Author Topic: The official Redemption thread v. I Am the Storm - March 17th 2023  (Read 142160 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline wolfking

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 46256
  • Gender: Male
Can't wait for this.

https://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=153673

Los Angeles-based progressive metal band REDEMPTION, which features in its ranks vocalist Ray Alder of FATES WARNING, has set "This Mortal Coil" as the title of its fifth album, tentatively due in the fall. The CD will be produced by Neil Kernon, who has previously worked with such acts as NEVERMORE, NILE, QUEENSRŸCHE and DEICIDE, and will feature the following working songtitles, among others: "Noonday Devil", "No Tickets To The Funeral", "Rain In My Soul", "Focus", "Dreams From The Pit", "Path Of The Tornado", "Blink Of An Eye", "Perfect" and "Departure Of The Pale Horse".

Commented guitarist/songwriter Nicolas van Dyk: "The band was really happy with 'Snowfall On Judgment Day' and so when it came time to put together new material, with our own expectations for ourselves always on the rise, we gave a lot of thought to how to deliver the goods and step up our game yet again.

"We have worked well with some excellent producers in the past and they have put their mark on our sound, especially Tommy Newton, with whom we did two records and who we tried to involve early enough in the production process to help shape the records. But even with Tommy, most of the involvement came after we were finished with songs.

"For this record, I thought we could bring in an outside producer very early on. Someone to help shape the music and raise the bar for us, challenging our ideas and getting the best from the band. I knew I wanted somebody with a depth of experience that reflected the many things REDEMPTION pursues in its music: melodic but heavy; intricate and complex when called for, but accessible; a bit of virtuosity but always in the service of the song. This is a tall order, when you think about it. We would need a producer, ideally, who had extensive experience in pop music but also maybe jazz fusion, had worked with somebody like KANSAS, had worked with somebody like NEVERMORE, had extensive experience in heavy technical music (like, say, SPIRAL ARCHITECT or even somebody like NILE) and hopefully also had particular domain expertise in prog metal (maybe someone like QUEENSRŸCHE).

"Fortunately, such a producer exists! I am delighted to announce that we will be working on 'This Mortal Coil' with Neil Kernon, whose extensive CV includes all of those bands. He has immense experience in song craft, creating compelling intricate music across a variety of genres. It's a great fit for what we are looking for right now. He is, simply put, a legendary producer and we are really fired up to work with him.

"Neil and I have known each other socially for several years, and actually about three years ago he called me and asked if REDEMPTION would be interested in creating a ''Rage For Order' for the next century.' Uh, YES, we would! However, at that time, we were already down the road with 'Snowfall On Judgment Day' so I explained that we would have to table the conversation until the next record.

"So when the time came to consider how to make sure our next CD is our best (a goal we will always have!) I thought immediately back to that conversation. And as Neil and I spoke about the possibilities, it became obvious to us both that this could be a very special opportunity to make a really great CD. So we are really going to dig into pre-production together beginning just a few weeks from now and needless to say, I'm really looking forward to it!

"I've been working on the basic structure of the songs for a couple of months now, and the band is very pleased with how things are coming together. We are taking more time to explore different drum parts than we have done before, and working out bass and drum parts together in a more organic way than we have had the luxury of doing in the past.

"So the songs are in a bit of flux now, but at this point it looks like we will have ten or eleven tracks, with a fair amount of compositional diversity between them but all having the strong melody, the aggressive riffing and the sense of emotional and musical urgency that we hope is core to all of REDEMPTION's music.

"This is not a rock opera but the songs are tied together, loosely, by the theme of confronting our mortality. You can imagine, given my medical adventure, that what I experienced would make its way into my songwriting.

"After pre-production, we'll get to tracking and mixing and all that good stuff. We are shooting for a fall release date, assuming all goes well. We're also planning some pretty extensive and cool bonus materials, which will be fun to do and which we think our fans will really enjoy. We also have some tentative plans right now to play out a bit more extensively than we did on the last CD in support of the record."


