#Jonah Weingarten

[gbhbl]

Album Review: Leaves' Eyes - Myths of Fate (AFM Records)

German symphonic metal stars, Leaves’ Eyes will release their new album Myths Of Fate on 22nd March via AFM Records. Myths Of Fate comes four years after their previous album, The Last Viking, and is their 9th studio album overall. This one also marks a special anniversary with it being 20 years of existence as a band. An impressive feat, indeed, and an impressive turn around in quantity and…

[fusselgurr]

NINJA BRIGADE feat. JONAH WEINGARTEN ★ KICKSTARTER JUST LAUNCHED FOR 30 ...

[nofatclips]

The Tides That Won't Change by Pyramaze (featuring Kristen Foss) from the album Contingent - Video created by Chance White

[nofatclips-home]

The Time Traveller by Pyramaze featuring Matt Barlow & Lance King

[karlrodrique]

Album of the day: Contingent, the fifth studio album by Danish power metal band Pyramaze, released in 2017.

Current members: Morten Gade Sørensen: drums (2001–2011, 2015–present) Jonah Weingarten: keyboards (2001–2011, 2015–present) Toke Skjønnemand: guitars (2004–2011, 2015–present) Jacob Hansen: guitars (2015–present) Terje Haroy: vocals (2015-present)

[gaming-grounds-de]

Games Lift Graduation: 5 vielversprechende Games-Projekte

#GamesLiftGraduation Das sind die fünft erfolgreichen Projekte des #GamesLiftInkubator 2020! Viele spannende #Games sind mit dabei, im kommenden Jahr geht es weiter:

Hamburg. Als Abschluss des diesjährigen Games Lift Inkubators von Gamecity Hamburg stellten am Abend des 8. Dezembers die fünf geförderten Teams ihre Spieleprojekte im Livestream aus dem designxport vor. Dabei zeigten die Gründenden und Start-ups, wie sie den Input ihrer Mentoren und Mentorinnen sowie das in den Coachings gewonnene Wissen des dreimonatigen Inkubator-Programms umsetzen konnten.…

[riffrelevant]

WE ARE SENTINELS - New Project With Matt Barlow (Ex-Iced Earth) - Reveals Debut Details

WE ARE SENTINELS – New Project With Matt Barlow (Ex-Iced Earth) – Reveals Debut Details

(By Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker, Senior Writer/Journalist, RiffRelevant.com)

WE ARE SENTINELS is the new project of former Iced Earth / current Ashes Of Ares vocalist Matt Barlow and keyboardist and pianist Jonah Weingarten (Teramaze, Pyramaze). (more…)

[churchofsatannews]

SYNNOCENCE: "DOLL"

SYNNOCENCE: “DOLL”

It’s here! The debut single “Doll” from power couple Lorcan & Trini Black. The project is called Synnocence. “Doll” features VERY special guest, Jonah Weingarten (Pyramaze, We Are Sentinels & Catalyst Crime) who went…above and BEYOND anything that could EVER be envisioned on Keyboards & Orchestral Drums for this song. We hope you enjoy it and please, like and purchase it on our Bandcamp and…

[metalcultbrigade]

Matt Barlow, vocalista do Ashes of Ares, ex-Cauldron, ex-Schaffer / Barlow Project, First State Force Band, Matt Barlow / Jonah Weingarten, ex-Iced Earth, ex-Pyramaze, completa 52 anos nesta data. https://www.instagram.com/p/Ca7-JuzJtUF/?utm_medium=tumblr

[theart2rock]

Ashes Of Ares veröffentlichen "Emperors And Fools"

Neun Jahre nach der Gründung von ASHES OF ARES kehren Matt Barlow und Freddie Vidales mit ihrem dritten Full-Length-Album “Emperors And Fools” zurück. Auf diesem Werk bringt das Duo die Dunkelheit und Aggression des Vorgängers “Well Of Souls” auf eine höhere Stufe. Der Schreibprozess begann fast unmittelbar nach dessen Veröffentlichung. Wie immer war es eine echte Zusammenarbeit zwischen den beiden, mit individuellen Ideen, die sich nach und nach im Team entwickelten und zu dem Resultat verfeinert wurden, das die beiden auf “Emperors And Fools” präsentieren. Der Albumflow soll die Hörer bei Laune halten, während er von schnellen, schweren, hämmernden Hymnen zu düsteren, melancholisch-emotionalen Stücke wechselt. Das Album endet mit dem elfminütigen Epos ‘Monster’s Lament’, das die lang ersehnte Zusammenführung von Matt Barlow und Tim Ripper Owens bringt! Und auch an den Drums hört man mit Van Williams einen bekannten Namen.

