Defenders Of The Faith, le forum Metal

Raven have unveiled the cover art for their upcoming studio album, ExtermiNation. The cover was designed by Jay Sharpe and can be seen below:

NWOBHM legends Raven are celebrating their 41st year as a band with the new album, ExtermiNation, which will be released in Scandinavia on April 22nd, in Germany on April 24th, in Europe on April 27th and in North Amrica on April 28th as a digipak version (incl. 1 bonus track), 2LP gatefold green vinyl version and download through SPV/Steamhammer.

Metal’s “three musketeers” have had an exciting 2014 – opening for Metallica (the band Raven took on their first tour back in 1983) in Sao Paulo in front of 70,000 fans, and completeing a 43 date headlining USA tour – not to mention completing their finest album to date – ExtermiNation “combines the melody/chaos/musicianship/lunacy that defines the band with songs that are simply the best they have done in decades,” according to a press release. Rivaling the “holy trinity” of those early albums, and again working with the engineering metal mastermind who is Kevin 131 (Walk Through Fire) – the band have taken their game to the next level..this may well be their 41st anniversary but these guys are only just getting started!

In commemoration of Bon Scott’s death 35 years ago today, Raven release a snippet of their new song "Thunder Down Under".

You can listen to the snippet here:



Tracklisting Digi:
“Destroy All Monsters”
“Tomorrow”
“It’s Not What You Got”
“Fight”
“Battle March/Tank Treads (The Blood Runs Red)”
“Feeding The Monster”
“Fire Burns Within”
“Scream”
“One More Day”
“Thunder Down Under”
“No Surrender”
“Golden Dawn”
“Silver Bullet”
“River Of No Return”
“Malice In Geordieland” (Bonus Track)

On growing vocals in death metal:

"I don't call them vocals; it's just noises. But, you know, that's my opinion. Everyone's got their own opinion, and all the opinions stink.It's like the old joke: everyone's got an asshole, blah blah blah. But, just personally, I wanna hear a melody in my music, and when I hear music without melody, it's usually rap. And I don't like rap. So when I hear death metal… I mean, there's some bands that have got guttural vocals that are wonderful bands and they have good music, but I can't get past the vocal thing; it's just not my cup of tea, you know."

On the physical demands of doing death metal growls:

"I'm sure it's not easy. I mean, you can say, yeah, anyone can do that, but to do it consistently and do it night after night, you'll [end up] with a sorer throat than I've got right now. So I don't envy that. But, to me, it's just not pleasing to the ears. It's like having everything ugly: ugly guitar tone, ugly drums, ugly bass, ugly singing.

"Hey, knock yourself out. I just… You know, we're playing music, and there should be songs. They wouldn't know a good tune if it hit them on the head, some of these bands."

On RAVEN's musical evolution:

"We've never stood still. You can instantly tell it's the band, but we don't sound… From album to album, it always sounds a little different; it really does. We do try to push the envelope and bring different elements into what we're doing. But it's a balancing act. You don't wanna completely — which, I mean, we've done it before in the past — you don't wanna completely alienate your audience or your mission statement, as it were. You know, the band's sound is built on melody, structure and chaos… When you put [the chaos] in, then that's when the magic happens. You've gotta have that little bit of uncontrolled lunacy going on there, and that's a big part of what we do. And it's a big thing that's missing in a lot of music today. I mean, we're listening to DEEP PURPLE right now. I mean, c'mon, man! That's the bible. You listen to 'Made In Japan', that's five guys interacting with ESP [extrasensory perception], not knowing what's gonna happen next. When I hear something that's just pat, the guy obviously worked his guitar solo out for six months before he went into the studio and it's all arpeggios and tapping. And that's all great, but is there any soul or fire or passion? That's what I wanna hear, you know."

Read more at http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/ravens ... 1ftvH0X.99

NWOBHM act Raven announced that their drummer Joe Hasselvander will not join them on their upcoming shows. You can read their full statement below but it is due to a sudden serious health issue. The band will perform with fill-in drummers on the upcoming tours.

The band said: "So...life can (and does) throw the occasional 'mother' of a curveball. Due to a sudden serious health issue, our drummer Joe 'the Baron' Hasselvander will unfortunately be unable to play with us on our current and upcoming dates. As you can imagine, the health and well being of our good mate & partner in mayhem is paramount in importance.

"However in order to meet our obligations to our fans, we will still be playing all upcoming shows with the assistance of some amazing fill-in drummers who have stepped up to the plate to help the show go on. Thursday in Chicago, Jimmy Mess from Tattooed Millionaires will do the honors, and the shows this weekend on the East Coast we are extremely honored to have Fear Factory drummer, and all around Metal legend Mike Heller behind the kit. And for the European tour, Kill Ritual drummer Dave Chedrick will do the honors. Please join with us in wishing Joe best wishes and a speedy recovery."