Following their anniversary live release, Still Raging, hard rock power metal band Firewind has announced a brand new studio album, titled Stand United, out now from AFM/Believe.
Just ahead of that came their latest single taken from it ‘Chains’. “This is the last single we put out as we’re getting closer to the Stand United album release,” said guitarist Gus G last month. “It’s leaning more towards the melodic hard rock side of Firewind. We hope you enjoy this track and get excited about the upcoming release! See you on the road soon!” The single is available on all digital services here and you can check out the official video here at RAMzine.
Stand United, features aforementioned guitarist Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil) and singer Herbie Langhans (Avantasia, Radiant), bass player Petros Christo (bass) and drummer Jo Nunez, on nine brand new songs produced with Dennis Ward (Magnum, Unisonic), as well as a cover of the 80s pop rock classic ‘Talking In Your Sleep’, originally recorded by The Romantics but given a metal twist.
Their forthcoming, tenth studio album finds the band filled with enthusiasm and employing relevant lyrical topics. “I wouldn’t exactly call Stand United a classic concept album, but the album title indicates what we’re about thematically,” explained Gus G, who’s contributed more lyrical ideas than on previous albums. “This world seems to be getting more and more out of balance, what with environmental disasters, the pandemic, the wars currently raging all over the globe. In such times, it’s more important than ever for mankind to stand close together instead of fighting each other. That’s what Stand United is about!”
This basic idea is also reflected in the cover artwork by Costin Chioreanu (Grave, Mayhem, among others). “I always loved the artwork of our debut album, which was based on a real hand painting,” said Gus G. “With Stand United being our tenth album, I wanted an equally authentic template and that’s how I came across Costin. The collage of faces on the cover represent war, greed, betrayal, but also love and unity, which are some of the album’s lyrical themes. I’m just as proud of the artwork as I am of the songs on our new album.”
He’s also please with what Langhans brins to the table.“Herbie has an incredibly multi-faceted voice that complements our songs perfectly. He also has a great deal of experience in this industry,” noted Gus G. “This combination makes it easier for me to develop the right songs for Firewind while keeping an eye on the business side of things.”
Tracks featured on Stand United are ‘Salvation Day’, ‘Stand United’, ‘Destiny Is Calling’, ‘The Power Lies Within’, ‘Come Undone’, ‘Fallen Angel’, ‘Chains’, ‘Land Of Chaos’, ‘Talking In Your Sleep’ and ‘Days Of Grace’.
“‘Fallen Angel’ is a song about the eternal battle between good and evil, a song about the temptations of life,” said guitarist Gus G, of the band’s previous single. “There’s been so many interpretations of all this.” Discussing the video he said: “Working again with director Rainer ‘Zipp’ Franze, we gave a biblical touch on the visuals and there’s even some choreography going on, for your viewing pleasure. Musically, I feel there’s a good balance of modern and classic metal elements which is where Firewind should be in 2024″.
Aailable on all digital services here and you can check out that video here at RAMzine, as you can Firewind‘s previously album’s opening track ‘Salvation Day’ that was a single and the track ‘Come Undone’.
You can order the album here. Following the album’s release Firewind will head out on a Spring headline tour in the USA.
