# Odin's Court Signed to ProgRock Records! Preorders Available Now!



## Rick Pierpont (Apr 25, 2008)

Finally!! I am able to share the news that is official at last!! FWIW, Matt's main guitar is an Ibanez Jem 7-string! So there! I tied this announcement in with the theme of this forum! 



That's right, Odin's Court has signed to ProgRock Records! 

*Preorders *for the new album _Deathanity_ can be found *here*.

Original press release can be found here:



> ODIN'S COURT IS SIGNED TO PROGROCK RECORDS AND RELEASES THE ALBUM "DEATHANITY"
> Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 25 April 2008 &#8211; Odin's Court is a Maryland, USA band that was initially formed by Matt Brookins in 2001. For the first 2 years the band struggled to find their sound, playing covers and originals ranging from classic rock to modern metal and everything in between. Over the years they honed their sound and live show, opening for such notables as Symphony X, Spock's Beard, King's X, Kamelot, Enchant and more. They will be opening for Circa on May 2, 2008 in Springfield Virginia.
> Deathanity displays why Odin's Court is difficult to fit into a genre; ambience, dynamics, and soul are combined with complexity, groove, and energy in a song oriented structure, to create a unique, surreal landscape. Including a configuration similar to that of the classic Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon, Deathanity utilizes saxophone and backing female vocalists, and includes a palate scattered with spoken vocal clips and vast ranging sound effects. Special guest vocalists include Tom Englund (Evergrey) and Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica).
> Matt Brookins had the following to say on becoming a ProgRock Records band: "Odin's Court has a rich history. We've done a lot of great shows, put out some CDs, put out a DVD, and had many exciting opportunities along the way. However, we've always had an important element that was missing, and that was the ability for distribution, marketing, and networking on a larger, global scale. Our latest album Deathanity is leaps and bounds above our previous work in terms of maturity, so the time was right to make that next jump, and we're very happy and pleased to be joining the ProgRock Records family. President Shawn Gordon is simply put, one of the most down to earth and humble people I've met in the industry. But don't let that fool you - he has business savvy to match, and I think we're all excited for Odin's Court to be unveiled upon the world!"
> ...


 More on the album from the PRR website:


> _Deathanity_ is the latest effort from Odin's Court, a Maryland, USA band. The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered by band architect Matt Brookins at D2C Studios between January 2007 and March 2008. _Deathanity_ is an ambitious concept album dealing with the effects mankind's actions are having on the planet. Alternate views are offered through the use of instrumentation, lyrics, sound effects, and various vocal clips. Ambience, dynamics, and soul are combined with complexity, groove, and energy in a song oriented structure, to create a unique, surreal landscape. Each song, dealing with a different theme, is accompanied by a newly created word and definition in the album art. Special guest vocalists include Tom Englund (Evergrey) and Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica). Other guests include Bill Green on tenor sax and Nicki Brookins, Elena Hall, and Suzanne Warner on backing vocals. Odin's Court, comprised of Matt Brookins (Vocals, Guitars), John Abella (Drums, Percussion), Savino Palumbo (Keyboards), Craig Jackson (Bass), and Rick Pierpont (Guitar), draws from classic inspirations such as Pink Floyd, Boston, Queen, Rush, Metallica, Yes, and Journey as well as more modern bands such as Devin Townsend, Chroma Key, OSI, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, and Tool.


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## Matt Crooks (Apr 25, 2008)

Congrats Rick!


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## noodles (Apr 25, 2008)




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## Drew (Apr 26, 2008)

That's an awesome album cover.


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## Oogadee Boogadee (Apr 27, 2008)

Drew said:


> That's an awesome album cover.



+1


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## Rick Pierpont (Apr 27, 2008)

Matt Crooks said:


> Congrats Rick!



Thanks Matt, Dave, & James (and the rest of the former and current Divison band members). As you can imagine we are all pretty stoked about the news! PRR comes with some sort of distro through SPV as well, so I belive that we are going to get pretty good coverage out there. 

