Sunstorm, a project created, overseen, and directed by President and A&R director of Frontiers Records Serafino Perugino, was originally designed to showcase a musical style similar to singer Joe Lynn Turner’s melodic rock/AOR roots. After five successful releases, it was announced that Sunstorm will now be a vehicle for one of the most impressive vocal talents to emerge in recent years in the form of Lords of Black and Rainbow singer Ronnie Romero.

According to an official press release, "given Turner’s desire to work on heavier music styles and move away from the original melodic rock direction of the early Sunstorm albums that Perugino wanted to bring the band back to (a demand often made by followers of the band), it appeared Sunstorm might be at an end. But Perugino decided to follow his instincts and keep the project alive and move it back towards the original musical style that was established with the early albums."

Turner has taken exception with how the situation has been presented by the label and has issued a lengthy statement via his official Facebook page, found here. It can be read in its entirety below.

"Dear Fans, 

Thank you for your attention and concern, as I felt it is necessary to release this second statement to further clarify and explain my position… I believe, the true facts of my personal decisions must be stated more directly.

I made an original statement in December where I kindly and respectfully to all parties involved, tried to explain the reasons for my departure from the Sunstorm Project. My statement was very clear, however, with the Frontiers official media release of the new Sunstorm and the accompanying statements, in my opinion, I see a definite attempt to twist my words to justify the effort to promote this new release of Sunstorm, show their autonomous power for any and all creative and business endeavours and prove the fact that no moral or ethical considerations exist as long as the corporation holds the legal trademark… 

In my view, what Frontiers is claiming about me in their official statement has nothing to do with real cause and events. I am very agitated with my professional brand, name and likeness being used by them in the media as an excuse to validate their narrative and agenda of continuing the Project’s title with a replacement singer.  Trying to convince the loyal fans that I 'moved away from the original melodic rock direction of the early Sunstorm albums' of which I was the main vocalist and imply that I did not want to continue due to my 'desire to work on heavier music styles' is ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUE! FAKE NEWS!

Judging by the outpour of questions from fans on social media, I am very concerned with Frontiers false claims of which they have absolutely NO first-hand knowledge of.  For the record, I still have so many more AOR demo songs and could easily do an AOR style record tomorrow, so, I guess, I will take my songs to another record label and continue my AOR discography. As I must now specify again and again, I have absolutely NO INTENTION TO STOP my AOR original roots!

Perugino states that he brought this 6th album 'back towards the original musical style that was established with the early albums' with 'outstanding results.' In my humble opinion, after listening to the first released single from the new album, it could not be further from the truth. There seems to be a great deal of hypocrisy in this situation. I personally see absolutely no 'original musical style' about it. No original: producer, vocalist, band members, songwriters… nothing. So, the main issue here is, why continue calling it Sunstorm? Who do they think they are kidding? After all, only fans can be the judge.

To me it resembles the majority of releases on Frontiers Label as they often seem to be written, performed and produced by the same source. This being the exact reason why I was not going to continue…

'With Alessandro Del Vecchio as usual handling the songwriting and Perugino overseeing the A&R and creative direction,' as they point out in their official statement, I believe, the purpose of the original classic AOR project ceased to exist therefore, I was extremely reluctant to offer any more of my original songs due to the lack of negotiation, promotion, poor business tactics and general lack of respect for me on their part. And I tried to express these concerns 3 years ago while recording the 5th album, The Road To Hell, but they were never heard, acknowledged or address by Frontiers. Completely frustrating!
 
I must make it very clear, I do not speak for other artists on the Frontiers Label and never would, I have absolutely no intention to attack or malign anyone, but this is my experience and personal point of view after so many years of association. In my 50-year carrier, I have been with a lot bigger record companies and was never treated and discounted like I was with Frontiers Label.
 
I have spent 14 dedicated years to create Sunstorm’s legacy, only to be unfairly replaced. Again, I was never informed that the label will continue the Sunstorm brand with the replacement singer… 

In closing, I’d like to take this opportunity and thank all the incredibly loyal fans that have supported me and Sunstorm through out all these years. Right up to this present moment your dedication is the exact reason why I as an artist needed to take this stand and uphold the quality and purpose of what we all love and treasure about the music! I would never cheat you or myself by being compromised by any dominating corporate forces! The artists together with the fans must preserve the integrity of the art. For what we choose now, echoes in eternity…
  
Love and Respect… JLT"

Ronnie Romero’s debut album with Sunstorm, Afterlife will be released on March 12. Fans can get their first taste of the album with the release of the single and video for the track "Swan Song", which is out now. Watch the clip below, and pre-order/save Afterlife on CD/LP/Color LP/Digital here.

Ronnie’s name came about when the label decided that continuing the successful project was a must and that the music being crafted would put it back at the forefront of the scene… assuming the right vocalist was involved. And who better than Romero with his powerful vocal style?

With producer Alessandro Del Vecchio as usual handling the songwriting and Perugino overseeing the A&R and creative direction, the new Sunstorm album will surely catch many in the melodic rock fanbase by surprise! For the first time, the amazing Ronnie Romero enters into melodic hard rock territory… and with outstanding results!

On joining Sunstorm, new vocalist Romero says, "For me, it's very special to join and take part in the new Sunstorm album since it always was one of my all time favorite Frontiers projects. To accept the huge task and responsibility of replacing JLT is a challenge I just couldn’t pass on! To work with Alessandro was fantastic. We have very melodic and strong songs throughout the album and I'm pretty sure the Sunstorm fans are gonna love every track, as I do. Especially the singles, but 'Swan Song' is probably my favorite. A very melodic song, a lot of backing vocals (something that I always wanted to do, a special and different approach on the vocal production side for me), the band sounds fantastic and it will be one of the highlights on the album, guaranteed! Can’t wait for the fans to listen to the album!! At this point, it’s cranking in my car everyday. : )"

"'Swan Song' is a very special song to me. Maybe you write a song or a letter or whatever and it's you conveying your instinct that something that will happen in the future? Like a future you are envisioning through your words? Here's what this song is about. Anybody can relate to losing a friend or breaking up in a relationship and crying out your own swan song. I honestly think this is one of the best songs Simone and I ever wrote together and it showcases Ronnie's melodic and emotional side of his voice and Simone's best soloing on top of a very inspired band. I couldn't be happier that Frontiers chose this song as the first single. The perfect bridge into our future as a band. Melodic, deep, inspired and anthemic. This is Sunstorm at its best!" says Del Vecchio.

Tracklisting:

"Afterlife"
"One Step Closer"
"Swan Song"
"Born Again"
"Stronger"
"I Found A Way"
"Lost Forever"
"Far From Over"
"Here For You Tonight"
"Darkest Night"
"A Story That You Can Tell"

"Swan Song" video:

Lineup:

Ronnie Romero - Vocals
Simone Mularoni - Guitars
Alessandro Del Vecchio - Keyboards, backing vocals
Nik Mazzucconi - Bass
Michele Sanna - Drums