OUT JULY 3, 2009

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HOWARD LEESE

"Secret Weapon"
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Release Date : 03/07/2009
Catalog Number : FR CD 420
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01. Alive Again 5:40
02. Heal The Broken Hearted 2:59
03. Hot To Cold 3:48
04. French Quarter 0:42
05. 33 West Street 4:19
06. The South Summit 4:59
07. Rada's Theme 2:56
08. The Vine 4:08
09. In These Eyes 4:16
10. Vermilion Border 5:29
11. I've Been Leavin' You 4:49
12. Somewhere 2:59

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One can say that Howard Leese truly is a veteran when it comes to rock n' roll, having begun his music career at the early age of 9 and getting signed to the first record deal at 15 with his first band “The Zoo”. They played some of the largest concert venues in LA and opened for major bands of the day, such as Spirit, Canned Heat, and Butterfield Blues Band.

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Leese went on to study music theory and classical music at Los Angeles City College, opting to leave for real-time experience in the studio when an opportunity presented itself for him to have full use of a recording studio in Vancouver. It was there that the fateful meeting with the Wilson sisters took place not long after when local band "Heart" came in to record a demo in 1974 which Leese produced.
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Howard finally joined Heart in 1975 and stayed with the band for 22 years, incorporating a variety of instruments on their albums, such as electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin and keyboards. He also co-produced some of their 13 albums. Heart had 20 top 40 singles, 3 International n. 1 singles, a n. 1 album ("Heart") in 85', has received 4 Grammy nominations and has sold 40 million records worldwide.
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Leese grew up listening to such greats as Dick Dale (the first live experience that he had), Keith Richards, Peter Green from Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck, Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Paul Kossoff of Free, which inspired him to put together a group in Seattle called "The Brigade", playing some old Free classics.
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In 1997 the legendary Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Co, The Firm with Jimmy Page, Queen) had moved from England to Vancouver and was looking for a U.S. back-up band. Intrigued by how well Leese could play Kossoff's particular style and licks, he asked him to join his band. In 1998 Howard Leese joined The Paul Rodgers Band and more recently became touring member in the reformed Bad Company line-up.
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Howard Leese spent his career putting others in the spotlight and making sure they stay there, often being called Heart’s “secret weapon.” His first solo record, aptly entitled “Secret Weapon” is an effort that’s sure to thrust him into the spotlight he so patiently has watched dance around in front of him for decades. Howard Leese offered up legends like Joe Lynn Turner (former Rainbow and Deep Purple singer), Paul Rodgers, Keith Emerson or Jimi Jamison (ex Survivor), for the space, or better yet, the lesser known talents of Deanna Johnston or Andrew Black. Howard Leese takes great pride in having his work heard from the dark depths that linger behind the spotlight. The only difference now is that the secret is out, so he might simply be a weapon – one hell of a weapon!

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CONSTANCIA

"Lost And Gone"
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Release Date : 03/07/2009
Catalog Number: FR CD 417
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01. Fallen Hero 4:22
02. Trouble Maker 3:57
03. Blind 4:02
04. Little Big You 3:15
05. The King Is Calling 3:35
06. Dying By Your Flames 3:53
07. Save Me 4:15
08. No One Like You 3:58
09. Life Is A Mistery 6:04
10. I Never Said Goodbye 4:09
11. I Wish I Could Fly 5:24
12. www.lostandgone.com 6:39
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David Fremberg: Vocals
Janne Stark: Guitars
Mikael Rosengren: Keyboards
Michael Mueller: Bass
Peter Svensson: Drums