 :metal :metal :metal
« Last Edit: February 21, 2023, 10:33:09 PM by wolfking »
Everyone else, except Wolfking is wrong.

Online Zydar

  • Creep With Tonality
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 19207
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #1 on: February 10, 2011, 03:50:42 AM »
:metal
Zydar is my new hero.  I just laughed so hard I nearly shat.

Offline Phantasmatron

  • Peanut Butter Advocate and Jelly Enthusiast
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 3730
  • Gender: Male
  • What the Jenkins?!
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2011, 04:03:21 AM »
This is AWESOME news.  Glad to see Nic, Ray and the boys back at it again.  :2metal:

Online TAC

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 74071
  • Gender: Male
  • Arthritic Metal Horns
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2011, 05:33:45 AM »
Well, I'm glad a new album is on its way.

A Rage For Order for the next century? That actully scares me.
would have thought the same thing but seeing the OP was TAC i immediately thought Maiden or DT related
Winger Theater Forums........or WTF.  ;D
TAC got a higher score than me in the electronic round? Honestly, can I just drop out now? :lol

Offline wkiml

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 3925
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2011, 06:21:12 AM »
Well, I'm glad a new album is on its way.

A Rage For Order for the next century? That actully scares me.

Does this mean, we can expect sequinced jackets and hairspray with the promo pictures ?
Quote from: senecadawg2 on July 17, 2012, 10:54:32 PM
In defense of peanut butter...

try getting the neighbor's dog to lick your balls with a spoonful of chummus.

Offline LudwigVan

  • Posts: 4777
  • Gender: Male
  • Proglodyte
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2011, 08:16:12 AM »
Rage For Order is absolute win.
"There is nothing more difficult than talking about music."
--Camille Saint-Saëns

“All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff.”
--Frank Zappa

Offline Elsydeon

  • Posts: 1466
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2011, 08:17:03 AM »
 :metal :metal :metal :metal

Offline Jamesman42

  • There you'll find me
  • DT.net Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21704
  • Spiral OUT
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2011, 08:25:20 AM »
So...

Dream Theater
Neal Morse
Thrice
Rush
Redemption
Nightwish
Eisley

all with new albums. 2011 FTW

Offline Space Invader

  • The Canadian Doctor Who Fanatic
  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 928
  • Gender: Male
  • Also recently addicted to Survivor
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #8 on: February 10, 2011, 08:35:42 AM »
Oh my God YES
 :metal :metal :metal
Everything can, should and will be progressive.

"The only thing that is certain is that nothing is certain" - Montaigne.

I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilize, street over maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve Jammie Dodgers and a Fez - Eleventh Doctor

Offline Beowulf

  • Posts: 451
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #9 on: February 10, 2011, 08:36:29 AM »
HELL, YEAH!!!!  I can't get enough of Redemption!!  I'm just bummed I discovered them so late in the game (not until they opened for DT in Dallas a few years ago).
You can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.

Offline Dr. DTVT

  • DTF's resident Mad Scientist
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 9477
  • Gender: Male
  • What's your favorite planet? Mine's the Sun!
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2011, 08:38:40 AM »
 :metal :gadough:  :metal
     

Offline bosk1

  • King of Misdirection
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Posts: 12785
  • Bow down to Boskaryus
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #11 on: February 10, 2011, 08:41:00 AM »
So...

Dream Theater
Neal Morse
Thrice
Rush
Redemption
Nightwish
Eisley

all with new albums. 2011 FTW

I KNOW!  THAT'S FOUR AWESOME ALBUMS!
"The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie."

Offline Dr. DTVT

  • DTF's resident Mad Scientist
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 9477
  • Gender: Male
  • What's your favorite planet? Mine's the Sun!
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #12 on: February 10, 2011, 08:43:47 AM »
Learn to count Bosk, there are clearly 5 awesome albums.
     

