At the annual kick Sweden Rock Festival, which this year was held at the Tyrol in Stockholm, the first 26bands for the festival of 2008 were announced. They are as follows:

JUDAS PRIEST
The classic lineup of Rob Halford, KK Downing, Glenn Tipton, Ian Hill and Randy Travis will visit our festival once again. They´re currently putting the finishing touches to a new studioalbum based on the life of Nostradamus.

ASTRAL DOORS (S)
Astral Doors continue to create cosmic metal with their latest album ”New revelation”

AT THE GATES (S)
The band who created ”the Gothenburg sound” will reform for an exclusive gig for Sweden and our festival.

AVATAR (S)
A young swedish melodic death metal band who have received a lot of recognition over the last two years.

AXEWITCH (S)
Another swedish hardrock act who has decided to reform with four of their five original members. And a new album might face the day next year.

BLUE ÖYSTER CULT (US)
A classic american rockband who got their big breakthrough with ”(Don´t fear) the reaper” and Godzilla in the mid 70´s incorparating science fiction and the occult in their music. The band last visited Sweden Rock Festival in 1998 and they will be back in 2008.

BONAFIDE (S)
Those who have seen Bonafide can tell you about a band rooted in Humble Pie, Rose Tattoo and AC/DC.

CARCASS (UK/S)
An english deathmetalband, but with a swedish guitarplayer Michael Amott (Arch Enemy/Spiritual Beggars), will re-unite for Sweden Rock Festival. Drummer Ken Owen will, however, be replaced by Daniel Erlandssson.

COHEED & CAMBRIA (US)
An american progressive band from New York. They´re fascinated by 70´s-rock and many have compared them to Rush. And the producer of their latest album ”Good Apollo, I´m burning star IV, Volume two: no world for tomorrow” – Nick Raskulinecz – is the same guy who did ”Snakes and arrows”!

DARE (UK)
Melodic rock with celtic influences is the direction that former Thin Lizzy-keyboardist Darren Wharton has chosen to go since the debut in 1989. A new album entitled ”Arc of dawn” will be released next year.

DERRINGER BAND (US)
Derringer-Johnson-Appice-Aronson. Rick Derringer, Danny Johnson, Vinny Appice and Kenny Aaronson released three classic albums in the 70´s (”Derringer”, ”Sweet Evil” and ”Derringer Live”) and they´re sure to command interest today as well.

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA - former members of ELO and ELO Part II (UK)
With former members of ELO and ELO II this is a band who will prove that the large audience has not forgotten classic albums such as ”A new world record” and ”Out of the blues”.

GOTTHARD (CH)
A heavy rockband from Switzerland who graced our kickoff with a gig. Eleven of their twelve album releases have reached the number one spot in Switzerland.

HAVANA BLACK (FIN)
Southern rock from Finland? Yes, it can work and did so some 20 years ago with ”Faceless days”, ”Indian warrior” and ”Exiles in mainstream”. It still does.

HENSLEY/LAWTON & LIVE FIRE (UK)
Ken Hensley first came to prominence as a keyboardist in Uriah Heep and he teamed up with John Lawton in the latter parts of the 70´s. Of course you can count on them to play a couple of Heep-tracks.

LIZZY BORDEN (US)
Got their name from a young american woman who axemurdered her parents. This music will definitely kill you!

MINISTRY (US)
The main man in black has announced that he and the band will retire but not before Al Jourgensen has visited Sweden Rock Festival. This is the band who defined and still defines the term metal with an industrial touch.

MUSTASCH (S)
Probably the most successive hardrockband from Sweden in Sweden during 2007 thanks to their hitsingle ”Double nature” from their latest album ”Latest version of the truth”.

NEGATIVE (FIN)
They started out as something closer to gothrock but can nowadays be regarded as glam- and sleazerock. Big in Finland and soon to be big everywhere else.

SABATON (S)
They played Sweden Rock Festival in 2005 and their fanbase has been growing ever since. A new album will be released this coming spring.

SAXON (UK)
One of the most classic bands hailing from NWOBHM-era makes every festival better. And yes – they´re bringing their eagle with them!

SHAKIN` STREET
Fronted by beautiful Fabienne Shine this band released to albums in the 80´s. Fabienne, Ross the Boss, Mike Winter and Jean-Lou plus Phillipe Kalfon and Phillipe Bonnano are back.