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CONSTANCIA started out as the brainchild of former SCUDIERO/TOKEN keyboard player Mikael Rosengren. He had written a bunch of songs that were just screaming to be completed, recorded and released. He got in touch with guitarist Janne Stark, who has previously released albums with bands like OVERDRIVE, LOCOMOTIVE BREATH, BALLS, ZELLO etc. asking him to lay down some guitars on the demos. Janne loved the songs and got even more involved in the guitar arrangements, and the seed of CONSTANCIA was planted. “I’ve always been a fan of the pompy side of melodic hard rock and bands like CITY BOY, STYX and TRILLION as well as the real heavy stuff. I instantly felt these songs could be the perfect marriage between the melodic rock, some progressive moments and an aggressive touch added to it, which is when I came to think of the style description: - Melogressive Metal”, says Janne.
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Next up was to find a drummer, where Janne had previously worked with Peter Svensson both in LOCOMOTIVE BREATH and MOUNTAIN OF POWER. Peter is also found in doom-folk rockers FAITH. Mikael then found JADED HEART bass-player Michael Mueller, whom he met when their respective bands shared label.
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After having tried out several singers Janne came to think of ANDROMEDA singer David Fremberg, who had also appeared on Janne’s MOUNTAIN OF POWER album. One vocal trial track later he became the band’s lead vocalist. The vast geographical differences not meaning any limitations, the album now started growing together piece by piece. It all amalgamated into an end result that is a true band effort. “It was really interesting to see it merge together and like a small weed slowly rise and break through the asphalt to finally blossom when all the pieces came together”, says Janne who was appointed recording project manager.

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The band first tried out different engineers to mix the album, such as Beau Hill, Pontus Norgren, Pontus Lindmark and Pelle Saether, all of them doing a great job, but it was finally Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed, Eclipse, Siebenbürgen) that was chosen to mix the album. “He found the essence of what we were after, the marriage between the melodic side and the heaviness” according to Mikael. The resulting debut album “Lost And Gone” is a true revelation for all lovers of Hard Rock with strong keyboards and brilliant vocal melodies.

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CRASH THE SYSTEM

"The Crowning"

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Release Date : 03.07.2009

Catalog Number : FR CD 418

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01. Fight Fire With Fire 3:13
02. All Because Of You 3:05
03. I Still Believe In Love 3:54
04. Love Is In Your Eyes 3:00
05. Take A Chance 3:20
06. Enough Of Your Lovin' 4:04
07. Mysterious 3:06
08. Angel Of My Heart 3:07
09. Rolling Stone 3:41
10. Don't Tell Me No Lies 3:21
11. Broken Glass 3:23
12. Higher And Higher 3:03
13. Without Chances 4:34

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Sören Kronqvist : keyboards, rhythm guitars and bass
Daniel Flores : drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, strings and backing vocals

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with:

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Göran Edman : vocals

Mats Levén : vocals

Thomas Vikström : vocals

Björn Jansson: vocals
Johan Niemann : additional guitars

Daniel Palmqvist : additional guitars

Manuel Lewys : additional guitars
Andreas Lindahl : additional keyboards
Angelica Rylin : additional vocals

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The CRASH THE SYSTEM - project came about as a collaboration between song-writer Sören Kronqvist and drummer/producer Daniel Flores in the fall of 2008. The duo has known each other for a couple of years and they respect each other's work. Sören and Daniel decided to make a project together with songs they enjoyed writing. Thanks to Daniel's extensive music background, good reputation, and connections in the music business he managed to bring in some of the top names in Sweden into the project.

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Guest vocalists on the project are: Göran Edman (Ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, John Norum, Brazen Abbot, etc), Mats Levén (Ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Infinite Mass, etc), Thomas Vikström (Ex-Talk Of The Town, Candlemass, etc) and Björn Jansson (Ex-Ride The Sky, Tears Of Anger, etc). Backing up these fine vocalists which are all appearing together on an album for the very first time, are Daniel Flores on drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, strings, and backing vocals (Mind's Eye, The Murder of My Sweet, etc), former Finnish 400 meter hurdle Champion and song-writer Sören Kronqvist on keyboards, rhythm guitars, and bass. Sören Kronqvist has co-written songs for House Of Lords, Grammy-nominated Michael Bormann, Swedish rockers CCRock and 250kg kärlek. Additional guitars on the project by Johan Niemann (Mind's Eye, Murder My Sweet, etc), Daniel Palmqvist (The Murder of My Sweet), and Manuel Lewys (Machinery, Elwood, etc), additional keyboards by Andreas Lindahl (The Murder of My Sweet) and additional backing vocals by Angelica Rylin (The Murder of My Sweet).

