PRESS RELEASE: The Dark Aether Project "The Gentle Art of Firewalking"

[Adam Levin <alevin@DarkAether.net>]

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.

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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