On the eve of their sold out Wacken Open Air festival appearance on August 6th in Wacken, Germany, Cleveland doom rockers VENOMIN JAMES had this to say about their arrival to the festival site.

"It´s a mind-bending sight", says guitarist Joe Fortunato. "Tens of thousands of rabid metalheads gathering together from all around the world to celebrate all things metal - huge riffs, thunderous drums and a universal feeling of belonging to something much bigger than yourself.

"We´ve just finished Day One with OZZY OSBOURNE, BLIND GUARDIAN and HELLOWEEN. It´s nothing that can be put into words. It´s the largest party I´ve ever seen and everyone is welcomed with open arms. That we have been invited to perform is so surreal and like a dream we do not want to wake-up from.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that we are humbled to be a part of. We feel honored to perform our music and represent Cleveland in the Wacken ´Holy Land´. Prost!

"I´ve seen pictures and heard stories about Wacken but there´s nothing that can prepare you for this experience", says bassist Erin Corcoran. "As far as I could see to the horizon were metalheads everywhere. Just the camping area alone is larger than my hometown!

"Even though Wacken is massive, it´s more organized than many small club shows I have played. I am looking forward to playing on Saturday and representing the Cleveland metal scene to the German metal vikings!"

The band is scheduled to play on August 6th at 12:15 a.m. (Saturday night) on the W.E.T. Stage. A fan meet-and-greet, sponsored by Relentless Energy Drink, will take place earlier that same evening from 7 to 7:45 PM, at the W:O:A Fanclub Stand on the festival grounds.

This year´s festival is being streamed live on NDR, Germany´s equivilant to the UK's BBC, and German TV broadcaster ZDFkultur.

Venomin James have released the track ‘Unholy Mountain’, the title track to their forthcoming studio album. Check it out using the player below:

VJ

Guitarist Joe Fortunato has released the following on the song:

“We thought it would be cool to share an early teaser mix of one of the new tunes we're playing at Wacken Open Air. This is just a taste of what our next record, Unholy Mountain, has in store for all of the doom fans out there. This specific recording and mix is at about 80% completed and we're working hard to finish everything for a 2011 release.

More importantly, though, this is a song from the last batch of tunes that our drummer Jared (Koston) recorded before he passed away from cancer last year. Our one overriding goal for the album is to use everything he laid down so every song uses his last recorded performances. It's been a difficult and heart wrenching time hearing his drums thundering through the monitors and not seeing his smiling face there with us nodding his head to the beat.

If anything, we hope people enjoy his last performances and understand what a supreme talent he is. We miss him terribly, and this next record is our send off to a supreme human being and our brother-in-arms.

Enjoy and Doom On!”

The band recently premiered the 'Make No Mistake' video, taken from the band's latest Crowe Valley Blues album, released late last year via Auburn Records. The video was directed by Venomin James guitarist Joe Fortunato.

"With this video, we try to visualize the Venomin James sound, and the atmosphere that surrounds our home base in Kirtland, Ohio", says Fortunato.

"To do so, we researched the esoteric, occult history of Kirtland, and incorporated imagery to tie into some of the better known legends. Our goal was to give the viewer the same feeling of uneasiness that they would get from wandering around the landmarks and fringe areas. The video references several historical events, including the Lundgren/Avery Kultland Murders of 1989, the construction of the first Mormon temple in 1833, Dr. H. Crowe and his WWII eugenics research with the so-called Melonheads, and a number of child abductions and murders that occurred in the area. We pay tribute to several classic horror films with the look and visual style, and kept some imagery intentionally vague, for anyone that might want to dig further. If someone asked me to describe the vibe of this place, I could show them this video and only be part of the way there..."

Check it out below: