German heavy weights RAGE have come a long way from their inception. They ushered in the early to mid-1980s, along with bands such as Helloween, Running Wild, Blind Guardian and Grave Digger. That’s a long long time and it really reflects on their discography, which is a massive 23 album one taking in the new to be released album as well. For a band that has been doing music for more than 30 years, it is a commendable effort to put out a humongous discography of 23 odd records, that is just mental. Surviving some notable line up changes RAGE has been a constant dominance in not only the German Heavy/Power Metal scene but also all around the globe, playing a blend of heavy and power metal with a lot of classical influence RAGE has announced their forthcoming album to be released this summer. Can this summer get any more exciting!?
It’s been only just 14 months since ‘The Devil Strikes Again‘, their last album came out all guns blazing to much fanfare and appreciation, they are back in the blink of an eye with yet another record, their 23rd in line, ‘Seasons Of The Black‘, out via Nuclear Blast Records on July 28, 2017. How can one band possibly put out an entire record in just over a year is just mental and beyond me. But well yes, it is indeed a good news, fans don’t like to wait you know. So, RAGE has released a new music video as their first single off the new record entitled, ‘Blackened Karma‘(watch below) along with pre-order details and track-listing.
“This song attracted our attention already whilst the pre-production so we decided to take this as our first single back then”, remembers front-man Peavy and tells about the shooting of the video: “We recorded the video in Madrid, Spain with the famous company of Sôber guitarist Jorge Escobedo Sober (From Hell Pictures). The lyrics as well as the clip deal with the so-called ‘Butterfly effect’. In the end, all of our actions will come back to us and I think this is really well shown in pictures with the story of the robber and murderer in our video.“
The band has also included some bonus songs in the record, and they are from back in time when RAGE was still known as AVENGER. Peavy comments about the bonus songs as seen below,
“It was really nice to re-record the songs from my first years of being a musician! I remember quite well how the songs were created. I always thought that it’s a pity that most of the people don’t know these songs, just because they were released with another band name. For me it was always clear that these songs are kind of timeless and when we played them together it was really awesome! Back then, we couldn’t realise our ideas as good as today. When you listen to the new recordings you will recognize how fantastic these songs really are!“
Album track list:
01. Season Of The Black
02. Serpents In Disguise
03. Blackened Karma
04. Time Will Tell
05. Septic Bite
06. Walk Among The Dead
07. All We Know Is Not
08. The Tragedy Of Man – Gaia
09. The Tragedy Of Man – Justify
10. The Tragedy Of Man – Bloodshed In Paradise
11. The Tragedy Of Man – Farewell
AVENGER Revisited (Bonus CD)
01. Adoration
02. Southcross Union
03. Assorted By Satan
04. Faster Than Hell
05. Sword Made Of Steel
06. Down To The Bone
The album is now available for pre-order. You can purchase it in the following formats here.
01. 2CD-Digibook
02. CD
03. 2LP (black) in gatefold
04. NB Mailorder EXCLUSIVE:
05. 2LP (NB anniversary green) in gatefold
06. Digibook + belt bag
You can also get the digital version of ‘Blackened Karma’ here.
RAGE is:
1. Peter “Peavy” Wagner – vocals, bass
2. Marcos Rodriguez – guitars
3. Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos – drums
Blackened Karma Video Credits:
Directed by: Jorge Escobedo & Roberto Peromingo for “From Hell Pictures”.
Produced by: LittleClip Production Team
Script: RAGE & From Hell Pictures
Edited & Post-Production: Roberto Peromingo
Photography Director: Jorge Arribas
Camera Operator: Dani Pérez
Production: Héctor Pascual
Make up: Isa Rodriguez
Art Director : Paula García
