'Guilty of Innocence' features special appearances by Alex Skolnick (Testament), Rave Tesar (Renaissance) and Randy McStine (Lo-Fi Resistance, The Fringe).
As with the previous CD & Digital version Guilty of Innocence features special appearances by Alex Skolnick (The New Testament Of Funk), Rave Tesar (Renaissance) and Randy McStine (Lo-Fi Resistance, The Fringe).
Guilty of Innocence highlights include the hit singles “Behind the Curtain,” a reimagined cover of muse’s “Hysteria,” and the 12-minute prog mini-epic titled “Soul Food” which features many of the guests mentioned above, plus “Dream Diary Cadenza,” a solo electric violin extravaganza lifted from Joe’s electric violin concerto.
Stratospheerius is led by founding member, electric violinist & vocalist Joe Deninzon who has been called the “Jimi Hendrix of the electric violin.” “Guilty of Innocence” features French guitarist Aurelien Budynek (Cindy Blackman Santana, Vernon Reid), bassist Jamie Bishop (The Syn, Francis Dunnery), and drummer Lucianna Padmore, praised by Modern Drummer Magazine for her “Deep grooves and serious fusion chops.”
Joe says it was the progressive rock community that urged him to “go Vinyl” with his album, which hit #4 on the RELIX/JamBand charts, “Guilty of Innocence was a watershed moment for Stratospheerius this past year. After years of touring and putting out CDs, I saw this record embraced by the progressive rock community on a bigger scale than any of our previous releases. In our touring and festival appearances alongside other artists in the prog world, I noticed more and more artists are manufacturing vinyl, and in many cases, they outsell their CDs at live shows. I believe the resurgent interest in vinyl has to do with the fact that in the digital age, we consume music on the go in a condensed mp3/streaming format. There is a hunger to hold something tangible in our hands, admire the artwork on a record, and have the home listening experience be something special. We are excited to join the growing community of artists putting out vinyl and hope our fans will buy the record and rediscover it (or DISCOVER it)”!
“Guilty of Innocence is a limited pressing, and Melodic Revolution Records is selling the LP to Joe’s fans for $25. The second pressing will be much larger and slightly different, and coming soon!
In addition to hitting the top 5 on the U.S. JamBand radio charts, the band:
- Music Video “Behind the Curtain” has been seen by over 35,000 people on youtube (as of this week), and found its way to Europe’s indie music charts. (The band starts a European promo campaign this week.)
- Exciting opening slots, which—this year—included John5, Gary Hoey, and Alex Skolnick Trio.
- Playing major prog festivals. Coming up: ProgStock this Oct. 6 in Rahway, New Jersey.
- Friends in New York City can catch Joe Deninzon & Stratospheerius live at SonicVoyageFest at the Shrine in Harlem, on Thursday Oct. 4.
For more information contact Anne Leighton.