Minds Over Music

Forgotten Suns - A Shot in the Dark

2012-03-01T04:48:00.001-08:00

Dear followers and friends,

after a period without writing on this blog here I am again giving some insight and all news happening on Forgotten Suns camp, prepare for some big news!

On February 2011, during the writing sessions for the upcoming album, it became clear that the passion for mixing and producing was taking over our ex-keyboard player and he took the decision of change is professional career and invest on being a mixing engineer and in his mind he had to leave the group.
Needless to say that the perspective of lose not only a 15 years band member, a keyboardist and a important production member was not a good one, worse would be reality, it was really happening!
The band managed all this situation with tweezers, a very delicate situation and of course all of this would dramatically delay the new album...
We friendly got to the agreement of having him for the scheduled shows (the last one at Debaser).

We wish Miguel the best luck for his future projects, both professional and personal levels.
A quest for a new keyboard player took 3 long months...

Personally, has founding member of the band and experienced on this subject of found new musicians for the group over the years, I've eventually met and chat with all keyboard players on the portuguese music biz...there's not many progressive musicians available, lack of musicianship, lack of balls, lack of vision, that's the cruel reality of our musical scene...but for those who know the kind of blood that runs on Forgotten Suns veins, 'to quit' is not an option, so our spirits haven''t slept until we found a new member, and so we did!

On the 1st August 2011, with the keywords 'Jordan Rudess Portugal' I've came to find via Youtube a bright musician (audiophile1980) playing some deep emotional pianos, interesting synth work and it was clear to me that he was the perfect one for Forgotten Suns...

The following video is the presentation of the new Forgotten Suns keyboard player Ernesto Rodrigues - beyond eveything you can acquire visually and sonically from this video produced by our dear friend Micael Nussbaumer, I can add the facts that we're in the presence of a very creative musician and a down to earth person capable of touch your soul so easily has he magically plays his keys...hope you enjoy it, I'm sure you will!

The band will debut live on 2012 at Musicbox in Lisboa, next 8th March.
Stay tuned for more news of the brand new FS website at http://www.forgotten-suns.com

Debaser show & new album

2011-10-08T01:14:00.000-07:00

Hello friends,

two weeks since we got back from a very nice trip to Stockholm where we met our dear friends of Seventh Dimension band and had the opportunity to give a great show for a very enthusiastic audience. Many sing along, many smiles and many nice people we knew during our stay; they knew all lyrics and such huge feedback left us full of joy, with a will to return soon...which we promise we will.
Below some videos of that night and a special moment when we invited Gianluca Delle Fave, guitar player on Seventh Dimension, to play 'Betrayed' with us at the show's end.

Right now the band as entered a period of writing new songs on studio and revealing some very interesting news until the end of 2011.
Keep linked to our social networking sites keep updated of the album's evolution on this corner and through Forgotten Suns Facebook & Twitter accounts

best
7hawk

Next show @ Debaser, Stockholm

2011-07-18T01:45:00.000-07:00

Click here to buy tickets

FS opening cancelled

2011-07-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

Dear fans, friends and followers of the Suns...

for those who attended last night show of Dream Theater at Coliseum of Porto and for those who couldn't make it for whatever reason but were supporting us at a distance, we are sorry for the failed expectations but unfortunately and due to technical problems the Forgotten Suns opening was cancelled.

Technical problems on the road and venues often occur, anything that could jeopardy the headliner show will always become a collateral damage on the opening act, shortening the support's performance or even cancelling it, like happened yesterday.

We would like to let clear to everyone that Forgotten Suns and it's crew are completely free of any responsabilty (we were already on the road to Porto when the bad news came) and we would like to thank you all the messages and positive demonstration of pride and faith in the band - no doubt that we don't walk this path alone...

best regards
Ricardo Falcão
FS

Forgotten Suns 'special guests' for Dream Theater

2011-07-09T15:13:00.000-07:00

Dear fans and friends, followers of the Suns...

the band had the previlege of being part of the next Dream Theater show @ Porto's Coliseum as 'special guests' to open what will be the first DT show with new drummer Mike Mangini in Portugal.
This will be a very special night for us and we're preparing a very special presentation to the 4000 prog lovers that will be watching and feeling all the emotions that such event carries on.

If you're a true fan this is surely something that can't be missed...;)

best
7hawk

In the Eyes of the World - tribute song

2011-06-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

In January 2010 the band was asked about their will in participate on a tribute project with the support of Musea Records and Colossus, the band in focus for that tribute was the mighty symphonic swedish proggers THE FLOWER KINGS.

FORGOTTEN SUNS had the pleasure to choose one track among many of their brilliant songs and 'In the Eyes of the World', the opening track of 'Stardust We Are' album from 1997 stood out as a perfect song to pay homage to some of the most prolific and representative musicians of the prog genre.

"...it's quite an honour to be part of this tribute masterpiece as a Portuguese representative, it's 34 bands from US to Japan paying a dedicated high quality tribute to a great band. A big thank you to Marco Bernard and Musea for their innitiative and support, we're all quite happy with our version and hope you enjoy it..."

You can listen to the track at their MySpace or Reverbnation
You can buy the cd online at Musea Records website

Become a official and registered Forgotten Suns fan by joining our mailing list just by adding your e-mail here.