Offline Nick

  • A doctor.
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 20050
  • Gender: Male
  • But not the medical kind.
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #13 on: February 10, 2011, 08:43:54 AM »
There are so many awesome things going on in this news release...

I am excite.
For the best online progressive radio: ProgRock.com
For the best in progressive news, reviews, and interviews: SonicPerspectives.com
For a trove of older podcasts and interviews: WPaPU.com
Awesome Majesty Pendant Club: Member #1

Offline LudwigVan

  • Posts: 4777
  • Gender: Male
  • Proglodyte
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #14 on: February 10, 2011, 08:48:31 AM »
So...

Dream Theater
Neal Morse
Thrice
Rush
Redemption
Nightwish
Eisley

all with new albums. 2011 FTW

I KNOW!  THAT'S FOUR AWESOME ALBUMS!

Eisley
Rush
Thrice
and ?
"There is nothing more difficult than talking about music."
--Camille Saint-Saëns

“All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff.”
--Frank Zappa

Offline EPICVIEW

  • DTF.org Member
  • *
  • Posts: 3253
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #15 on: February 10, 2011, 08:59:16 AM »
 :metal

good news!
"its so relieving to know that your leaving as soon as you get paid, Its so relaxing to know that your asking now that you got your way"

Offline Mebert78

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2485
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #16 on: February 10, 2011, 09:02:29 AM »
I'm really psyched.  Interestingly, when I googled "This Mortal Coil" it appears to be the name of a 1980s pop synth band?  That's odd.  Regardless, everything Nick van Dyk touches turns to gold.  I am confident the music and lyrics of this new album will be incredible.
An unofficial online community for fans of keyboardist Kevin Moore (ex-Dream Theater, Chroma Key, OSI):


Offline SlickSy

  • Posts: 124
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #17 on: February 10, 2011, 09:14:29 AM »
Shweet! :metal Can't wait to hear this album, I love this band.
Quote from: Mikael Åkerfeldt
We are heavy metal... but with some beautiful acoustic parts. Some people say that's pussy. Those are the people that get no pussy.

Offline nvandyk1

  • Posts: 28
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #18 on: February 10, 2011, 12:07:14 PM »
HI folks!

Thanks for the (mostly) positive reception.  :)

Three comments:

1.  No sequined jackets or poofy hair is envisioned.

2.  This Mortal Coil is Shakespeare, not Carcass and not anybody else.  I only stole from the original source.  :)

3.  We will, in fact, be one of the good albums this year!  :P




Offline Ben_Jamin

  • Posts: 15690
  • Gender: Male
  • I'm just a man, thrown into existence by the gods
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #19 on: February 10, 2011, 12:15:24 PM »
Nice. Can't wait and hope to see them live sometime, if they even stop by New Mex.
I don't know how they can be so proud of winning with them odds. - Little Big Man
Follow my Spotify:BjamminD

Offline LudwigVan

  • Posts: 4777
  • Gender: Male
  • Proglodyte
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #20 on: February 10, 2011, 12:18:52 PM »
HI folks!

Thanks for the (mostly) positive reception.  :)

Three comments:

1.  No sequined jackets or poofy hair is envisioned.

2.  This Mortal Coil is Shakespeare, not Carcass and not anybody else.  I only stole from the original source.   :)

3.  We will, in fact, be one of the good albums this year!  :P





 :lol  That's awesome
"There is nothing more difficult than talking about music."
--Camille Saint-Saëns

“All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff.”
--Frank Zappa

Offline Jamesman42

  • There you'll find me
  • DT.net Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 21704
  • Spiral OUT
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #21 on: February 10, 2011, 12:35:48 PM »
2.  This Mortal Coil is Shakespeare, not Carcass and not anybody else.  I only stole from the original source.  :)

This website will love you if you cite that in the liner notes.

