Efter fem års uppehåll släpper äntligen det progressiva rock bandet The Flower Kings ett nytt album den 18 juni via InsideOut Music. Albumet kommer gå under namnet Banks Of Eden och materialet kommer bestå av klassisk The Flower Kings med all drömska, melodi och filmiska element. Bandet kommer även mixa in lite psykadeliska och mörkare bitar i musiken vilket gör att den får en 60-tals progg känsla blandat med den nya generationen av rock.
Grundaren och frontmannen Roine Stolt kommenterar:
”It was both a scary and exciting prospect to go back into the studio after an almost five-year-long, well-earned hiatus. We have all been active with Translantic, Karmakanic, Agents Of Mercy since, so we were up to speed in the playing department, but starting The Flower Kings again put some weight on my shoulders, I suppose, but it’s fun. We knew we could make an album ’cause this is what we do and we know we do it good, but the question was if we had anything new or anything important to contribute in 2012, in a time when the Internet fills every hour with entertainment and every town or village seems to have emerging prog superstars. Realizing now with Elp, Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant and Pink Floyd being history, we are among the new eldermen of prog and we feel responsible for keeping the standard up, so a lot of hard work is gonna go into the coming months. The core members were there and for this re-starting of The Flower Kings, we brought in new 26-year-old drummer prodigy Felix Lehrmann. Without playing one single note together, or no audition, we started the recording at Varispeed studios in Sweden, January 23rd, taking a big, big chance. It is with happy smiles on our faces that we can conclude that it was a jackpot and a great choice and we feel Felix is gonna breathe life into both the new and old material in a live setting, possibly with a more hard hitting edge. His outgoing personality and general love for music and playing will be very evident live and for coming albums I can feel he may contribute even in writing. The progressive daredevil at the helm made us start the new album with a 25-minute epic centrepiece that is NOT easy listening, it is in fact a quite demanding task. But the material also has all classic elements of The Flower Kings style with all the dreamy melodic and cinematic glow sprinkled all over, that the band’s fans have come to love over the years. My advice is: just give it time and it will be very rewarding.”
Bandet har filmat några klipp som visar bakom kulisserna på Banks Of Eden då de vill dela med sig av sina erfarenheter till sina fans. Här under kan du se en av många klipp som kommer att släppas inom kort.
Missa inte The Flower Kings när de spelar på Sweden Rock Festival i juni.