Let us know what you think about this song at the Official Forgotten Suns Forum

New album update

2011-05-21T02:28:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

it's been a while without news on the blog though today here is the deserved update!;)

Today I write you while we do a short break in the writing sessions because Sam is on tour with Ava Inferi in the UK and I'm upgrading our studio gear with some cool VST softwares and do some testing with midis.

One thing for certain is that our new album will be a huge masterpiece both in quality and in lenght - we're heading for a conceptual double album this time.

We've been working on the 1st half of it and it's been really interesting to realize how personalized our sound has become so far. With new riffs and chord progressions happening we have the possibility to break it down and feel Forgotten Suns shapes & nuances everywhere.

Writings will go on at a good speed, official recordings are previewed to the Fall and we're previewing the full release for mid 2012 to keep this year fully dedicated to the best interest of developing new material and live promotion of our EP Revelations.

You can follow our new live dates at www.reverbnation.com/fsuns or www.myspace.com/fsuns and expect more to come soon.

The FS participation on Flower Kings tribute album with the song 'In the Eyes of the World' has received a very nice "awesome version you guys achieved here" comment by Mr.Marco Bernard from Finnish company Colussus who is releasing this record with the well know French progrock label Musea this year. We're obviously proud of the version we did and expecting your feedback with this release.

More news to be daily updated, stay tuned!

best

7hawk

Studio writings go on...

2011-03-22T03:48:00.001-07:00

C.E.R Vagos show

2011-03-08T07:08:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

Here we are on studio again after huge feedback from the audience in Vagos, the C.E.R show last february 26 was sold out and was very good in several ways, it was a live debut for songs like 'The Hill', 'Doppelgänger', the new version of 'Phenotype' and 'Betrayed' which were released on Revelations EP.
We were very pleased with everything around the event and promise to return!

The band is again on studio still on the writing process and there are some new lives dates to announce soon...stay tuned!;)

There are some cool pics of the C.E.R show on FS facebook page

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/forgottensuns (join us to see the photos & videos)

best
7hawk

New Interview online - Metal Pulse Zine

2011-02-21T09:04:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

while the band is on studio writing what will be the next FS album you can read a fresh interview by Benjamin Flach with FS guitar player Ricardo Falcão for Metal Pulse Zine.

1.Congrats on the new e.p. "Revelations", it is truly an amazing piece of progressive metal. Is this e.p. a preparation for the next full length soon?

Thank you for the glowing words, it's great that 'Revelations' is causing quite an impact on people. It's always our main goal when producing new music – to touch everyone's hearts & ears and also leave a message within the song concept; sometimes more directly, in others to your sub-conscience work it out later. We're very pleased with the feedback so far, it's been amazingly rewarding!
I will not say it's a preparation because the upcoming album will be something completly different in format, concept and musical wise, but it's a 'breather' between full lenght albums.
It's our first e.p ever and it's a call to all our universe of fans around the world with a collection of unreleased songs full upgraded who bring to surface the actual level of the band which is obviously higher than ever was.

2.Forgotten Suns having used to be a more progressive hard rock band on the first two albums and then you were silent for some time before releasing "Innergy". What went on with the band in that period of silence?

This is a huge question but I will synthesize it so we don't have the reader sleeping at the second answer (laughs).
Among every bands in the world there are high and low periods that fans and most of the listeners don't have a single clue about it, they think it's always everything great because 'X' guys are a band, they have great music and that it's cool – it's not always the case.
It has to be with the nature of people we're surrounded by and the momentum when art speaks louder than everything else.
When I decided to form this band it was way more than a kid's statement, it was deadly serious from the very beggining and I knew that everyone who wanted to come with me on this long path would have to change life's goals because mine were a 180º spin. Cutting to the chase, everyone involved in Forgotten Suns that is not on the band today didn't follow this musical state of mind at a certain point. I respect anyone's options, though in this group of great men the bar of self criticism is of very high standards and that's why it works! Everyone of you, that have an activity with group interaction, in your business, job or group of friends, surely know the weight of keeping your own word as a strenght to support your status – if you think it's an old fashioned style you won't go far as consequence.
This preamble is to say that we had several member changes over the years in order to find the ideal Forgotten Suns' members, create the conditions to work faster, better and inherent improved state of mind – which we did!

3 With "Innergy" being released Forgotten Suns became an all out prog metal band and a kick ass one at that as well. Why the change in style?