Offline Phantasmatron

  • Peanut Butter Advocate and Jelly Enthusiast
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 3730
  • Gender: Male
  • What the Jenkins?!
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #22 on: February 10, 2011, 01:37:21 PM »
2.  This Mortal Coil is Shakespeare, not Carcass and not anybody else.  I only stole from the original source.  :)

:rollin

I can't decide if this is funnier if you have or if you haven't seen the thread accusing Petrucci of plagiarism. 

Offline nvandyk1

  • Posts: 28
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #23 on: February 10, 2011, 01:45:23 PM »
Had not heard about allegations of JP plagiarism.  I don't visit here as much as I should.

Offline Zook

  • Evil Incarnate
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 14144
  • Gender: Male
  • Take My Hand
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #24 on: February 10, 2011, 02:09:37 PM »
Visit more, Nick. You're awesome! Say, have you heard of............ KrotchRaut? :D

Offline pogoowner

  • Pancake Bunny
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 2872
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #25 on: February 10, 2011, 02:16:00 PM »
Can't wait to hear this. Snowfall was incredible, and another album on that level would be quite a treat.

Offline wolfking

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 46256
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #26 on: February 10, 2011, 02:22:17 PM »
Reading Nick's interview again, this is really exciting, Nick gives us a great vibe regarding the whole process.  Snowfall was the best cd of 2009, and This Mortal Coil very well could have the same potential.
Everyone else, except Wolfking is wrong.

Offline Nick

  • A doctor.
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 20050
  • Gender: Male
  • But not the medical kind.
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #27 on: February 10, 2011, 03:11:15 PM »
Visit more, Nick. You're awesome! Say, have you heard of............ KrotchRaut? :D

I'm fighting off the strong urge just to ban you now. Don't scare off the guests! :p

Reading Nick's interview again, this is really exciting, Nick gives us a great vibe regarding the whole process.  Snowfall was the best cd of 2009, and This Mortal Coil very well could have the same potential.

For anyone who wants to read, the interview from www.wpapu.com is being printed below.

Nic Van Dyk of Redemption
Interview conducted: April/May 2009
Interview posted: May 1st, 2009

Official Redemption Page

Since 2002 the band Redemption has sent waves through the progressive metal community. With three studio albums under their belt Redemption has just released their first ever live set, Frozen in the Moment: Live in Atlanta, a CD/DVD package set released March 3rd via InsideOut Records. The show was filmed during Redemption’s headline appearance at 2008’s ProgPower Festival.  When Prog and Power Unite is privileged to have a few words with the band’s mastermind, Nic Van Dyk, with additional questions being submitted by you, the fans.

PPU: First of all, thank you for agreeing to do this interview. Let’s start with something easy and general… what has personally been the best part of heading Redemption?

NVD: Honestly, the experience of touring with Dream Theater, playing on big stages to thousands of people, was pretty surreal and a real milestone in terms of what Redemption has accomplished thus far.

PPU: What would you say was the definitive artist, concert, or musical experience that really inspired you to pursue music as a career?

NVD: The defining moment to learn guitar came from hearing Gary Moore’s solo from Shapes of Things to Come.  The defining experience that led me to actually release music came much later, and was basically the night I met Ray Alder.  Becoming friends and ultimately sharing my music with him gave me confidence and credibility to attract other musicians and label interest.

PPU: If you had the opportunity to join any band, at any point in their career, what band would it be and when?

NVD: I would say Rush, probably on their Test for Echo tour.  Not so much because of that CD, but because that’s what they started doing “evening with” shows where they play for 150 minutes.  Performing live is a huge rush (no pun intended).  From a studio standpoint, probably either Iron Maiden circa Piece of Mind or Rush circa Moving Pictures.

PPU: As a huge fan of Rush myself I can really appreciate what you’re saying about the switch to the evening with format. But the pendulum swings both ways I suppose, as of not too long ago a band like Redemption would not have had the chance to open for Dream Theater as they were doing evening with tours up until the Chaos in Motion Tour. I’ve been able to talk with Redemption’s bassist Sean Andrews on a couple of occasions and I know he is a big Rush fan as well, is this a common influence throughout the band, or just for the two of you? And are there really any bands that a big group of musicians like Redemption can generally agree upon?

