Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One, Guilt Machine) and Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Devin Townsend Project) have joined forces for new band, The Gentle Storm, and have now revealed the cover artwork for their debut album, The Diary, which is due out early next year.

Arjen had this to say: "I loved the front cover of the last Stream Of Passion album, so I tracked down the cover artist, Alexandra V. Bach. I sent her some samples of the The Gentle Storm music, and explained the album concept. She made a moodboard that captured the feel of the story and the music. We then gave her the go-ahead to design the cover. She did an amazing job that exceeded our expectations: Alexandra's cover art represents The Gentle Storm perfectly!"

 

Having originally worked together back in 1998 on Ayreon's album 'nto The Electric Castle, and reconvening again for the seventh Ayreon album 01011001, The Gentle Storm sees the duo collaborate for a full double-album that will see the light of day next year. Anneke will also take the music on the road in 2015, backed by a band of Dutch musicians; however Arjen himself will not take part.

Arjen Lucassen recently picked up the Virtuoso award at this year's Progressive Music Awards, in front of an audience that included Peter Gabriel and Rick Wakeman amongst other progressive rock legends. Last year saw the release of the latest album from his Ayreon project entitled The Theory Of Everything, which featured guest appearances from the aforementioned Wakeman as well as Steve Hackett and Keith Emerson.  

 

Anneke Van Giersbergen has also had an extremely busy 12 months following the release of her latest solo album Drive, playing live across the world with her solo band, Devin Townsend Project, and with Daniel Cavanagh of Anathema. She will also be playing a special anniversary show with former band The Gathering in November as well has having taken part in Devin Townsend's forthcoming new album Z².

 

 

Lucassen released his Ayreon album, The Human Equation, album in 2004 and it has long been considered one of his best works. A notable difference with its predecessors was that this Ayreon story was neither based in science-fiction nor fantasy, but was instead a realistic tale about emotions. There were more roles and more dialogues than on previous albums. The music was, as always, very diverse with rock, metal, psychedelic, folk and symphonic influences in styles that honor Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Pink Floyd among others.

 

 

It was clear from the beginning that The Human Equation had the potential to be a theatrical production, and this has remained a dream for Arjen. Unfortunately, apart from a few tentative attempts by various parties, a project never came to fruition in the Netherlands. One of the main obstacles to perform The Human Equation live in the Netherlands, irregardless of Arjen’s involvement, was dealing with the expectations that fans would have concerning the cast and band. The availability of this group of artists is extremely limited after all, and the expectations were (and are!) extremely high.

When The Theater Equation started in September 2013 the plan was to perform the piece with a group of musical fans, as has been done in other countries. But when various original vocalists appeared very interested to participate in this unique event, the plan changed. The project transformed into a large international venture and the small scale project was extended and adapted. The fan version, for instance, was to take place in a small theater in March 2015, but the sheer star power of the participants forced the team to look for a larger venue, resulting in the show’s rescheduling to September of that year. Arjen Lucassen himself does not perform, but he does endorse and advises the project.

 

 

The production will run from September 18th - 20th at the Nieuwe Luxor Theater in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Tickets are now on sale here.

Do you have questions? Please email The Theater Equation team at thetheaterequation@gmail.com or visit their Facebook page here.

Check out a trailer for the production below, which introduces the vocalists and players:

Go to this location for detailed information and updates.