I understand why you ask this and why some fans also think there was a dramatic change of style. The thing is that it wasn't just a change of style, maybe style was the minor thing about Forgotten Suns that changed.
If you roll back the film some years ago when we were releasing Fiction Edge on Galileo Records, we were so young and there was a big disparity between what we were musically capable to do and sound production knowledge we didn't have at the time. We worked with engineers that never did such type of sound. At Portugal back in 99 there was no one doing such big 'progduction' sound at least at an acessible budget.
There are also numerous reasons why there's a big difference between the two previous albums and Innergy forward releases: it's not the same rhythm duo, not the same singer, we worked more as a band in the writing and we developed MediaForce Productions which is the entity that produces everything related to FS sound since 2007. That is a big difference.
A good reason why we included 'Betrayed' in it's full version with part I -The Curse & part II – Grey Zone, it's in order to the listener understand what I'm saying here. Betrayed from Revelations is a favourite track for most of the people, it's a epic track, but despite being written 10 years ago sounds like a up to date song, very fresh – that's how me and Mike heard it in our minds from the very start, all the weaknesses from the previous version were healed and we're very proud with the final result.
For us is not a change of style because we always had the 'hard n'heavy' side of the band running along with more neo-prog root influences, though we had different people within the band and a different vocal approach that kept things less heavier from the start, if you mix that with low production quality then you'll have us sounding like 10 years ago.
All in all, we make music for the sake of music itself and not for the style, the nature of our band is that our state of mind sometimes carry us to do heavier concepts and heavier moods, but can easily send us to calm waters in a blink of an eye yet in the same song, but melody is the most important, it will always be the link...check out An Outer Body Experience on Innergy album as a good example.
The band is like a living organism, a being with different moods and several opinions (songs)...and a growing one in development as well. We're not the type of band to stick to the same chord progressions, similar sequence of notes, same signatures and same sounds to sell more, I think we can do that in other way. Here's a quote that I really like to reflect upon and it defines what is “style” within Forgotten Suns: "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction." - Albert Einstein.

4. So you release "Revelations", 4 new songs ( one of them being nearly 15 minutes long) and a remix of "Doppleganger" from the "Innergy" album, what is the plan behind the release of the e.p. with "Doppleganger" as the single with a video?

As mentioned before, Betrayed in it's full version is a rescued song from our debut Fiction Edge, Doppelgänger is a re-release with a remix and the other 3 tracks are brand new releases but were songs written in the Innergy period, they just didn't fit the album's concept at the time. The plan is to promote the band before the upcoming album arrives, it's also a way that everyone knows how the band is capable of mix progressive and commercial – Doppelgänger is full of odd signatures from prog-metal garden in a commercial format – it's the 21st century when prog musical concepts are accepted with respect by the media and the public in general, there are a lot of bands incorporating progressive signatures in their songs.
We are very proud of the video and how it came out visually, the teaser that comes with it also gives a good perspective of what we are today.

5. Is "Revelations" more of a promotion back to "Innergy" or a bridge between "Innergy" and the next record?

It's both, musically it's closer to Innergy. As mentioned before expect the unexpected from us for the next album...

6. When can we expect the next full length album and what can we expect the music will sound like?

The album will come out in the Fall 2011 and we know that will sound huge, it will be a conceptual album and I can't reveal nothing more or else it would ruin the surprise. All of you interested in following the studio work can see it here – www.forgottensuns.blogspot.com

7. I give you guys a lot of credit being you have basically now a "second chance" so to say with the new style and bright future. Has Forgotten Suns ever came close to breaking up in all the years?

Thank you, we are doing what we love the most and I think our music is the mirror of ourselves and that is what I like the most about FS. I've already mentioned that there were low periods and hard times but right now we're navigating other oceans were the water is pristine and the future is right ahead whispering great challenges. To quit is not always a good option in music...time is a good advisor.

8. Any tour planned to support "Revelations" or will you head back into writing and recording mode?

We will have some shows to promote the e.p but not a tour for now, there is plenty to do on studio to finish the 4th album yet.

9. What keeps Forgotten Suns going, what is your motivation?

Forgotten Suns is a life-style, a state of mind not a boring work. All about the music we do is a big challenge, you have to practice and study a lot to be at level and that keeps everyone with an open mind emotionally motivated in all topics and related subjects of music. The mirror concept above depicted is alone by itself a big motivation, discovering who you are through a fantastic and intangible music process is quite amazing to follow.

10.Is there a certain style you would like to incorporate more into your music being more progressive, more commercial? To you, what would the perfect Forgotten Suns sound like?

R: This new album will reveal a bit more about this question than I will do here. Again, talking honestly could kill the surprise we're cooking at the studio but we all have good vibrations towards jazz, classical, trash metal, electronic music, all in their early root forms and the innovative bands of our today in all styles.

11 Well, thank you for taking the time for this great interview as we look forward to a strong and improved career. We at this time let you have the final word to the fans and supporters of Forgotten Suns for all the years..the stage is yours...

R: I would like to thank Metal Pulse Zine for the great depth of this interview.
To all followers of the band, take your time to listen “Revelations” the brand new e.p and we promise to return with a great work of art, the 4th studio album, eventually the best...that's how we like to think it will always be! Regards to all!

Vocoders & Cobras

2011-02-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

today we were re-arranging the diabolic intro track of the album and introduced some very cool variations on the version we had previously done. A very 'made to play live' and powerful opening is on the making my friends;)

During the coffee break got some interesting production chat rolling with Mike about the use of a vocoder on the album, meanwhile Sam got his new Iron Cobra pedals today so there was a very happy and creative vibe flowing in the studio...so great to be writing again, looking forward for all these ideas to be unified in songs.

best

7hawk

Versus Magazine - Online Interview

2011-02-07T01:13:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

if you didn't check the band's social websites, check below this great design magazine and it's content - a nice interview with Forgotten Suns!
The band will perform live next 26th February along with Ava inferi at C.E.R Vagos (Pt).

best
7hawk

Work goes on...

2011-02-04T18:01:00.001-08:00

Day 2

2011-02-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

today we spent all day yet filtering and aligning all the best riffs from our past jam sessions or just single instrument ideas. Some of these jams are quite long with many chats and alternative directions, other are just small arpeggios or short instrumental melodies.