NVD: Sean, Chris and I are ravenous fans.  Chris knows, I am pretty sure, their entire catalog.  Sean knows a lot of it, too.  At rehearsals, they would always just start fooling around playing stuff like Digital Man, flawlessly, of course, and I could never keep up unless they played one of the 10 or so songs that I have committed to memory.  Greg, Bernie and Ray are fans as well, but probably not as over the top as Sean, Chris and I are.  When we were in Toronto on tour with DT, we broke into YYZ in the middle of Bleed Me Dry.  It was just too tempting not to – here we were, in Toronto, playing on Rush’s hometown stage where they had played a month before us, and there’s a little break in the song where I normally played two bars of Spirit of Radio before resuming the rest of the track.  So the night before we decided to do the intro to YYZ there instead and the crowd response was amazing.  This is captured in some of the bonus materials on the DVD.

PPU: What group of bands would you most like to tour with? (Aaron, Texas)

NVD: The Dream Theater guys were fantastic to us.  We had a lot of fun with Into Eternity as well – great guys.  I’d love to go out with DT again.  I think it would be fun to play with Symphony X as well.  Threshold is another band that would be musically compatible and it would be a lot of fun to try to do some shows together with them – I think the fanbase would be very complementary.  We’re friends with Evergrey and it would be fun to play with them.  Kamelot, also, seems like a good match.  At the next level, opening for somebody like Rush or Iron Maiden or Heaven & Hell is something that would be a dream, of course.

PPU: I first saw Redemption live during the Chaos in Motion tour in 2007. How was your overall experience in regards to touring with Dream Theater? (Chris, Maryland)

NVD: 100% positive experience.  They were very good to us, and their crew and management was fantastic.  We got along very well, had a lot of fun, and got great exposure.  I really hope we have the opportunity to do it again sometime!

PPU: I (Nick) was at the final three shows on the tour you did with Dream Theater, and I have to ask about that final show in Philadelphia. For those who don’t know, you guys all dressed up as giant ants, which of course was a play on Dream Theater’s artwork, and then I believe Ray Alder chased you guys around stage during Dream Theater’s The Dark Eternal Night dressed as a can of Raid. Who came up with the idea for this shenanigan, and was there any fun happening behind the scenes that we don’t see in the bonus footage of Frozen in the Moment?

NVD: Well I have to give Ray credit for the inspiration, but I will take credit for the perspiration.  Ray mentioned off-handedly about midway through the tour that it would be funny if we all ran onstage in ant suits.  I don’t think he thought anything would come of it, but I had this vision, including one of us dressed up as a can of raid chasing the rest of us around.  I cleared this with DT’s stage manager, of course, because we wouldn’t do something like that without clearance.  Then Bernie and I went shopping.  I spent most of the day making the outfits…ultimately there were four ants (me, Ray, our tour manager Mike and Bernie) and our keyboard player Greg was the can of raid.  I spray-painted a trash can yellow and wrote “Raid” on the side and then got a red lampshade that looks like the spray-button for him to wear on his head.  We had a blast – it was fun as hell.  Mike laughed, I even saw the implacable John Myung crack a smile.  John was too focused on his guitar playing to notice.  Jordan did a double-take.  All in all, it was in good taste and everybody thought it was fun.  Most of this is captured pretty well on the DVD.

PPU: Which do you find more rewarding, writing the music or the lyrics? (Alex, Pennsylvania)

NVD: Generally speaking, I enjoy music more than lyrics.  Of course at their best, the two are related, with the music complementing the meaning of the lyrics and vice versa, but I can get the emotion from the music more readily than just the words.  I’m also a perfectionist and while I constantly find things I would change about both, there’s usually less that I want to change about the music than the lyrics.

PPU: Do you generally build a song around a lyrical theme or concept or start with music and basically build from the ground up?

