May 17th, 2012: Alerion Acoustic gig, tomorrow, May 18th, at Tsjechov @ Co, Rotterdam
This Friday, we will play a short acoustic show at Tsjechov @ Co, Delistraat 2, Rotterdam. Starting at 17.30h. Two songs have been adapted for the occasion. Be there and witness the first ever Alerion acoustic show! Details can be found in the gigs section of our website.
May 11th, 2012: Capsloc live pictures posted online
On April 28th we did our second show with Laura on vocals at Capsloc, Capelle aan de IJssel, The Netherlands. Earlier, two songs were posted on Youtube. We've uploaded several pictures to the website now as well. Check them out in the photo section of our website or on our Facebook page, where you can comment as well.
May 2nd, 2012: Live footage with Laura and of unreleased song 'Colourblind' on youtube
On April 28th we did our second show with Laura on vocals at Capsloc, Capelle aan de IJssel, The Netherlands. The gig was partly filmed and two songs have been posted online. Turn of Fate is one, a song which many people already know. The other song, Colourblind, has not been released yet. Finished in 2011, it is still fairly new and has not been performed live a lot. Below, you can view both movies. They offer you a glimpse of our sound with Laura on vocals, as well as a song of which no material has been released before. We hope you like the movies. ;)
May 1st, 2012: Alerion to play in the final round of IJsselpop
On April 27th we played our first gig with Laura on vocals at Highlands IJsselstein, in a contest to gain a spot at the IJsselpop festival in September. Three other bands were playing as well. Since it was our first show in quite a while and for the first time with Laura on vocals, we were still kind of warming up. Nevertheless, we played a nice show, debuting the new almost 12 minute song Entrapment, which was well received. This was reflected in the judgement of the jury, who selected us together with Dutch pop/rock band Rumours as winners.
On June 22nd, we will play in the finals, again at Highlands, Hoogland 1, IJsselstein.
We hope to see you there!
April 24th, 2012: New song 'Entrapment' to be debuted live on April 27th & 28th
On April 27th and 28th, you will have your first chance to see us play live with Laura on vocals. To add to the flavour of these shows, we will also debut a new song. The new song 'Entrapment', clocks in at nearly 12 minutes and consists of two parts which are both musically and lyrically probably best described as a small story.'Entrapment - I - Caged', is a short, mellow and piano dominated song. It envisions a young girl kept in a golden cage, who dreams of breaking free, and sets the scene for part two. 'Entrapment - II - Escape', launches the story into a 10+ minutes long progressive metal song, with all kinds of guitars, keys, melodies, solo's, interludes and riffing, topped off with vocals by Laura. The story tells of how the girl became entrapped and is now breaking free of the visible ánd invisible bonds of her captor.
Come to see us on April 27th or 28th to check it out for yourselves. ;)
See our gigs section for details.
April 19th, 2012: Laura to perform in record stores with Arjen Lucassen
The acoustic shows will take place in record stores in Delft, Breda and Bergen op Zoom, all in The Netherlands. More information can be found here, or through Arjen's facebook page. The next opportunities to see Laura live after the 21st of april are our shows on april 27th and 28th. Check out our gigs section for details.
March 28th, 2012: New singer and shows
Laura is probably best known as singer-songwriter LadyLau. Although less in the public view, she has also been active in several projects in progressive rock and metal. These include the German projects VoXager and Escapedia as well as live performances with Dial and in Ayreon tribute projects.
More information on Laura can be found in the updated band section of the website. Starting in April we will do some shows so you will all be able to hear Laura sing yourselves.Two gigs and a live radio performance have been scheduled so far, as well as a small acoustic performance to be recorded and aired on Radio Rijnmond. Details can be found in the gigs section of the website. During these shows we just might debut some new material with vocals by Laura. ;)
Recently new pictures have been taken with Laura, which can be seen on the website. More pictures will be posted online later.Stay tuned for further updates.
December 15th, 2011: Audition update
We have been in the middle of auditions for several weeks now, so it is time for a small update. We are happy to announce there has been some major progress in our search for a singer. We will expand on that and we will report back later. You can expect less cryptic and more detailed news then. ;)
November 14th, 2011: 'Melody and Malice' available for order online
All proceeds will go to the N.S.P.C.C.: the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
October 12th, 2011: New live pictures online
In June this year we played two gigs after some time off the stages. Some nice pictures were made of our show at The Little Devil in Tilburg on June 17th, which was also our last show with Maaike. We've added the pictures to the photo's section of our website.Thanks to Alma of Shield of Thor for shooting the pictures. Check them out here or on our facebook profile.