Thanks Drew! The cover art seems to be popular! I hope people enjoy the "art" on the CD as much too!!


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## Drow Swordsman (May 1, 2008)

Rick! Glad to hear you guys got signed and that you're back in the band!

Small town, when you were out of the band for a bit I was in a band where the other guitarist (Matt Houde) tried out for the guitarist position and you came back!

Glad you joined back at the right time to get signed, and it's awesome you guys play 7's.


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## Rick Pierpont (May 1, 2008)

Drow Swordsman said:


> Rick! Glad to hear you guys got signed and that you're back in the band!
> 
> Small town, when you were out of the band for a bit I was in a band where the other guitarist (Matt Houde) tried out for the guitarist position and you came back!
> 
> Glad you joined back at the right time to get signed, and it's awesome you guys play 7's.


Hey Steve,

Thanks! Yeah, I got back in in December and I'm glad to be back!

Yeah, the first thing I noticed was that you were from Hollywood, MD, so I was interested to see who you were. I figured you had to know someone in the band considering you live near the OC epicenter.  Matt's a cool guy and a hell of a player! I'm glad things worked out for me, but I didn't even realize that he had tried out when I asked to come back. Isn't he in Ohio now or something? 

Can't say that I'm not happy about that. I'm just really proud of the work we created together and to know that others appreciate it enough to make an investment in us is awesome! I really can't wait for the disk to come out! People who preorder will save money AND get it almost two months before the actual July 15 release date! 

BTW, I'm not sure if you are old enough, but we are playing down at Monk's on May 31st! And the Circa show @ Jaxx tomorrow night is also 21+ :-(

Yeah, Matt plays one almost exclusively and I got one during my short stint out of the band and have used it during practice and as backup for our Atlanta show, but I suspect that I will be using mine more in the future as well.

Thanks again!


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## eaeolian (May 1, 2008)

Rick Pierpont said:


> Yeah, Matt plays one almost exclusively and I got one during my short stint out of the band and have used it during practice and as backup for our Atlanta show, but I suspect that I will be using mine more in the future as well.



The desire to play 7s grows inside you...


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## noodles (May 1, 2008)

You should trade your JP6 for a JP7.


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## jacksonplayer (May 1, 2008)

Congrats! Count me as another fan of the album cover.

I'm hoping to make it to tomorrow's gig, but I can't make any promises.


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## Rick Pierpont (May 2, 2008)

eaeolian said:


> The desire to play 7s grows inside you...



 Kinda funny you say that because I was talking to Craig (bassist) the other day about songs on the next CD (about 5-6 are written already) and since he likes brutal cruncht riffs I asked him if he was working any 7 string riffs in. "Yes!"



noodles said:


> You should trade your JP6 for a JP7.



Well, it would be hard to give up that JP6 since it is so sweet, but a JP7 in the future isn't out of the question. I also REALLY have been enjoying my Carvin DC200, so when its time for another 7, I am strongly considering looking at the DC727's.



jacksonplayer said:


> Congrats! Count me as another fan of the album cover.
> 
> I'm hoping to make it to tomorrow's gig, but I can't make any promises.




Thanks dude! Awesome!! 

That would be excellent! I hope you are able to make it! If you like Yes, I think you'd like Circa.


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## jacksonplayer (May 3, 2008)

Hey man, really enjoyed your set last night. Your new material sounds great. BTW, the vocals sounded fine even without monitors. Monitor problems at Jaxx? Say it ain't so.  

Hope to hear the full vocal arrangements eventually.

I was on the Circa bandwagon pretty early, actually, since I'm a huge Yes fan. Jimmy Haun nailed those guitar parts, eh?


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## Rick Pierpont (May 4, 2008)

jacksonplayer said:


> Hey man, really enjoyed your set last night. Your new material sounds great. BTW, the vocals sounded fine even without monitors. Monitor problems at Jaxx? Say it ain't so.
> 
> Hope to hear the full vocal arrangements eventually.
> 
> I was on the Circa bandwagon pretty early, actually, since I'm a huge Yes fan. Jimmy Haun nailed those guitar parts, eh?