NVD: It can vary.  To take two opposite examples from our last CD, The Origins of Ruin, the intro guitar part to the song Fall On You is something I wrote sitting down with an acoustic.  I remember hearing the melody line and coming up with the one vocal line “run faster now, don’t look back till you’re far away” but the rest of the song was written before any other words.  Conversely, the song Memory came together in snippets but I vividly remember being on a golf course, by myself, when the melody and words “I don’t want the emptiness that a spotless mind would bring”  came into my head, and I wrote chords to support that melody line.  So it’s a little of both – the music probably comes first most of the time, though.

PPU: Do you usually write out guitar solos in advance or just improvise them when you record?

NVD: A little of both.  Typically I’ll hear something in my head that will fit as a signature motif in the solo, and I’ll either begin from there or write something up to it depending on where it falls in the solo.  Usually I’ll combine spontaneous performance with writing, or I’ll play something spontaneous and then modify if it it’s not quite on the mark.  I’m always mindful of something that Dave Meniketti from Y&T once said: a solo should have a memorable beginning, and memorable end, and something to chew on in the middle.

PPU: How often do you spend critiquing your music and particularly lyrics? Do you consider yourself a perfectionist when it comes to your music?

NVD: As I intimated above, I spend a LOT of time doing this – more than is healthy, probably.  When I hear our music I think of what I’d change, whether compositionally, lyrically, production-wise, etc.  Thankfully there is less and less as time goes on, which hopefully is indicative of improvement as a songwriter.

PPU: As someone who's never heard your music, where would you personally recommend I start, and why would that be your pick? (Matt, Wisconsin)

NVD: I would start with our most recent CD, The Origins of Ruin, and if a song had to be picked I would probably choose Fall On You, because it runs the gamut from some of the more technical stuff, some of the more aggressive stuff, but also some of the more melodic stuff we do.  It’s hard to pigeonhole a single song.  The common theme in our music is what I would call emotional and musical urgency.  That can be conveyed a number of ways – sometimes it comes across more aggressively, other times less so.  So any single song can be misleading.  Unless, of course, you want to devote 16 minutes.

PPU: What is behind the lyrics and inspiration for the song Sapphire? (Bill, NJ)

NVD: At its most basic level, Sapphire is about a painful end to a relationship, one without closure, and being doomed to wonder what might have been. It’s an aggressive, sweeping progressive metal love song, I suppose.

PPU: Is the song "The Fullness of Time" based on a personal experience you had or that someone you know experienced?

NVD: Sorry to say, it’s something I experienced first-hand.  I was betrayed by a friend, and I went through feelings of tremendous rage, disappointment, and self-doubt before ultimately moving on.  Frankly I’m still pretty heated about it so maybe I’ve got a bit more growing to do.  J

PPU: What was it about Stephen King's "Desperation" that inspired you to write a song about it?

NVD: It’s funny; I’m not the world’s biggest Stephen King fan.  But I do think in those instances where he tackles a “big” subject, as he did in this novel or in The Stand, and he gets it right, it’s pretty compelling fiction.  In the case of Desperation, the novel is really an examination of faith, and my sense is it is at least somewhat autobiographical as he wrote this after a near-death experience and the transformative character in the story is a writer who has been tortured for years by self-loathing and he ultimately embraces faith – not a simple-minded faith or a blind faith, but a reluctant one that accepts the ugliness and difficulties and irrationalism of faith without apology.  It’s a beautiful story from that perspective and, I feel, quite moving.  Of course now I don’t plan on adapting any third-party stories for more songs and I think that whole process is a little sophomoric, but I’m at least proud of the source material I used both for that piece and for Something Wicked This Way Comes.

PPU: When people familiar with the music of Redemption watch Frozen in the Moment for the first time, what do you think they will be most impressed by? What aspects to seeing Redemption live do you think are special in general?

