Oct. 13 — The new year will bring a new album and live dates from Firewind.
The band announced Friday, it is scheduled to release its new album, Stand United, March 1, 2024 through AFM Records. In anticipation of the record’s release the band gave audiences a new preview of the album with the premiere of the new single, ‘Salvation Day‘ and its companion video along with the announcement of the new album’s pending release.
The song’s musical arrangement is an infectious composition that blends the best of the band’s melodic moments with its heavier leanings. The balance of those two elements makes this intense opus a strong new statement from the band ahead of the album’s release. It is sure to give audiences reason to be excited about the album.
No information was provided about the song’s lyrical theme in the news release announcing the album’s pending release and the debut of the new single and video. The lyrics provided with the song’s video hint rather overtly that the song is a commentary about the conflicts going on around the world and about the cries of those impacted by those conflicts. Considering everything happening in the world today, it is as timely as any song about the evils of warfare ever crafted by acts in other eras.
The song’s video features the band performing its new single in front of a wall of TV monitors, all of which show newscasts addressing wars and footage of various conflicts and violence around the world as the song plays over the visualization.
Guitarist Gus G. talked about the overall theme of Stand United in a prepared statement, in which he noted the album’s title is a call for unity of sorts.
“I wouldn’t exactly call ‘Stand United’ a classic concept album, but the album title indicates what we’re about thematically,” Gus G. said. “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!”
He expanded on that discussion as he addressed how the album’s cover art plays into the record’s overall theme.
“I always loved the artwork of our debut album, which was based on a real hand painting,” he said. “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!”
The announcement of the band’s forthcoming album came less than a month after Firewind released its latest live recording, Still Raging. That record was also released through AFM Records. The track listing for Stand United is noted below:
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
In other news, Firewind has a handful of live dates planned for 2024 across Europe. The tour, dubbed the “Masters of Fire Tour 2024” is scheduled to launch Feb. 29 in Frankfurt, Germany and to run through March 3 in Stockholm, Sweden. The tour will see Firewind joined by Masterplan, thus its title.
Tickets are available here. The tour’s schedule is noted below:
MASTERS OF FIRE TOUR 2024 || FIREWIND & MASTERPLAN LIVE
29.02 🇩🇪 – Frankfurt, Das Bett
01.03 🇩🇪 – Bochum, Matrix
02.03 🇳🇱 – Uden, De Pul
03.03 🇫🇷 – Savigny Le Temple, L’Empreinte
06.03 🇪🇸 – Barcelona, Sala Wolf
07.03 🇪🇸– Madrid, Shoko
08.03 🇪🇸 – Pamplona, Totem
11.03 🇩🇪 – Munich, Backstage Halle
12.03 🇦🇹 – Wien, Szene
13.03 🇸🇰 – Bratislava, Randal Club
14.03 🇨🇿 – Zlin, Masters of Rock Cafe
15.03 🇵🇱 – Lublin, Studio im. Budki Suflera
16.03 🇵🇱 – Zabrze – CK Wiatrak
17.03 🇩🇪 – Leipzig – Hellraiser
20.03 🇳🇴 – Oslo, John Dee
21.03 🇸🇪 – Malmö, Plan B
22.03 🇸🇪 – Gothenburg, Surr Arena
23.03 🇸🇪 – Gävle, Gasklockorna
24.03 🇸🇪 – Stockholm, Biblioteket Live
More information on Firewind’s upcoming album, its new single and video, and tour is available along with all of the band’s latest news at:
Website: http://www.firewind.gr
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/firewindofficial
Twitter: http://twitter.com/firewindmusic