In between all cut, copy, delete and paste, got me thinking that if we were jamming without a recorder on, we would eventually lose half of these ideas forever and believe me that there are many quality ideas floating in the air by these days. It's also funny how well we can keep the feeling and energy of the idea vibrating when a mic reveals our voices discussing the multiple directions of the track, this way we can easily transport ourselves to that particular frame of the writing process in a blink of an eye.

Studio Report

2011-02-01T15:23:00.006-08:00

Hi everyone,

today we had a cool morning at the studio listening to all material developed so far and balancing all equipment in order to get the best sounds to pre-produce the 4th full lenght studio album.

There are a lot of parts to be put together in more than 6 hours of music and jam sessions - a lot of material indeed, yet, more is to be written in the following weeks.

We were quite enthusiasmed and thrilled with the riffs and concepts behind each track; no doubt that things will be lifted from here but there are sections already sounding huge...how will the fans react to this new material?:)

best
7hawk

2011

2011-01-13T03:37:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, the band wishes you all a great 2011!

We kick in with a really nice tattoo on Ruben Coelho's leg - truly wonderful!;)

The band is on studio working on new material and rehearsing the promotion shows that will happen this year and the first revealed date is 26th February in Vagos along with doom metal band Ava Inferi.

It will be a special occasion since there will be just one drummer in the house that night - Ava Inferi is the band of prolific mentor and great guitar player Rune Eriksen and talented singer Carmen Susana Simões so, it's all set for a great night of music in Vagos - don't miss this show for nothing!

Keep in touch,
best
7hawk

FORGOTTEN SUNS - Doppelgänger/ New Official Video

2010-12-12T11:13:00.000-08:00

New EP - Revelations

2010-11-25T03:52:00.001-08:00

Dear friends, today I have the pleasure to announce, the cover, tracklist and release date of the newest Forgotten Suns EP called Revelations.
It's without a doubt a must have for any Forgotten Suns' fan to have while the 4th full lenght studio album is in preparation.
Soon more news will be announced, stay tuned on Forgotten Suns activities...

1. Doppelgänger (2010 mix)
2.Phenotype
3.Pinpoints
4.The Hill
5.Betrayed
- Pt.I The Curse
- Pt.II Grey Zone

Release Date: 17 December 2010
Sound samples: @ www.myspace.com/fsuns

best
7hawk

Promotional Video

2010-11-05T03:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to let you know the band has spent the whole extended weekend shooting a promotional video for the song 'Doppelgänger', images of it will be kept in secret for obvious reasons but be sure that it's was a great team work and lots of fun to do.

best
7hawk

In the Eyes of the World

2010-10-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

just a quick message to let you all know that the mix of 'In the Eyes of the World' is ready and it will be sent to Mr.Marco Livotto at LoL production studio in Italy for mastering.
The song will feature as track 13 on the quadruple tribute cd 'A Flower Full of Stars - a Tribute to The Flower Kings' and it should be released in early 2011.

It's with great honour and pride that Forgotten Suns will represent our country -Portugal -among many other acts from all over the world with such an intense piece of music that we consider ourselves one of the best sounding works we did up to date.
The song contains all the original DNA of Flower Kings but now it also has our own distinctive fingerprints and it's a perfect blend of styles, if you're into high quality progressive rock then this will be a must!

best
7hawk

Vocals done!

2010-10-03T02:43:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all,

after a period of summer vacations we returned to the studio to continue our Flower Kings tribute - operation: In the Eyes of the World.

The song is becoming very special and I believe we're doing one of our best works so far!

Nio was in for a great double session and despite the track has just around 3 min (out of 10) of vocals he delivered it really nice and easy, superb production on the harmonies at the chorus section!

There's some layers to be added during this week so we can go mixing it all.

best

7hawk

Revelations on US for mastering

2010-08-18T03:44:00.000-07:00

Hello there,

after 2 intense weeks of mixing on a daily basis of 8 hours and in some cases 12 hours we finally closed the process last Saturday, 14th August, with a fantastic marathon of 17 hours to get the final analogue summing sound in perfection.
We already had some feedback from our mastering engineer C.S Brown at Stuffy Room Studios in Tennesse, USA, giving some nice compliments about the well done job and how much the improvement was since the Innergy mixes...everything is set for a great sounding release!

Time for some well deserve vacation period.

C-you in September for the Flower Kings tribute song "In the Eyes of the World".

best
7hawk

Suns at work...

2010-08-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

Mixing the 'Revelations' EP

2010-07-30T09:37:00.000-07:00

With brand new equipment for the mixes arriving on a perfect time, we are now moving to the next stage of this detailed production process with the mixing of 'Revelations'.
All individual tracks are sounding great so far which is always a good indicator for an easier mixing...oh, and we had a last time small guest performance on the song 'Pinpoints';)

I will upload some photos during the following week,

best
7hawk

Acoustic & Vocal sessions

2010-07-23T02:32:00.000-07:00

The last week at the studio was used for recording vocals and my 7 string custom made Emerald guitar on the song 'The Hill", it was a busy week with many production work being done but the results are evidently *****!

