On This Perfect Day

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Guilt Machine - On This Perfect Day (2009) From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia: Guilt Machine is a musical project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, owner of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon and Ambeon. The project's debut release, On This Perfect Day, was released in Europe between August 28 and August 31, and is expected to be released in America in September 2009. Background In February 2009, Arjen announced in his website that he would be working on his new side project Guilt Machine. This project features a very limited line-up, comparing to other Arjen's side projects: Arjen Lucassen on the instruments and backing vocal, Jasper Steverlinck (Arid) on lead vocal, Chris Maitland (ex-Porcupine Tree) on drums and Lori Linstruth (ex-Stream of Passion) on lead guitar. On March 9, Arjen announced that fans would be able to submit their own recorded material for a possible inclusion on the project. The material had to be sent in the form of a brief audio message containing the person's thoughts in his/her mother language, with a translation. The deadline for submission was on March 15. Recently, Arjen has signed a deal with Mascot Record. Together with the announcement of the signing with Mascot Records at his official website, Arjen reported that more than 200 audio messages were sent, but only 19 would be included on the album. According to him, the languages range from Chinese to Tagalog and from French to Russian. He informed that the album will include an eight-minute instrumental track filled with as many messages as he could have used (although many recordings would still remain unused). On This Perfect Day On June 23, 2009, Lucassen announced the release of Guilt Machine's first release, On This Perfect Day. It will be released on August 28 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, on August 31 in the rest of Europe, September 29 in the US, and dates for Japan still pending. Most of the songs are relatively long, the shorter lasting for 6:11. Limited and Special editions will be released, the limited one coming with a 32-page digibook and a DVD and the special one coming with a Digipack 24-page booklet and a DVD. Musical style According to Arjen, the music will range "from dark and heavy to atmospheric and melancholic". Regarding the concept, Arjen stated that instead of fantasy and science fiction theme, Guilt Machine will explore "the destructive psychology of guilt, regret and the darkest form of secret -- the secrets we hide from ourselve." In spite of the difference, the songs are expected to keep the dynamic contrast, intricated harmonie, complex rhythms and soaring melodies of any Ayreon release. Although Jasper and his band are from the alternative rock genre, he was convinced by Arjen to work on this progressive metal project. Arjen has stated: "In the beginning, it was hard to convince Jasper to sing on this album, because he comes from a completely different musical background. He didn't even know what prog wa, but we've made a believer out of him! What I admire about Jasper's voice, besides its beautiful clear timbre, is the emotion and credibility he puts into his performance and his enormous range. Because this project features just one singer I needed someone versatile enough to portray all of the different mood, and Jasper didn't disappoint. And he's a really nice and dedicated guy as well!" Instead of working with Ed Warby, the drummer that performed in most of Ayreon album, Arjen chose Chris Maitland, which, according to him, "was the ideal choice this time, having both the power for the heavy sections and the subtle touch needed in the more atmospheric parts". Lori Linstruth, the lead guitarist and manager, pleased Arjen with her lyrics: "At first I asked my partner and personal manager Lori to quickly write scratch lyrics for one of the songs so I could record some guide vocal. I was so impressed by what she produced that I asked her to write the lyrics for all the song. I was unable myself to create the type of darkly enigmatic, open-ended lyrics I wanted for these song, my specialty being sci-fi lyrics about sinister alien. She definitely gave the songs an extra dimension with her lyric, exorcising the demons we both had faced in the past few year. It's also no secret that I've always been a big fan of her melodic guitar style, so she also plays all the guitar solos on this album." Line-up * Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Instrument, backing vocals * Jasper Steverlinck (from Arid) - Lead vocals * Chris Maitland (ex-Porcupine Tree) - Drums * Lori Linstruth (ex-Stream of Passion) - Lead guitar, lyrics .

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