TEE "The Earth Explorer"

TEE is a five piece flute front progressive rock band from Tokyo, Japan. Their so-called 'European' sound is unique considering their far-east origin. The imaginative tunes with complex ensembles and rhythms will definitely catch the attention of prog lovers all over the world. Their sound will remind you bands like Camel, King Crimson, Asia Minor or even Frank Zappa on some parts. The band was formed in 2004 when... more

Kevin BARTLETT

You may not know his name but you have definitely heard his music more than once or twice in your life. Maybe on HBO, or on MTV, or on VH1, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel. Doesn't ring the bell? How about American Idol Rewind, or Dr. 90210? We had interviewed Kevin Bartlett a couple of years ago when his second solo album GLOW IN THE DARK was released. Bartlett has been quiet since that time but but he has been secretly brewing new projects. A few months ago he had put a new song...more

Peter Hammill, founding member of Van Der Graaf Generator, released his 28th solo album " nearly 3 months ago. He recently got back home from a short tour covering North America, Canada and Italy. In the 70's when bands like...more

FRIGHT PIG Barque At The Lune *** REVERSAL OF GRAVITY Scuba Gear ***

CROSSFIRE

Crossfire, Turkish semi prog thrash metal band, was formed by guitarist Kaya Sevinc in 1999. It took them 3 years to finally form their original line up and unique sound. Ever since they have been one of the most popular bands in the Turkish Heavy Metal scene. Crossfire honed their sound by combining power and thrash metal with the classical metal approach. Their "Decisions of Hate" (2002) demo was an underground favorite that lead them to hit the road for a massive tour including 2003 Metal Bash Festival in Hamburg, Germany. The band's performance in Germany earned them a contribution to "The Revivalry - A Tribute To Running Wild", a release of German independent label Remedy Records in 2005. Their anthemic cover approach turned Running Wild's fan favorite Beggars' Night into a whole different monster.

In 2005 after the Besli Brothers had left the band, Crossfire decided to continue their vision for a more creative and multi-faceted metal sound with the new line-Up: Kaya Sevinc, Ugur Aksoy, Kemal Sozer and Cem Saydam. Since then they continue headlining concerts and festival appearences on the same bill with bands from Manowar to Testament, Opeth and to Orphaned Land.. Kaya & Ugur are also critically acclaimed producers of some highly praised albums by various Turkish bands.

Crossfire also highlighted the Rock Station festival in Ankara Turkey a couple of years ago. Erica Hughes, who witnessed their performance that night wrote: "The best band that night, and even for the whole festival, did not play last on Saturday night. Crossfire blew the audience away with their unique take on thrash metal. It was a four-man band with a very talented vocalist who doubled on bass. Because the band was so well known in Ankara, we suffered through two terrible guest appearances and two really good ones."

Crossfire is currently working on a new album but their first album came out in 2005 from Atlantis Muzik. The album is called "Aggression Treaty" and has 13 songs on it. Before the CD, they had released an EP titled "The Decisions of Hate". Aggression Treaty was very well received by the European metal fans as well as Turkish fans. Metal-Temple.com gave the band 4 out of 5 stars and said: "If this band had formed 15 years ago and they were U.S. residents then Vicious Rumors would have definitely had a headache. It is more than obvious: the Power / Thrash base these guys use in order to build their compositions is definitely U.S. oriented and owes a lot to Vicious Rumors' middle era. Powerful, technical, massive, explosive, melodic, are some of the words I could use to describe their sound."

Their sound are often compared to Iced Earth or Testament. Although they have American power metal sound, they can not be classified in that category as their thrash metal and semi prog influences give them a deeper and darker sound. They also bring their Middle Eastern influences onto the scene in "Eternal Lies (Non Serviam)" "Dream within a Dream" is the song you can hear their prog metal influences the most with its over 7 minutes run time and some odd time signatures.

For more information about the band visit their myspace page where you can find a few of their songs from their debut album at: www.myspace.com/crossfirenet