BIOGRAPHY
Before we even start with all that nonsense how great and famous they are, that they´ve done dis and dat, that they´re still young and love rock´n roll….
It´s all rubbish, they´re cowboys from Arizona …..!
Some of it is actually true, TOB in fact comprises of members, ex-members and musicians of Alcatrazz, the Scorpions, Firewind, Jorn, Bruce Dickinson, Helloween, the Vivaldi Metal Project, King Crown, Metalium, Holy Hell, Nightmare, Kingdom Come, Tainted Nation a.o.
Ah yes, PRESS… 2025 – “Days Of Thunder” Silver Lining Music 2025
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Fireworks Magazine UK 9/10 – Album of the week! – A raw and powerful hard rock beast that hits with serious force. Blazing guitars, thunderous drums, and vocals that command attention, this one doesn’t mess around.
Dead Rethoric USA – 9/10 – So here we are with Joe Stump’s Tower of Babel. Boy that was a mouthful, huh? Well the new album Days Of Thunder is 100% USDA prime kickass metal, like Goose’s wife tells Maverick in the classic that is Top Gun.
As soon as I hit play I felt like I was in a movie, one where the songs just overpowered everything, ya know? Great songs, kickass leads, and powerful vocals are on tap for this rock patron and that’s just the first course.
Powerplay UK – 9/10
Power Metal Warrior PL – 10/10 – Tower of Babel has recorded an album that not only sounds like a lost Rainbow classic, but also brings a new quality to classic hard rock. Joe Stump proves once again that he can not only imitate the greats, but also match them in talent, feeling and artistic vision. “Days of Thunder” is an album full of passion, craftsmanship and the spirit of the 70s and 80s, presented in a modern, refined form. May this formation stay with us for a long time. In times when Rainbow is already a closed chapter in history, projects such as Tower of Babel restore hope that this music can still live – and at the highest level.
more soon ….
SOME HISTORY…..
It all started on a Sunday morning with Joe Stump, the Shredlord (Alcatrazz, Holy Hell), Craig Gruber (Rainbow, Elf, Gary Moore) and Csaba Zvekan in 2014.
Let´s make a great album and get out there and play.
With the addition of English/German powerhouse drummer Mark Cross and Mistheria, the Italian Keyboard wizard and mastermind behind the Vivaldi Metal Project, and with Bruce Dickinson on tour in 2024/25, the line up now formed a convincing and strong line up.
It is no secret that American shred legend Joe Stump is heavily influenced by the European hard rock masters Richie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Uli Jon Roth, Michael Schenker and Gary Moore and that TOB´s Music would take a turn towards this direction, a taste to the original work of early Rainbow, that had featured Craig and Dio at the time.
However before this promising line up could finish recording the album, late 2014 Craig was diagnosed with cancer and sadly passed on May 5th, 2015. RIP old friend.
The band was devastated, but decided to finish recordings of the album. Mark had already tracked drums in February 2015 at Pontus Egberg´s Studio (Bassist of The Poodles, Tainted Nation, King Diamond and The Treat) in Stockholm, Sweden.
Nicola Angileri (Vanishing Signs, Jorn) was given the Bass player´s position who recorded his tracks in 2016, another perfect match for the band.
Very excited on July 20, 2017 TOB released their first album «Lake of Fire» through Lion Music, which unfortunately did not last long on the market, due to disagreements with singer Zvekan, who took an unexpected turn demanding the release to be stopped for apparent copyright infringements threatening everyone and claiming the music and production to be his just two days after its release!
Zvekan obviously thought it all to be his and registered more than he should behind the band´s back.
But knowing the cost and consequences of legal and longterm lawsuits to prove the band´s right, they mutually agreed to let go instead of risking thousands of dollars to get their rights back and simply moved on, while Mark registered and trademarked the TOB logo under his company´s wings.
Shows had been booked and had to be cancelled since Zvekan wouldn´t stop harrassing the band and promoters for some time, trying to build a new line up around himself, re releasing the same songs using original Keyboards and drums of Mistheria and Mark, but that of course did not go well!
What goes around, comes around!
