Firewind, the band featuring former Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Gus G., has released the official music video for the song “Welcome To The Empire”. The track is taken from the band’s ninth, self-titled studio album, which will be made available on May 15. The clip was directed by Panagiotis Kountouras, while the visual effects and post-production was handled by Media Distribution Partners.
Gus G. states: “‘Welcome To The Empire’ is the opening track of the album and an obvious choice for a single. Making the video was an ongoing work in progress as we filmed the band performance back in January. However, we wanted to blend in futuristic visual effects for the story and as I’m a huge sci-fi movie fan, I wanted to incorporate something along those lines. Our director Panagiotis Kountouras came up with the concept and we collaborated with MDP, a VFX company out of Hollywood, California. The story is set in a dystopia, where humanity has been surrendered to the New World Order. Two cyborgs are playing with the future of mankind in a chess game. Each move has consequences and technology will be the only winner. It was a really challenging production, but we love the end result. We hope you will too.”
Firewind recently parted ways with guitarist/keyboardist Bob Katsionis and singer Henning Basse. The group’s new vocalist is Herbie Langhans, who has previously played with Avantasia and Sinbreed.
With his charismatic voice, Langhans (Avantasia, Radiant, Seventh Avenue, Sinbreed) refines each and every last one of the new songs and infuses them with an expressive force that is remarkable.
Gus and Langhans got to know each other back in the autumn of 2019, when the Firewind leader was looking for a suitable replacement for Henning Basse after the tour with Queensrÿche. Just a few weeks later, the recordings for “Firewind” were a done deal, ready for Swedish sound engineer Tobias Lindell (Europe, Avatar, H.E.A.T.) to mix them in Lindell Audio Studios.
The result is impressive indeed. “Firewind” boasts 11 prime examples of melodic metal songs. The skill, craftsmanship and power bleeds through every note, a passion you can almost taste, with hymnal melodies as a particularly outstanding feature.
Track listing:
01. Welcome To The Empire
02. Devour
03. Rising Fire (music video)
04. Break Away
05. Orbitual Sunrise
06. Longing To Know You
07. Perfect Stranger
08. Overdrive
09. All My Life
10. Space Cowboy
11. Kill The Pain
Video for ‘Welcome To The Empire’
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