“Emperors And Fools” erscheint am 21.01.2022 als Digipak-CD, auf 300 Stück limitiertes türkis-schwarzes Splatter-Vinyl, ebenfalls auf 300 Stück limitiertes rot-schwarzes Splatter-Vinyl, als digitaler Stream und Download.

• Produced by Ashes of Ares • Mixed and mastered by Byron Filson at Villain Recording, Phoenix, Arizona • Drums recorded by Ed Warrin of LCS Productions • Artwork by Kamil Pietruczynik

Hier könnt Ihr das Album vorbestellen: https://bit.ly/ashes_of_ares_emperors_and_fools

TRACK LIST: A City in Decay (Intro) I Am the Night Our Last Sunrise Primed Where God Fears to Go Emperors and Fools By My Blade What Tomorrow Will Bring The Iron Throne Gone Throne of Iniquity (CD Exclusive Track) Monster’s Lament

Ashes Of Ares: Matt Barlow – Vocals Freddie Vidales – Guitars, Bass

Gäste Drums on all tracks by Van Williams Keyboard intro composed by Jonah Weingarten 1st solo “The Iron Throne” by Wiley Arnett of Sacred Reich 2nd solo “The Iron Throne” by Charlie Mark 2nd solo “Monster’s Lament” by Bill Hudson Guest vocals “Monster’s Lament” by Tim Ripper Owens Keyboards “Monster’s Lament” by Brian Trainor

Quelle: Gordeon Music

Ashes Of Ares veröffentlichen “Emperors And Fools” was originally published on The Art 2 Rock

[epacer]

Voucher proposals expose rift in school choice movement

For two decades, a loose-knit group that includes some of the country's wealthiest people has underwritten the political push for school choice, promoting ballot initiatives and candidates who favor competition for traditional public schools.

But when a member of this elite group was elevated to education secretary, the appointment opened a philosophical schism that now threatens to shatter the alliance, turn billionaires against each other and possibly lead some school-choice advocates to join with teachers' unions, their archenemies.

Fueling the split is the anticipation of a plan from President Donald Trump's administration that could offer parents federal dollars to send their children to private schools, including religious and for-profit institutions.

"As much as we are aligned on change, we aren't always aligned on how much change or how. Sometimes we fight," said Derrell Bradford, executive vice president of the school-reform group 50CAN.

The movement has been cleaved into two camps: those who want to use choice to improve public schools and others, like Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who want to go further by allowing tax money to flow to private schools through vouchers, government-funded scholarships or corporate tax credits.

The differences that once seemed minor are at the heart of a potential seismic shift in the school-choice movement.

School-choice programs were first proposed in the 1950s by Nobel Prize-winning free-market economist Milton Friedman. Since the beginning of this century, they have grown quickly, although the overwhelming majority of students still attend traditional public schools.

Thirty states plus Washington, D.C., have some combination of vouchers, government-subsidized education savings accounts or tax credits that help families afford private-school tuition or encourage private groups to fund scholarships, according to EdChoice, an advocacy group founded by Friedman and his wife.

Still, less than 1 percent of children in kindergarten through high school used vouchers to attend private schools in 2015. Just 5 percent of students were in charter schools that year, when charters were operating in more than 40 states. That's up from about 3 percent in 2008, according to the Department of Education.

Charter schools are public but in several states are not held to the same accountability standards as traditional schools, which in theory gives them more freedom to innovate.

When standardized test scores of children who switched to charter schools or used vouchers are compared with those of students who remained in traditional public schools, some results have been promising. Other studies have shown little effect or even worse outcomes.

