Eminent German Heavy Metal Guitar Wizard Axel Rudi Pell, who has sold over 1.5 million albums as a solo artist since his 1989 debut, is set to release his stunningly good 15th studio album, ‘Into The Storm’, on January 20th on Steamhammer / SPV. ‘Into The Storm’, indubitably one his finest albums ever, is more than worthy of marking the 25th anniversary of the incredibly accomplished Axel Rudi Pell band, long-time stars of the German and European melodic metal scene. The Axel Rudi Pell band, who sold out their Camden Underworld gig in April 2012, will then headline London’s Garage on 9th February, (ably supported by illustrious label mates Rebellious Spirit), as part of an extensive European headline tour.
Explaining his constantly driven musical motivation Axel states that “There hasn’t been one day of my life when I haven’t been pushed by Ronnie James Dio’s spirit to write something mystical.” Not that creativity comes at the flick of a switch for Pell, who states that “I couldn’t sit down with it and compose from nine to five; that doesn’t work for me.” However, by harnessing advancements in modern technology, Axel was easily able to capture all moments of inspiration whenever and wherever he wanted; “My cell phone is almost like a mobile recording studio, it’s always busy. And this time things worked particularly well.”
In July 2013, after 15 great years together, Axel unfortunately had to part ways with drummer Mike Terrana, when their schedules could not match up, but there was no major fall-out; “We’re all professionals and we behave like professionals” proudly notes Pell. Top of Axel’s tub-thumper replacement wish-list was Brooklyn born sticksman Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult etc), who had always been one of his favourite drummers. Fortunately, “Bobby had heard a lot about me and immediately joined”, recalls Pell, continuing “Bobby fell in love with the new songs head over heels, I didn’t have to tell him what to do, he did everything right the first time.” The addition of Rondinelli to the line-up, has definitely brought fresh blood into the band, which may explain why US vocalist Johnny Gioli is also raving about the new opus; “I think ‘Into The Storm’ is one the best ARP albums ever.”
Abounding among the multiple outstanding tracks on ‘Into The Storm’, are huge, catchy, up-tempo numbers like ‘Tower Of Lies’ and ‘Burning Chains’, elaborate, melodic rockers such as ‘Long Way To Go’ and ‘High Above’, plus soaring epic masterpieces such as ‘Touching Heaven’, let alone the ten-minute plus title track itself. Mention must also be made of the band’s sublime cover version of Neil Young’s ‘Hey Hey My My’. ‘Into The Storm’ will be released as a ten track jewel case CD, as a Digipak CD containing two bonus tracks; the glorious instrumental ‘White Cats (Opus #6 Scivolare)’ and a cover of Blackmore’s Night’s ‘Way To Mandalay’, along with a poster. The album will also be released as a double gatefold, black vinyl gatefold 2 LP + CD album, and in a limited edition (1,000 only) Box set containing 2 LP’s, the Digi CD, a flag, metal pin, patch, plectrum, poster, sticker and postcard.
Rider On – Roland Hyams – roland@workhardpr.com / 020 8677 8466 / 07768 156392.
www.spv.de / www.axel-rudi-pell.de
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