TESLA (US)
Had great success in the early 90´s in the US starting with ”Mechanical resonance” but disbanded in 1994. The band members have found their way back together. First ever visit to Sweden Rock Festival.

THE BLUES BAND (UK)
Much talked about bluesband from England who has existed close to 30 years. This is an institution!

ULI JOHN ROTH (D)
Played a handful of songs together with his former bandmates in Scorpions at our festival in june this year and the german guitarist will return with his own band. He has concentrated on combining heavier rock with orchestral elements and his masterpeice ”Metamorphosis” was released in 2004. He´s got a new album coming out next year.

VOLBEAT (DK)
Heavy and hard from Denmark with a singer who reminds a lot about Elvis Presley!

For more information, visit the Sweden Rock Festival web site.

John, Jay and Guthrie are pleased to officially announce that the band lineup has finally been completed with the addition of keyboard wizard par excellence Erik Norlander. Erik’s evocative synthesizer technique and style is reminiscent of the legendary Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson and Jon Lord while still creating a very unique musical voice of his own.

Vocalist John Payne adds, “We know that the keyboard position is extremely critical to this band and therefore much time was invested to find the right person and all roads lead us to Erik.”

The band has commenced recording the much-anticipated album Architect of Time to be released in 2008. Red Entertainment is currently booking worldwide tour dates.

http://www.theasiaband.com
http://www.eriknorlander.com
http://www.redentertainment.com

As one of the premier electronic bands performing today, England’s Radio Massacre International has a long history of playing “in the moment” and is capable of just about anything. After 15 years and more than 25 albums, the band is continues to look over the horizon to broaden their craft. Their latest release, “Rain Falls in Grey” (Cuneiform) is “a prog album for those who get itchy at the thought of electronic music.”

A tribute to former Pink Floyd leader Syd Barrett, the album shows them adapting to a rock band format using the spirit of Syd to channel one of the best albums in their catalog. Having first performed in the USA at ProgWest in 2002, the buzz resulted in three performances at The Gatherings Concert Series in Philadelphia. Their rendition of “Rain Falls in Grey,” performed in November 2007 while at Orion Studios, left the audience stunned; unaware that such power could exist within electronic music. RMI uses an arsenal of analog equipment, ranging from Moogs to Mellotrons to sequencers to Fender Rhodes, to create their sonic blanket of sound. RMI promises to present a very special show to the NEARfest audience and we are very excited to feature them at NFX.

Dream Theater’s “Progressive Nation” is a package tour which will tour North America throughout April and May 2008, featuring Opeth, 3, Between The Buried and Me and of course Dream Theater themselves.
The tour is the brainchild of DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy who explains: “I’ve been wanting to assemble a package tour like this for many years now. With all of the festivals and package tours that go through America, I’ve been talking with our manager and agent for over 10 years now about doing something that focuses on the more progressive, musician-oriented side of hard rock and metal. I decided it was time to stop talking the talk, lace up and finally walk the walk”

While DREAM THEATER co-headlined 2005’s GIGANTOUR along side MEGADETH, as well as embarking on previous co-headlining runs with both QUEENSRYCHE and JOE SATRIANI, they have primarily built their 22 year career on the road playing solely to their own audience. Portnoy comments: “I’ve always prided myself on personally hand picking new and exciting opening acts for DREAM THEATER in the past. Bands such as PORCUPINE TREE, SYMPHONY X, SPOCK’S BEARD, FATES WARNING, PAIN OF SALVATION and KING’S X. In all of these cases, it was important for me to pick bands that I admire and respect but also ones that I know our fans will enjoy. And I think playing with DT has helped expand all of those band’s fanbases as a direct result. I am hoping PROGRESSIVE NATION will continue to do the same thing in offering an audience for more daring and experimental acts that otherwise may not get the mainstream exposure they so rightly deserve.”