___

THE BIGGEST DONORS

Wal-Mart's Walton family, Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad and the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates have been some of the largest political contributors to the school-reform movement, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of campaign-finance records compiled by the National Institute on Money in State Politics and state campaign-finance regulators.

Microsoft's Bill Gates avoids political contributions. His family's massive foundation — which his father, Bill Gates Sr., co-chairs — is a major contributor to education-reform nonprofits. The elder Gates contributes personally as well.

In the past, contributions have flowed to reform-minded groups regardless of whether they supported public charter schools, vouchers for private schools or a combination. Now those funders are beginning to split into competing camps.

Groups such as Stand for Children, which pushes for charter schools among other educational changes, are being more vocal now because "the level of ambition of the efforts to expand vouchers is so high," said Jonah Edelman, co-founder and chief executive, who called the voucher proposals "a dramatic effort to undermine public education."

Edelman, whose organization receives part of its funding from Walton, Broad and Gates-related charities and family members, said his group will fight any administration effort to promote vouchers nationwide.

Stand for Children has worked with teachers unions in the past on state-level measures to provide more money for schools and raise teacher pay. But its calls for more charters often put it at odds with the unions, which are powerful political entities in many states.

The American Federation of Teachers has had conversations with some charter school advocates it has opposed in the past about coordinating to fight a national voucher program, said Randi Weingarten, president of the union.

To identify those who have shaped the school-choice movement across the country, the AP analyzed the political contributions of 48 individuals and couples who have given at least $100,000 to related statewide ballot measure campaigns. That group accounted for the majority of reported contributions to campaigns favoring school-choice initiatives from 2000 through last year. The donors nearly matched all the measures' opponents.

The group also wields political clout in addition to school-related ballot initiatives.

The AP analysis showed that the same wealthy funders contributed a total of more than $200 million from 2007 through last year to candidates and political action committees, some of which are supporters of school choice.

The funders are from a variety of industries and regions, with a concentration of investors and tech innovators from Seattle and Silicon Valley. Some give millions more to research centers, legal funds, foundations, charter schools and scholarships that promote pieces of the cause.

Political campaigns often are a clash of titans. The nation's two largest teachers' unions — the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers, which have 4.5 million members combined — contributed $573 million to campaigns and political action committees over the same 10-year period, much of it designed to counter the spending of the wealthy families and their affiliated groups.

Both unions and school-choice advocates also made independent political expenditures, which are impossible to tally because the details are not required to be reported in many states.

___

THE HEART OF THE DEBATE

For the past decade, school-choice supporters have split over the merits of private-school vouchers versus public charter schools, according to William Oberndorf, a San Francisco investor, major contributor to the movement and chairman of the American Federation for Children, which was led by DeVos until last year.

He urged all school-choice advocates to drop their divisions and support the core belief that choice in any form is a good thing if it lets parents make decisions about what is best for their kids.

"Most Americans have that already," Oberndorf said in an interview. "They have that if they have enough money to move to a good school district or send their kids to private school. It's really only poor people who don't have choices."

In a statement to the AP, a representative of the Waltons said the family is concerned about improving education quality for all children. It is not focused so much on how that is done.

"There have always been tensions in some quarters over the best ways to offer educational options to families," said Marc Sternberg, senior education adviser to the Walton family. "School choice is a means to an end and not the end in itself. It is about making sure those options — including schools within traditional school systems — offer the kinds of high quality, diverse educational opportunities so that every child has a real chance to succeed in life."

Other wealthy school-choice funders are adamant about improving the public education system and combatting any effort that would take tax dollars away from it. They object to being grouped with the supporters of private-school vouchers.

Nick Hanauer, a Seattle investor who had an early stake in Amazon and who spent $1 million in 2012 to support a successful ballot measure to allow charters in Washington state, called vouchers "a stupid idea." Consider that in the most elite private schools across the country, tuition runs $30,000 to $40,000 a year, he said.

"No voucher program is a $40,000-per-year program. It's a $10,000-per-year program, or a $6,000-per-year program, which means that voucher advocates aren't serious about delivering high-quality education," he said. "They're simply interested in making it cheaper for people who already send their kids to private school to continue to do this."