Thanks Chris!! It was great to meet you and THANKS so much for all the help! That was a pretty screwed up night even as far as Jaxx goes, but the best was made of it. Glad that you enjoyed the new material too. We are all proud of it! Thanks! That's good to know. Yeah, the monitors have never been good at Jaxx, but they were totally turned off and nothing was coming out. It was interesting experience for sure - especially fitting the entire band into 8 channels (I still don't understand that). 

One thing that was funny that you or may not have noticed is that right as we were getting ready to start, the keyboardist reminded the soundman that he wasn't coming out, so he said there weren't enough channels and to turn his personal monitor (maybe 50W) around and face it out. Well, that's just ridiculous so Matt pulled hte mic off of his cab and they ended up micing his monitor! So Matt turned up a little bit and off we went. Of course he still got swallowed up some when anything heavy was going on, so on two different songs he leaned over to me and told me to take his solos (which I don't know), he told me the key and it was improv time. And because we were down by 4 vocal mics, we also had to do some interesting real-time arrangement mods.  In the end, I had a great time and I feel like we conected with the audience (including the members of Circa) and that's what it is all about. 

OMG!! Circa was awesome! And yes, Jimmy Haun is a beast! Such articulate playing, such amazing tone (A Line 6 POD XT Live into Marshall stack set clean - and his self-modified guitars with Line 6 modeling pickups). To top it off, he was VERY nice and down-to-earth and I had a great time hanging out with him after the show! We got to chat for a while. Alan White can still destroy a drum kit and he's almost twice my age!! Billy Sherwood totaly channels Chris Squire and I think he did a great job of singing and playing. Its a shame they aren't as good at promotions. That show should've sold out!

Thanks again for coming out AND helping. Hope to see you at more shows in the future (ours and other shows)! BTW, did you go to SyX last night?


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## jacksonplayer (May 4, 2008)

Rick Pierpont said:


> Its a shame they aren't as good at promotions. That show should've sold out!
> 
> Thanks again for coming out AND helping. Hope to see you at more shows in the future (ours and other shows)! BTW, did you go to SyX last night?



Oh yeah, I was at SymX last night. That was pretty awesome.

For Circa, I think they viewed Friday as a warm-up for last night's RosFest appearance, where there would have been a pretty good-sized crowd. I talked to Billy before the show, and he seemed pretty stoked. I suspect their RosFest fee (they were a headliner) helped subsidize the other two dates. Billy, Jimmy, and Michael all have studio-type gigs in L.A., too, so they're not depending on this to make a living. And Tony and Alan have Yes Money.

I agree about the promo, but they've pretty much been handling all of the business themselves--they even self-released the album. Billy's had a lot of problems with small labels before. Also, Yes fans have never been particularly good about supporting the side projects. Even Steve Howe's solo tours have played places like the Bayou and the Birchmere. Another factor for Circa is that Billy Sherwood is (wrongly) associated with the '80s-style Yes to a lot of fans, and the "Classic Yes" fans aren't really interested in that.

BTW, I was wondering why Matt's guitar wasn't very loud on Friday. Given what happened, I'm surprised I could hear him at all. Maybe you guys have discovered a new technique--miking the monitor wedges!


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## Drow Swordsman (May 4, 2008)

Rick Pierpont said:


> Hey Steve,
> 
> Thanks! Yeah, I got back in in December and I'm glad to be back!
> 
> ...



Nope, Matt's still here with his band Decade in good ol' Southern Maryland! And no, I wasn't old enough to come see you guys at Jaxx, I'd love to see you guys though.

I used to have the same guitar as Matt plays now (the Ibanez Universe) - great guitar, and I was excited to see someone in the county other than me have the same guitar. Of course now it's sold and my 8 string is incoming, but still a great guitar.

You should pick up that bright green Universe Buz McGrath from Unearth is selling on here and become a Universe duo.


