RAVEN: Deaths In The Family Force Concert Cancellations
February 8, 2007British metal veterans RAVEN have released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:
"It is with regret that RAVEN must reschedule all of their upcoming tour dates with the exception of February 17th in Brescia, Italy [at the Play It Loud Festival]. The reason being is that John [bass, vocals] and Mark Gallagher's [guitar] mother passed away recently in London after an illness, as [did] Mark's father-in-law. The Gallaghers' Mom's funeral was held Monday [Feb. 5] in London.
"This has been a difficult couple of months for RAVEN as they were really looking forward to their tour and seeing fans and friends again after so long. John and Mark Gallagher, as well as Joe [Hasselvander, drums], apologize and hope that everyone understands their need to be close with family at this time."
RAVEN was scheduled to return to the studio late November/early December to resume recording material for its new album, tentatively due later this year. The band last spring recorded four new tracks — "Against The Grain", "Running Around In Circles", "Breaking You Down" and "Necessary Evil" — at Assembly Line Studios with Kevin 131 (PROJECT: FAILING FLESH, DECEASED, DYSRYTHMIA, GARDEN OF SHADOWS) engineering and mixing.
When asked by a fan on the band's message board if the songs laid down during the Assembly Line session will be re-recorded for the upcoming CD, Gallagher said, "They are more than good enough to go on the album. We may tweak the mix a little but it's not really needed — they sound THAT good. Actually, I had half of 'Against the Grain' when we did the last album and finished it up a lot later. The production is clear — uncluttered and powerful. Very straightforward... kinda [like] 'Life's a Bitch' with better drum sounds maybe."
RAVEN's last studio album, "One for All", was released in 1999 via Massacre Records.
Comments Disclaimer And Information