___

DeVOS DEEPENS DIVIDE

The schism between wealthy funders over private-school vouchers became visible earlier this year during the confirmation process for DeVos, a billionaire heiress who was nominated by Trump for education secretary despite having no experience as a teacher or school administrator. DeVos attended private religious schools in Michigan. Her children were homeschooled and attended religious schools.

Broad, a charter school advocate who has contributed at least $3.7 million since 2007 to political efforts to expand charters, wrote a letter to senators urging them to reject DeVos, calling her "unprepared and unqualified."

With DeVos at the helm of the Education Department, "much of the good work that has been accomplished to improve public education for all of America's children could be undone," wrote Broad, who declined to be interviewed by the AP.

DeVos was confirmed only when Vice President Mike Pence cast the vote to break a 50-50 tie in the Senate.

Overstock founder Patrick Byrne, who spent nearly $3 million on a failed 2007 Utah ballot initiative promoting vouchers, said DeVos was an "A-plus." Venture capitalist Timothy Draper, who put $23 million behind a failed attempt to bring vouchers to California in 2000, also had high praise for her.

"Having someone who really understands choice in education and how helpful that can be ... is going to be good for education," Draper said.

The sides have been at odds previously, including in Arizona, where in April lawmakers passed and the governor signed a law to expand a voucher program. DeVos's American Federation for Children made a total of $500,000 in independent political expenditures in 2014 and 2016. The anti-voucher Stand for Children spent $1 million in the state during that span.

The Trump administration has not released any details about a voucher plan. But early this month, Trump asked lawmakers to work with him to extend school choice to millions more children, including low-income Hispanics and blacks "who deserve the same chance as every other child to live out their dreams and fill up their hearts and be educated at the top, top level."

The outline in his budget proposal calls for $1.4 billion in school-choice initiatives, including $250 million to launch a voucher program. That money would come in part from cutting $9 billion from K-12 education, including teacher training and after-school and summer programs.

The Trump budget calls for eventually increasing annual school-choice funding by $20 billion. It's unclear how much support or opposition such a plan will generate, in part because most people don't know much about the topic. A poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and released this week found that 58 percent of respondents said they knew little or nothing at all about charter schools and two-thirds reported the same about private school voucher programs.

In her first major policy address as education secretary, DeVos said allowing parents to decide where their children will be educated is essential, whether they choose homeschooling, traditional schools, magnets, charters, online schools or private schools.

"I think that the first and most important measure of accountability to the public is to the parents in general, right?" said DeVos. *Reposted article from the Associated Press by Geoff Mulvihill of May 13, 2017

[betterthinkaboutittwice]

MATT BARLOW AND JONAH WEINGARTEN ARE COLLABORATING FOR A GROUP AND THEY’RE GONNA RELEASE AN ALBUM THIS YEAR

FUCK I’M SO EXCITED

[nofatclips]

20 Second Century by Pyramaze from the album Contingent

[metalindex-hu]

Azure Emote – The Third Perspective (2020)

Azure Emote – The Third Perspective (2020) - https://metalindex.hu/2021/06/10/azure-emote-the-third-perspective-2020/ -

Az Azure Emote soraiban a tengerentúli death metal underground ismert arcai szövetkeztek, hogy a saját értelmezésükben prezentálják a műfaj progresszív – vagy akár nevezhetjük akár avantgárdnak is – vonalát. Mike Hrubovcak énekes bő húsz éve aktív a színtéren, és olyan csapatokban tette le a névjegyét, a floridai Monstrosity, Divine Rapture, Hypoxia, illetve a House by the Cemetary. Mike Heller dobost a többség a brit heavy metal legenda Raven ütőseként ismerheti, aki a Gallagher tesók mögül három évtized után távozott Joe Hasselvander helyét vette át. De neve ismerős lehet a Fear Factory dobosaként is, hiszen Dinoék legutóbbi kéz albumát ő ütötte fül is, illetve számtalan, az alsóbb régiókban működő death metal formációban (System Divide, Malignancy, Kalopsia, Gorepunch, Amahiru…stb) is közreműködik. A banda harmadik tagja Ryan Moll gitáros – basszusgitáros, akinek a nevéhez olyan zenekarok fűzhetőek, mint a Divine Rapture, In The Fire, Molgah, Total Fucking Destroy és még számtalan kevésbé ismertebb formáció.

