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OUT NOW!!


PROGAOR15: OZ KNOZZ-Ruff Mix (Expanded Edition) CD £13 (Texas Rock Dyamonds Series - Limited Edition of 300 copies) 


1975 Texas Heavy Prog masterpiece revered in collectors circles as one of the best 70's U.S. Prog albums. Oz Knozz contrary to other bands of the 70s that recorded a lone cult album, continued their career up to the mid' 80s without a release, but wrote several songs and performed them live. In recent years, the band self-released two great albums of fine Pomp/AOR-ish Hard Rock that were much welcomed by fans of the genre.

Limited collectors edition expanded with live in 1976 bonus tracks that were never recorded for the album. Booklet includes liner notes about the album by band leader Duane Massey and rare photos.


File Under: 70's Heavy Progressive Rock.

For fans of: Bloodrock, Hard Stuff, Tempest, Night Sun.


STILL HOT!


DR18: BLOWN FREE-Maximum Rock and Roll CD £13 (Texas Rock Dyamonds Series - Limited Edition of 300 Copies)


David Mathews started his career way back in the late 60s, in the Psychedelic scene. In 1978, he formed Blown Free, in Houston/TX. Moving on to a heavier, more direct approach, clashing the fuzzy acid guitar sound with high-energy riffing, brilliantly shown in "The Wizard" single, which became over the following decades, a holy grail for 70s & 80s Metal collectors. 

Presented on Digipak CD includes band history and band photo plus cover of the second single. Digitally remastered from the original tapes. Another Texas Rock Dyamond, limited strictly to 300 copies!


Blown Free were a Houston band active between 1978 and 1982. Their history is almost completely unknown, what is known is that the band’s leader and main songwriter, David Matthews, has a long history in music. He got his start in Wisconsin, playing in some underground psyche bands as early as 1968. When he moved to Houston he immediately put together his own band and the resultsof this can be heard on this disc, what recordings survived anyway. If there ever was a band that could be classified as “obscure, underground rock” this is surely one. The only known release on this band is a sole 45 released on Excelsior (the label owned by the late Bill Holford, SR. of ACA Studios in Houston). Mr. Holford would sometimes take a band under his wing and help them through business deals and publishing deals, which is what he did with Blown Free. After the dissolution of the band, and the break-up of Matthews’ marriage, David took off for greener pastures back in Wisconsin where he started his own label and put together another version of Blown Free, this time under the moniker of The Matthew Davis Project.


Tracks 1-4 Recorded at ACA Studios in Houston, TX, 1982.
Track 4 is an alternate mix of the version on the 7" single.
Tracks 5-11 are taken from a rehearsal tape recorded sometime in 1978.
Track 12 taken from the band’s only official release, the Excelsior Records
 7" single, recorded at ACA Studios and engineered by Bill Holford, SR.


File Under: 70's Hard Rock, Psychedelic Hard Rock. 

For fans of: Josefus, JPT Scare Band, First State Bank and Highway Robbery. 


COMING LATE MARCH 2023...
Former Hades bassist premiers Dreams of Venus
Sometime back in 1990s NYC, a power trio from the Lower East Side emerged on the scene, they called themselves
Dreams of Venus
Jimmy Schulman (Hades, Vessel Of Light, Cassius King)
on bass
Addie Flaxx (Massive Internal Complications, Pound Of Flesh) on guitar and vocals
Kirke J Blankenship (Ours)
on drums
On the heels of NJ Thrashers Hades' break up Jimmy said,
"I knew I wanted to start a band with only one guitar player and base it out of NYC."
Addie added, "I had been living in Boston and moved back to my hometown NYC. I was looking to do a no bullshit thing, straight up and raw." The two were introduced one night in an East Village bar by a mutual friend, they hit it off and decided to form a band. Addie said, "When I met Jimmy it was love at 1st misadventure (laughs). We swapped party favors and band influences...then it was off to the races."
"When we met Kirke he worked at a rehearsal studio. The studio closed at 11:00PM every night and Addie an I would sneak in at midnight." said Jimmy. Addie added, "Those late night sessions at the rehearsal space were pretty decadent. Did we play any music?? I really can't remember..."
Over the next 6 months in a haze of influential substances and like minded musical tastes they finally emerged from the studio...the poppy seeds were sown.
Influenced by the music of the late 60s early 70s, "We knew we had something different from what was happening at the time." And the songs?
"They basically wrote themselves." said Jimmy.
Addie added, "We were pretty inspired at the time. Tunes were just pouring out of us...hot f*cking lava, baby!"
Through mismanagement and all the industry bullshit that goes along with it, Dreams Of Venus were just another promising act thrown onto the pile of never-to-be-heard bands, before them and after them. But after being shelved for so long, their 'lost tapes' made their way back to the band.
Their brand of heavy psychedelic/stoner rock and - with no short supply of wah-wah, spot on harmonies and what Addie once described as "We have a secret weapon... the Woolly Mammoth" (referring to the tone of Jimmy's bass) - rounding out the trio's sound.
Once Addie and Jimmy heard the tapes after all this time... Jimmy said, "It blew me away how the songs held up."
Addie added, "The DOV stuff was pretty much a distant cool memory for me. When Jimmy resurrected it, I admit I was a bit skeptical. After a listen I was surprised that for a run & gun live
2-track, how good the recording sounded. The performances were solid too. When the label wanted to release it I said, "well, let's put it out!"
Upon hearing a few songs, 2 European labels, Dyamond Roxx and Hellven Records scooped them up.
Now for the first time they'll be releasing what would've been their debut album...
"Songs From The Essex Street Market"
Their first single Cause Of Death was released on November 1st. Full album "Songs From The Essex Street Market" is
out January 20th on Dyamond Roxx/PROGAOR co-released with Hellven Records.
Their debut video (by Jay Bones/Space Based)
can be seen below...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_FNunhAZcs

Bandcamp link:
https://dreamsofvenus.bandcamp.com/track/cause-of-death

FOR FANS OF: 90s Trouble, Mother Love Bone and Masters of Reality.

(c) PROGAOR 2017