ARTLANTICA – Across The Seven Seas Debut Album Released May 27th on SPV

Crammed with powerful, melodramatic vocals, swathes of virtuoso keyboard passages and spectacular, soaring guitar solos, ‘Across The Seven Seas’, Artlantica’s debut album, set for release on SPV’s Steamhammer label on May 27th, is a tour de force neo classical metal masterpiece.

‘Across The Seven Seas’, a prime, diverse melodic metal album, was written and recorded by a trio of consummate, driven musicians who had already worked with each other in various highly regarded metal acts in the past. Highly accomplished Swiss guitarist Roger Staffelbach and exceptionally gifted American vocalist John West (also well known for fronting Royal Hunt) were the mainstays in Artension, who released seven excellent albums between 1996 and 2005. Keyboard wizard Mystheria, who made a name for himself collaborating with the likes of Bob Rock and Bruce Dickinson, worked with Roger Staffelbach in Angel Of Eden, (the band Roger formed after Artension’s demise), who released the ‘The End Of Never’ album in 2007.

Across The Seven Seas’ gathers the strands together from where ‘The End Of Never’ left off to expand into an album that Staffelbach, renowned for his unmistakable signature guitar sound and technically excellent playing style, describes ‘as “powerful, heavy occasionally majestic, grooving, melodious and timeless. Each instrument has its place, none of them sound too dominant; everything has only one purpose – to serve the song. John is a fantastic singer, everything he does is over the top, whether live or in the studio. An exceptionally gifted vocalist. It’s in his blood to write great melodies and turn songs into stories. Mistheria, on the other hand is a true artist by all means. I value his skills as a musician just as much as his gift for writing and arranging songs. We blend extremely well, in my opinion he’s one of the most accomplished keyboardists of our time.”

As a result of their enviable reputation in the rock world, these three musicians were able to pick and choose the guest musicians on ‘Across The Seven Seas’ which as a result features Dani Löble (Helloween) and John Macaluso (Malmsteen, TNT, Ark) on drums, and Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus, Testament), on bass. Artlantica also succeeded in enlisting Chris Caffery of Savatage/Trans-Siberian Orchestra as guest guitarist. ‘Across The Seven Seas’ was then mixed and mastered at Tommy Newton‘s (Helloween, Gamma Ray, among others) Area 51 studios, Newton also adding his extensive expertise.