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## Rick Pierpont (May 6, 2008)

Awesome! I'm sure they were! That's the first time I've missed them in a LONG time. 

Yes, perhaps they did and I'm sure they had a much bigger crowd @ ROS Fest. I just think thata band with those names and with the quality music should've had more people. Without a label, they have to spread the word. They were definitely cool guys though. Yeah, I know they are pretty busy and yeah, Alan and Tony do have that (especially Alan since he has been in for so long).

Exactly! And we are all too familiar with self-released albums and self-promotion. I'm hoping that PRR makes things a little easier on us. Not that we plan on sitting still though! That's a shame about the Yes fans. You'd think they'd eat up everything thrown at them. And Circa is some of the best Yes I've heard in years!  And to my ears it has more the classic sound than the 80's sound. Ah yes, the Bayou! I remember that place (even played there once back in '90)!

And now you know... Pretty crazy! But it was either that or no keys! Not sure why the sound man was such an asshole the other night. It doesn't make sense that Circa would've taken up that many channels, so I have a hard time believing him. We've played with larger groups and still not been shorted that badly. Hopefully Jaxx will fire his sorry, bad attitude self! And apparently, we aren't the first to taste his wrath.  Great, isn't it? An instrument that should've clearly been direct instead being mic'ed through a "cheap" personal monitor wedge!  BTW, I could hear Matt great!  Perhaps it had something to do with his amp not to far away?!?! Hahahaha!



jacksonplayer said:


> Oh yeah, I was at SymX last night. That was pretty awesome.
> 
> For Circa, I think they viewed Friday as a warm-up for last night's RosFest appearance, where there would have been a pretty good-sized crowd. I talked to Billy before the show, and he seemed pretty stoked. I suspect their RosFest fee (they were a headliner) helped subsidize the other two dates. Billy, Jimmy, and Michael all have studio-type gigs in L.A., too, so they're not depending on this to make a living. And Tony and Alan have Yes Money.
> 
> ...


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## jacksonplayer (May 6, 2008)

Rick Pierpont said:


> Exactly! And we are all too familiar with self-released albums and self-promotion. I'm hoping that PRR makes things a little easier on us. Not that we plan on sitting still though! That's a shame about the Yes fans. You'd think they'd eat up everything thrown at them. And Circa is some of the best Yes I've heard in years!  And to my ears it has more the classic sound than the 80's sound. Ah yes, the Bayou! I remember that place (even played there once back in '90)!



A lot of it has to do with Billy's tenure as the second guitarist in Yes during the late '90s, when he functioned as a surrogate Trevor Rabin to a degree, since Howe didn't want to learn Trevor's solos. Billy grew up as a huge fan of classic Yes and probably knows that music better than Squire and Howe do today. Billy essentially saved Yes when it was on the verge of collapsing by financing and quickly putting together the "Open Your Eyes" album in 1997. After another album following that, Billy had enough the crap Yes politics and left to do his own thing.

I hear a lot of both '70s and '80s Yes in Circa, but then I'm a fan of both periods and consider that a good thing. What I hear most, especially from Alan and Tony, is a lot of joy in their playing that I haven't noticed as much in their most recent Yes efforts (though that's a ways back for Tony). It really shouldn't be that difficult to get things going for a guaranteed-draw band like Yes, but just getting the Yes guys to be on the same continent seems to involve a painful amount of effort and negotiation.

As for the Jaxx situation, I can't believe that a relatively simple setup like Circa used would be more complicated than, say, Therion, which had an insane number of vocalists and musicians together on that little stage.


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## eaeolian (May 6, 2008)

jacksonplayer said:


> As for the Jaxx situation, I can't believe that a relatively simple setup like Circa used would be more complicated than, say, Therion, which had an insane number of vocalists and musicians together on that little stage.



I'm not sure what Circa had going on, but Therion was amazingly streamlined for the amount they had going on - I'm fairly certain they used fewer than 24 channels, which left plenty for everyone else...


