CIRCUS OF ROCK : ‘Come One, Come All’ – debut album by new heavy rock supergroup project out 06.08.21 via Frontiers

Frontiers Music Srl is pleased to announce the forthcoming release of ‘Come One, Come All’, the debut album by Circus Of Rock, a massive new project masterminded by drummer Mirka Rantanen of Finnish hard rock group King Company. A first single entitled ‘Desperate Cry’ that features vocalist Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell) is out now.

“My influences for the making of ‘Come One, Come All’ come from a mix of artists I’ve been exposed to over the years, including my own bands and musical idols,” states Rantanen. “I love classic melodic hard rock and wanted to make the kind of music I could stand behind completely. The intention was to have fun with musicians I admire and have everybody perform great songs, and it shows.”

‘Come One, Come All’ boasts a killer line-up of guest singers and musicians, with the talents involved coming from groups such as Amaranthe, Tyketto, Hardline, Nightwish, Leverage, Stratovarius, Brother Firetribe and Masterplan. In regard to the recording process, Rantanen explains that “I laid down the drums and then everyone added their parts in different studios or at home. The album features almost forty musicians, so it was a bit of a challenge to keep everything in order, with dozens of tracks sometimes arriving on the same day. I worked closely with mixer Kimmo Ahola so that we both kept up to date with what was coming in. It was quite a job and I have to tip my hat to him for putting this puzzle together.”

The record’s first single, ‘Desperate Cry’, is a poignant song for Rantanen. “It is written by songwriter/guitarist Ade Manninen, who unfortunately died of cancer in early May. The guy in the video is a ‘stunt guitarist’ because Ade unable to participate in the shoot due to his health. However, he is in our memories now via a few songs that he plays on. As soon as I heard the demo of this one, I was sure it would go to Johnny Gioeli as it fits his voice perfectly. It is about a relationship ending between two people and the pain involved with that, but, after Ade’s death, the story took on a whole new meaning for me.”

Rantanen had been thinking about recording a solo album for some time, but not in a traditional sense, opining that “people often think a solo album is mainly to allow the musicians to show off their magnificent skills and instruments. However, I wanted to focus more on the great songs that don’t happen to have extra drum solos. I also wanted to include fantastic colleagues with whom I have played over the years, as well as some great guest singers. My intention was to get an album released in 2021, when I turn 50, and this milestone is about to happen thanks to Frontiers.”

Singers and musicians appearing on ‘Come One, Come All’ include the likes of Jarkko Ahola, Rick Altzi (Masterplan), Kimmo Blom (Leverage), Johnny Gioeli (Hardline), Marco Hietala (ex-Nightwish), Erik Kraemer (Simulacrum), Mark Quee, Antti Railio, Pasi Rantanen (Thunderstone), Elize Ryd (Amaranthe), Tommi ‘Tuple’ Salmela, Riku Turunen and Danny Vaughn (Tyketto).

Mirka Rantanen has enjoyed a three decade career to date in the Finnish hard rock scene, performing on more than forty albums that include releases by King Company, Raskasta Joulua, Kotipelto, Warmen, Northern Kings and Revolution Renaissance. He also created the popular heavy rock band for children called ‘Hevisaurus’, for which he was awarded an Emma Award in 2011 (the Finnish equivalent of a Grammy).

COME ONE, COME ALL
TRACKLISTING
1  The Beat (feat. Riku Turunen)
2  Desperate Cry (feat. Johnny Gioeli)
3  Sheriff Of Ghost Town (feat. Marco Hietala)
4  Never (feat. Kimmo Blom)
5  In Times Of Despair (feat. Elize Ryd)
6  Crossroads (feat. Pasi Rantanen)
7  Caught In The Middle (feat. Danny Vaughn)
8  Plywood Covered Windows And Crappy Shoes (feat. Antti Railio)
9  Edge Of Love (feat. Rick Altzi)
10  Set Me Free (feat. Jarkko Ahola)
11  Everafter (feat. Tommi ‘Tuple’ Salmela)
12  No Reason (feat. Marc Quee)
13  Tears Of The Clown (feat. Erik Kraemer)
14  Burning (bonus track – digital release only)