The pre-order for Celldweller’s Wish Upon a Blackstar: Chapter 2 went live yesterday.  The second chapter (of five total) will feature the songs “The Best It’s Gonna Get“ and “Eon.”

Chapter 2 will be available for download in several bundles (including a deluxe edition for $4.99) on December 8th from Celldweller’s FiXT store.  The deluxe edition features a remix from chapter one, “So Long Sentiment” mixed by Toksin’s Anhedonia…

After all five chapters are released, I expect there will be a full-length album (and hopefully CD) issue.

~Dan – np: Celldweller – Wish Upon a Blackstar Ch 1 (coincidence, I swear)

So, I’d have posted about this sooner (Monday), but I’m less enthused about it, as Sufjan Stevens is not making his way out of the East & Midwest… this were one of those times, I wish I lived in Cincinnati, as I’d hit 2-3 of these shows…

Oh, but wait, there’s a Portland date!!!

Damn… Portland, Maine… not Oregon…

Sufjan Stevens & Cryptacize Tourdates
(from Pollstar as of today)

• Mon 09/21/09 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
• Tue 09/22/09 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
• Wed 09/23/09 – Ithaca, NY – Castaways
• Thu 09/24/09 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom & Tavern
• Fri 09/25/09 – Pontiac, MI – Pike Room
• Sat 09/26/09 – Champaign, IL – High Dive
• Sun 09/27/09 – Minneapolis, MN – The 400 Bar
• Mon 09/28/09 – Madison, WI – Majestic Theatre
• Tue 09/29/09 – Bloomington, IN – Buskirk-Chumley Theater
• Thu 10/01/09 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace
• Fri 10/02/09 – Montreal, QC – Scene Cabaret
• Sat 10/03/09 – Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall
• Sun 10/04/09 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
• Mon 10/05/09 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
• Tue 10/06/09 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall Of Williamsburg
• Wed 10/07/09 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall Of Williamsburg

So, I guess some Sufjan activity is better than no Sufjan activity.  Also, over on blackbookmag, they received a pre-release copy of Sufjan’s The BQE CD/DVD package…

It’s out on October 20th.  It’s not available for pre-order… yet…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So, the other news…

Information on Celldweller’s next album, Wish Upon a Blackstar, is being leaked purposefully by Klayton himself.  Here’s the album cover for Chapter 1…

Over on Klayton’s blog, you can listen to a streaming sample of “Hit Me.”  I like the cover.  It kinda of reminds me of this, though…

~Dan – np: Dream Theater – Master of Puppets

Celldweller es un grupo de Detroit, Estados Unidos. Fundado por Klayton (antiguo compositor y miembro de la banda Circle of Dust en los años 1990) con una fusión de drum & bass, techno y trance además con sonidos de metal, lo que le da tintes agresivos y rítmicos siendo la única variante su guitarra distorsionada y voces guturales o a veces melódicas, se distingue de otras bandas como “assemblage 23“, “Collide“, “NIN” gracias a su música basada en instrumentos electrónicos e instrumentos base como la guitarra (overdrived),coros femeninos, sonidos orgánicos y fuertes cambios del estado de ánimo que representa su música al igual que otras bandas como “Angeldust” o el mismo “Criss Angel” que ha trabajado en conjunto con Celldweller para la edición de “Mindfreak sountrack”.

Es originalmente una banda de una sola persona, siendo Klayton quien escribe toda la música y se encarga de la mayoría de la vocalización e instrumentalización en estudios de grabación. Sin embargo, también toca en vivo formado por Klayton (vocales, guitarra, teclado, percusiones, programación), Dale Van Norman (guitarra, teclado, percusiones, vocales de apoyo), Kemikal (bajo, guitarra, teclado, percusiones, vocales de apoyo), y Caise (batería y percusiones).

Celldweller – The Last Firstborn

Celldweller – So Sorry to Say

Celldweller – one good reason

Celldweller — Afraid This Time

Celldweller – Switchback

Celldweller – Own Little World

Info, Wikipedia.

CELLDWELLER

Just heard about this band (technically, one man army) called Celldweller about a week ago. Quickly fell in love with the songs as this is a type of music I’ve always personally enjoyed. From industrial to metal choruses and techno/electronica, there’s just about a little bit of everything for everyone.

The man who runs the band goes by Klayton Scott, known for his work in previous bands Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, and Angeldust; some of these featuring Criss Angel on vocals.

One album, self-titled Celldweller, has been released that has many vocal works on it such as “Switchback,” “The Last Firstborn,” “Own Little World,” “One Good Reason,” and others. Other albums are mostly instrumental tracks–of exceptional quality.

Anyway, on to what I want to discuss. Celldweller sounds a good deal like old Linkin Park minus rap sections and more of an industrial/trance-ish vibe. The Last Firstborn and a few other songs can come off as sounding like Slipknot. All in all his music is quite original, but the two reasons above were what got me hooked onto the music in the first place.

If you’re interested, I’ve posted Youtube links of a few of the better vocalized tracks.

“Switchback” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knV1H163ISE (watch out for the video, might seem a bit odd at first)
Sounds like: Spineshank, a little.

“The Last Firstborn” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jryDyvmqwSg&fmt=18 
(personal favorite)
Sounds like: Linkin Park + Slipknot

“I Believe You” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10s4Lv2rdKI

“One Good Reason” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaflaPLQbwA
Sounds like: Heavy metalish; Slipknot…?

“Own Little World” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2eHh4GcJMQ

“Frozen” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3INX5cJ4bw

“Birthright” beta 1.0 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMyW0632VpI

“Shapeshifter” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uWgzDNkZmQ
Featuring Styles of Beyond on vocals (Guys from Fort Minor.) Klayton sounds a lot like Chester from LP.
Sounds like: Linkin Park-ish.