Tag Archives: Purson

News: Purson Releasing Desire’s Magic Theatre on March 25th

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Purson will be releasing their next album Desire’s Magic Theatre on March 25, 2016 via Spinefarm Records.

Vocalist/guitarist Rosalie Cunningham commented:

Desire’s Magic Theatre has turned out to be everything I’d imagined and more. My world has been so consumed by it that I’ve barely been able to reflect on what it has become: a technicolor variety show, a playful display of the musical whims only briefly hinted at in our previous work; a psychedelic rock opera dedicated to our good friends Sarge Pepper and Zig Stardust.

The band has an upcoming headline UK tour.

Mar 09: The Louisiana – Bristol (UK)
Mar 10: Rock City – Nottingham (UK)
Mar 11: Waterfront Studio – Norwich (UK)
Mar 12: The Craufurd Arms – Milton Keynes (UK)
Mar 16: 100 Club – London (UK)
Mar 24: The Cavern Club – Exeter (UK)
Mar 25: The Junction – Plymouth (UK)
Mar 26: Joiners – Southampton (UK)
Mar 27: The Hope & Ruin – Brighton (UK)
Mar 30: The Sunflower Lounge – Birmingham (UK)
Mar 31: Night & Day – Manchester (UK)
Apr 01: Audio – Glasgow (UK)
Apr 02: The Brudenell – Leeds (UK)


Mirror – Mirror

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Mirror - Mirror

Latest of the new wave of stoner/revival/heavy metal bands, Mirror have an impressive and diverse collective CV of work behind them. A Face on the Doom scene, bassist Tas Danazoglou (erstwhile of Electric Wizard and Great Coven) is the main driver behind this band, along with drummer Jaime Gomez Arellano (Blutvial and Septic Tank). The band is very upfront with what to expect from Mirror (Metal Blade), their debut album: “The recording boasts strong melodic ideas with classic, heavy riffs inspired by the sounds of Scorpions, UFO, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple and the like.”

The album’s opener – ‘Mirror’ – is so ridiculously Maiden that it’s almost a surprise as the vocals start that it’s not Ol’ Foghorn himself making a guest appearance. Instead, Jimmy Mavromatis turns in a performance far more reminiscent of Blind Guardian‘s Hansi Kürsch. The song doesn’t suffer from it though – it’s the best of the bunch. ‘Curse of the Gypsy’ is a grandiose affair which reminds strongly of Ghost. The foot comes off the throttle for the stargazing ‘Year of the Red Moon’, where the inevitable Hammond organ makes its appearance and settles in for the remainder of the ride and ‘Heavy King’ is a fine track in the Deep Purple vein with a strong backbone and some lovely breaks from each band member. ‘Madness and Magic’ brings the (classic rock flavoured) doom and ‘Galleon’ brings us back to Killers-era Maiden, while ‘Cloak of a Thousand Secrets’ turns up the heat again for a boisterous hybrid of Blind Guardian and UFO. ‘Orion’s Sword’ servers an extended acoustic(y) intro to the closing track – ‘Elysian’ – which pretty much shoehorns everything from the rest of the album into one song.

As I’ve said before, revival bands often struggle to find their own sense of identity, but I don’t think this is true of Mirror. They’re honest about what they’re aiming for, they’ve delivered as promised and the end result does stand on its own whilst paying authentic homage to the giants of 70s metal. What lets Mirror down is the killer/filler track list (‘Mirror’, ‘Gypsy’, ‘Heavy King’ and ‘Secrets’ being the killers), and the dry production. Now, I fully appreciate that this sound is a central part of the feel the band are going for with this album, but it detracts from almost all the tracks, robbing them of the punch and depth that a richer sound would yield.

Nevertheless, a decent debut, and if you’re into the likes of Purson, Ghost or The Sword, you’ll probably get on with Mirror.

 

6.5/10

 

PHILIP PAGE


Ghost – Purson: Live At The House Of Blues Boston, MA

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There is always a little bit of self pride when you follow a band from their small venue first set of shows with one album to headlining a bigger sized stage in the city. On September, 28th I got that same feeling seeing Ghost headline at the House of Blues in Boston, MA. Purson started off the night with a bang and Ghost closed out the night (almost) flawlessly. This would be my third ritual with The Nameless Ghouls and their leader, Papa Emeritus III, and they are arguably at their best yet.

Purson, by Meg Loyal Photography

Purson, by Meg Loyal Photography

Purson hit the stage first with their psychedelic rock that got a solid reaction from the Boston crowd. The set consisted of mostly tracks from The Circle and the Blue Door with opening/closing tracks from In the Meantime. A couple of my favorites were ‘Rocking Horse’ , ‘Spiderwood Farm’ , ‘Well Spoiled Machine’ , and ‘Wanted Man’. After this short set, I definitely have my mind on obtaining those two albums.

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

Then after what felt like forever, the ritual had begun. Ghost took to the stage opening with the first track off of latest release, Meliora, entitled ‘Spirit’. Track staples such as ‘Ritual’ , ‘Con Clavi Con Dio’ , ‘Per Aspera ad Inferi’ , ‘Year Zero’ , and closer/encore, ‘Monstrance Clock’ obviously made the 19-song set list. Other new tracks included ‘From the Pinnacle to the Pit’ , ‘Cirice’ , ‘He Is’ , ‘Mummy Dust’ , and ‘Majesty’. The latter of those tracks actually received an introduction by Papa and he actually spoke to my girlfriend and mentioned that “someone dragged (her) here” which was an equally amazing yet hilarious moment in the show. Another funny moment was Ghost actually messed up the opening to ‘Prime Mover’ and Papa got the crowd to help them through a second attempt. Hey no one is perfect right? We also saw a change in outfits by Papa Emeritus into something a bit more comfortable, but still staying classy. If that surprise was not good enough for the Boston crowd, ‘Jigolo Har Megiddo’ was played acoustically and became quite a catchy sing-a-long. However, nothing lasts forever and Ghost made their leave until the next ritual.

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

Having first seen this band play with minimal stage props, set list, costumes, and audience, I am proud of this band. A lot of people can only say that Ghost is not original or is a stupid gimmick. And hey, people are entitled to that opinion. Personally, this band is a fresh air for heavy metal which is simply drowning in seas of “same old same old” from many of today’s leading metal bands. It is simple after all because if you have ghosts, you have everything.

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

 

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

Ghost, by Meg Loyal Photography

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WORDS BY TIM LEDIN

PHOTOS BY MEG LOYAL PHOTOGRAPHY