A The Third Perspective a banda harmadik nagylemeze. A lemez ugyan tavaly tavasszal jelent meg, de csak pár hete jutott el hozzám, szó nélkül pedig nem mehetek el mellette. Manapság a műfajban virágzó trend a death metal határainak tágítása címén blackes riffeket legyártani, és Lovecrafti szövegi koncepcióba bújtatva nyolc-tíz perces kaotikus hangzavarral előállni. Emellett persze nem árt maszkok, álarcok mögé rejtőzni, ezek hiányában felkapni egy kapucnit, netán szimplán hátat fordítani a fotósnak, és monogramokat, illetve kevesebb kreativitás esetén akár egy mássalhangzót használva elnevezni magunkat. Minél kaotikusabb és hosszabb egy-egy lemez, annál inkább garantált az undergroundban ünnepelt pozíció. Sajnos ezzel a törekvéssel nem tudok mit kezdeni. Az Azure Emote azonban nem vetemedik efféle trükkök bevetésére. Bár a szűk háromnegyed órás lemezükön két tíz perc feletti kompozíció is terpeszkedik, a további négy tétel viszont a sztenderd öt-hat perces menetidőre lett bekalibrálva. A tagok zenekarainak ismeretében felesleges ömlengenem a technikai felkészültségről, a hangszerkezelés fortélyairól, ezeket ugyanis ilyen figuráknál készpénznek vehetjük.

Hogy azonban valami banálisat okosságot is mondjak: A technikával ellentétben azonban a hangulat megformálása és a dalszerzés maga nem tanulhatók, legfeljebb fejleszthetők. Az Azure Emote szerzeményei ugyan nem matematikai feladványok, de nem is a hétköznapi, okostelefonokon matató hallgatók képezik a célközönséget. A Loss című nyitódal első részében kiemelt szerep jut a leginkább az osztrák Visions Of Atlantis soraiban megismert Melissa Ferlaak énekesnőnek, akinek kristálytiszta szopránja érdekes kontrasztot képez a technikás death metal alapokkal. A dalokat egyébként rendszeresen gazdagítják olyan vendégzenészek, akiknek nem sok közük van a technikás death metalhoz. Kiemelt szerep jut például a dán Pyramaze billentyűsének, Jonah Weingartennek, illetve a Curse Of Life-ban visszatérő szólómotívumok ütik fel a fejüket Pete Johansen hegedűjének köszönhetően. Ezek mellett Kelly Conlon (Monstrosity, Death) jóvoltából a Three Six Nine-ban fúvós hangszerekre is felkaphatjuk a fejünket. A jól sikerült keverésnek hála, ezek a metal idegen instrumentumok sem vesznek el a hangképben, minden tisztán, áttekinthetően szól.

A leírtak alapján kaotikus jelleget ölthet a formáció muzsikája, azonban a csapat nem céltalan, sehová sem vezető kollázsokat pakolt a korongra, hanem a végletekig kidolgozott, a szó eredeti értelmében progresszív zenével állt elő. A The Third Perspective-hez nyitott fülekkel, előzetes elvárások nélkül érdemes közelíteni, rászánva az időt, háttérzenének viszont nem alkalmas!

