MetalForever.com recently spoke with ICARUS WITCH bassist Jason myers about the band's new album, Draw Down The Moon. An excerpt is available below.

Q: What can fans expect with your new release? How is it the same from earlier releases, how does it differ?

Myers: "You can expect to hear a band who are finally learning to write professional songs. There is still a strong emphasis on the hook and structure. The rhythms are tighter, there is less filler and layering and more direct guitar/bass/drum driven traditional metal anthemry. Those who like the earlier work of the band will not be disappointed. There are no radical departures of any sort, just more focus and less fluff. It's been described as darker too, which I may tend to agree with. This was definitely written from a dark place."

Q: How has the road been in support of Paul Di'Anno? How has the fan reaction been?

Myers: "The tour just wrapped a week ago and it was out of control. Something like 28 shows in 32 days, so no rest, tons of travel and a lot of hard work but the most amazing time was had by all. I wasn't sure how the Di'Anno fans would react to Icarus Witch, mainly because I figured a lot of them would be unfamiliar with us and since they'd waited 17 years to see Paul, the last thing they'd want to do is sit through 45 minutes of some other band. But I was proven wrong, the reaction was really warm and enthusiastic toward us in each city, bordering on downright fanatical in a few markets that seemed to have a larger number of people out there wearing Witch shirts. We talked to a few in each market who said they came to see us, drove X number of hours, have been into us since the EP. Things like that make it all worth it, especially when you've just driven 14 hours to get somewhere that you've never even heard of. We definitely laid ground work for returning to a lot of these markets on our own in the future."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Following is the official press release for Draw Down The Moon:

The third full length CD (fourth overall) from traditional metal stalwarts Icarus Witch, mysteriously entitled Draw Down The Moon, was released February 9th, 2010 through Cleopatra Records / Koch Distribution. The band was recently described as having a "Heavy influence of IRON MAIDEN combined with good old fashioned hard/rock metal production and great musicianship" by Don Jamison, host of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show. Perhaps this assessment helped land the boys the opening slot on original Maiden crooner, Paul DiAnno's first American tour in over 15 years, commencing this January 27 in NYC.

Britain's prestigious Metal Hammer magazine recently drafted Icarus Witch for both their cover mount compilation CD as well as an interview on their feature about the explosive rise of traditional metal with the younger generation of bands, referring to the Witch as "One of the best new bands to take up the NWOTM (New Wave of Traditiona Metal) standard and carry it triumphantly into the future. With such accolades, the pressure is mounting for the group to top their previous efforts, a feat which has been handily accomplished by the creation of this new album, their first since 2007's critically acclaimed Songs For The Lost.

With a few years of regional headline touring under their belt as well as supporting everyone from HEAVEN & HELL and COHEED & CAMBRIA to 3 INCHES OF BLOOD and TROUBLE on the road, the boys honed their live chops and discovered the formula for what translates to a frenzied crowd and what passages are better left for the headphones. The end result is a nine song battle cry called Draw Down The Moon which sees the band in a more mature, yet increasingly aggressive song writing mode, stripped of the extraneous bells and whistles of synths & samples. This is a back-to-basics, classic metal album with a raw, in-your-face production (once again with Eric Klinger at the controls) that owes as much to '70s Marshall overdrive and gothic tales of yore, as it does the '80s flash and modern metal trappings that have become de rigueur in this burgeoning scene Icarus Witch is alleged to have helped establish. Apparently the time machine has been set to reverse, and once you dig your teeth into the muscular framework of this future occult rock classic, you will forget about eras, genre tags and hype, and realize what truly matters most...this band knows how to fucking ROCK!

The tracklist for Draw Down The Moon is as follows. Audio samples can be found here, the cover art is at left (click to enlarge).

'Black Candles'

'Aquarius Rising'

'Reap What You Sow'

'Dying Eyes'

'Draw Down The Moon'

'Serpent In The Garden'

'Funeral Wine'

'Haunting Visions'

'The Ripper'