BLACK STAR RIDERS' DAMON JOHNSON: 'We Have A Lot More Confidence Playing Together'

MetalTalk's Mark Taylor recently conducted an interview with BLACK STAR RIDERS frontman Ricky Warwick and guitarist Damon Johnson. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked why BLACK STAR RIDERS followed up its 2013 debut album, "All Hell Breaks Loose", with a second album, "The Killer Instinct", less than two years later, Damon said: "We just felt like we were fortunate to have a lot of good momentum, a lot of fan support, a lot of support from the rock press. Just the overall debut of our debut album was very, very positive. And we did a lot of touring, and we wanna continue to do that and we wanna try to grow that and build it. We just feel like we're more comfortable with who we are as a band; we know who we are now more than we did at the time when we went into the studio to make the first album. There was a lot of uncertainty, there was a lot of… 'Who knows what's gonna happen?' And it just feels like a proper band now. And we just have a lot more confidence playing together."

"The Killer Instinct" will be released on February 24, 2015 via Nuclear Blast. It will be made available in different formats: CD, limited 2-CD digibook, limited gatefold black vinyl and limited gatefold clear vinyl (available for mail orders only).

"The Killer Instinct" track listing:

Limited 2CD Digibook

01. The Killer Instinct
02. Bullet Blues
03. Finest Hour
04. Soldierstown
05. Charlie I Gotta Go
06. Blindsided
07. Through The Motions
08. Sex, Guns & Gasoline
09. Turn In Your Arms
10. You Little Liar

Bonus CD:

01. Gabrielle
02. The Reckoning Day
03. The Killer Instinct (Acoustic)
04. Blindsided (Acoustic)
05. Charlie I Gotta Go (Acoustic)
06. Finest Hour (Acoustic)

CD

01. The Killer Instinct
02. Bullet Blues
03. Finest Hour
04. Soldierstown
05. Charlie I Gotta Go
06. Blindsided
07. Through The Motions
08. Sex, Guns & Gasoline
09. Turn In Your Arms
10. You Little Liar

Limited Gatefold Black Vinyl

Side A

01. The Killer Instinct
02. Bullet Blues
03. Finest Hour
04. Soldierstown
05. Charlie I Gotta Go

Side B

01. Blindsided
02. Through The Motions
03. Sex, Guns & Gasoline
04. Turn In Your Arms
05. You Little Liar

Limited Gatefold Clear Vinyl (Mail Order Only)

Side A

01. The Killer Instinct
02. Bullet Blues
03. Finest Hour
04. Soldierstown
05. Charlie I Gotta Go

Side B

01. Blindsided
02. Through The Motions
03. Sex, Guns & Gasoline
04. Turn In Your Arms
05. You Little Liar

Pre-order your copy of "The Killer Instinct" at this location.

Ricky Warwick stated about the album title: "Life's not fair, never has been, never will. Sometimes you have to live with a killer instinct just to survive in the ongoing pursuit of happiness. Because nobody can do for you what you should be doing for yourself."

The energy in the studio from a year of touring, and BLACK STAR RIDERS gelling as a creative force has resulted in a truly powerful sophomore effort. From the Irish-tinged rock of "Soldierstown" to the balls-out twin guitar riffing of "Sex, Guns & Gasoline", rom the dirty groove of "You Little Liar" to the acoustic "Blindsided", this is a band coming of age.

Said BLACK STAR RIDERS guitarist Damon Johnson: "Nick Raskulinecz came riding out of the sunset like a Viking warrior, with his record collection and arsenal of killer guitars and amplifiers and proved to be the world-class producer we had heard so much about. Indeed, the rumors are all true. There's no doubt that Ricky and I had written a sizable number of songs, but Nick patiently walked through the full song list with the entire band and made sure we focused on the material to best represent BLACK STAR RIDERS in 2015."

BLACK STAR RIDERS will head out on a co-headline tour of UK and Ireland with EUROPE throughout March 2015.

BLACK STAR RIDERS were one of the first signings to Nuclear Blast Entertainment by Monte Conner — the A&R guru who signed acts such as SLIPKNOT, MACHINE HEAD, SEPULTURA, and RUSH to Roadrunner. Nuclear Blast Entertainment is a new U.S. partnership co-founded by Conner with Nuclear Blast owner Markus Staiger.

"All Hell Breaks Loose" sold around 2,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The effort landed at position No. 5 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

BLACK STAR RIDERS last year parted ways with bassist Marco Mendoza and replaced him with Robbie Crane (RATT, VINCE NEIL, LYNCH MOB).