Arjen Lucassen (Ayreon, Star One, Guilt Machine) & Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, Devin Townsend Project) are set to release the debut album The Diary from their new band The Gentle Storm on March 24, 2015, and now they are pleased to reveal the first music to be taken from the record. You can watch the lyric video for the track 'Endless Sea (Storm Version)' premiering exclusively in North America at The Prog Report here: http://progreport.com/gentle-storm-endless-sea-lyric-video-storm-version/

You can also check out the Gentle version of 'Endless Sea' here: http://youtu.be/ml-v1bgMJDQ

The band had this to say about the track: "Endless Sea is the album opener and it serves as an introduction to our story-based album. Susanne, the main character, sings about her busband Joseph, who has just sailed out on another long voyage to the Far East. We are very excited to offer everybody a first taste of our forthcoming album with the release of these lyric videos. This is such a special album to the both us."

The album concept is a tale of love, loss, and separation told through the story of two fictional seventeenth-century lovers. A Dutch sailor embarks on a two-year voyage, leaving his wife at home in Holland. The only way for the couple to communicate and keep their love alive during the long separation is through letters. These letters form the basis for the songs on the album.

They are also pleased to announce that in advance of The Gentle Storm full band shows, Arjen will join Anneke for a select few European live acoustic dates in what will be quite a rare and special occasion.

17/2/15 Planetarium, Budapest, Hungary

19/2/15 Hard Rock Café, Bucharest, Romania

20/2/15 tba, Sofia, Bulgaria

22/2/15 K17, Berlin, Germany

28/2/15 Pod Minoga, Poznan, Poland

As previously mentioned, a full all-star band will go out without Arjen in March and April, and the confirmed dates and band line-up can be found below.

26/3/15 Melkweg, Amsterdam - Netherlands

28/3/15 ROCK Ittervoort Festival, Ittervoort - Netherlands

3/4/15 Hedon, Zwolle - Netherlands

3-5/4/15 Paaspop Festival, Schihndel - Netherlands

11/4/15 Paard van Troje, Den Haag - Netherlands

22/4/15 Divan Du Monde, Paris - France

23/4/15 The Garage, London - UK

24/4/15 The Musician, Leicester - UK

25/4/15 The Roadhouse, Manchester - UK

26/4/15 Prog-résiste Convention Festival, Soignies - Belgium

The Gentle Storm live:

Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) - vocals

Merel Bechtold (Purest of Pain, MaYaN) - guitars

Ferry Duijsens (Anneke van Giersbergen, ex-Dreadlock Pussy) - guitars

Ed Warby (Hail of Bullets, Ayreon, ex-Gorefest) - drums

Johan van Stratum (Stream of Passion) - bass

Joost van den Broek (producer, ex-After Forever) - keyboards

Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion) - background vocals

THE GENTLE STORM online:

www.facebook.com/TheGentleStorm

www.twitter.com/gentlestormband