New year, new you or so the mantra goes. It’s all connected to the custom of making a new year’s resolution, which dates back to ancient times when both the Babylonians and the Romans made promises to their respective gods. These days, our commitments are more about self-improvement than appeasing deities.
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You could be forgiven for thinking that 2012 was a pretty poor year for heavy metal, particularly here in its British birthplace. London hosted the Olympics, with the filmmaker Danny Boyle directing the opening and closing ceremonies, designed to highlight the best of British culture and tradition. Of course the soundtrack was crucial, and Boyle carefully picked a selection of timeless British music and song, from hymns, to TV themes tunes and pop songs, and even some classic punk. The only obvious style conspicuous by its absence was heavy metal. But metal’s used to being regarded as beneath contempt by the media’s accepted arbiters of taste. For many metal fans, being perennially out-of-fashion has become a mark of pride.
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It seems like only yesterday that we were getting ready to go on our summer holidays and now it’s almost Christmas! That means festive parties are on their way and whether you’re going to a student, work or private do, you’re probably already thinking about your outfit.
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When Alchemy’s old friends Gavin Baddeley and Keri O’Shea told us that the Vikings had once more invaded the Norsemen’s former English capital of Yorvik (that’s York to any Angles, Normans or Saxons among you) this autumn, we had to know more. This time the invaders were wielding guitars rather than broadswords, though the locals were just as devastated by the assault that people were calling the Warhorns Festival. A weekend of the best in the kindred genres of folk, pagan and black metal, Warhorns was a truly international affair, with bands hailing from as far afield as Latvia and North Carolina, delivering a heathen feast of the kind of music you might find if the mythic hall of Valhalla had a jukebox. While the dust finally settled some time back, we were still eager to hear who prevailed and who fell on that fateful weekend of Warhorns…
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ZZ Top, The Damned and Lynyrd Skynyrd were among those honoured at the eighth annual Orange Amplification Classic Rock Roll of Honour awards on Tuesday night at a gala evening held at the Camden Roundhouse, London.
The event was hosted by Duff McKagan (Guns n’Roses, Velvet Revolver, Loaded) and was attended by some of the biggest names of Rock! Alchemy were once again proud sponsors of the event, this time sponsoring the re-issue of the year award. We were also honoured to have sculpted and individually crafted each award in our own Leicester studios, as we do each year along with the Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards.
Among the winners on the night were The Damned, rewarded for their outstanding contribution to music, 36 years on from their recording debut. Rush, who received the award for Album of the Year (Clockwork Angels) and Band of the Year. As well as Tracer who received Best new band, having completed their first headline tour earlier this year.
Anthrax were named Metal Gurus and manager Tony Smith was named VIP, while the late Deep Purple keyboard player Jon Lord received the Tommy Vance Inspiration award.
The Final award of the evening was for ZZ Top, claiming the coveted Living Legend Award presented by last year’s winner, Jeff Beck. The Texan three-piece join an exclusive club including Jimmy Page, Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop.
Bringing an end to a great evening was a 30 minute set by Lynyrd Skynyrd, who had earlier collected the Comeback Award. Scroll down to view a video from the night, as the band perform the well known ‘Sweet Home Alabama’
Classic Rock Roll of Honour 2012
The Living Legend Award (Sponsored by Orange Amplification): ZZ Top
Event Of The Year (Sponsored by Roadrunner): Ginger Raises £250k
Breakthrough Act Of The Year (sponsored by Olympus): Rival Sons
The Musicians’ Union Maestro Award: Phil Manzanera
Tommy Vance Inspiration Award (Sponsored by Lewis Leathers): Jon Lord
Classic Songwriter Award (Sponsored by Sennheiser): Russ Ballard
Outstanding Contribution (sponsored by Monitor Audio): The Damned
Classic Album Award (sponsored by Eagle Rock): Status Quo ‘Live!’
V.I.P. Award (sponsored by currencies.co.uk): Tony Smith
Metal Guru Award (sponsored by Mascot Label Group): Anthrax
Best New Band (sponsored by Kraken): Tracer
Album Of The Year: Rush ‘Clockwork Angels’
Reissue Of The Year (sponsored by Alchemy): Pink Floyd’s ‘Immersion’
Film/DVD Award: Pink Floyd ‘The Story Of Wish You Were Here’
Band Of The Year (sponsored by Live Nation): Rush
Spirit Of Prog Award (sponsored by USM / UMC): Family
Showman Of The Year (sponsored by Rimowa): Nikki Sixx
Comeback Award (Sponsored by Jeffery West): Lynyrd Skynyrd
A new survey released this week reveals that, for a large number of Brits, seasonal stress officially kicked in on 12 November. Whether you plan your shopping trips early to avoid the big queues or leave it up to the last minute, there’s no denying that festive times cause the biggest headaches for many of us and there’s now just over a month left until Christmas day itself.
The high street is already full of decorations and festive foods so whatever your faith or culture, the chances are you’ve already started at least thinking about if not planning your festivities. American readers will be a little further into their preparations as Thanksgiving is on 22 November!
You’ll be able to find plenty of gift ideas for the Goth, punk, metaller and steampunk in your life in the 35th anniversary edition of the Alchemy catalogue. Once you’ve made your selection, why not get in the mood with a hot brew served in an Alchemug [ALMUG.1],or maybe something a little stronger in our Viking Horn Tankard [AAT.25]. Don’t forget to stock up on our Alchemist Pen Top [BE.4] decorated ball pens – they’re just the thing for signing your seasonal cards.
Now is the time to get festive, don’t leave it last minute! To buy all the above items and plenty more stunning Alchemy gifts, click on the link to take you to our approved Alchemy Dealers in your area: www.alchemyengland.com/buy
Burlesque is a musical performance commonly known for causing laughter, whilst taking on a serious side to entertain the audience. This genre of performance originated in the Victorian Era, regarded as a theatrical parody.