Mixings will now start (we will have some cool new analogue gear arriving into the studio) and take the next pair of weeks, meanwhile the vocals for the FK tribute will be recorded so that would probably be the next post topic;)

all the best

7hawk

Climbing the hill

2010-07-12T14:34:00.000-07:00

Another nice morning at the FS studio with Nio on the recording room doing some very cool back vocals for the song 'The Hill', also Nio with me and Sammy recorded some mysterious words for the end of 'Phenotype' that fitted pretty awesome giving it a godfatheresque mood.

best

7hawk

The Hill - vocals

2010-07-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

A cool saturday morning at the studio in the making of 'Revelations'.

Nio did another great session and we even had time to good laughs in between takes...

Once again the song has developed so much since the 2006 demo after the new arrangements that it seems like a brand new written track.

Meanwhile, try to figure on the pic who is the latest endorsed member of the band?

best

7hawk

Vocalist in the House!

2010-07-08T17:36:00.001-07:00

Today was day one for vocal recordings at MediaForce Studios. Mike, Sam, me and Nio did a very nice production for the song 'Phenotype' - Nio at his best!*****

Works go on

2010-07-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks we've been deeply focused on producing and recording the songs for the upcoming 'Revelations' EP.

Everything we added musically have improved a lot the old demos we did back in 2006 and there's a great feeling towards the release of this 'extend play' - I can say that the songs are sounding so great and so good as I always imagined them to be!

This week I'll be recording the final guitars and Mike will be finishing with his keyboard parts, then Nio will join in for the vocals on Thursday forward. Mixes will start in a few days so we can send the final mixed tracks to Chris Brown at Murfreesboro/Tennessee in USA for mastering in the end of July.

best

7hawk

Studio Report

2010-06-17T14:35:00.000-07:00

Two more pics of today's recording session with my guitar parts being recorded with ease, I must say these are the best guitar sounds ever in Forgotten Suns story and to achieve that I must thank Fractal Audio's Axe Fx Ultra and Mike for excellent engineering.

Works go on through the following weeks with keyboards and vocals being recorded so we can jump into the mixes.

best

7hawk

Bass Day

2010-06-11T01:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Mike, Nuno and I were on studio recording some great bass tracks for the upcoming 'Revelations' EP - here are 2 pics of the session.

best

7hawk

Guitars & Amps

2010-06-08T02:01:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,

Got time to post a photo of the gear I'm using to record guitars on the upcoming Revelations EP, the Axe is a central piece of great quality sound and I'm using mostly Mark IV's for the crunch sounds and Vox amps for the clean shimmering parts; doubling tracks to turn the sound pretty wide stereo, powerfully tight, and of course... my Custom RF7 Bo-El for doing the perfect job!

Recording the Revelations EP

2010-06-01T01:54:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

A big sun is shining over Lisboa and it was under hot waves of pre-summer heat that Mike and myself spent yesterday's morning aligning backtracks of the upcoming EP so we can start recording with ease.
Last week we spent all studio hours recording guitars for the song 'In the Eyes of the World' for FK tribute cd and I'm very pleased with the achieved result. I think it will turn out has one of our greatest works and many fans of the classic prog genre will surely enjoy it!

I will upload pics of this week recordings, guitar/bass and keyboards for starters.
Don't forget to check it out!

best
7hawk

Studio Report

2010-05-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

Today I have time to upload some pictures of our session on studio. Mike did a wonderful recording of Nuno's Fender through a new Ashdown cabinet, the one you see below. The day was full dedicated to the bass parts of 'In the Eyes of the World' tribute song we're producing for the triple album 'A Flower Full of Stars' - a tribute to Flower Kings. I think we did a perfect team work by turning Sammy's drums into something even more special with the support of a choesive and powerful bass lines. Needless to say that we went home with big smiles...;)
Also below the images the guitar used on last week recordings and the new Axe editor from Fractal Audio with a personalized preset for the crunch sounds for FK's song.

More news during this week,

all the best
7hawk

Recording guitars

2010-05-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

just wanted to let you know that I've been with Mike on the last 2 days recording guitars for the Eyes in the World tribute song. Everything is sounding amazing with the new Axe Fx Ultra from Fractal Audio...insane piece of gear!!!*****
I'm 'riffering' with my Bo-El 6 string Purple guitar which I'm using oficially for the 1st time on recordings and as usual Mike is doing a great tech/advice work; all in all we're producing the track giving it a new feel more into our FS musical landscapes.
I must say that by giving it a deep analysis during the last days, the riffs are bouncing on our heads like infinite loops...there are riffs so weird at first glance and their writing is so exquisite but by doing this tribute I've come to the point of gaining even a greater respect for Flower Kings - I think that they are the ultimate prog+vintage band on Earth!

Tomorrow I'll try to upload some media and Nuno will start his bass lines on Sunday.

best
7hawk

R.I.P - Ronnie James Dio

2010-05-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Keyboards & Lyrics

2010-05-14T05:57:00.000-07:00

Just a quick message to let you know that 90% of the keyboards on 'In Eyes of the World' are recorded with Mike doing a great production work once more!
Next week the guitar recordings will start and the week will end with Nuno Correia recording his definitive bass parts. All drum tracks are done and sound amazing, Sam did a terrific arranjement à la FS style!;)
Also the lyrics for the Revelations EP are done as the picture shows...

best
Ricardo

Symphobia in the house...

