"On Fire" is the blazing fourth album full of
power and melody from Italian metallers
Mastercastle, out
19 April 2013
On Fire is the smouldering new album
from Mastercastle. On Fire consists of 9
tracks of melodic heavy metal with neo-classical
influences from a band that has rapidly forged a
glowing reputation thanks to their previous 3
releases.
Led by the
powerful vocals of Giorgia Gueglio, the
virtuoso guitar of Pier Gonella and driving
bass lines of Steve Vawamas, On Fire
marks the first
release with one of the world’s most respected
drummers John Macaluso (Ark, Yngwie Malmsteen,
and James LaBrie). This new addition has given the
band a kick up the proverbial backside taking their
unique brand of metal to an even higher plateau. On
the band’s new member Pier Gonella comments, "John gives us
great energy because from the first time he heard
our music he was really impressed. He participated
in the composing process and his vast experience was
a great help for the albums production".
Once again all
lyrics were composed by Giorgia Gueglio, "I started the
lyrics with the intention of writing a concept album
with the title "Metals", concerning metals in
metallurgy, chemistry, alchemy and magic. But during
their creation I found my lyrics full of sentiments,
suffering and emotions. So "Metals" became too cold.
Many tracks have a title with a metal within, but
these are "warmed" by blood, my/our human warmth,
the passion of making music in a difficult world. So
the album title was changed to "On Fire". 'O Fire'
is a hot work, very human. On the front cover (also
created by Giorgia) you can see a metal hearth. It
represents our body that became real and can be hot
or burn thanks to our emotions".
On the new album
Gonella comments, "I don’t feel a
big difference to our previous releases, but I think
this is our most (and best) melodic album so far.
Our 1st album "The Phoenix" had a similar sound but
with more evident classical influences. For the 2nd
album "Last Desire" we moved to hard rock style and
less neoclassical. Our 3rd album "Dangerous
Diamonds" was somewhere between those first two,
with heavy riffs and powerful sounds. This new album
has our best work in the vocal melodies and their
presence, with a more "natural" sound, especially in
the drums. There are some classical influences in
the instrumental songs, and generally it has a
heavier vibe in many ways thanks to Giorgia’s
vocals. The production is also heavy but never harsh
and really emphasis the power this band has".
The writing
process for On Fire began 3 months after the release
of "Dangerous Diamonds" in February 2012
shortly after John Macaluso joined the band. Many
demos where recorded with John of the new material
before recording for the album began proper with
drums first being recorded from July 2012 to
September 2012. Gonella recorded the album along
with Macaluso aiming for a strong metal sound
without the reliance on triggered samples and
sounds. Guitar and bass recording came next before
vocals were laid down. After the mix was also done
by Gonnela and Macaluso before the album was
mastered the album by Pier with Simone Mularoni at
Domination Studio from late 2012 to early 2013.
On Fire
sees release on Lion Music
on 19 April 2013 with a promo video for the
track Chains to be aired in late
March.
01 – Silver Eyes
02 – Chains
03 – Platinum
04 – Quicksilver
05 – Gold Violet
06 – The Final Battle (instrumental)
07 – Leaden Roads
08 – Titanium Wings
09 – Almost a Fantasy (instrumental)
Giorgia Gueglio – vocals
Pier Gonella – guitars
Steve Vawamas – bass
John Macaluso – drums Guest musicians
Roberto Tiranti – male vocals on track 03
–Platinum.
Claudio Galbiato – male backing vocals on
track 01 Silver Eyes and 02 Chains