NVD: That’s a good question. I think Redemption is a special band because while there is good playing, we aren’t about virtuosity – people either connect with the emotions our music stirs or they do not.  I think, in all modesty, we’re pretty tight and there are some very cool technical sections (the end of The Suffocating Silence is one part, the pre-solo technical section in Sapphire which is pretty nuts is another, etc)  that are fun to watch.  Our drummer, Chris, is a lot of fun to watch.  And our keyboard player really gets into it, too.  All in all, it’s a fun DVD to watch.

PPU: Are there any particular moments from the Frozen in the Moment show of which you enjoyed? Any certain songs that you always love to play?

NVD: I love the beginning of our shows…the rush of hitting those first notes in Threads was one of the special moments for me on that tour. I also really like The Suffocating Silence.  We play it very up-tempo and heavy, and the technical section at the end is a blast to play.

PPU: Can you briefly explain to me what it was like recording Frozen in the Moment, and what went into taking that performance and making it into the product that will be in my DVD player very soon!

NVD: It was a great set of circumstances.  We’re part of the ProgPower family, as I’ve been a friend of the organizer from the very first one and we’ve performed there before, albeit as a much less experienced band.  We had the advantage of the tour with DT to work ourselves into shape, and we were going to be playing to a “home crowd” of sorts – they didn’t come just to see us but we fit into the bill pretty well.  The setup there, from the cameras to the audio, is totally professional – the promoter does an amazing job.  And he had been putting out DVDs of the performance for a number of years so it was a matter of negotiating a deal with him to get our own film, and making sure we got the audio as well.  From there, it was a matter of showing up and feeding off the crowd.  We had a blast with that performance.  The finished product is very true to the actual performance – no overdubs or re-tracking or stuff like that.  I think it adds a human touch to it – we’re pretty tight, but you can tell it’s an authentic performance.

The process of editing the video was a lot of work. I did it myself using Final Cut and it wound up taking a very long time, but I think it was worth the effort.  Putting together the bonus materials was a labor of love, but we had so much good material and so many memories from the DT tour that I wanted to preserve that I knew we had to do something pretty special with it, and I think the bonus materials are really, really cool.  I’m very happy with the quality of the audio, and I have to credit Matt Crooks for mixing and Ty Tabor for mastering.  The package turned out great from my perspective.

PPU: I believe Redemption is currently working on a new studio album, how is that coming along?

NVD: As I type this, we are almost finished mixing and will be turning the master over to Inside Out in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully the CD will be out late summer.

PPU: Is the forthcoming album going to be generally in the vein of the previous two albums or will it show more experimenting in new territory?

NVD: The materials are a little more varied than the last CD, although people won’t be scratching their head wondering what happened to Redemption.  Expect very heavy prog metal with big choruses and a balance between technicality and economic songwriting.  We do some heavier stuff than we’ve done before, and we have some more sweeping prog stuff as well.  I think our fans will really enjoy it – we’ve had a lot of fun recording it.

PPU: What is the probability that Redemption will do any form of headlining touring here in the States on the next album?

NVD: I think a major headlining tour is probably not in the cards – we aren’t big enough yet.  J   I think we will play some shows, though, and I’d love to team up with some other prog bands, or obviously if we got another opening slot that will expose us like the DT tour did, that’s something we’d jump at.

Links:

Official Site: https://www.redemptionweb.com/
Myspace: https://www.myspace.com/thebandredemption
InsideOut Records: www.insideout.de

Redemption Is:

Ray Alder - Vocals
Nicolas van Dyk - Guitars and Keyboards
Bernie Versailles - Guitars
Sean Andrews - Bass
Chris Quirarte - Drums
Greg Hosharian – Keyboards

Update on Redemption’s 4th Studio Album:
Hello folks. Been a while since an update...hopefully for those interested the DVD has been a good means of tiding you over, but we will have new music out in the next few months and I can share some details at this time.