2010-05-12T06:44:00.000-07:00

In the last written post I've mentioned three amazing plug-ins but only posted pics of the Minimonsta and Omnisphere, so today here's a photo of our matinal session at the studio with the superb Symphobia. You really can't imagine how deep, realistic and impressive this stuff sounds unless you hear it!

Sam also brought some dreat drumming to the first part of the song which lifts up the song to whole new level of progressiveness, now the song is becoming more Forgotten Suns style which is something that lefted me and Mike with big smiles.;)

Works go on tomorrow with a full day at the studio, can't wait to start recording my guitar parts!!!!;)

best
Ricardo

Pre-production video

2010-05-11T11:14:00.000-07:00

Recordings

2010-05-11T08:40:00.000-07:00

Some pictures on studio while recording the Flower Kings tribute song, works go on and things start to sound great with our own personal touch. I really like the keyboard sounds that Mike is taking out of his recent acquisitions on software, the Minimonsta, Simphobia and Omnisphere...simply amazing!

In the Eyes of the World

2010-05-10T09:44:00.001-07:00

Has many of you already know the band is on studio recording and producing an EP along with the tribute for Flower Kings triple cd 'A Flower Full of Stars' in which the band will appear with the song 'In the Eyes of the World', a track from Stardust We Are album released 14 years ago.
Despite the intense work that the song has been giving us (it has 23 metronome changes!!!) we have been rebuilding the rythym section into a more Forgotten Suns style instead the approach originally done by Jaime Salazar and Michael Stolt. The band is also recording 4 tracks that will join 'Doppelgänger' single version in what will became an EP called ´Revelations´.
Mike is doing a great work on keyboard land and Sam is working out some very interesting kick patterns.

The work will go one and I'll post some pictures of the process in the following days...

best
Ricardo

2010

2010-04-19T01:51:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

just a short update on how things going on Forgotten Suns work because we had some fans asking about the EP and Flower Kings tribute announcement during the interview with DJ Nik on Metal from Milan last friday 16th.

Yes, it's true. The band is already pre-producing and recording the 4 tracks out of 5 that will be on the EP or to be more precise on the mini-LP since it will contain 26 minutes of music.
I won't reveal track names so far, cause it's part of the surprise but some themes were already played live quite a few times. The release date is not accurate but it will happen in the Fall.
ProgRock Records will be releasing it and there will be many interesting stuff from the FS fan point of view. I think it will be a must for all of those who follow the band since Fiction Edge!

About the Flower Kings tribute song 'In the Eyes of the World' the band is now pre-producing it and I just see a smile on everyone's faces...also expected to be released on the Fall, no date available yet.

About the new album, I can tell you that we have around 30 hours of great jams and already 25 minutes of music selected and worked for it. It's going on the perfect direction I must say;)

best
7hawk

Metal From Milan interview

2010-04-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Hello to all,

In between writings and recordings of the upcoming material the Radio Show "Metal From Milan" will do a live-interview with the Portuguese Prog Metallers from Forgotten Suns at Friday, April 16 ! Make sure to listen and tune in. More info about Forgotten Suns at www.myspace.com/fsuns

Worldwide broadcasting - the interview will be in English.

Where : www.rampartradio.com or www.dyhardradio.com
Radio Show : Metal From Milan ( with DJ Nik )
What time : 22.00 CET (09:00 in Portugal)
When : Friday, April 16, you can follow all online through the website of the radio station

best regards
7hawk

2010-03-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

There's been a time since the last post so, to compensate everyone for the lack of regular information here goes a special post with a video of the band on studio jamming along a new riff.

Meanwhile, the band has spent many days on a rewarding time writing huge material for the new full lenght album. I can only say that we are very enthusiastic with the new level of music we're taking from our heads to our gear, from our souls to reality...songs are coming out, track names appearing day by day and we're having a great time doing it!

We are also preparing some new exciting surprises for late 2010 that will soon be revealed, if you are a true Forgotten Suns follower then you shouldn't miss what we're cooking out here!

HeadbangersFM (Netherlands) will broadcast an interview with Forgotten Suns band, this Friday, March 19th at 19:45 CET. Make sure that you don't miss this one, there will be many FS songs on airplay during the show.

Worldwide Broadcasting - interview in English.

Where: http://www.headbangersfm.com/

What time: 19:45 CET

When: Friday, 19th March - you can follow all directly online through the website or radio station.

best regards
FS

Pictures of the day

2010-02-19T00:04:00.000-08:00

Ba(da)ss session

2010-02-05T05:50:00.000-08:00

Hi,

this week we were tuning the sounds for each instrument in order to write and record at the same time, we ended up with the best sound ever in a FS rehearsal room, which is quite inspiring!!!!;)
During these individual sound checks we all recorded some bars without knowing what we're doing, first the drums, then the guitar, keyboards and today while checking up the bass sound we suddenly got a great odd time with a 7-7-7-5, 7-6-7-5 bass loop and...wow, what a riff!Then it came to my head another great octave lead which gives a sort of chaotic vision to the music...well, that's our music happening again!;)

best
7hawk

A Metal Revelation...

2010-02-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

Hi folks,

it's been a while since the last post but there's many things happening on Forgotten Suns camp. First I have the pleasure to announce our new Manager Marjo Verdooren from Metal Revelation a Management and Promotion company from Holland.
Meanwhile we're on studio since 10th January and after a short hiatus, due to a technical problem with the recording equipment we are again writing full of inpiration and completly involved on the album's concept.

