PRYDAIN – album out today!

Today another Metal Masterpiece sees the light of day on LIMB MUSIC: Austin Dixon, guitarist and founding member of US Power Metallers SONIC PROPHECY, fulfills a lifelong dream with PRYDAIN’s debut album ‚The Gates of Aramore‘.

Produced & mixed by Bob Katsionis (Firewind, Serious Black, Wonders, Outloud, Stray Gods, Warrior Path).
Cover artwork by Uwe Jarling (Heavens Gate, Roger Staffelbach, Grave Digger, Stray Gods).

Quote from Austin:
„I’m so proud today for the release of the debut album ‚The Gates of Aramore‘!
The music on this album has been a passion of mine that I’ve been working on for some years and it’s amazing to see it finally in the hands and ears of metal fans all over the world. The reception so far has been great and I’m thankful for the chance to make this contribution to the Power Metal World, a genre that means so much to me. This album has it all, including famous Power Metal guests that you know and love and support from a timeless and important record label, LIMB MUSIC!
If you’re a fan of the Classic Power Metal sound of early bands like Avantasia, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Edguy, Blind Guardian, etc., please give our album a listen and CRANK IT UP! I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed working on it.
\mm/“

Order album: here  or  here

PRYDAIN – The Gates Of Aramore

Release date: June 2, 2023

Austin Dixon, former guitarist and founding member of US power metallers Sonic Prophecy, is fulfilling a lifelong dream with Prydain. He has always been fascinated by the idea of artist projects such as the albums by Avantasia, the Aina rock opera „Days of Rising Doom“ or Arjen Lucassen’s „Star One“. Thanks to the support of Greek multi-talent Bob Katsionis, Austin’s compositions were put into practice with great musicians.

The music teacher hailing from Farr West, north of Salt Lake City in the state of Utah, has developed the song ideas for Prydain over several years. The path he has taken is amazing because in his part of the world, it has never been easy to find like-minded power metal lovers.

„The Gates of Aramore“ is an epitome of Epic Power Metal: vibrating guitar duels, virtuoso keyboard parts, awesome vocals, driving grooves, catchy melodies – and a storyline consisting of an ancient kingdom beyond space and time.

With „The Gates of Aramore“, Austin Dixon and his comrades-in-arms have succeeded in creating some work that once again puts Utah on the map of epic power metal, certainly not for the last time …

Click HERE for audio samples, videos and online stores.

ROGER STAFFELBACH – new videoclip ‚Summer Presto‘ out now!

Taken from Antonio Vivaldi’s ‚Four Seasons – Summer in G Minor‘.

Experience the ultimate fusion of classical and metal as guitar solo artist ROGER STAFFELBACH unleashes his electrifying Heavy Metal version of Vivaldi’s ‚Summer Presto‘ from his recent album ‚The Quest‘ as video today! Get ready for a mind-blowing musical and visual adventure, combining blistering guitar riffs, thunderous drums, and pure metal intensity. ROGER STAFFELBACH, renowned for his virtuosic guitar skills, has ingeniously transformed ‚Summer Presto‘ into a symphony of metal mastery and a headbanger’s dream come true.

Quote by Roger:
„I’m a big admirer of Antonio Vivaldi’s music. I used to listen endless times to Nigel Kennedy’s version of the 4 Seasons. I also love Uli Jon Roth’s version on his ‚Metamorphosis‘ record, it was very inspiring to see what he did with it. I still listen to this album, especially to the second part, where he performs the pieces written by him as he was working on the 4 Seasons, his work of inspiration so to speak.
I always wanted to master and record the ‚Summer Presto‘. Now I did it, and I hope you enjoy my rendition of it, as much as I enjoyed working on this beautiful piece of music.“

Order album: here  or  here

ROGER STAFFELBACH – teaser for new videoclip

This Friday will see a second video from ROGER STAFFELBACH’s shortly released instrumental album ‚The Quest‘, visualizing Roger’s version of ‚Summer Presto‘ from Antonio Vivaldi’s ‚Four Seasons‘.

YouTube Video Premiere

Order album: here  or  here

PRYDAIN – new single & video out now!

The second single from the upcoming album is called ‚Quest of the Fallen‘. This song is about an exiled warrior, seeking redemption by fighting back against the meddlesome gods who have been terrorizing the kingdom. The lyrical themes were partly inspired by Fred Saberhagen’s ‚Sword‘ series of books from the 80s and 90s.

Quote from Austin (guitars):
„I’d had the ideas for the main musical themes for a while, and when the opportunity arose to have Jens Ludwig from Edguy as a guest, it was easy to figure out which direction to take it from there.
This one was polished off with a little help from the amazing Marius Danielsen, of ‚Valley Doom‘ fame, and can be a seen as a tribute to epic power metal in general. I hope you like it!! 🤘🏼“

➡️ Order single now ⬅️

➡️ Audio samples, videos & online stores ⬅️

The album ‚The Gates of Aramore‘ will be released on June 2, 2023.

ROGER STAFFELBACH – album out today!

ROGER STAFFELBACH’s instrumental album ‚The Quest‘ out now on Limb Music (digital) and No Dust Records (CD).

“The Quest” is the outstanding instrumental solo longplay debut of neo-classical power shred guitarist Roger Staffelbach, founder of acclaimed progressive hard rock outfit Artension.

The record delivers ten soulful melodic compositions, brilliantly captured in the studio of Masterplan mastermind Roland Grapow.

Rogers full scale band project features top notch musicians: renowned drummer John Macaluso (Symphony X), bass guitarist Steve DiGiorgio (Testament), and Argentinian keyboard virtuoso Ariel Perchuk.

Icing on the cake is the phantastic cover art of Uwe Jarling.

1995 Roger has been discovered by Bay Area pioneer Mike Varney who also discovered role models Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony MacAlpine a decade earlier. Roger is on par with his idols developing his very own stylistic touch.

CD & Digital order:
➡️ here ⬅️  or  ➡️ here ⬅️

➡️ Video ⬅️

ROGER STAFFELBACH – The Quest

Release date: May 12, 2023

Swiss guitar artist Roger Staffelbach (Artension) has been one of the respected exponents of neoclassical power guitar since the mid-1990s. Over the years, he has worked together with various greats of his guild, including vocalist John West (Artension, Royal Hunt), Keyboarder Vitalij Kuprij (Artension, TSO), bassist John Onder (Michael Schenker), guitarist Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra) and drummers Mike Terrana (Rage, Tarja) and Dani Löble (Helloween) to name a few.

As with all his band releases since the strong 1996 Artension debut „Into the Eye of the Storm“, Roger is on par with his idols with his first instrumental album „The Quest“ (May 12, 2023) – from precise shred riffing and seamless melodic leads to soulful concert guitar passages. In doing so, he develops his very own stylistic touch.

„The Quest“ was created with the support of a top team, namely Ariel Perchuk on keyboard, Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, Artension, Sadus) on bass and drummer John Macaluso (Michael Romeo, Ark, TNT, Yngwie). Guitars were recorded with Roland Grapow (Masterplan ex-Helloween) the album was mixed and mastered by Simone Mularoni (Michael Romeo, Ancient Bards, Rhapsody, DGM, Labyrinth).

Offering eight classy, colorful original compositions as well as two vivid interpretations of great compositions (Antonio Vivaldi’s „Summer Presto“ from the „Four Seasons“ and the Aria from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major), „The Quest“ is a virtuously played, melodically stirring solo work for lovers of melodic and neo-classical electric guitar art.

Click HERE for audio samples, videos and online stores.