STORMWARRIOR - Norsemen (CD)

Stormwarrior are back with their new album "Norsemen" that offers Pure Viking Heavy Metal galore, and that basically ties in with their successful album "Heading Northe" (2008)! The prototype of title track "Norsemen (We Are)" can be traced back to the songwriting process between the albums "Northern Rage" (2004) and "Heading Northe" (2008). Back in the days, both songwriters Lars Ramcke and Falko Resh÷ft (now Falko Grau) couldn't agree on the song's arrangement and that's why the song was put on hold - until now. With the recent return of Falko to Stormwarrior, the band was finally able to finish what they started. The song now combines the spirit of the past with the newly found energy that's present throughout the new album. Several elements in "Blade On Blade" and "Odin's Fire" were also crafted back in the days. "Shield Wall" is one of the first songs that were written directly after the release of "Heading Northe". The guest solo on "Shield Wall" by Alex Guth, the guitarist at that time, was taken directly from the demo session recorded in 2009. "Sword Of Valhalla" marks the longest song of Stormwarrior so far, and continues the tradition of including longer tracks on their albums. For the first time ever, there are two songs on this album, "Freeborn" and "Sword Dane", that were not written entirely by Lars Ramcke. The main theme of the album is the life of Norsemen warriors: Starting from the (sword) fight to the relationship with the gods, living and dying as part of the shield wall on the battlefield and finally the arrival at mighty Valhalla. The band used the original and rare Siemens V72 and V276 pre-amplifiers as well as the W295 equalizer from the vintage German broadcast era in the 50's and 60's for the recordings of the vocals and guitars, thus creating a warm and analogue sound.