Vandenberg will be in the UK on Thursday 24th August, where they will be playing a special album launch show at London’s iconic 100 Club. Then, the very day after, their new studio album, Sin, will be available through Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Records.
Ahead of that, the rock band has released their third single, from the new album, in ‘Light It Up’ – “I’m not a 100% sure, but I think it was Shakespeare who wrote that it’s always a good time to rock your ass off and Light it up!” exclaimed lead guitarist Adrian Vandenberg.
You can check out the lyric video to ‘Light It Up!’ here at RAMzine, alongside those to the band’s previous two singles.
Regarding the forthcoming album, “Sin. Just a tiny, three letter word but one with a very comprehensive meaning,” remarked guitarist Adrian Vandenberg. “Everything in between a little white lie and a murder. So, it deserves a powerful, heavy, epic song to do it justice.”
Every album paints a picture. Instead of utilising a brush and canvas, Vandenberg paints with towering vocals, earthquaking rhythms, and the iconic and instantly recognisable fretwork of guitarist and namesake Adrian Vandenberg. Joined by vocalist Mats Levén, drummer Koen Herfst, and bassist Randy van der Elsen, the influential axe-slinger delivers a vibrant, visceral, and vital vision on the group’s fifth full-length offering, Sin, brought to life in broad strokes of anthemic hard rock and airtight metal and produced by Bob Marlette [Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie]
“For me, music is very much like a painting,” affirmed the guitarist. “You have your ups, downs, lights, and shades. One song might make you want to jump on the table and party your brains out. Another song will inspire you to think. Either way, you’re thrown into a landscape, which my favorite albums still do to me. You could be in your car or at home with your headphones plugged into a sound system, and you’re in a different world.”
Recorded in Holland and Los Angeles with Marlette, Sinrepresents a natural evolution for Vandenberg. Scorching pinched harmonics lit up the first single ‘House On Fire’ as the groove underlined a chantable chorus from Levén,. “In one way, it’s a party song, because it keeps you tapping your foot,” Vandenberg exclaimed. “Mats added a different darker twist with his lyrics. It also envisions a person who’s frustrated about the things other people have. This person can’t control their anger and sets the place on fire.
“Like every other band or artist, we were forced to hold our horses when we found ourselves playing our part in one of those Hollywood outbreak style movies these past Covid years. Without having auditioned for a role. You’ll understand we were extremely eager to break out of the stables with a loud bang, so we thought it’d be more than appropriate to set the world on fire!” Vandenberg remarked of that first single, that you can similarly check out the lyric video to here at RAMzine.
Available in various formats including green LP, CD and digitally, the complete track listing for Sin is as follows: ‘Thunder And Lightning’, ‘House On Fire’, ‘Sin’, ‘Light It Up’, ’Walking On Water’, Burning Skies’, ‘Hit The Ground Running’, ‘Baby You’ve Changed’, and ‘Out Of The Shadows’.
Exploding out of The Netherlands and onto the global scene with 1982’s self-titled Vandenberg, the Dutch phenomenon notched an international hit in the form of ‘Burning Heart’, paving the way for seminal releases such as 1983’s Heading For A Storm and 1985’s Alibi . The band canvased the United States, Europe, and Japan alongside Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, Rush, Scorpions, Michael Schenker, and many others.
Sought out to join Whitesnake, Vandenberg famously ripped the legendary lead on the 1987 recording of the #1 smash ‘Here I Go Again’ single, that adorned the eight times-platinum Whitesnake and ended up touring the world’s largest arenas for a year-and-a-half when the 1987 album went through the roof in terms of sales. He co-wrote the entirety of 1989’s platinum Slip Of The Tongue and spent the ensuing tour sharing axe duties with none other than Steve Vai.
In addition to playing guitar on and co-writing Restless Heart from David Coverdale & Whitesnake, he performed hundreds of shows as part of the band for some twelve years. Speaking to the breadth of his output, he notably penned and recorded ‘A Number One’ as the theme for his hometown Dutch football team FC Twente. 2013 saw him launch the acclaimed Vandenberg’s MoonKings, releasing MoonKings(2014), MK II (2017), and Rugged And Unplugged (2018).
Vandenberg as a band roared back to life with the comeback LP, 2020. Among many highlights, ‘Freight Train’ gathered 1.6 million Spotify streams, while the record attracted praise. In its wake, Vandenberg welcomed Vandenberg (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Yngwie Malmsteen) to the fold. “He’s an amazing singer,” Vandenberg noted. “I’d heard him online, and we got in touch. It’s funny because his mom brought the first two Vandenberg records back to Scandinavia from England when he was in his early twenties— And he was a fan. He’s a workaholic like me. We picked up after covd and put the new album together. The spark is definitely there. “On top of that, Koen and Randy lay down the most solid concrete, grooving foundation that I could ever wish for. I’d say it’s one notch heavier than 2020,” he smiled.
Tickets for the album launch show at the 100 Club can be purchased here.