August 23rd, 2011: Maaike leaves Alerion
We have some unfortunate news. Recently, Maaike decided to leave Alerion, after three years with us. Gradually, she moved in other directions than Alerion, which ultimately led to her departure. We are sad to see her go and want to thank her for her contributions to the band. We wish her all the best in her musical ventures. Maaike has composed the following message to explain her departure:I'd like to thank the guys of Alerion for the good times we had together; it was great to be the band's leading lady for three years. I loved being on stage with them, writing songs together with Bas - who's got a composer of classical magnitude in him - and especially joking over beers after band practice. However, lately, I felt out of place. Drawn to old-fashioned jazz, pop, and other musical genres, and frustrated with the challenging conditions metal singers face on stage at smaller venues, I grew less enthusiastic about playing with the band. So I made the difficult decision to quit Alerion.
I wish Alerion all the best, and hope they'll find the new singer they deserve. When they hit the stage again, I'll be sure to be in the audience!
Love, Maaike
Those of you who wish to check out her musical activities outside of metal (in pop and jazz) can visit the website of her acoustic duo: Daisy Enjazzed.
July 8th, 2011: 'Melody & Malice' to be released on September 26th, 2011, track listing revealed
The release date of the 2011 Femme Metal Records compilation cd 'Melody & Malice' has been set on September 26th, 2011. It will feature the Alerion track Turn of Fate, besides artists like Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy, Edenbridge and fellow Dutch band Evil's Desire. You can view the track listing here. Unfortunately, this will be the final compilation cd by Femme Metal, so be sure to check it out!All proceeds will go to the N.S.P.C.C.: the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
June 14th, 2011: Alerion featured on Femme Metal Records compilation album 'Melody & Malice'
The final tracklist, release date and artwork are still to be announced, although an unofficial temporary cover already exists and is displayed here. If more information becomes available, we will let you know.
June 1st, 2011: Ready to Rock!
As of this moment, Alerion is ready to rock again! We have been strenghtened by the arrival of Jeroen Nagel and Nico Lammers on drums and rhythm guitar, respectively, two experienced musicians who had both been watching Alerion for some time. To complete the musical palette, guitarist and main songwriter Bas Willemsen is now also writing the keyboard parts in our music.A backing track containing all keyboard parts will be used live untill the right keyboardist presents him- or herself to us. Untill that time, we will simply forge on. The new songs A Life Less Ordinary, Colourblind and Chains of the Collective are now fully finished. Chains of the Collective has been spiced up with a guest keyboard solo by Tom Gorissen of symphonic death / black metal band Hymir, also from Utrecht, The Netherlands.
We can't wait to get back on stage. So before the summer hits us we'll try to do some shows. Two shows have already been scheduled (June 4th at Metal Front Twente, Nijverdal & June 17th at Little Devil, Tilburg) and are listed on the website. We hope to see you there!
June 1st, 2011: Shifting Sands
It has been quiet over here for a while, but not without reason. In the period after the departure of our keyboardist Paul Bouman in October of 2009, both guitarist Bart Lubbers and drummer Lennert Stap decided to leave the band. More recently, they were followed by keyboardist Nathalia Hoogkamer, who had joined us in May of 2010, leaving the keyboard parts to several songs mostly unfinished.Although Bart was only with us for a year, his decision to leave early in 2010 was nevertheless mainly due to his desire to play music not related to our music or metal in general. Lennert left the band some months later because of musical differences which had been gradually increasing for some time. We wish them both all the best in their musical ventures. We also like to take this opportunity to thank Lennert for his dedication and laying down the foundations to our music for three years.
Nathalia Hoogkamer of Thronar joined us on keyboard in May 2010 and began work on finishing the keyboard parts on three new songs. Unfortunately, Nathalia abruptly left the band in January this year. We are sad to see her go and wish her all the best in the future.
February 13th, 2011: Play Alerion on Frets on Fire / Guitar Hero (download)
Always wanted to play one of our songs on Guitar Hero? Well, apparently someone wanted the same and decided to make a Frets on Fire / Rock band 2 track out of 'Hindsight (1976)', the opening song of our old demo Fledgling. You can download the Frets on Fire song (which has been improved twice by other fans since this video was made) so you can play it yourself right here.The creator posted a movie of him playing on YouTube, which we have reposted on our own channel once it disappeared. Check it out:
UPCOMING SHOWS
June 8th: WOS Radio, 's-Gravenzande (live on-air performance and interview)
More listed in the gigs section.