The performer(s) relied on the audience to understand the ‘mocking’ of other serious artists. When Burlesque first appeared at venues such as Cabarets, Clubs and Theatres, they often featured a female ‘striptease’ alongside elements of comedy which made the shows very diverse. In-fact since the 70’s, a number of big Hollywood movie producers tried to adapt the dramatic Burlesque scenes to feature in films. Some of these include the 1972’s ‘Cabaret’, and ‘All That Jazz’ which premièred in 1979. Costumes in Burlesque were categorised by some as very revealing, wearing stockings, feather boas, skirts above the knee and most importantly, corsets!
Burlesque continues to strive throughout the generations. The new acts of Burlesque such as Dita Von Teese, were influenced by movies and their curvy queens like Marilyn Monroe. With their big hair and fertile hips, these bombshells inspired women everywhere to exaggerate their own voluptuousness, and the corset especially was reborn.
Why not celebrate the long-lived Musical performance with our Corset Burlesque style choker? St.Cyr’s Delight (P587)..’An enticing revue of the Burlesque dancer’s talents. With ribbon lace-up front, black pearls and crystal heart. On deep red velvet with button fastener’
With Christmas just around the corner this would make a stunning gift or even a treat for yourself. Buy yours here to search our list of approved Alchemy Dealers: www.alchemyengland.com/buy
This Sunday, November 11th is Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day), a memorial day observed in Commonwealth countries since the end of World War I to remember the members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of hostilities of World War I on that date in 1918. Hostilities formally ended “at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month,” in accordance with the Armistice, signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. (“At the 11th hour” refers to the passing of the 11th hour, or 11:00 a.m.) World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
The remembrance poppy (a Papaver rhoeas) has been used since 1920 to commemorate soldiers who have died in war. Inspired by the World War I poem “In Flanders Fields”, they were first used by the American Legion to commemorate American soldiers who died in that war (1914–1918). They were then adopted by military veterans’ groups in the Commonwealth; especially Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Today, they are mainly used in current and former Commonwealth states to commemorate their servicemen and women who have been killed since 1914. In those states, small artificial poppies are often worn on clothing on Remembrance Day/Armistice Day (11 November) and in the weeks before it. Poppy wreaths are also often laid at war memorials.
The remembrance poppy is especially prominent in the UK in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Sunday and are sold in supermarkets, shopping centres and on the street by The Royal British Legion for its “Poppy Appeal”.
Alchemy strongly support the work of the Royal British Legion, and their efforts to provide financial, social, political and emotional support to those who have served or who are currently serving in the British Armed Forces, and their dependants. If like us you wish to donate to this years Poppy Appeal you can do so here
Here at Alchemy we are celebrating 35 years since our formation and throughout the whole of October we asked fans on our Facebook page to Share & Like a competition post for a chance to win one of 35 limited edition anniversary keyrings.
The lucky winners can be found below:
Bartosz Rakowski
Betty Jones
Bev TwistedLassie Owen
Bodea Andrei
Brianna Freeman
Daniel Raymen
Eleanor Stafford
Frederic Fromont
Ingrid Debona
James Watson
Jarrod Macneil
Jay Parkins
Jennifer Bower
John Kovacs
Kaspar Peamehaanik Parmann
Kirsten Richards
Leanna Slade
Leslie Fuchs Blackburn
Lila Edgar
Manesh Kumar
Mark Alexander Furnival
Mia Fowler
Michael MadMic Adams
Michelle Wilson
Mik Gray
Rebecca S Harrison
Robert Tuggle
Rose Hewins
Roy Rich
Sabine Beck
Sarah Flood Houseworth
Sarah-Louise Tebbutt
Stephen Goss
Timothy McGranahan
Yang Li Ping
If you’re lucky enough to be a winner above you can claim yours by emailing: stephanie@alchemygroup.com with your name and address to receive!
Thank you for your participation!
Lacuna Coil have been entertaining and inspiring crowds for 18 years now, since their formation in the city of Milan in 1994. The band were previously known as ‘Sleep of Right’ and then ‘Ethereal’ before settling on the name we all know so well Today, translated in English as Empty Spiral.
From such humble beginnings, they’ve grown to become one of the best-known European metal acts around today. Their sixth studio album ‘Dark Adrenaline’ was released earlier this year with rave reviews, and they are now currently performing around Europe in celebration of it.
Lacuna Coil have returned to the UK with their Dark Legacy tour, and are set to perform in Manchester tonight, before the final gig in London this Sunday. We at Alchemy are huge fans of the band and the feeling is mutual as they can often be found sporting items from the Alchemy England Apparel and Alchemy jewellery ranges both on and off stage.
Front woman Cristina Scabbia has an impressive range of Alchemy pieces – one of her favourites is The ‘Temptation of Havva’ necklace [P571]. She was also recently photographed wearing one of our statement pieces; the ‘Star of Ishtar’ ring [R162], which is enhanced by a star-cut Swarovski topaz crystal. The symbol represents the Babylonian goddess of love, war and sex and while we wouldn’t go so far as to suggest that Cristina ticks those boxes, there’s no denying she looks stunning in her Alchemy gear!
Cristina was recently featured in the Kerrang Magazine, wearing the latest additions to her ever expanding impressive collection of Alchemy treasures! She wears the ‘Upir’ Pendant [P584] accompanied by the ‘Hornets Nest’ Ear-Wrap [E303] [Both pictured below].
Want the Rock Goddess look? Visit the approved list of Alchemy dealers and order yours today!!! www.alchemyengland.com/buy