There will more post and pics soon,

best
7hawk

2010 - New Year & New Album

2010-01-10T11:46:00.000-08:00

A new year is here to stay and so the cold weather as it seems...
The band wishes you all a great 2010 in every possible way - there's many appealing stuff happening on Forgotten Suns camp so this will be a prolific season for us because there's a new amazing album being written in the following months.
Today we got a cool meeting at the studio where every band member was throwing ideas in, planning schedules while having a good time after a small break for the usual season's festivities.Everyone has a strong conviction that we're heading to a huge musical challenge with the new concept, at the same time we're very honoured in producing/performing the "In the Eyes of the World" Flower King's epic song for the tribute triple cd release by Musea - A Flower Full of Stars.
There's more things on the forge to be announced at the right time, so keep tracking this blog cause there will plenty activity from now on!

all the best
7hawk

PROGTUGAL FEST - the videos

2009-11-21T17:17:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

it's a rainy night in Lisboa, one week after the Progtugal Fest at Santiago Alquimista here I am writing to our dearest followers, fans and friends!
It was indeed a very special night for the band, we had many things to debut live: new merchandise, new backdrop, new singer live, new Fender 6 string, new level of sampling production via Oasys by Mike...well the list could go on and on:)ok, but the best was the music and the new album INNERGY which we performed almost from the beggining to the end except for Dopplegänger track.
After the sound check I gave an interview to Radio Terranova online in Aveiro for the Sonho do Rock n'Roll show with Jorge Cravo, a very nice saturday night show with special enphasis on progressive rock and it was curious because during the interview I realized that on that night we were kicking off again the debut of another prog event on our territory - we did the first ever show on GAR Festival back in 2001 (the show was held in Guimaraes in the 1st edition, then went back to Gouveia - the famous Gouveia Art Rock, then that night of 14th November, we were kicking the first progressive metal festival in Portugal ever!
The backstage was great fun, we didn't had much time to speak to the guys of Circus Maximus, while speaking with the lead singer Michael Eriksen during their soundcheck he said they were all very tired because of the flight from Norway and they took some time to go back to the hotel and rest until their gig start, but we had some cool chat and laughs with the italian friends of DGM - Simone Mularoni(gt), Emanuele Casali(key)and Fabio Constantino(dr)-those guys are crazy!:)

Back to studio, the following weeks until Christmas and New Years Day resting time we will be of work at the studio recording some great material, no doubt of that!!!:)

Meanwhile, check the official Forgotten Suns YouTube Channel for some input on the Progtugal show: http://www.youtube.com/forgottensuns

all the best
Ricardo

Forgotten Suns Teaser

2009-11-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

Hello folks,

while works go on at the studio here's a teaser to open the appetite for the 14th November show in Progtugal Fest...enjoy!;)

all the best
7hawk

ProgTugal Fest

2009-10-20T02:45:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

as many of you already know the band will perform live next 14th November at Santiago Alquimista along with Circus Maximus and DGM - the event is called ProgTugal Fest - tickets are already on sale at the usual reservation places and the quality of the bands is top notch, so it's all set for a fantastic evening of progressive music!

In the last few weeks the band has also been rehearsing and engineering their racks for the sounds that will roar on S.Alquimista....

Today Nuno present us his beautiful new Fender Jazz Bass 6 string that sounds powerful & warm and extremely light weight for a Fender in my opinion.

Sammy also did some shopping and acquired 3 new FX cymbals to his arsenal of drums: a pair of Sabian chopper discs 8" and 10", plus a Zildjian ZXT Transformer which is a very cool cymbal that produces an explosive trashy sound.

Here we are in today's rehearsal (24th October):

.Nio explaining some back vocals on the album

.Nuno and Fender Jazz Bass 6 string

.Sam surrounded by the new cymbals

.Mike and his set of keyboards

.Rick soloing on his Bo-El

Progressive Quiz with Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree)

2009-10-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,
while we're still in deep work on tracks for the new FS album and preparing the ProgTugal show, i've found a great quiz with Mr.Steve Wilson from Porcupine Tree, a great progressive rock band, as you know for sure!
Check the Q & A and get to know a little bit more about the prog world history: http://planetrock.radica.com/PT_Quiz.html

In the pic it's me in a rehearsal's pause listening to Mike's fantastic work with his Korg Oasys - simply genious!:)

all the best
7hawk

5th October - pictures of the day

2009-10-06T05:15:00.000-07:00

Hi there,

here's a post after a short hiatus, there's plenty of work on Forgotten Suns camp so, little time to write everyday...hope that everyone of you readers and followers of this blog are ok since the last one!
We are preparing the ProgTugal Fest show (next 14th November) and we spent the 5th october(yesterday) rehearsing & rehearsing, riff over riff; very nice mood and performances all the way it's all I can say - it will be one of those killer nights!!!

Here are some cool pics of the session:
. myself soloing under Mike's chords
. Nuno doing some nasty groove stuff
. Nio at his cpu on the end of the day
. Sammy raiding the lightning:)

all the best
7hawk

Men at work...