[aormetalrock]

Ashes of Ares - Well of Souls (2018)

Ashes of Ares – Well of Souls (2018)

Ashes Of Are return with their second studio album. The band won the guest musician Jonah Weingarten for their new album (We Are Sentinels, Pyramize). In addition, there is the cover version “You kow my name” on “Well of souls”, this is a tribute to Chris Cornell. (more…)

[musicnachrichten-blog]

Das legendäre Metal-Due ASHES OF ARES veröffentlichen ihr zweites Album

ASHES OF ARES kehren mit dem lang erwarteten Nachfolger ihres selbstbetitelten Debütalbums zurück. "Well of Souls" präsentiert eine erhöhte Intensität und einen breiteren Sound, der auf dem Fundament des ersten Albums aufbaut und die Songwriting-Partnerschaft von Matt Barlow und Freddie Vidales weiter festigt. Van Williams, ehemaliges Ashes Of Ares-Mitglied und enger Freund, steuert die hämmernden Drum-Beats bei, während Jonah Weingarten von Anfang an mit einem mitreißenden Intro auf das Album Stimmung macht. "Consuming The Mana" trifft dich mit einer Geschichte der alten hawaiianischen Kriegerkultur direkt ins Gesicht. "The Alien" folgt mit einem technischen Mix aus Harmonien und Riffs und erzählt die Geschichte des Auftauchens des mächtigsten Champions der Menschheit. "Unworthy" verdunkelt die Stimmung und stellt den perfekten Hintergrund dar, wenn jemand gegen seine inneren Dämonen vor der Entfesselung der Welt kämpft. "Soul Searcher" mit seinem eindringlichen akustischen Klang vermittelt den Verlust des verratenen Geschichtenerzählers. "Sun Dragon" nimmt das Tempo auf, während es den Weg eines erdzerstörenden Phänomens erzählt. "Transcending" wird zu einem kraftvollen, hämmernden Angriff, der den unerbittlichen Kampf veranschaulicht, den viele ertragen müssen. "Let All Despair", "In The Darkness" und "Spirit Of Man" sind eine Trilogie, in der der "Well of Souls" die Macht hat, die Erde vom Sterben abzuhalten. Die drei Songs bauen langsam zu einer treibenden, pumpenden Hymne auf und gehen dann zu einem melancholischen Ende über, wo das Überleben der Erde noch in Frage steht. "Time Traveller" ist eine geradlinige Power-Metal-Science-Fiction-Reise durch zukünftige Generationen. "The God of War" ist der schwere Abschluss, der seinem Namen gerecht wird. Der Bonustrack "You Know My Name" ist eine Hommage an den verstorbenen Chris Cornell. Als große Fans der James-Bond-Filmreihe und Mr. Cornell, waren sowohl Matt als auch Freddie der Meinung, dass ihr liebstes Titellied aus "Casino Royale" perfekt zu diesem Tribut passt. ASHES OF ARES sind: Matt Barlow - Vocals Freddie Vidales - Guitars, Bass Mehr über ASHES OF ARES: • Second full length album from Heavy Metal legendary duo ASHES OF ARES. • "Well Of Souls" is released by ROAR! Rock Of Angels Records (Monument, Enemy Inside, Outloud, Steel Prophet, Mean Streak, Panorama, Volster, Felskinn, Eternal Flame etc.), available on Digipack CD, 2LP Black Vinyl, 2LP Turquoise/Black Splatter Vinyl (Limited to 500 Copies Worldwide), digital streaming & download. • All songs recorded June/July 2018 and Mixed/ Mastered August 2018 at The Terrarium, Minneapolis, MN • All music and lyrics by Ashes of Ares except "You Know My Name" by Chris Cornell and David Arnold, Copyright 2006 Interscope Records. • Recorded and Mixed by Rob Oesterlin, Mastered by Jacques Wait, Produced by Ashes of Ares and Rob Oesterlin • Artwork by Kamil Pietruczynik • Guest Appearances by: Van Williams (Ghost Ship Octavius, ex-Nevermore): Drums, Jonah Weingarten (We Are Sentinels, Pyramaze, Teramaze): Keyboard intro composition. Tracklist "Well Of Souls": 1. Consuming The Mana 2. The Alien 3. Unworthy 4. Soul Searcher 5. Sun Dragon 6. Transcending 7. Let All Despair 8. In The Darkness 9. Spirit Of Man 10. Time Traveler 11. The God Of War 12. You Know My Name (Bonus Track) ASHES OF ARES Well Of Souls ROAR! / Soulfood VÖ: 09.11.2018 www.facebook.com/ahesofares www.ashesofares.com Gordeon Music Read the full article