Redemption's fourth CD, Snowfall on Judgment Day, is expected to be released this summer worldwide through Inside Out. The album is currently being mixed and mastered by our good and talented friend Tommy Newton, who produced our last two CDs and whose work also includes Conception, Helloween, UFO and others, at Area 51 Studios in Celle, Germany. Artwork will once again be by our creative visual partner Travis Smith.

Musically, we have continued to grow and expand on the basic Redemption formula. We have continued to push the envelope of heaviness combined with strong melody and emotional urgency in the music and I think the collection of songs is very strong, with some very in-your-face tunes that are among the heaviest in prog metal to some quieter, more elaborate moments, with technical thrown in where it belongs.

The tentative track listing is:

Peel
Walls
Leviathan Rising
Black and White World
Unformed
Keep Breathing
Another Day Dies
What Will You Say
Fistful of Sand
Love Kills Us All / Life in One Day

I am particular excited to report that Another Day Dies is a duet between Ray Alder and a very special guest vocalist, James LaBrie of Dream Theater!

Once a firm release date is set, I'll provide another update. We're really looking forward to getting new music in your hands.

Thanks again for your interest and support!
Nick van Dyk, Redemption
For the best online progressive radio: ProgRock.com
For the best in progressive news, reviews, and interviews: SonicPerspectives.com
For a trove of older podcasts and interviews: WPaPU.com
Awesome Majesty Pendant Club: Member #1

Offline skydivingninja

  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 11593
  • Gender: Male
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #28 on: February 10, 2011, 03:26:00 PM »
Wait, a Rage for Order of the new century?  For a band that wants to set the bar higher for themselves they need to think of making a Mindcrime for the new century.  ;D  Actually, if they did make an album on the same tier as Mindcrime I will be very very happy. 

Offline Nick

  • A doctor.
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 20050
  • Gender: Male
  • But not the medical kind.
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #29 on: February 10, 2011, 03:30:02 PM »
While I think Mindcrime is a marginally better album I'd say that Rage For Order was far and away a more cutting edge album, and I think that's a fine goal to shoot for.
For the best online progressive radio: ProgRock.com
For the best in progressive news, reviews, and interviews: SonicPerspectives.com
For a trove of older podcasts and interviews: WPaPU.com
Awesome Majesty Pendant Club: Member #1

Offline LudwigVan

  • Posts: 4777
  • Gender: Male
  • Proglodyte
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #30 on: February 10, 2011, 04:20:56 PM »
Count me in as a big fan of Frozen In The Moment.  Redemption is a prog-metal band that can get a great groove going, and that really comes through in the DVD.
"There is nothing more difficult than talking about music."
--Camille Saint-Saëns

“All the good music has already been written by people with wigs and stuff.”
--Frank Zappa

Offline dongringo

  • Posts: 1169
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #31 on: February 13, 2011, 02:51:51 PM »
Well, I'm glad a new album is on its way.

A Rage For Order for the next century? That actully scares me.

The funny thing is...that's what Queensryche is calling their upcoming new album.
.......__o
.......\ <,
....( )/ ( )

Offline Nick

  • A doctor.
  • Global Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 20050
  • Gender: Male
  • But not the medical kind.
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #32 on: February 13, 2011, 04:32:25 PM »
Yeah, but we all know Redemption might actually deliver on it.
For the best online progressive radio: ProgRock.com
For the best in progressive news, reviews, and interviews: SonicPerspectives.com
For a trove of older podcasts and interviews: WPaPU.com
Awesome Majesty Pendant Club: Member #1

Offline dongringo

  • Posts: 1169
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #33 on: February 13, 2011, 08:43:06 PM »
Lol Here we go...
.......__o
.......\ <,
....( )/ ( )

Offline Phantasmatron

  • Peanut Butter Advocate and Jelly Enthusiast
  • DTF.org Alumni
  • ****
  • Posts: 3730
  • Gender: Male
  • What the Jenkins?!
Re: Redemption - new album info (album title revealed)
« Reply #34 on: February 13, 2011, 11:40:01 PM »
Nick only said what everybody was thinking.