2009-09-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Just a quick note to say we've been very busy on studio and the new material is sounding great. There's lot of creativity going on and while deciding the riff for the keyboard solo at the end of the intro we've listened some of the material we did some months ago sounding great to our ears today...really fresh, with many directions to choose for. There are many new songs and amazing instrumental sections to see the light of day very soon...

It will sound a cliché but I'm sure this album will please everyone of you prog-heads!

Here's the pics of this morning at the studio...Mike and his set of keyboards, an over the fretboard view, Sam and his octobans and my zoomed 2nd pedalboard.

Two more minutes...

2009-09-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

...of progressive music for the new album were done today!:)

Doesn't sound that prolific for a set of 3 hours of composition but, what is done is amazingly pure prog! I'm really appreciating the writing, chords and passages; this track is really the direction we've set for this album intro and it's one of the best begginings we wrote.

Nuno and Sam working their rythmical parts on the pics.

best
7hawk

Work in progress...

2009-09-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

Today we had Nio with us and we gave a few more steps ahead on the track we're working on, first pic is the band on the studio in the beggining of the session and the individual ones reveal the enthusiam at the end of the writing process for today...greeeaaaat!

regards to you all,
7hawk

7 September

2009-09-08T06:33:00.000-07:00

First day of writings with Nuno on the studio and the chemistry couldn't be better, as soon as we got the engines of creation warmed up we developed the intro of the new album - great instrumental section going on!

Here's the pictures of the day: Mike repairing the brain of the studio, Nuno warming up, Sammy arriving at the studio and recording the drum riff for the intro, my rig.

until the next post, c-ya!
7hawk

Calendar & Adding Notes

2009-09-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Back in business!:)

After some very refreshing vacations, here's the 1st post of the season 09/10, once more to give you some insight on Forgotten Suns camp and activities.

First, and it wasn't casual the choice of the pic, we set some deadlines, line ups and ideias for the next rehearsals - Progtugal Fest is the next and debut FS live appearance after the release of Innergy...the festival will take place at Santiago Alquimista in Lisboa next 14th November along with norwegian band Circus Maximus and italians DGM - shame on you if you miss this one! The picture is a post shound check moment for the camera at Santiago Alquimista 2 years ago...

Also we did a breafing on the new album writings and shared some ideas about what we listened of our recording sessions while on vacations. We all agreed that what we have done so far is great, fresh and on the mood we want for the new album but, there's still a lot to do and so we set our agendas for the writing sessions happen on a daily basis.

There's an excellent riff from Mike on keys that really inspired me today...

He just walked his fingers on the his Kurzweil and there were some really proggy riffs popping, from distortioned organs to synth leads...the guy is in great shape!:)

We will also start the production of some interesting videos that will be featuring on our YouTube official channel and on Progressive Lands - Mind Over Tracks section.

Keep your eyes and ears open...

all the best, c-ya tomorrow!

Rick

Editing Riffs

2009-08-06T03:14:00.000-07:00

Hi,

We're heading to a pair of weeks on vacations after working for 2 months in getting the first musical ideas out of our instruments. So, we decided that this final week we would make the editing of our jam sessions and riffs we've made so far - what a task!
Being in the studio under a creative state of grace leads to a point were we just click the record button when we arrive in the morning and "let's go" until the first break (around lunch time) then we repeat the procedure (with some beers in between) until the return home at the end of the day...that gives us hours and hours of great ideas, not so good ideas, hard to play repetitive riffs, many laughs and shitty talking - since Sam is now closed and isolated in the drum room, we all communicate via individual microphones and it's all connected to the mixing desk & recording software. So it's all there.

It's interesting to see ideas developing and remembering passages we played 1 month ago...that was basically this last week, organizing ideas and selecting the useful parts and deleting the 'garbage'.

We return back in September,
all the best

"...new studio, new album..."

2009-08-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hell-oooo!
Welcome to the new making of blog! This one will connect us while we're on studio developing the new material, writing new songs, working instrumental sections, pre-producing, recording and mixing the upcoming album.
Hope you enjoy the posts and the little secrets we will be revealing along the way before you hear it on the final version.

What have we done so far since Innergy's release?
We had 2 months of rest (from the studio) after delivering the final mixes of Innergy to Mr.Chris Brown, we were quite pleased with the overall sound and with the artwork of Mr.Thomas Ewerhard, in the end it became a huge register of what Forgotten Suns' music is all about.
We did plans in order to re-design our studio and has you can see on the pictures below the result is...amazing!(I'll post wider photos soon).
We really put a big effort in making it comfortable and with great looks so we can deliver the best of us. It really was interesting to see the guys so deep into the process of build up a new rehearsal/recording studio...

The acoustic of the whole studio was really one of the best improvements, so we now have better conditions for mixing and the drum room is completly isolated from the rest of the band - "you can bang your crazy and loud cymbals Sam!"

The new album has already a name (will remain secret to you) and a fantastic concept supporting the whole story.
We had some ideas flowing during the followings months after Innergy's mixing sessions off Mike's concerns and after some brainstorming we reached a script for it. It's no secret that we are very "cinematographic" when we approach the writing of our music, so with these images and words on our heads we started to write the first chords, just for the record, in Earth's Day precisely on 22nd April 2009!

So far we have tons of riffs and first lyrics coming out, Nuno has been very inspired throwing super riffs out of his bass every now and then.

For what I've heard so far we're surely heading towards another masterpiece of music!