to be honest, I cannot hide my anticipation to share the new music with the fans. I’m also really positive about how the fans will receive it since the album itself includes not only some brilliant guitar work, but phenomenal performances from the vocalists participating on the songs as well.”

“Aftermath” is available on the following links:
Spotify – https://spoti.fi/30Vendw
Buy / Listen https://smarturl.it/ConstantineAftermath

Song Stream – ‘Press on Regardless’ – (feat. Ralf Scheepers – Primal Fear) – https://youtu.be/mOgabKQsaoQ

Music Video – ‘Bushido’ – https://youtu.be/yA7VLt73bxo

Track Listing:
1. Bushido (Instrumental)
2. Hellfire Club – (feat. Bjorn ”Speed” Strid)
3. Press on Regardless – (feat. Ralf Scheepers)
4. Another Day  (feat. Apollo Papathanasio)
5. Holding on ’til the end (feat. Chris Clancy)
6. Deliver Us (feat. Apollo Papathanasio)
7. Elegy (feat. Bill Manthos)
8. War and Pain – (feat. Schirmer)

More info:
Rockshots: http://www.rockshots.eu
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/constantineofficialpage
Twitter: http://ww.twitter.com/MrConstantine_K
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/itsconstantine_insta

– 30 –

Bio:

Constantine was born & raised in Athens, Greece. At the age of 12, he began learning to play the guitar by copying songs from his record collection of his favorite bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Judas Priest & Exodus. As a young teenager, he soon started to evolve more on his study & approach on the guitar by getting influenced from guitar heroes like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Marty Friedman, Michael Romeo & Zakk Wylde.

Constantine’s playing over the years has evolved & ranges from shredding riffs to soaring solos with memorable twin guitar melodic harmonies, fluid tapping-arpeggio lines, wide vibrato, and melodic pentatonics.

Despite the young of his age, time and work had proved that Constantine’s flexibility is undoubted both in performances but in compositions in different genres/styles of music. Constantine’s efforts over the years have taken many forms including playing in Nightrage (2007), Descending (2008-2012), Mystic Prophecy (2008-2012), Nightfall (2010-2013), Primal Fear (2012).

His first solo album ‘Shredcore’ was released in 2010 and the follow-up ‘Aftermath’ will be released in May of 2019.

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS
Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780 | asher@ashermediarelations.com
Facebook | Tweet @AsherMedia | Instagram @AsherMedia
AsherMediaRelations.com

0 Guitarist Frankie C. (Vesperia) Unleashes New Shredding Playthrough “Life By Fire”; Debut EP “Cellular Damascus” Out Now!

  • May 16, 2019
  • by Asher
  • · Frankie C. · Music News

(contact info below)

NEWS RELEASE

Montreal, QC – May 16, 2019

For fans of Marty Friedman, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Buckethead, Tony MacAlpine

Guitarist Frankie C. (Vesperia) Unleashes New Shredding Playthrough “Life By Fire”

Debut EP “Cellular Damascus” Out Now!

Frankie C., known for his guitar work in Canadian symphonic death metal band Vesperia recently released his side project entitled “Cellular Damascus” this past March. An instrumental solo project that came to light after he was crowned champion of season one of “Shredders of Metal” presented by Banger TV. The EP is technical, groovy and energetic, and lets the listener focus on the guitar work that he takes great pride in orchestrating.

Posting his next playthrough video in support of his debut, Frankie C. explains ‘Life By Fire’:

“This song is quite a lot of fun to play. There are many exciting melodic themes as well as head banging sections and a lot of notes! To me this song is evil but fun.”

Watch ‘Life By Fire’ at the following link: https://youtu.be/-t8wzZ2aNe8

Previous playthroughs:
‘Fall of The Hammer’: https://youtu.be/ScxRxFp-QUs
‘Cellular Damascus’: https://youtu.be/aCocz8CQCso

Frankie C. adds:

“I want fans to have fun listening to ‘Cellular Damascus’. I wanted to create interesting melodic phrases, but still have heavy riffs to headbang along with, shred hard, but not lose sight of the music and try to have a clear mix where things aren’t overly processed but all instruments/parts are still clear and audible.”

All four tracks on this debut flow together and show off excellent musicianship. Excited to be focusing on more solo work in the future, Frankie C. has confirmed another release in the future.

“Cellular Damascus” is now out as of March 13, 2019, and available for stream and download on Bandcamp, Spotify, Youtube, iTunes.

Track Listing:
1. So It Begins (1:06)
2. Fall Of The Hammer (2:55)
3. Cellular Damascus (3:14)
4. Life By Fire (3:19)
EP Length:

For more info:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frankiecshred

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/arps7 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankiecshred

Bio:

Cellular Damascus is the instrumental solo project from Vesperia’s Frankie Caracci. Looking to try something new and forge his wide array of influences together to make something that is uniquely his own.

The first release, the self-titled EP (2019), introduces fans to the melodic and technical headbanging music on which Caracci solely wrote, performed and produced. Influenced but guitar mavericks such as Jeff Loomis, Joe Satriani, Jason Becker, and Michael Romeo and genres such as modern and classic heavy metal thrash, prog and death metal there is an assortment of features in each track that keep the listener on their toes and attentive to the music.

– 30 –

—

ASHER MEDIA RELATIONS
Jon Asher – Music Publicist
#.514.581.5780 | asher@ashermediarelations.com
Facebook | Tweet @AsherMedia | Instagram @AsherMedia

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