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The Dark Aether Project has been an ever-mutating musical entity since the nucleus of the idea for the group first revealed itself to Warr 8 String Touchstyle Guitarist Adam Levin during an early Spring 1997 weekend of work with the Seattle Guitar Circle - a group that traces its origins to the work of King Crimson mainstay Robert Fripp's Guitar Craft seminars. The initial lineup to perform in a public setting was a strictly instrumental trio which added occasional vocals by the time of their self-titled debut album's release in early 1998. The band quickly came to be recognized as one of the hardest gigging progressive rock bands on the East Coast in a short matter of time. In 1999, the band's second CD "Feed the Silence" was released to high critical praise and saw their reach expanding as tours brought them up and down the east coast. In mid-1999 writing began on what would eventually become the band's third CD. Early versions of music for the new CD were premiered as the band performed at the 5th Annual Progday International Progressive Rock Festival and subsequent shows throughout the end of the year. By 2000, the band was even further lengthening its reach by playing festivals in Columbus, Ohio and Hartford, Connecticut, the main stage at New York's prestigious downtown avant/experimental club "The Knitting Factory" and accepted an invitation from the members of the reunited classic 70's progressive rock group Happy the Man to open their first concert in over 20 years at The State Theatre in Falls Church, Virginia. By early 2001 a completely revamped 5 piece lineup of The Dark Aether Project emerged to perform at the release party for a compilation featuring the brightest stars from Baltimore's vibrant progressive rock scene entitled "What's New in Baltimore?" which was included in the February 2001 issue of Expose' Magazine. The new lineup of the band had re-recorded a totally new arrangement of the title track from "Feed the Silence" for the compilation. In October 2001 the band settled down into Levin's studio "The House of Dark Aether" in Severn, Maryland to record the tracks for the new album "The Gentle Art of Firewalking." Unlike the previous two albums where the recording sessions took place in little more than a weekend, the new album was recorded over a three month time frame with painstaking attention to detail and production. The album features 8 songs which show a new Dark Aether Project with a fuller, more diverse and extreme sound - from quiet melodic ambience to full tilt adrenaline pumping displays of technical instrumental prowess. Four vocal tracks are balanced by four instrumental tracks. The lyrical subject matter deals with the ups and downs of interpersonal relationships experienced by certain band members in their personal lives during the writing and recording of the CD. The music, while occasionally being reminiscent of classic artists like King Crimson's 73-74 and 80's eras, as well as others such as Pink Floyd and Mahavishnu Orchestra at times - it is not a throwback to the past. It is very much forward-looking and contemporary featuring elements that stray into the realm of post-rock, world music, ambient music, math rock, space/psychedelic rock and contemporary hard rock. It's hard to pin a label on the music appearing on "The Gentle Art of Firewalking" because it is such a unique and diverse blend of styles and influences. The Dark Aether Project's lineup, in addition to Levin features drummer/keyboardist Allen Brunelle who joined the group shortly after the release of "Feed the Silence" and was previously a member of fellow Baltimore progressive rock group "Iluvatar" and also has his own electronic music project "Tempustry; vocalist Jennifer Huff who joined in the summer of 2000 and cut her teeth performing and recording with the group "The Treblemakers"; guitarist John McCloskey who joined in the Fall of 2000 and is also known for his work with the band "On the Rocks"; and finally keyboardist Marty Saletta who joined in early 2001 and was a member of Baltimore progressive rock groups "Chaos Code" and "The Web". Sound samples from all album tracks are available for previewing on The Dark Aether Project's web site at http://www.darkaether.net/ The band is pleased to announce a full line of new merchandise to accompany the release of the new CD. T-shirts, sweatshirts, ball caps, coffe mugs and mouse pads are available for online ordering through the vendor CafePress.com via the following link: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store/store.aspx?storeid=darkaether "The Gentle Art of Firewalking" will be available soon from many fine music vendors including online megastore Amazon.com. The band will be supporting the release of the new CD with a special CD release concert at Orion Sound Studios located at 2903 Whittington Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday January 26th, 2002 at 8pm with special guest Matthew Parmenter of the Michigan progressive rock outfit Discipline. Tickets are $10 and are available through Ticketweb online at http://www.ticketweb.com/ for this all ages event. For more information visit http://www.progrock.net/shows/showcase/ or call Orion Sound Studios at (410)646-7334 after 2pm. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Artist: The Dark Aether Project Title: The Gentle Art of Firewalking Release Date: January 26th, 2002 UPC Code: 791022199628 Track Listing: 1) Crossing the Threshold (Music: McCloskey) 2) Night Embrace (Music: Levin/Brunelle - Vocal Melody/Lyrics: Huff) 3) The Gentle Art of Firewalking (Music: Levin/Brunelle) 4) Mask (Music: Levin - Lyrics: Huff - Vocal Melody: Huff/Levin) 5) 3rd Degree (Music: Brunelle/Levin/McCloskey) 6) Shades (Music/Lyrics: Levin - Vocal Melody: Huff/Levin) 7) Sparks Fly (Music: Levin) 8) Embers (Music: Levin/Brunelle - Vocal Melody/Lyrics: Brunelle) All Arrangements by The Dark Aether Project Produced and Engineered by Adam Levin Recorded at The House of Dark Aether - Severn, MD The Dark Aether Project is: Allen Brunelle: Drums/Background Vocals/Keyboards Jennifer Huff: Vocals Adam Levin: Warr 8 String Touch Guitar/Bass/Guitar/Keyboards/Loops John McCloskey: Acoustic and Electric Guitars Marty Saletta: Keyboards/Stick For distribution/interviews/bookings and other inquiries contact: Dark Aether Productions PO Box 2332 Columbia MD 21045 Web Site: http://www.darkaether.net/ Email: info@darkaether.net