ATROCITY Covers VISAGE's 'Fade To Grey'; Audio Available

Long-running German metallers ATROCITY have posted an audio sample of their cover version of VISAGE's "Fade to Grey" at this location. The track comes off ATROCITY's long-awaited new album, "Werk 80 II", which is scheduled for release in Europe on February 29, 2008 (March 4 in the U.S.). Like the first "Werk 80" release, which came out in 1997, "Werk 80 II" features ATROCITY's interpretations of hit songs from the '80s.

Asked why he chose to include "Fade to Grey" on "Werk 80 II", ATROCITY frontman Alex Krull stated, "I had a good friend who belonged to the new wave scene for a while. She often visited me at home with her friends. That's why I knew some songs from the scene, too. This song from VISAGE advanced to become an absolute cult song with an extremely high recall value due to its minimalistic approach, the distinctive synthiebass and the French-speaking female voice. That's why we engaged the French artist Jensara Swann for 'Fade to Grey'. I like how the song became an atmospheric grooving juggernaut. 'Fade to Grey' is the legitimate successor of 'Being Boiled' from the first 'Werk 80' for me."

Asked if he likes any other bands from the new wave scene, Krull said, "I used to be a big metalhead in these days! But there were some dark and atmospheric songs especially the wave and electro stuff with heavy synthiebasses which I found quite interesting. After all, PINK FLOYD are my great heroes and they more or less influenced many of these synthiebands. I just always missed the heavy guitars, that's why you get them now! DAF is a great example for this, even if we didn't interpret them this time, but they really did some extreme songs. That's why we played 'Der Mussolini' and some other songs on the first 'Werk 80'. One thing which I recognized by doing this new album is for sure: many songs of the Eighties were done in great detail and done in an opulent way if you consider the technical possibilities of these days. One should give respect to that either you like them or not. Not for nothing is it claimed that even the mainstream music of the Eighties was done with ambitious arrangements."

"Werk 80 II" track listing:

01. People Are People (DEPECHE MODE)
02. Smalltown Boy (BRONSKI BEAT)
03. Relax (FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD)
04. Don't You (Forget About Me) (SIMPLE MINDS)
05. The Sun Always Shines on TV (A-HA)
06. Hey Little Girl (ICEHOUSE)
07. Fade To Grey (VISAGE)
08. Such A Shame (TALK TALK)
09. Keine Heimat (IDEAL)
10. Here Comes The Rain Again (EURYTHMICS)
11. Forever Young (ALPHAVILLE)
12. Feels Like Heaven (FICTION FACTORY) (bonus track for special edition)

Fans will get a chance to preview the songs on "Werk 80 II" one track at a time every single day on ATROCITY's homepage beginning on January 1, 2008 and ending on the "Smalltown Boy" single's release date (January 11).

World-famous burlesque dancer and Marilyn Manson's estranged wife Dita Von Teese is the cover model on "Werk 80 II". Check out the cover at this location.

Commented Alex Krull: "We took a lot of time for the production to get the best result. All fans of the first 'Werk 80' will like the second one too. This time we have worked together with an orchestra and a choir. So the whole album has gained a bit more of a classical touch, which I personally like a lot. Everything sounds very harmonic and organic. The work on this album has been intense and thrilling. On the first 'Werk 80' album we also used classical elements but we enforced this on the new one. Thus the electronic parts got moved a little bit into the background. We didn't want to do the same on this successive album but including new elements and developing our style. I promise you 'Werk 80 II' is gonna be a class of its own worth waiting for it."

Watch ATROCITY's video for the song "Cold Black Days" (taken from the 2004 album "Atlantis"):