The next Dark Metal Mass will take place on Friday 15th December, and will be in the Marquee – mark it in your calendars!

1. Wave Gotik Treffen

Location: Leibzig, Germany. Date: 25 – 28/05/2007

Not terribly obscure, this gigantic city-spanning event is nevertheless often overlooked. A lot of the time it’s because their line-up is announced relatively late, or because of the hundreds of bands playing, the few one recognises makes it seem like they’re won’t be enough bands one likes. Wrong! Anyone who’s into goth, industrial, cyber, or (because this is Germany after all) gothic metal and heavier stuff will be catered for. The various stages are divided by genre so if you find one that lists a couple of bands that you know and like you’re pretty much guaranteed to like the other ones playing there. Never a better way to get introduced to bands. Add German beer, the medieval and viking markets and the general atmosphere of the whole thing, and this a winner.

In my opinion the best way to enjoy this festival is from the wonderfully centrally placed Holiday Inn, but that sells out quickly. I would advise anyone interested to book accomodation straight away, even if festival tickets aren’t on sale yet.

Attending: Yes.

2. ProgPower Festival UK

Location: Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Date: 31/03/2007

Don’t let the name put you off. Headliners this year are Jon Oliva’s Pain – that’s Jon Oliva of (currently on hiatus) Savatage mastermind fame. Some of you may recall Savatage’s song Believe as the first song Karen and I danced to on our wedding.

Also on the bill: Kamelot, Scar Symmetry, Communic, Leaves’ Eyes, and many more. The whole thing is held at the Centaur indoor arena.

Attending: Yes.

3. Metal Camp 2007

Location: Tolmin, Slovenia. Date: TBC.

We went to this one last year and it was fantastic. Great weather, awesome location in a picturesque valley in western Slovenia, and great line-up made this festival a sure winner, and – if we’d opted for camping – cheaper than Download, flights included!

Not sure if we can make it this year, especially with WGT, but perhaps this is one for alternate years. I’ve got pictures from Metal Camp 2006 for those wanting an idea of what it was like.

Attending: To be decided.

This is my workstation, which neatly shows off my newest addition: a pair of Tannoy Reveal 5As. I spent quite a while in Sound Control the other day listen to Bruce Dickinson’s Tyranny of Souls through a variety of near-field monitors at low to high volumes, and these babies made the cut.

The Phonic MU1002 mixing desk. I’ve had this one for a while now, and while it does its job, it will be replaced by something a bit more powerful, like the Alesis MultiMix8, in the near future.

I got the Shure PG58 mike at the same time as the mixing desk above, now over a year and a half ago. It’s a great and versatile dynamic mike, a little bit cheaper than renowned all-rounder 57.

This Yamaha PSR620 was my father’s keyboard before he shipped it up to me from Luxembourg. It comes with a large array of synth sounds, although I use it mostly as MIDI keyboard for my VSTis. A MIDI keyboard is simply essential to recording, regardless of genre.

And here’s a snapshots of my amps. The main biggie – the Crate VTX212 – is a decidedly loud beast, and a birthday present from my wife Karen. The Fender practice amp on the right has fantastic sound for a thing of its size, and the one in the background is a bass amp. Various guitars, eletrical, acoustic and ukuleles, and sundry instruments are dotted around the room too.

My main DAW (digital audio workstation) is the great Samplitude 8, which I recently got free with Computer Music magazine. A collection of free softsynths, other VSTis, and plugins round off the setup, along with the sublime ezDrummer, which is easily worth its pricetag.

Current Wishlist:

• Cakewalk Sonar 6, when it comes out
• Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2 (there is none higher)
• Pentagon II (although I believe that’s included in Sonar 6)
• ezDrummer Drumkit from Hell Expansion (which should have been out by now)

That’s it for now. You can check out some recent stuff at amaranthlive.co.uk or this here MySpace, though more is in the works!

Promo material presented on the night includes the new Satyricon album from Roadrunner Records. It’s entitled Now, Diabolical and it kicks derrière.

If you’ve got any requests for rare or obscure material, let me know in advance and I will see if I can dig it out somewhere from my vast vaults of delectable delights.

Friday 9th June at the Murderer’s!

The date and location for the next Dark Metal Mass are now confirmed, and we’re back at the same place as the first one! I hope to see you there for another excellent night of (melodic) death, black and oher interesting (and less heard) metal. Starts at 8pm, with last orders at 12:30am! Large selection of drinks and comfortable surroundings (the wooden beams are great, the plate collection just funny.)

Meanwhile if you can suggest possible venues please go right ahead, or better yet, if you have the time to go ask those venues for free Fridays and them being ok with having death metal played, then that would be excellent.