SHADOW GALLERY Completes Recording New Album

July 24, 2009

Progressive power metallers SHADOW GALLERY have finished recording their new album and are currently mixing the effort for a possible late fall release.

SHADOW GALLERY guitarist Gary Wehrkamp confirmed to Roadie Crew's Thiago Sarkis earlier this year that the band would carry on following singer Michael A. Baker's passing, with D.C. Cooper (SILENT FORCE, ex-ROYAL HUNT) filling in on at least one track on the band's upcoming album.

"Mike was very excited about the new SHADOW GALLERY songs compositions and was eager to sing them," Wehrkamp said in a January 2009 statement that was published at Solada. "Unfortunately, he left us before he could begin. There is a possibility that he did a quick demo of one song a few weeks before he died. As for the rest of the material, we will have to find a way to honor Mike, and his legacy, and we feel the best choice is to continue and finish this album. We will try to make it as good as it can possibly be."

Michael A. Baker died on October 29, 2008 after suffering a heart attack. He was 45 years old.

Mike was a founding member of SHADOW GALLERY and for the past 16 years, helped shape the band's sound with his magical voice. Additionally, he made many appearances on rock records around the world.

Magna Carta Records in 2007 issued a "best-of" collection from SHADOW GALLERY, entitled "Prime Cuts". The CD featured 12 tracks chosen by the band, including a previously unreleased demo from the "Carved In Stone" sessions ("Rule The World") and edits of two tracks from the "Legacy" LP ("The Crusher" and "Colors").

SHADOW GALLERY began in the early 1980s under the name SORCERER, changing their name just in time to sign with Magna Carta Records in 1991. It was a young band joining forces with a young label. Both were doing something brave and fraught with risk: They were making music that is complex enough to merit careful attention, built around a compelling but oddly non-commercial blend of virtuosity and emotion, and saying that maybe there's a place in the world for something other than three-minute songs. SHADOW GALLERY uses its chops to tell stories — big stories, sometimes so big they have to span across multiple albums.

SHADOW GALLERY's fifth album, "Room V", was released in May 2005 via InsideOut Music.

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