FIREWIND Announces New Album 'Stand United', Shares 'Salvation Day' Single

FIREWIND will release a new studio album, "Stand United", on March 1, 2024 via AFM.

"Stand United" will be available as CD, LP vinyl, digital formats and highly collectable bundles, including an autographed card, a FIREWIND cat patch plus a ticket for the band's upcoming European tour with MASTERPLAN. For every ticket bundle purchase, fans will also get the chance to win a meet-and-greet.

The official music video for the latest single from "Stand United", the album opening track "Salvation Day", can be seen below.

For more than 20 years, FIREWIND has enthralled heavy music fans with its exciting blend of hard rock and power metal. Razor-sharp riffs by guitar legend Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, ARCH ENEMY, DREAM EVIL),big hooks and solos meet the incredible vocal skills of charismatic singer Herbie Langhans (AVANTASIA, RADIANT, SEVENTH AVENUE),who joined the band in 2019.

"Stand United" features nine brand new songs produced with Dennis Ward (MAGNUM, UNISONIC),as well as a cover of the 1980s pop rock classic "Talking In Your Sleep", originally recorded by THE ROMANTICS but given a metal twist in the style of FIREWIND. FIREWIND's tenth studio album also bears testament to the band's sheer enthusiasm and lyrical topics that could not be more relevant.

"I wouldn't exactly call 'Stand United' a classic concept album, but the album title indicates what we're about thematically," explains Gus, who has also contributed with more lyric ideas on this album than he did to any prior LP. "This world seems to be getting more and more out of balance, what with environmental disasters, the pandemic, the wars currently raging all over the globe. In such times, it's more important than ever for mankind to stand close together instead of fighting each other. That's what 'Stand United' is about."

This basic idea is also reflected in the cover artwork courtesy of Costin Chioreanu (GRAVE, MAYHEM).

Gus says: "I always loved the artwork of our debut album, which was based on a real hand painting. With 'Stand United' being our tenth album, I wanted an equally authentic template and that's how I came across Costin. The collage of faces on the cover represent war, greed, betrayal, but also love and unity, which are some of the album's lyrical themes. I'm just as proud of the artwork as I am of the songs on our new album."

"Stand United" track listing:

01. Salvation Day
02. Stand United
03. Destiny Is Calling
04. The Power Lies Within
05. Come Undone
06. Fallen Angel
07. Chains
08. Land Of Chaos
09. Talking In Your Sleep
10. Days Of Grace

FIREWIND released a concert album/Blu-ray, "Still Raging", on September 1 via AFM Records.

This past April, Gus was asked by Neil Jones of TotalRock if FIREWIND's previous single, "Destiny Is Calling", which was released in February, was a good representation of what fans can expect to hear on the upcoming LP. The guitarist said: "Yeah. I think it's definitely a good taste of what's to come. All the songs, I think, have that type of anthemic vibe to them. So, yeah, I thought it was a really good, strong track to kick things off."

In January, Gus told The Metal Voice about the musical direction of the new FIREWIND material: "I think it still sounds like FIREWIND. My goal was to make a little bit more anthemic type of tracks this time around. Because of the whole direction that was, 'Okay, let's work singles,' I thought every song should be a single. So I didn't write any kind of obscure type of tracks or didn't experiment in that type of area. I kind of focused on writing three- [or] four-minute songs that are very high energy, something that you can play in an arena in a festival in front of a large crowd. That was my philosophy behind this one this time. Which is good. It's not easy to write that type of songs. People think it's easy, 'Oh, it's so simple' and stuff. But it's not so easy to make that and resonate with a bigger crowd. So let's see how it does."

FIREWIND's ninth, self-titled studio album was made available in May 2020.

In early 2020, FIREWIND officially parted ways with guitarist/keyboardist Bob Katsionis and singer Henning Basse. The group's current vocalist is Herbie Langhans, who has previously played with AVANTASIA and SINBREED.

Gus and Langhans got to know each other back in the autumn of 2019, when the FIREWIND leader was looking for a suitable replacement for Henning Basse after the tour with QUEENSRŸCHE. Just a few weeks later, the recordings for "Firewind" were a done deal, ready for Swedish sound engineer Tobias Lindell (EUROPE, AVATAR, H.E.A.T.) to mix them in Lindell Audio Studios.

FIREWIND 2023 is:

Gus G. (guitar)
Herbie Langhans (vocals)
Petros Christo (bass)
Jo Nunez (drums)

Photo: Tim Tronckoe