Press release:
Silver Lake by Esa Holopainen‘s debut album will be released on May 28, 2021 via Nuclear Blast Tonträger Produktions– und Vertriebs GmbH and will not only feature the legendary guitar riffs of Esa Holopainen of Amorphis, one of Finland’s leading Metal guitarists and composers, but also sees the participation of seven famous Rock and Metal singers such as Jonas Renkse (Katatonia), Einar Solberg (Leprous), Björn “Speed” Strid (Soilwork), Anneke Van Giersbergen and others, who will lead you into a world of catchy Progressive Metal masterpieces characterized by the beauty and melancholy of Finland.
The band inaugurates pre-orders for their debut album, which will be available as a Digipak CD, various colored vinyls and a limited CD boxset, containing the digipak, an autographed postcard, a guitar pick and a flag, as well as digitally.
Pre-order physic: http://nblast.de/SL-SilverLake
Pre-order digital: http://nblast.de/SilverLakeAlbumPre
Tracklist:
- Silver Lake
- Sentiment (feat. Jonas Renkse)
- Storm (feat. Håkan Hemlin)
- Ray Of Light (feat. Einar Solberg)
- Alkusointu (feat. Vesa-Matti Loiri)
- In Her Solitude (feat Tomi Joutsen)
- Promising Sun (feat. Björn ‘Speed’ Strid)
- Fading Moon (feat. Anneke Van Giersbergen)
- Apprentice (feat. Jonas Renkse)
To celebrate the launch of the pre-orders, Silver Lake by Esa Holopainen unveil the first single and video of the thrilling song “Storm” with Håkan Hemlin. Watch the video below:
Esa Holopainen comments: “’Storm’ is the first preview of the Silver Lake album by Esa Holopainen. I hope you like it as much as I do. Check out Owe Lingvall’s amazing video. It was filmed in the Canaries where Håkan and Owe spent a lot of time finding the perfect locations. ‘Storm’ is a catchy and emotional song that Håkan has done an amazing job on. I am truly honored to have him on board and this piece proves that he is still one of the best singers.”
“It is the dawn of spring 2020. One morning, Esa Holopainen’s cell phone vibrates insistently and the guitarist answers the phone. After a few greetings, the key question arrives. “Esa, is it the right time to start working on your solo album?”. This gentle voice belongs to Nino Laurenne, renowned music producer and owner of the Sonic Pump recording studio in Helsinki. Esa Holopainen doesn’t have to think about it too long: the extraordinary electric guitarist already knows the answer.“
“Let’s go now to early 2021. Esa Holopainen is sitting on a comfortable sofa in the Sonic Pump. His first solo album, released under the name SILVER LAKE, has just been mastered by Svante Forsbäck (Rammstein, Volbeat, The Rasmus). “I had been thinking about making my own record for years and Nino’s call came at the right time,” recalls Holopainen. “I mean, when Nino – who ended up mixing and producing the album – opened this Pandora’s box, the global pandemic had already destroyed all plans regarding 2020, and I was absolutely aware that I had some free time. available. So it didn’t take long to realize that it was finally time to do something on my own for the first time in three decades!“
Since 1990, Esa Holopainen has been the lead guitarist of the progressive heavy metal innovators AMORPHIS. Thanks to the metallic and melodic beauty of classic albums such as “Tales from the Thousand Lakes”, “Elegy” and “Skyforger”, Holopainen’s magnificent abilities to create enchanting atmospheres and innovative riffs have become widely known within the global heavy metal circuit. . “I’ve been writing a lot of music over the past few years, and some of the stuff didn’t exactly sound Amorphis. When Nino [Laurenne, owner of Sonic Pump Studios] called me at the end of March, I had three SILVER LAKE songs ready and sounding decently. These tracks, titled ‘Sentiment’, ‘Ray of Light’ and ‘Promising Sun’, were the backbone for the entire solo album. ” Even though the making of the record had already begun, some important decisions were still under discussion and Esa soon decided that he should invite some friends to sing on his next record. “At first I didn’t really know if the album was going to be purely instrumental or if there were going to be singers too. Anyway, one thing was certain, I wasn’t going to be the lead singer of SILVER LAKE, ”laughs Holopainen. “Many times, when people think of a guitarist’s solo album, he gets the impression of technical stuff with a huge amount of notes played extremely fast. Well, I’m not a huge fan of that kind of music. Whenever I write, I always want to accumulate interesting songs, and not just give myself shredding for the fun of it ”.
Thus, in a short time, the intense search for the right vocalists began. “I started asking some of my longtime friends and favorite singers if they were available,” says Holopainen. “Thankfully it didn’t take long to discover that superb artists like Anneke van Giersbergen (formerly The Gathering, VUUR), Björn” Speed ”Strid (Soilwork), Einar Solberg (Leprous) and Jonas Renkse (Katatonia) would be happy to join. to the project “.
During the pandemic and these tight deadlines, what was it like working with the singers? “Needless to say, we mostly worked remotely from our studios. All the singers are professional to the core, so there weren’t any problems whatsoever. Some of the singers wanted to write their lyrics and their melodic lines, while for others I wrote more or less everything myself. I don’t write lyrics for AMORPHIS, but it was a very pleasant experience to find words for my album. Speaking briefly about the lyrics, I deal with topics that include serious mental health issues, for example, and I also drew a lot of inspiration from nature. Then there are other arguments too… ”.
SILVER LAKE also offers a nice surprise for diehard AMORPHIS fans. “As I said, I wanted to work with singers that I respect a lot. Tomi Joutsen – the lead singer of Amorphis – is a lovely person and a phenomenal singer, so it was a no-brainer for me to invite him to my album. As expected, Tomi does a brilliant job on one of the heaviest songs on the record, titled ‘In Her Solitude’ “. There are also some musical “wild cards”. “For example, the first single on the album is called ‘Storm’ and features here and there eighties guitar vibes influenced by Dire Straits,” smiles Holopainen.
“The vocal performance of the renowned Swedish singer Håkan Hemlin, also known as Nordman, is absolutely mesmerizing! Speaking of ‘wild cards’, the Finnish artist Vesa-Matti Loiri is perhaps the most unexpected of all. To foreigners the name of Loiri may not mean anything, but for every single Finn Vesa-Matti Loiri is simply a legend. ‘Vesku’ performs a very powerful spoken word performance on the song ‘Alkusointu’ – which means ‘alliteration’ – and his voice is simply disturbing! “.
We have already said “heavier performances” and “references to Dire Straits”, but how would Esa describe the SILVER LAKE material in general? “First of all, the record is very varied. Silver Lake can’t really compare to Amorphis, but then again, there’s my imprint on both AMORPHIS and SILVER LAKE material… So I wouldn’t be surprised if some fans felt some distant resemblance here and there “, Holopainen reflects. “I want to point out that when we were working on the Silver Lake material, there were no limits. For nothing. As a result, some of the songs are really pop and others are damn heavy. “
SILVER LAKE’s debut is still at the beginning of his life, but Esa is already considering the future “I’m extremely happy with SILVER LAKE’s record, so the second solo album is definitely a tempting idea! However, there are no concrete plans, so we just have to wait and see…“
Purchase the album through Amazon
