Former THE CROWN Guitarist Launches ANGEL BLAKE

Former THE CROWN guitarist Marko Tervonen has announced the formation of his solo project, dubbed ANGEL BLAKE. An introductory posting from Marko on the project's official web site reads as follows:

"ANGEL BLAKE is the name of my present musical direction.

"When THE CROWN split up, I took a heavy trip in the soul-search land to figure out what I wanted to do with my musical life. To stop writing music was never an option. Simply 'cause I can't or want. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to form or join a new band and start getting knowing new people just to be 'active' as a musician. So, I decided to go solo.

"It's definitely a challenge, and most important, it's something NEW and a FRESH breeze in my life. What ever happens with ANGEL BLAKE is up to me. So it's both a scary and a satisfying feeling.

"All the instruments will be performed by myself for the debut album. Everything that will happen from there on is as uncertain for you as it is for me. If ANGEL BLAKE will progress into a live unit, then so be it. I have no certain plans to the live situation at this point.

"But concerning the debut album, unfortunately there's one thing I can't do, and that is to sing. So my choice was to 'rent in' a guy who could deliver good vocals for my songs. One late night it hit me, I want Tony Jelencovich (TRANSPORT LEAGUE) to do the vocals. I've known the man since years back. We've met during gigs and stuff. So, I contacted him, and he was into it!!! Great!!

"Tony has a very cool rock voice with a lot of feel in it, and that just fits the music beautifully!! He also has a wide vocal range that I really feel will be useful. I felt right away when I decided to 'go solo' that I didn't want to create an album that would compete with THE CROWN's history. I mean, I didn't want to name the band 'TOTAL SATAN' and ride on THE CROWN's popularity, you know.

"The death/thrash we created was very fucking good in my opinion and I can't simply do as good death/thrash metal without the help of the other guys. Our sound was always dependent of the unity as a band.

"Then what is ANGEL BLAKE all about??? Well, I do have a certain style in me that I can't get away from. If THE CROWN was more about speed and aggression, then ANGEL BLAKE is more about heavy, melancholic songs. There's no blast beats here.

"I have always enjoyed during the years to write these 'different' kinds of songs to THE CROWN. Songs that were not within the typical death/thrash borders.

"For a CROWN fan I would describe the sound as somewhere in the lines of: 'Dead Man's Song', 'Bow To None', 'In Memoriam', 'World Below', 'Death By My Side', 'Vengeance'… The more heavy side of THE CROWN's sound. And for someone who has never heard THE CROWN, I would describe it as influenced and inspired by bands as METALLICA, PARADISE LOST, H.I.M., DANZIG (I admit it, I nicked the name ANGEL BLAKE from DANZIG!),SENTENCED spiced up with some heavy MORBID ANGEL twists. And as mentioned before, with 'NORMAL' rock/metal vocals! It's definitely a unique sound!! Love it or hate it, that's where my heart is right now."

An audio sample of the ANGEL BLAKE track "Thousand Storms" can be downloaded at this location (MP3, 1.69 MB).

ANGEL BLAKE's debut demo will contain the following track listing:

01. Lycanthrope
02. Self-Terminate
03. Solitude, My Friend
04. Autumnal (instrumental)
05. Paint It Black (ROLLING STONES cover)
06. Thousand Storms
07. ...'Til the End