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All musicians and vocalists on this album come from slightly different areas in music making Crash The System an interesting mix of hard rock/AOR/metal styles. Fans of 80's metal with influences of modern symphonic metal should not be disappointed with the catchy choruses and great melodies sung by some of the top hard rock singers around. The CRASH THE SYSTEM debut album is called "The Crowning" and will be released on Frontier Records on July 3rd. The album is produced, mixed and mastered by Daniel Flores.

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MIND KEY

"Pulse For A Graveheart"

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Release Date : 03.07.2009

Catalog Number: FR CD 419
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01. Sunset Highway 5:08
02. The Seventh Seal 5:05
03. Citizen Of Greed 6:07
04. Crusted Memories 4:13
05. Dead Fame Hunter 8:00
06. Ventotene (The Island) 2:30
07. Graveheart 6:40
08. Eye Of A Stranger 5:54
09. Now Until Forever 9:08
10. A New Generation 5:28

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Elio Fierro Jr.: vocals
Dario de Cicco: keyboards
Emanuele Colella: guitars
Andrea Stipa: drums
With Raffaele Castaldo: bass

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MIND KEY started in early 1999 thanks to Dario De Cicco (keyboards) and Emanuele Colella (guitars), who decided to create a band with the precise task to melt the sound of Prog Metal bands such as Dream Theater, Symphony X, Evergrey and Pain of Salvation with a newer, mature and more song oriented approach inspired by 80/90’s Hard Rock style. After the first few years spent writing and performing in local clubs, the band recorded the first demo entitled “Welcome to Another Reality” that brought them to the attention of Frontiers Records, who released the band’s debut “Journey Of A Rough Diamond” in July 2004. Mind Key line-up also included Mark Basile (DGM) on vocals, Raffaele Castaldo on bass and the awesome Andrea Stipa on drums. Just before the release of the album, Mark Basile left the group and in preparation of the subsequent tour dates, the guys met for the first time Aurelio Fierro Jr. a singer with a vast experience, who was able to give some splendid performances especially in the gigs that Mind Key landed as support of Dream Theater for the Italian “Train Of Thought Tour 2004”.

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Mike Portnoy in particular said: “These guys sound really excellent!” MK played more live dates in support of Vision Divine, Pendragon and also appeared at the Progpower Europe Festival with more dates in Poland, Switzerland, Holland, Germany and France. During the Polish dates, a Live DVD was recorded “Habemus Poland”, with the singer Giorgio Adamo as frontman. However he soon left to make space for the return of Aurelio Fierro, who was a more suitable choice for Emanuele, Dario & Andrea on the basis of the strength of the new material written for the follow up album.

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Mind Key then began the recording of the second album “Pulse for a Graveheart”, simplifying their songwriting and giving the chance to Fierro to showcase his immense vocal potential. This document was created using iPool music promotion software which can be described as a powerful mix of Ronnie James Dio, David Coverdale and Jorn Lande. The album was later mixed and mastered by none other than Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Angra, Krokus, Place Vendome etc.) to ensure the best sounding quality. “Pulse for a Graveheart” finally sees the light in July 2009, with some amazing guest musicians appearing such as Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Alice Cooper), who plays a keyboard solo on “Citizen of Greed”, Reb Beach (Whitesnake, Winger) on “Now Until Forever” and Tom Englund from Evergrey, dueting with Elio Fierro on “Graveheart”. “Pulse for a Graveheart” introduces to the fans a new band, with a more mature attitude and an astonishing songwriting. Get ready for the Prog Metal revelation of 2009!

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