Joining the bill for this inaugural run is Sweden’s legendary OPETH who have been enjoying an ever-growing and expanding audience of their own for many years now. DT’s Roadrunner Records label-mates will be ready to unleash their new album come next spring and PROGRESSIVE NATION should be a great launching pad for their next World Tour cycle. Guitarist/Vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt adds: “We’re very excited about this upcoming tour with DREAM THEATER. It will be the first tour that we’re doing in support of our upcoming record, and also somewhat of a dream come true personally as I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time. It’s quite intimidating to be on the bill with such amazing musicians but obviously we’ll try and give them a run for their money and pull out a few nice licks of our own. I guess we’ll need to practice a little bit for this….how boring! Yet, I can’t wait for this tour to start and I’m sure we’ll have a blast with the DT guys as well as together with the other bands on the bill!”

Also on the bill with their unique blend of pop, funk and hard rock is upstate New York’s 3 who issued the following statement: “3 is very pleased to announce its participation in the PROGRESSIVE NATION tour. For well over a decade DREAM THEATER has been the vanguard of progressive rock and we are completely psyched to flex with these heavyweights, playing much of our new record “The End is Begun”. This package will rock and awe fans everywhere as one of the most important tours of the year. It’s a progressive way of music, a progressive way of life….welcome to the PROGRESSIVE NATION tour.”

North Carolina’s BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME are enjoying rave reviews and critical acclaim for their latest CD “Colors” and are looking forward to sharing the stage each night with both DREAM THEATER and OPETH. Vocalist/Keyboardist Tommy Rogers comments: “We are very excited to be touring with two bands that have been such an integral part of our musical upbringing. It is a wonderful opportunity to have our music heard by new ears.”

DREAM THEATER are currently in the middle of their “Chaos In Motion” World Tour which has already traveled extensively throughout Europe and North America in support of their latest Roadrunner Records CD “Systematic Chaos”. The World Tour will continue throughout 2008 hitting Asia, Australia and South America before concluding with PROGRESSIVE NATION returning to North America in April/May 2008.

Portnoy hopes that this first venture of PROGRESSIVE NATION will prove to be a success that can enable himself and DREAM THEATER to continue the package into future years and begin a tradition that musicians and fans alike can count on for quality musicianship and artistic integrity on future tours.

Jethro Tull is on the road and plans to release a new album in 2008. This year the band features Ian Anderson (voice, guitar, flute), Martin Barre (guitars), David Goodier (bass), John O’Hara (keyboards), and Doane Perry (drums). These folks are among the artists, who’ll be on the 2008 album of new songs from Tull. That’s due out by summer of 2008. The group’s recorded eight songs so far for the new album.

Extreme progressive metal leaders INTO ETERNITY have completed the touring cycle for their highly acclaimed album, The Scattering of Ashes, and are currently hard at work on material for their much anticipated new recording, which guitarist/vocalist Tim Roth says will be the group’s first conceptual album.

The Scattering of Ashes campaign saw the band embark on five North American tours with highlights including an appearance on Gigantour performing alongside Megadeth and Lamb of God, but it was this past summer’s tour alongside Dream Theater that really saw the band reach out to a new audience.

Roth states: “We are officially done touring for The Scattering Of Ashes. We ended up doing 150 shows and being away for close to 200 days of the year! The whole band did a great job, as it’s not always easy being away from home for so long, but I think it’s important to do it the old-school way and tour as much as we can. No one can say we’re a lazy band!

“Our last tour was with Edguy, Light This City and Echoes Of Eternity. It was a big success for us, so we want to thank those bands again. It was cool bonding with all the bands and ‘bro-ing down’ with them at 4:20. This touring cycle, we also got to tour with Megadeth, Lamb Of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Overkill, Sanctity, The Smash-Up, Destruction, Hirax, Municipal Waste, The Haunted, Dark Tranquillity, Scar Symmetry, Redemption and the mighty Dream Theater! We ended up doing five full U.S. tours on this cycle, and they all were special to us. Playing with Megadeth and Dream Theater each night was a real dream come true!

“Right now we are home in Canada awaiting the cold chill of winter. It is supposed to snow tomorrow, so I’ll be in front of my warm computer composing new riffs for the next album. For the first time ever, we will be doing a concept album. Stu and I are working on the lyrics right now. It’s always good to keep moving forward and to try new things, and this is something that we have always wanted to do. We have done two songs already, and it’s turning out really cool. We’ll keep you posted in the future as things start to progress further.

MySpace - www.myspace.com/officialintoeternity