While the band was looking for the right front man, the young talented Italian singer Ruben Sacco stepped in for the band´s first performance at the MIC Rock Festival in Villapiana, Italy on August 4th, 2018 in front of 2000 spectators.
After a long pause, TOB finally stepped out of its shadows and decided to continue working, now under the monicker «JOE STUMP´s TOWER OF BABEL».
With the addition of French – Italian singer Jo Amore, (also of King Crown) who had recorded 12 albums with NIGHTMARE, the band landed a successful come back show at the MENNECY METAL FEST in France on September 14, 2022. Jo´s vocal abilities matched the band´s sound perfectly.
Stump wrote new songs and riffs and handed Mark the material who took the new production under his wings and continued working at his Studio “The Drum Dungeon Studio” in Greece where he recorded drums, created sounds and worked with Jo on vocals and lyrics. In August 2023 he took the production to the Studio Aspiotis in Athens, Greece and mixed it with George Aspiotis.
Mark added: “The album sounds fresh and massive! We´re all very happy with the result….. I am very pleased to have earned my band mates trust to produce the album the way I felt was right, and hope that everyone else will like it too. Yes it took some time to get it done, but I guess we all needed to take that deep breath since the pandemic had slowed us down a bit. But now we´re back in full, motivated and ready to kick some butt!
It was an absolute pleasure to have worked with George at his Studio, he´s a fantastic engineer who knew exactly what we wanted and what the album needed. Mixing on an analog console (SSL this time) and vintage tubed goodies was the right decision to be made for this album.
A real Chandler EMI and Shadow Hills can´t be topped. I know it´s all budget related, but we knew what we wanted and agreed to go analog.
We didn´t want to belong to the mainstream sounding like everyone else, we needed an identity.
What you hear on the album , you will experience live. We don´t need backing tracks, drum triggers or lip synced vocals like so many others and most importantly, we have a singer spot on.
The mastering was done by the one and only Ade Emsley (Iron Maiden, KK´s Priest) in London at “Table of Tone Mastering“
I honestly believe, it´s how you set your goals and where you want to go ….”
The new album “Days Of Thunder” has been released on Silver Lining Music on July 4th, 2025.
Grab yourself a copy here!
Joe Stump’s supreme six-string shredding skills are known throughout the rock and metal scenes, both as the lead guitarist of Alcatrazz and as the shred specialist associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and having torn new earholes with their 2017 debut Lake of Fire, Stump & co take it a step further and higher with 10 glorious slices of riff-driven, Rainbow/Deep Purple styled anthems.
Along with the soaring vocals of Jo Amore, the tight-fist-drumming of Mark Cross, the multi-dimensional Mistheria (aka The Maestro) on keyboards, and Nic Angileri nailing down the rhythms on bass guitar, Stump has once again prevailed in bringing heavy, energetic, yet gloriously melodic music to the table with a style and panache rarely seen in 2025.“All of my influences are the classic European hard rock masters, whether it’s Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker or Gary Moore.” offers Stump. “Naturally, the record gives a modern take on those classic sounds and is more of a hard rock album than it is a metal record.
”Released today, the title track and both singles ‘Days Of Thunder’ and ‘Rules of Silence’ propel themselves off with typically blistering Stump riffs which shimmer with dazzling technique, Jo’s great vocals, Mark’s killer playing and of course The Maestro destroying on the keys, it all matches up perfectly!” Watch/Listen to both singles, ‘Days Of Thunder’ & ‘ Rules of Silence’ here – videos by Very Metal Art.
On Days of Thunder, songs such as ‘Sacrifice’ and ‘The Princess’ dance the edge of speed and classic fireball rocking, the latter allowing some outrageous solos to unfold from both Mistheria and, of course, Stump, who proudly re-establishes his pedigree as one the world’s best axesmiths.
The mysterious and hazy groove of hip-swinger ‘Alone In The Desert’ is a smokey backbeat dragging you into its soulful swagger. All in all, taking a ride with Days Of Thunder is a Jedi mind trick of vintage sounds with ultra-fresh and vibrant sensibilities that will transport you back to the Hammersmith Odeon and the days when unabashed hard rockin’ talent, power, colour, and flare were celebrated and venerated.