Vatican’s new opera to paint heavy metal picture of hell
The News Review:
- Vatican’s new opera to paint heavy metal picture of hell
- Iraq’s metal band on the run
- Rock Meets Academia in International Concept Album Art Competition
Vatican’s new opera to paint heavy metal picture of hell
ABC Regional nline – ABC Regional nline – Jan 8, 2007
So if the choirmaster was looking for inspiration he could consider a track by the pioneering punk band The Ramones with their song called Private Hell. (Sound of Private Hell)Dante explores purgatory amid Gregorian chants and paradise or heaven is symbolised by more classical music perhaps like this tune on the choirmaster’s website. (Sound of music)Dante wrote his poem about life after death in the 14th century. It opens in hell and that part is often read separately as Dante’s Inferno the inspiration for countless artists. Monsignor Frisina has composed important music for the Vatican before – the 2000 Jubilee and a CD called Jesus Christ You Are My Life which was released specially for the Pope’s visit to Germany a visit that included a speech that angered many in the Muslim world. The lyrics will be taken for the most part directly from the poem and even the dance routines are based on Dante’s descriptions. The elaborate stage graced with 200 performers and musicians will also include six projectors enabling large-screen representations of illustrations from classic editions of Dante’s work.
Iraq’s metal band on the run
iAfrica.com – Jan 7, 2007
“Most Iraqis now know about us. To be known in Iraq is not a good thing. Inspired by US megaband Metallica the group came together in 2001 and immediately gained local notoriety which maybe should have been expected of a band playing heavy metal music in a conservative Muslim country. After the American-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 the musicians felt optimistic about events in the country and even spoke about recording an album. They drew the attention of journalists of counter-culture magazine Vice who wrote a feature on the hard-rocking group of friends which helped them garner an international following by what Latif now describes as “courageous die-hard fans”. Black scorpion Backed by Vice Acrassicauda named after a dangerous breed of black scorpion staged a sell-out show in Baghdad in 2005 one of only six gigs they were able to perform in Iraq. The documentary ‘Heavy Metal in Baghdad’ focuses on the Vice team’s attempt a year later to find out what had become of the band members after the eruption of bitter sectarian violence across Iraq… Black scorpion Backed by Vice Acrassicauda named after a dangerous breed of black scorpion staged a sell-out show in Baghdad in 2005 one of only six gigs they were able to perform in Iraq. The documentary ‘Heavy Metal in Baghdad’ focuses on the Vice team’s attempt a year later to find out what had become of the band members after the eruption of bitter sectarian violence across Iraq. By then four of the group had fled to Damascus amid daily bombings telephone threats to their lives and the nightly prowlings of death squads on the hunt for intellectuals professors actors artists poets and musicians. The documentary makers finding the band gone their studio destroyed and a bloody turf war raging in Baghdad began tracking them along a dangerous trail that eventually led to Damascus where Firas (26) lead vocalist Faisal Talal (26) guitarist Tony Aziz (28) and 24-year-old drummer Marwan Riyak were regrouping. Along with more than another million or so Iraqi refugees who escaped to Syria they lived pretty much hand to mouth helped along by two gigs which brought in some funding. Syria began cracking down on Iraqis living there early last year and the band had to decide whether they could risk going back to Iraq as at least 25 000 have done since September according to the Iraqi Red Crescent. They decided this was still too risky so they made their way instead to Istanbul in mid-ctober selling their musical instruments and raising limited funds through earnest pleas on their website.
Rock Meets Academia in International Concept Album Art Competition
PR.com – PR.com (press release) – Jan 7, 2007
The juried art competition which seeks to establish a new multimedia artform based on rock "Concept Albums" offers $6000 in cash prizes to be awarded to three finalists in two categories: Best Songbook Jacket and Best Album Jacket. The public will select the winners by voting online at the contest website. The "Words Without Voices" series combines Art Music Language and Internet Technology and will be aimed toward the youth market especially college art instructors and students who study Advertising Visual Arts English Graphic Design Multimedia Music and Web Design. Fielding says "Words Without Voices" is not so much an attempt to resurrect the concept album as to preserve and explore its possibilities as a viable artform. "The release of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967 should have signaled the beginning of a new era in album composition" says Fielding "instead it was a rare high point in a field more interested in making money than exploring art. In the 40 years since Sgt… Pepper’s release modern rock has been limited enormously by formula formats and commercialism. Staples of yesteryear such as concept albums and rock operas like The Who’s Tommy Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar are rare today" According to Fielding Green Day’s American Idiot is a good recent example of the "concept album" even though it wasn’t marketed as such. Fielding is seeking artwork to illustrate his Songbook and Album covers which range from country gospel and progressive rock to death metal. While the contest is open to "anyone who is creative" state contest restrictions apply. Entry fees are $10 for one entry in one category $15 to enter both and $5 apiece for each subsequent submission. All entries will be displayed in the Gallery f The Mind’s Eye at www. WordsWithoutVoices.