Gli ARTILLERY pubblicheranno “Raw Live (At Copenhell)” a febbraio
Gli ARTILLERY non sono una band con molti album dal vivo, infatti, in oltre quattro decenni, ne hanno pubblicato solo uno. Fino ad ora. Quindi, quando deve accadere, deve essere speciale.
Ecco “Raw Live (At Copenhell)”. Registrato nel 2022, appena uscito dal blocco della pandemia, in uno dei più grandi festival metal del loro paese (e tra i più grandi festival metal d’Europa!), il live set dei danesi era impeccabile. Purtroppo, fu anche una delle ultime apparizioni dal vivo del batterista Josua Madsen, che morì l’anno successivo in un incidente stradale. Il concerto segna anche un punto di svolta per i thrashers veterani, che hanno recentemente salutato il cantante Michael Bastholm Dahl e il chitarrista Kraen Meier e si aspettano una nuova entusiasmante era. Ma, per ora, inchiniamoci di fronte all’esibizione mostruosa di Josua al Copenhell nel 2022 e ascoltiamo le parole del chitarrista e fondatore degli Artillery, Michael Stützer, a proposito di questa uscita.
“The year was 2022, we got the offer to play at one of the world’s absolutely coolest metal festivals: Copenhell. Everything had been destroyed by COVID-19 in the years before. So, 2022 was the year we got busy. g festivals contacted us, German TV and so on. Rockhard, Sweden Rock, Brutal Assault and Copenhell.
Copenhell was big for us. To share the stage with bands like KISS, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, it hardly gets bigger. We sat down and decided to get the concert recorded, it had to be as raw as possible, authentic as hell and the hope was to be able to use the tracks as bonus for future releases. Maybe as a live release. When we received the recording, we thought that the recording should be released as a concert, not as bonus tracks. Søren Andersen, our permanent producer, was put on the case. Sound levels had to be fixed a bit, but that was it. Søren said at one point, “Damn, Josh is ON FIRE!”. And he was!
Denmark’s biggest music magazine Gaffa gave the concert 5/6 stars and the headline was “The man is busy”. Josh played better than ever. Josua was killed in a car accident in 2023. Now the album is released, a little late, yes, but it’s a recording, which is as it should be when talking about Artillery. Raw, unpolished, straight in your face. Hence the name of the live record: “Raw Live (At Copenhell)”. Artillery has been around for more than 40 years. The final chapter has not been written yet; just wait, there is more to Artillery. For example, a Metalized tour with friends from Manticora and new singer Martin Steene, known from Iron Fire and Force of Evil, as well as a larger USA tour. The album is a tribute to Josh, as well as a clenched fist in the air to our fans. Thanks Satan. Thanks to Mighty Music.”
“Raw Live (At Copenhell)” will be released on CD, LP (black vinyl) and digital formats via Mighty Music on February 2nd, 2024. Pre-orders are available here