FIREWIND's 'Days Of Defiance' Due In October

Greek metallers FIREWIND, who feature in their ranks current OZZY OSBOURNE guitairst Gus G., will release their new album, "Days Of Defiance", on October 26 via Century Media Records (one day earlier internationally). The CD is described in a press release as "a truly ambitious and dynamic opus featuring some of the most brilliant guitar playing the genre has seen in many years.

A new video trailer featuring a clip of the FIREWIND singe, "World On Fire", can be viewed below.

The "World On Fire" single will be available for purchase on digital platforms starting on August 17.

Commented Gus G.: "Usually when we write an album we let the music come to us and go with the flow. Maybe that's why our albums have variety and you can hear everything from super-heavy songs to speed-metal shredding to rock anthems and ballads. 'Days Of Defiance' wasn't much different in the making, but this time we recorded almost all of it in our home studios, which allowed us to be more relaxed. That's why I feel the new album features the best performances by all of us. One of our main goals, though, was to get a bit more of an 'unpolished' sound and be more raw. I think we achieved it and that gives an extra heaviness to the overall sound.

"We mixed the album in Helsinki, Finland at Sonic Pump Studios. Nino Laurenne (THUNDERSTONE) and Tapio Pennanen mixed it and they did a killer job.

"We hope you enjoy it as much as we do."

In a recent interview, Gus G. stated about the forthcoming effort, "I think it's a little bit more of an angry record, lyric-wise [than 'The Premonition']. It's not like it's a concept [album] or anything, but it's [got] a lot of stuff about the way the world's going and all that bullshit we put up with.

"Obviously, I come from Greece, so my country is in a pretty tough spot right now — out of all the European Union countries. Not to really get political — I'm not interested in that — but it's a general thing. It started with the whole recession a couple of years ago, and everybody's been hit by it. Now, we're not talking about people losing jobs or anything, but it's just the whole general vibe of where this whole thing is leading. [It has] a lot of kind of heavier songs, a bit more raw production this time. So you'll get the vibe that it's a little bit of a heavier record, a bit more angrier . . .

"The new one is a bit more raw — kind of a bit more of an organic sound. It's one of those productions where you can hear every instrument very clear, almost like the band is playing in front of you.

"It's a pretty interesting production for a FIREWIND record. We actually moved out from [Sweden's] Studio Fredman where he [Fredrik Nordström] mixed all our albums. We did it in a different studio, so we kind of wanted a little bit of a different approach to it, a different vibe."

FIREWIND's 2010 lineup (from left to right in photo below):

Michael Ehre - Drums
Petros Christo - Bass
Apollo Papathanasio - Vocals
Gus G. - Guitar
Bob Katsionis - Keyboards

"The Premonition", the latest album from FIREWIND, was released on vinyl on March 8 via Century Media Records. The band's first-ever vinyl release contains one bonus track.

FIREWIND recently parted ways with drummer Mark Cross (ex-HELLOWEEN, METALIUM) due to personal differences.

FIREWIND's first-ever live effort, "Live Premonition", was released all across Europe in December 2008 and is available as DVD, 2CD and deluxe DVD+2CD set offering a stunning 22-song set filmed and recorded in 2008 in the band's hometown of Thessaloniki.

The 2CD version of "Live Premonition" consists of the audio portion of the main show on two separate CDs, available for the price of one CD. The DVD also features many extras such as behind-the-scenes footage, special acoustic live performances, promo clips and much more.