Arjen Anthony Lucassen’s Star One – shares new single & video for “Prescient” feat. Micheal Mills and Ross Jennings; pre-orders start today

Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) is back with a new Star One album titled Revel In Time.  The new album comes more than 10 years since the previous release and is due out on Feb 18th, 2022 on InsideOutMusic.  Revel In Time is now available for pre-order, along with the re-issues of “Victims of the Modern Age” and “Space Metal”. 

Today, Arjen is pleased to share the third single and video for “Prescient” featuring Micheal Mills (Toehider) and Ross Jennings (Haken, Novena).

Watch the video for “Prescient” here:

Arjen has this to say about the track:

“For me this is the most varied Star One album so far, every track has a totally different feel. The first single, Lost Children of the Universe, is a big epic track; the second single, Fate of Man, is a fast metal track, and Prescient is definitely the most proggy on the album. With the video we tried to capture that vintage black and white Twilight Zone feel with a touch of David Lynch!”

Revel In Time is available as Ltd. 2CD Digipak, Ltd. Deluxe 3CD+Blu-Ray Artbook (incl. a poster of the cover artwork), as 180g Gatefold 2LP (incl. the album on CD & an LP-Booklet) and as Digital Album (2 CD).

Also available will be a 5.1 mix, a high-res audio version, and an exclusive, hour-long Behind the Scenes video, on the Blu-ray included in the Artbook.

You can pre-order the album here:

https://arjenanthonylucassensstarone.lnk.to/RevelInTime

1] Fate of Man 5:29

2] 28 Days (Till the End of Time) 7:21

3] Prescient 6:34

4] Back from the Past 4:50

5] Revel in Time 4:38

6] The Year of ’41 6:20

7] Bridge of Life 5:14

8] Today is Yesterday 5:46

9] A Hand on the Clock 5:52

10] Beyond the Edge of it All 4:52

11] Lost Children of the Universe 9:46 

CD 2 features alternate versions of the same songs as CD 1, but with different vocalists.

Arjen explains the decision to return with a new Star One album:

“Ayreon is like the mothership for all my music. It contains all the different musical styles that I like to listen to and that I love to create. But I’m always looking for challenges and trying to create something new and original as well. Working within a set of constraints forces you to do that, so sometimes I like to limit myself and focus on just one style. For example, with Star One I focus on the metal-side of Ayreon. That means you won’t hear the exuberantly liberal use of acoustic instruments that are so often featured on Ayreon albums, like violin, woodwinds, cello, horns, dulcimer, mandolin, etc.”

Arjen Lucassen announces new Star One album – Revel in Time

Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon) is back with a new Star One album titled Revel In Time.  The new album comes more than 10 years since the previous release and is due out on Feb 18th, 2022 on InsideOutMusic.

The album will be available for pre-order on Dec. 17th and it will come as Ltd. 2CD Digipak, Ltd. Deluxe 3CD+Blu-Ray Artbook (incl. a poster of the cover artwork), and as 180g Gatefold 2LP (incl. the album on CD & an LP-Booklet).
CD 2 features alternate versions of the same songs as CD 1, but with different vocalists. Also available will be a 5.1 mix, a high-res audio version, and an exclusive, hour-long Behind the Scenes video, on the Blu-ray included in the Artbook. 

For this Star One release, Arjen has decided to use a different singer for each song, and those singers as well as the instrumentalists are slowly being revealed on Arjen Lucassen’s Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/ArjenLucassenOfficial

Arjen explains the decision to return with a new Star One album:

“Ayreon is like the mothership for all my music. It contains all the different musical styles that I like to listen to and that I love to create. But I’m always looking for challenges and trying to create something new and original as well. Working within a set of constraints forces you to do that, so sometimes I like to limit myself and focus on just one style. For example, with Star One I focus on the metal-side of Ayreon. That means you won’t hear the exuberantly liberal use of acoustic instruments that are so often featured on Ayreon albums, like violin, woodwinds, cello, horns, dulcimer, mandolin, etc.” 

The artwork was designed by Ayreon artist Jef Bertels, Arjen explains: 

“As always, Jef’s painting is wondrously labyrinthine; I can sit in front of it for hours and discover new details all the time. Now you might be thinking “Hey, isn’t Jef Bertels the designated artist for Ayreon, but not for Star One?” Of course I thought about that myself. But when I realized how much I liked this album I felt that it deserved a painting of its own and a special place alongside Jef’s other front-cover masterpieces. And anyway, I’ve been breaking rules ever since the very beginning of Ayreon. So… there you have it!”

Featured image credit Lori Linstruth

Citizen Cain’s Stewart Bell presents The Antechamber Of Being (PART TWO)

F2 Music have announced that they are the exclusive worldwide distributor of the second solo CD by Citizen Cain’s keyboard player Stewart Bell. The album, called “The Antechamber Of Being (Part 2) – Stories From The Antechamber” is released on 27/02/2017 and is a Prog Rock opera featuring contributions from five vocalists; Simone Rossetti (of The Watch), Arjen Anthony Lucassen (of Ayreon), Phil Allen (of Citizen Cain), Bekah Mhairi Comrie and Stewart Bell himself. Each of the vocalists play a different character in the story.

In this second part of Stewart Bell’s epic trilogy of concept albums we are once again taken on a journey through the inner realms alongside the main character, The Dreamer and his mentor, The Teacher. Taking place during the same time period as ‘The Antechamber Of Being (Part 1)’, which was released in 2014, the story follows the main characters as they continue to explore the amazing experiences made possible through lucid dreaming; the weird phenomena inherent with this type of conscious exploration of one’s mind; the questions that arise through encounters with seemingly independent dream beings and; the realisations and conclusions that are ultimately reached after a lifetime of dreaming awake.

Stewart has been the main composer/ keys player in long running progressive rock band Citizen Cain since the early 90s, and in 2012 he decided to pursue a solo career, starting work on a trilogy of concept albums entitled The Antechamber Of Being. The story is autobiographical and is based on Stewart’s lifelong experiences with lucid dreaming – which is something he learned at 6 years old, when his older brother taught him how to be aware while he was asleep and dreaming in order to help him overcome recurring nightmares.

This will appeal not only to existing Citizen Cain fans but also to a much wider audience as Stewart continues to delve into elements of Prog metal, experiments with new soundscapes and brings his unique storytelling gift to the lyrics, in which he also shares his extensive knowledge of lucid dreaming. It will be sure to please any lover of progressive music while the intriguing, amusing and, at times, touching storyline may even inspire the listener to take control of their own subconscious mind and experience lucid dreaming for themselves…

There’s a limited special edition artbook version of the album and digital download also available from the Citzen Cain website here:

Stewart Bell – The Antechamber of Being Part 2 Limited Edition

And don’t forget, Part 1 of the trilogy is still available exclusively from F2 Music Ltd…