NEWS: ZONDER WEHRKAMP Unveil Trailer For New Video “The Next Big Thing”, Coming Out 11 June

ZONDER WEHRKAMP, featuring drummer Mark Zonder and guitarist/keyboardist Gary Wehrkamp, released their debut album “If It’s Real” on 24 May 2019!

On Tuesday, 11 June, they unleash the 3rd production-performance video for the song “The Next Big Thing“, taken from the debut album!

Today the band releases a promo video clip, watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/gary.wehrkamp/videos/vb.623878787/10157202271918788/

Just recently Mark Zonder unveiled first three segments of the 5 part video, watch them here:

– 1st segment: https://www.facebook.com/mark.zonder/videos/vb.629984919/10157182978389920
– 2nd segment: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2397927243827561
– 3rd segment: https://www.facebook.com/mark.zonder/videos/1015719167

“If It’s Real” album is available on all digital download and streaming platforms worldwide. For those who want a physical product, CDs are available via CDBaby and at ZWband.com.

Mark Zonder comments on new album:
“Please listen to the Zonder/Wehrkamp album as new music, a new experience. Yes, it is Gary Wehrkamp and myself doing the entire record ourselves and artists trademark sounds usually come through the music, but this is not a Warlord, Shadow Gallery or Fates record. This is just Gary and I being creative in a dark, moody and atmospheric way. Enjoy the journey.”

While ZONDER WEHRKAMP takes the two musicians on a different path, their musical pasts are very much influences on their current project. “If It’s Real” resonates with a tenebrous emotional intensity wrapped in a more melodic, ethereal sound and philosophical take on progressive hard rock.

“If It’s Real” tracklisting:

I Can’t Believe
If It’s Real
I’d Do Anything
Last Place
Two Years
Where Are The Children Going?
Too Late
The Next Big Thing
It’s Not The End
Goodnight

Produced by Gary Wehrkamp.
All songs written by Gary Wehrkamp and Mark Zonder except “Last Place” and “Goodnight” written by Gary Wehrkamp.

Mixed by Gary Wehrkamp.
Mastered by Rich Mouser at Mousehouse Studios, Altadena – California.
Front/Back cover and band photos by Alex Solca Photography.

Follow ZONDER WEHRKAMP online

Website | Facebook | Youtube

 

More information about ZONDER/WEHRKAMP Aka ZW Band:

Long known for their work in the progressive and underground metal scenes in bands like WARLORD, SHADOW GALLERY, AMARAN’S PLIGHT and FATES WARNING, guitarist GARY WEHRKAMP and drummer MARK ZONDER are exploring darkness in a brand new light with their new band, ZONDER/WEHRKAMP (aka ZW Band).

The collaboration results in the album “If It’s Real” which resonates with a tenebrous emotional intensity wrapped in a more melodic, ethereal sound and philosophical take on progressive hard rock.

In the last two decades Zonder and Wehrkamp have co-written nearly 100 songs together for various projects and toured together for a reunion of Zonder’s seminal cult band Warlord.  When the two were approached by a metal label to record a moodier, less traditional prog-metal album, they ran with the idea.

“We have spent a lot of time over the years doing traditional over the top prog and have some really great stuff, but when we were asked to do something different by the label, we dug in and really started to push the envelope on the production side of things,” said Zonder.

While the label situation wasn’t right, the organic result of their studio sessions was music that–while not as heavy or as fast as their previous bands–still contained a thematic and sonic link to their progressive roots with a brooding depth and complex instrumental performances.

From songs like the title track that delves into mental anxiety and suicide to cuts like “It’s Not the End” with a message that brings the listener back from the brink, “If It’s Real,” delves into how we cope with simply being alive and, many times, alone in our own minds.

“This album traces the journey of the human condition through an array of emotions ranging from painstaking pitfalls to glimmers of hope,” said Wehrkamp.

While Zonder/Wehrkamp takes the two musicians on a different path, their musical pasts are very much influences on their current project.

One of the most influential drummers in metal history, Zonder burst onto the scene with Warlord in 1982 and went on to play drums with prog-metal heavyweights Fates Warning for eight albums starting in 1989.  With periodic Warlord shows on the European festival circuit, involvement in the bands Slavior and Spirits of Fire and stints with artists like Graham Bonnet and Arch/Matheos, Zonder maintains a steady presence in the metal world.  Since 1993, Wehrkamp has been one of the guitarist/keyboardists in the innovative progressive metal band Shadow Gallery, which released six studio albums between 1992 and 2009 on labels like Magna Carta and Inside Out.

Having made critically acclaimed records and toured the world playing to hundreds of thousands of hardcore metal fans, Zonder and Wehrkamp are betting the departure from their musical roots will still generate enthusiasm from long-time followers because the soul and authentic creativity they’ve always delivered is the driving force behind this music, too.

“This album isn’t about doing something different for the hell of it,” said Wehrkamp.  “It’s about challenging ourselves to step outside our own self-imposed boundaries and expectations and dare anyone who pushes play on these songs to do the same. This record is all about introspection and discovery.  And we want our fans to take the trip with us.”