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## eaeolian (May 6, 2008)

Rick Pierpont said:


> Awesome! I'm sure they were! That's the first time I've missed them in a LONG time.



Rick, that was the best Symphony X show I've seen. Period.

I'm sorry I have to miss you guys, but I had my son over Friday night, so you know how that goes.  



Rick Pierpont said:


> And now you know... Pretty crazy! But it was either that or no keys! Not sure why the sound man was such an asshole the other night. It doesn't make sense that Circa would've taken up that many channels, so I have a hard time believing him. We've played with larger groups and still not been shorted that badly. Hopefully Jaxx will fire his sorry, bad attitude self! And apparently, we aren't the first to taste his wrath.



Who was FOH that night?

It could have been worse - Apothys got 7 channels on Saturday, and IE/Epica's drum kit stayed up on the stage, so they had nothing for room. I've never been so glad I passed on a show...


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## noodles (May 6, 2008)

eaeolian said:


> Rick, that was the best Symphony X show I've seen. Period.



Two words: foam swords.


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## Drew (May 6, 2008)

As an aside, is Into Eternity a sort of manic-depressive mood-swing-y metal band from Canada? If they're the same guys who opened for Epica when they oepend for SyX in Boston, then they actually kicked a fair amount of ass.


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## noodles (May 6, 2008)

MySpace.com - Into Eternity - Regina, CA - Metal / Death Metal / Progressive - www.myspace.com/officialintoeternity

Yep, that's them. Four guys that do vocals to some degree, and songs that are just all over the place. They're fucking great live, Tim writes awesome music, and they are a blast to hang out and drink beers with.


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## eaeolian (May 6, 2008)

noodles said:


> Two words: foam swords.



Nerf guns, ice, plastic cups, condiments, lunch meat...they had it all.


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## jacksonplayer (May 6, 2008)

eaeolian said:


> It could have been worse - Apothys got 7 channels on Saturday, and IE/Epica's drum kit stayed up on the stage, so they had nothing for room. I've never been so glad I passed on a show...



Apothys did a good job, considering. I was fairly impressed by their set.



Drew said:


> As an aside, is Into Eternity a sort of manic-depressive mood-swing-y metal band from Canada? If they're the same guys who opened for Epica when they oepend for SyX in Boston, then they actually kicked a fair amount of ass.



They kicked major ass on Saturday. I was a fan before, but seeing them live only confirmed that for me. The combination of all-out metal and those harmony vox is devastating.



eaeolian said:


> Nerf guns, ice, plastic cups, condiments, lunch meat...they had it all.



And you probably missed all the fun in Epica's set. Russell and the SymX road manager were throwing lunch meat at Epica from behind the stage for most of their set--way more than Epica's lame attempt at revenge. And when anything landed in the audience, the crowd threw it back toward Epica, too. I almost felt sorry for Epica. Almost. 

And, of course, SymX came out and just bowled over the place.


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## Drew (May 6, 2008)

Yeah, I'd never seen them before, I think, but I left a fan.


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## Rick Pierpont (May 7, 2008)

Drow Swordsman said:


> Nope, Matt's still here with his band Decade in good ol' Southern Maryland! And no, I wasn't old enough to come see you guys at Jaxx, I'd love to see you guys though.
> 
> I used to have the same guitar as Matt plays now (the Ibanez Universe) - great guitar, and I was excited to see someone in the county other than me have the same guitar. Of course now it's sold and my 8 string is incoming, but still a great guitar.
> 
> You should pick up that bright green Universe Buz McGrath from Unearth is selling on here and become a Universe duo.


OK, I was wondering because he left a comment on our page and mentioned being in OH and it sounded more permanent. That's cool. We are playing at Monk's in SoMD on 5/31 but I'm sure that's 21+ too. :-( (God how I hated those days). We are touring with Suspyre and Dark Empire later in the summer and we are playing Jaxx on 8/3. It should be all ages, so hopefully you can catch us then for sure. I'm pretty sure there is another band VERY familiar with these boards that will be there too. 

