Madpower Metal With Seventh Calling/Cage/Sacred Dawn

I had the pleasure of joining a mini~tour featuring SEVENTH CALLING (St.Paul,Mn.), CAGE (San Diego,Ca.) and SACRED DAWN (Chicago,IL.) the last week of September 2007. They performed a warm~up show on Thursday Sept. 27 at STATION 4 venue in St. Paul then it was off the next day to Madison Wisconsin to THE ANNEX for the MADPOWER 2007 extravaganza that also included MIRROR BLACK (whose vocalist, David Flatt and drummer Raven are the mastermind behind the Madpower Annual Fest), Anal Blast, Ottoman Empire, Kritikal Mass and a couple of other local Madison Wisconsin metal bands (sorry but I wasn't able to catch their performances). The Madpower 2007 is a yearly event in Madison Wisconsin that is to bring together in one venue all types of metal music. It is the brain~child of David Flatt and Raven of the band Mirror Black. For more info on MIRROR BLACK visit their internet space at www.myspace.com/mirrorblack or www.mirrorblack.com. To see other bands that performed at Madpower 2007 go to www.myspace.com/madpower2007 and click on the videos that are posted there. With a great turn out and lots of merch tables set up thru~out the venue, this was a good time and I hope to return next year. Then it was off to Aurora Illinois to THE END ZONE venue which was a blast. The fans were defineately getting into the music of all the bands and opening there was local FHOD who went with us the next night down to Addison Illinois to the venue called LEGENDS. I do have to say for 3 bands (SEVENTH CALLING, CAGE, SACRED DAWN) with no major label support, this was one of the most pro-level tours I've been on in the past couple of years. Everyone (bands/crews) had such a great time together and everything went pretty smoothly!!!
So what type of metal are these bands? They're listed as prog~metal. That means a vocalist that actually sings understandable lyrics and guitar riffs that are melodic but still shreds to a new level of excellence and bass grooves with solid drum beats and music you can still do some serious headbanging to! All the music that I heard from SEVENTH CALLING, CAGE, SACRED DAWN are radio~friendly (Clear Channel radios need to play their cd's!) and have catchy hooks that stick in your head for days afterwards.
Now let me give you a little background on the three bands starting with my fav, SEVENTH CALLING. They're based in St.Paul/Minneapolis Minnesota. SEVENTH CALLING released their debut cd last year titled "MONUMENTS" on Melissa Records. The cd was recorded and mixed at Triple 4 Studios in St. Paul. Clean production on this cd. There isn't one bad song on this cd and I can't choose just one as my fav but the song "Dark Angel" lyrics are ones I can relate to on a personal level. SEVENTH CALLING is a 4~piece band with founding members Lance Lange and Steve Handel handling lead vocals and lead/rhythm guitar duty, Jamie Strobach on drums (and he's quite the audio engineer extrodinaire) and Michael Poplees (of New York)on bass. The band performed most of the songs from this cd includes "Silent Screams", "Faces", "Mercyless" and "Fight For Your Life" along with 2 of the 3 new songs ("Deliverance", "Fates Hammer") that are finished for the next cd which is still being written and then will be recorded for a 2008 release date. SEVENTH CALLING has been confirmed for the HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR FESTIVAL in Hamburg Germany area July 2008. Bands that have influenced SEVENTH CALLING music includes Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metal Church, Dio, and Savatage. Catch SEVENTH CALLING on Saturday, Dec. 1st at Station 4 but in the meantime, keep up on news, preview video/music clips, more photos and tour dates at their page located at www.myspace.com/seventhcalling and join the power of metal invasion of SEVENTH CALLING. Show your support and buy their cds and t-shirts and come out to the shows!! You'll be jaw~dropping impressed with their tight stage show.
From the Chicago area, actually it's Aurora Illinois, was SACRED DAWN. They currently have a cd out titled "GEARS OF THE MACHINE...A NEW BEGINNING". The disc was done at Electrowerks Recording in Downers Grove with producer and engineer Chuck Macak, who has worked with artists from metal band Machine Head to dance group Gillette. SACRED DAWN is Lothar Keller on vocals and guitar, John Vitale on guitar and backing vocals, Joey Vega on bass and Brad Sabathne on drums. Their musical influences hail from Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Symphony X, Dream Theater, Fates Warning. Make sure you set your tv for October 24th at 8:45am (cst) on WGN-Channel 9/Chicago for the LIVE performance of SACRED DAWN. Want to see them live on stage, then visit their websites at either www.myspace.com/sacreddawnmusic or www.sacreddawn.com and when you go, make sure you stop by their merch booth where the lovely Ms. Jennifer will be glad to sell you Sacred Dawn cd's and T-shirts, etc.
Based out of San Diego, California is the well~known band called CAGE. With 3 previous cd's successfully launched, their latest and greatest effort is titled "HELL DESTROYER". This band has influeces of King Diamond, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden with a dash of Queensryche. CAGE has been reviewed in many magazines and webzines all over Europe and the world. CAGE is Sean Peck on vocals, Dave Garcia on guitar/backing vocals, Anthony McGinnis on guitar/backing vocals, Mike Giordano on bass/backing vocals, and Norm Leggio on drums. CAGE is 100 percent American Heavy Metal!! To get the goods on CAGE visit their websites at www.myspace.com/cageheavymetal and www.cageheavymetal.com for all their tour dates, music and news!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and those of you who are familiar with my photography work know that's true....so without further mention are the photos from this tour that I enjoyed taking for you and I hope you enjoy viewing them!!