AYREON Mastermind ARJEN LUCASSEN On Winning Progressive Music Virtuoso Award - "One Of The Scariest Things I've Ever Endured"
October 3, 2014, 10 years ago
The 2014 Progressive Music Awards took place on Thursday, September 11th at Underglobe in London, England. Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen - who is also responsible for Star One and Guilt Machine - took home the Virtuoso Award on the night. He has issued the following statement:
"Man, this award thing was one of the scariest things I’ve ever endured! And I’m sure it shows on the little video here, I could hardly speak. It takes a lot to drag this humble recluse out of the safe haven of the Electric Castle, but of course this was just too much of an honor to pass up. And Damian and Anneke rule!"Lucassen recently announced his next album as a collaboration with vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) dubbed The Gentle Storm, saying it will be "an epic concept double album, a combination of 'classical meets metal' and 'acoustic folk'."
The official press release for The Gentle Storm courtesy of BraveWords scribe Carl Begai is as follows:
The Gentle Storm double album is an epic production of Ayreon proportions, divided into two parts as a full-on metal assault (CD1) and lighter folk arrangements (CD2). It also heralds Anneke's return to the realms of heavy guitars and soaring vocals reminiscent of The Gathering's breakthrough album, Mandylion.
The album release will be followed by live dates through the spring and summer European festival season. Known for touring extensively year after year, Anneke will take The Gentle Storm on the road backed by well known Dutch talents. Arjen, however, will not be part of the live production.
Check out The Gentle Storm's official Facebook page here.
Stay tuned for more updates.
