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 24th, and following on from the release of the track "Endless Sea," they are pleased to launch the video for the track "Heart of Amsterdam" which you can view here: http://youtu.be/2q2Wx5H6wkg

Anneke had this to say: "'Heart Of Amsterdam' is a tribute to the city of Amsterdam, the home town of the story's leading character Susanne. Seventeenth-century Amsterdam was a center of shipping, shipbuilding, and trade. Amsterdam flourished, and a wonderful city was the result. We shot the video in the centre of Amsterdam. It was freezing cold and I couldn't move my fingers anymore during the last shots, but it was all worth it. I love how the video turned out!"

The Diary is also now available to pre-order in several different configurations, including a very limited white shirt + 2CD digipak, another shirt design + 2CD digipak, and the stand-alone double digi. All can be ordered here: http://smarturl.it/GentleStormIOM

Arjen & Anneke recently launched a series of video updates on the album, and you can check them all out here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDp_PtuyOwCaYwgK4molSQcOQZPrYK9Vc 

Watch the lyric video for both versions of Endless Sea below:

Endless Sea (Storm version): http://youtu.be/iPE3j6Gg_r4

Endless Sea (Gentle version): http://youtu.be/ml-v1bgMJDQ

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.

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.

March 26 2015 - Melkweg, Amsterdam NL

March 28 2015 - ROCK ITtervoort Festival, Ittervoort NL

April 03 2015 - Hedon, Zwolle NL

April 05 2015 - Paaspop, Schijndel NL

April 11 2015 - Paard van Troje, Den Haag NL

April 15 2015 - Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg DE

April 16 2015 - Zentrum Altenberg, Oberhausen DE

April 22 2015 - Divan Du Monde, Paris FR

April 23 2015 - The Garage, London UK

April 24 2015 - The Musician, Leicester UK

April 25 2015 - The Roadhouse, Manchester UK

April 26 2015 - Prog-résiste Convention, Soignies BE

June 19 2015 - Dokk'em Open Air, Dokkum NL

July 09 2015 - Masters of Rock, Vizovice CZ 

July 17 2015 - Night of the Prog Festival, Loreley DE

July 30-Aug 01 - Wacken Open Air, Wacken DE

October 17 2015 - FemME Festival, Eindhoven NL

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

INSIDEOUTMUSIC online:

www.insideoutmusic.com

www.youtube.com/InsideOutMusicTV

www.facebook.com/InsideOutMusic