Hail all ye Brethren of the Hammer,

Shark here with a bunch of news about finishing up our 2 year long Mysterium world tour and also a bunch of news about the new album and other stuff. So fasten your seat belts and let’s hit the road.

My last Shark Report was when we finished up our first two legs of the 2014 part of our Mysterium World Tour. We had a little time off but rapidly got back on the road again for the last two legs of our 2014 wanderings. First it was off to Europe again to headline one of the days of the Romanian Thrash Metal Festival in Bucharest. This was a great event run by really cool people and it was a blast. I was surprised with the packed out audience and did not realize that MR was that well known in Romania. Then it was onto the first Manilla Road Festival in Dittigheim, Germany. This was a packed house also and the bands and audience were fantastic. The highlight for me, besides getting to play live for an always great German audience, was a band called Attic. Then onto London England to headline one of the days of the Live Evil Festival which was also sold out. Another great audience and fun times for all. We then drove from London to Glasgow, Scotland and did a show with a killer band called Firebrand Super Rock. If you are into female fronted bands that have really talented musicians then this band is for you. They really blew me away live. This was in a small club The Audio and it was not a sell out but the fans that were there really raised the roof and it was a really fun show. Unfortunately I was really sick during this show and the one in London but as they say the show must go on. It was just a bad respiratory cold and I got over it fast enough. Then we drove back to London and caught a plane to the lavish island of Malta to headline one of the days of the Malta Doom Festival. When we were first driving through Malta after getting off the plane it seemed like I was in a James Bond movie. The whole island looks cool with fortresses and remnants of the Knights Templar’s and much more. Our hotel overlooked the Mediterranean Sea and the food was great. The hospitality that was shown us was incredible and the festival was really great with another fantastic audience in front of us. Lots of good bands but one that stuck out for me was the doom band Mist. A new band from Slovenia that really should be watched for. Had a blast hanging out with the guys from Desolation Angels and the band Forsaken really killed it during their set. Another great festival and a lot of fun. Even got to be on a local TV show for a bit of an interview. Then it was back on a plane for Milan, Italy and a drive to Prato, Italy just outside of Florence. It was at the Exenzia Club that we headlined another show with some really great bands. I did not manage to see the first band but I did catch Axe Vyper and Etrusgrave and both of these bands really melted my face. Great guitar playing and vocals with both bands. Really epic sounding stuff. Another really ecstatic audience and another fabulous time for Manilla Road.

That ended our European portion of our 2014 tour and it was back to the USA to hang out at home for about two and a half weeks and then it was on the road again but this time Neudi was the only one flying. The rest of us drove from Wichita to Detroit and met Neudi at the airport. Then we started our American finish up leg of the tour. The first show was in Detroit at the Corktown Tavern. Then to Chicago at Reggie’s where we opened up for Raven. Onto Milwaukee at The Metal Grill, Indianapolis at The 5th Quarter, Baltimore in a suburb called Essex and then 2 nights in a row at The Saint Vitus bar in Brooklyn, New York. All these shows were fun and had great audiences that really showed us that America still knows how to rock. We got to share the stage with many really great bands and I must say thanks to all the bands and crews at all the shows that we did around the globe who helped us with equipment and sound and stage. The shows were incredibly successful because of all these guys and the fans that showed up and flew the sign of the horns. We met so many really cool people and the promoters were all great to deal with. It has been a really great two years supporting the Mysterium album around the world live. Thanks to all of you that support us and keep the fires burning so bright that we can navigate by them.

Normally this might be the end to the report but there is more to the story. While we were in Germany this last tour leg I met with the executives of Golden Core / ZYX Music. They made me an offer that I could not refuse and so we have signed a worldwide deal with Golden Core / ZYX now. Our new album “The Blessed Curse” will be a double album and it’s release date is going to be February 13th. 2015. By the way that is on a Friday so the album will be out on Friday the 13th. I just did an interview with Rock Hard magazine out of Germany where I went into a little more detail about the new album so you might want to check that out when it becomes available. Well while I was at ZYX Music my agent presented my acoustic solo project Obsidian Dreams to the label and they came back with another great offer that I could not turn down. So sometime in 2015 this acoustic project will be released as well.

Now that I am settled back in at home and have the studio up and running again I am working on songs for the next Hellwell album which I hope to have finished this coming year as well. So It’s been a busy but lucrative year or two for Mysterium and Manilla Road live. Thanks to all of you for helping us live our metal dreams. We can never show enough appreciation for the undying faith you show us. Blessed Be to all.

Up The Hammers & Down The Nails
Shark