We’ve come to an agreement, which we strongly believe is for the best interest of the band. Unfortunately, this means that John will no longer be part of Knockturn Alley, however he will still play any upcoming shows until we find a replacement. So this means that we are still taking part in the Xtreme Metal Assault taking place on September 4th and 5th. It’s always sad to see a good friend leave but things weren’t really working out the way we wanted them and John wanted to take a different musical direction.

We’ve already started taking auditions with some drummers but we haven’t made up our mind yet, so we are still looking for the right person. If you think you could fill in John’s seat and enjoy hitting the skins hard, let us know. Send us an email, on Facebook, or at info@knockturnalleyband.com. Send us links of any recorded music which you have online, videos etc. and we can arrange an audition and give it a shot. The person chosen must be dedicated and committed plus of course gets the chance to work on the new tracks we’re working on for an upcoming record and any other future plans involved.

2 day festival in less than a month
I’m sure you’ve seen it on Facebook—a kick ass line-up of some of Malta’s top metal acts spread on 2 days, all for just €18. Definitely not one to miss. More info on flyer below.

That’s it for now…. see you at the Xtreme Metal Assault
Clint

Gig in Gozo with ItEM – 14th November

In exactly 10 days we will be playing a show in Gozo, at Oli’s Wine Bar in Xewkija to be exact. We’re looking forward to this event, not only ’cause it’s a first for us in Gozo but but ’cause for the second time in 5 months we will be sharing the stage with ItEM. Last July’s gig with the guys could easily be described as one of our best this year and those who were present… know we’re not lying. We should be attending Loathe’s gig at Rookie’s the night before our gig, after that, hang around at a bar where James will be playing, and head to the ferry in some early hours on Saturday morning together with our mates from ItEM. Sounds like a good warm up for the gig. Check out flyer below and if you happen to be in Gozo make sure you don’t miss this.

Medusa Tour

Exactly a week after Gozo’s gig we will start our tour, visiting 5 countries in all. Following our debut album release last May, which has been positively reviewed a couple of times, we decided that a tour is best to promote our album, hence the name Medusa Tour 2009.

The tour dates can be found in the poster below.

Of course without the help of friends and other people this tour wouldn’t have been possible and we would like to show our appreciation towards the following: Tomáš from Calidad, Denis from SleighMSN, Sergejs from Melna Piektdiena and Ruta Mik. Thanks to all of you, we will be meeting very soon!

Merchandise

In preparation for the coming shows, we have also been working on a new t-shirt design which should be coming your way very soon!

That’s all we had to say for now, we should be back with something new after the gig in Gozo with hopefully some images from the night.

Medusa uploaded

Today September 19th marks the 5th year from Knockturn Alley’s first live performance. The date goes back to a supporting slot we played together with Loathe and UK band Scurge at Signals bar. A good debut one must say, and since then, some more shows, a couple of line up changes and this is where we are. So to mark this day we decided to upload a new track for you to listen to, judge, comment and hopefully tell all your friends  about it too. The title track Medusa is now online on our MySpace page, Facebook profile, the Media section on this blog as well as below.

A new page has been recently added to our blog, the review page will feature an updated list of reviews recieved for Medusa.

“They move with confidence and ease from one assault Metalcore Thrash Metal and a fairly smooth and rhythm… Reverie, The Sinner-The Martyr and Deadly Twist Of Fate summarize perfectly what are the stylistic movements of Knockturn Alley, that riff is not too fast, but well constructed and full of groove. A compliment must be done even to those who are employed in the specific production, given its high level of professionalism, a quality more than makes Medusa a product in a strong position to compete in today’s market, where a label decides to put money and time.” -www.eutk.net

Meet John, our drummer
After the departure of Dimitris from Knockturn Alley, we have all been busy in keeping up with the pace we started in order to make it in time for our next show and it surely wasn’t an easy task. To our advantage, when it comes to replacing drummers… could we say “No-one knows better” maybe? Well we’re doing our best and we’re very sure that John has fit in well with the band and we are looking forward to the ItEM vs Knockturn Alley gig. More news about the show will follow in the next post as we slowly unveil what’s going on in our heads for this show. In the meantime you can view the video below, and check out what John has been doing in the last few weeks.

Loathe’s new blog
In anticipation of their debut album Despondent by Design, our good old mates from Loathe have recently launched a blog. Take a couple of minutes to see what these guys have to say as they are just a few days away from commencing the recording sessions. 

Saturday was the day we finally entered Temple Studios for the first time after one and a half years. It’s been a long time, longer than we had originally planned. With all the line up changes that we had to go through, you can’t expect any faster right? In fact yesterday we walked into the studio with two new members… James and Dimitris.

This is how it happened. Just after we launched The Dream Is Dead back in August 2006 we had to go through a drummer replacement, which unfortunately didn’t last for too long. It was only six months until we were again looking for a replacement. That’s when Dimitris joined in July 2007. In February this year we had another line up change, and James joined the band to replace our previous guitarist, who had been in the band since the very first day that Knockturn Alley started. Well, enough history for now and back to the recording.

We spent a few hours at the studio going through our songs, and recording the guide tracks with guitars and bass. Around Christmas time we should add vocals to these tracks so then we will have the complete guide tracks ready to be used by Dimitris to record the drums in January. Check out the clip below from last Saturday; a new song which will be included on our album.