Cool.  Its just good to see someone else in the county who listens to metal!  Holy shit! Went for it big time! Good luck with the 8 stringer!

 Think I'll skip it. I've got enough guitars right now and we actually like playing different guitars. He used to play his JP6 a lot until I joined. After a while he migrated to his Universe. Thanks for the head's up though.

I'm sure. Wow man, you really know a lot about these guys! No doubt that Billy is a huge fan, it comes thorugh loud and clear! Politics? I can't imagine. 

So do I, but to me I hear more the 70s coming out with a more modern sound. Howe's tone is not something dear to me, so I actually strongly prefer Jimmy over Steve. (I know... blasphemy). I would think it would be too hard for them to get a draw, but what I noticed in telling people about this show is that they had no idea that Circa even existed and that the Yes guys were still playing in other bands. Once word spreads (and once people see their live show) I think they could do quite well. I thought about seeing Yes in Baltimore on 7/29, but the bottom tier tickets are $75!! Sorry, they're great and all, but not THAT great! I would've loved to have brought my 10 y/o (my little rocker bass player) too. 

I know!!!! That is EXACTLY what I said too -- specifically about Therion too! NO, I think the sound grump was BSing us. As I mentioned already, he has quite a bad rep amongst his workers and management there. He needs to go. Also, we opened for Spock's Beard and that time they really were short on channels. They had two drums set, more vocal mics than Circa, a MONSTER keyboard setup plus some extra keys. Yes, we still got more channels (and somewhat of a monitor mix). NO, it makes no sense to me... I just don't buy that guy's story.



jacksonplayer said:


> A lot of it has to do with Billy's tenure as the second guitarist in Yes during the late '90s, when he functioned as a surrogate Trevor Rabin to a degree, since Howe didn't want to learn Trevor's solos. Billy grew up as a huge fan of classic Yes and probably knows that music better than Squire and Howe do today. Billy essentially saved Yes when it was on the verge of collapsing by financing and quickly putting together the "Open Your Eyes" album in 1997. After another album following that, Billy had enough the crap Yes politics and left to do his own thing.
> 
> I hear a lot of both '70s and '80s Yes in Circa, but then I'm a fan of both periods and consider that a good thing. What I hear most, especially from Alan and Tony, is a lot of joy in their playing that I haven't noticed as much in their most recent Yes efforts (though that's a ways back for Tony). It really shouldn't be that difficult to get things going for a guaranteed-draw band like Yes, but just getting the Yes guys to be on the same continent seems to involve a painful amount of effort and negotiation.
> 
> As for the Jaxx situation, I can't believe that a relatively simple setup like Circa used would be more complicated than, say, Therion, which had an insane number of vocalists and musicians together on that little stage.





eaeolian said:


> I'm not sure what Circa had going on, but Therion was amazingly streamlined for the amount they had going on - I'm fairly certain they used fewer than 24 channels, which left plenty for everyone else...


Mike, I'm pretty sure that Circa couldn't have used more than 24 channels too. It just doesn't add up. Even if 12 were used on drums! Even if guitar and bass ran in stereo, it doesn't make sense.



eaeolian said:


> Rick, that was the best Symphony X show I've seen. Period.
> 
> I'm sorry I have to miss you guys, but I had my son over Friday night, so you know how that goes.
> 
> ...



That is what I keep hearing!  I wish I hadn't missed it, but we originally had a show scheduled hat night and by the time it got canceled, SyX was sold out. I was seriously beat on Saturday too (for some reason). 

Fired, I think.  Actually, I don't remember his name.

7 channels?!?!?!? WTF?!?!? What did they do, sell half the system? You mean they left their drums OFF the riser the whole time?!?!? God, I'm glad we didn't play that either! That place is turning into a nightmare.

And yes, I fully understand you missing the show. Some things are just more important in life.



noodles said:


> Two words: foam swords.


Who do they think they are? Dragonforce?


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