UNISONIC - featuring former HELLOWEEN vocalist Michael Kiske, guitarist Kai Hansen (GAMMA RAY, ex-Helloween), guitarist Mandy Meyer (ex-KROKUS, GOTTHARD) and PINK CREAM 69 rhythm section Dennis Ward (bass) and Kosta Zafiriou (drums) - are geating up for the release of their full length debut album at the end of the month. Kiske recently spoke with Sweden's Metal Shrine about the album and hooking up with Hansen again. An excerpt is available below:

MS: Could you kinda say that AVANTASIA played a big part in you two guys ending up in a new band together?

Kiske: "Oh yeah, absolutely! It was just such a great experience. Kai is a lot like me when it comes to making decisions. It comes out of the stomach and if you´re excited about something, you want and need it to go on. You feel like 'That feels so good, let´s do something together!' and that´s the best way of making a band together. Not so much as 'We could make a lot of money together!', even if you can. You will not make exciting music if that´s the reason why you´re doing it. We could have done it ages ago. I didn´t even think people would still care, but for some reason they still do, which is great. But after 17 years and not even releasing records that suits that particular metal scene, I didn´t expect that response. It´s overwhelming to be honest with you. We just needed to be on stage together and to feel the reality of it and Tobias from Avantasia, he was making it possible."

MSCool. The songs for the album, is it all fresh and new ideas or did you all bring old stuff that was lying around?

Kiske: "Not really. Kai brought in some old ideas that he had lying around, but he made new songs out of it. Usually they didn´t have a lot to do with the original song anymore. Three years ago I wrote a song for my solo record but they liked it and they said 'Let´s do it here!', but most of the stuff has been written now."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Unisonic recently released a video featuring Kiske and Hansen discussing the band’s self-titled debut album track-by-track. The first part can be seen below. The clips to the other songs will follow step by step until the release of the album.

The band will release their new album on March 30th (March 21st in Japan).

Unisonic recently cancelled scheduled release parties in Hamburg and Bochum, Germany "due to the growing demand of promotional appearances for the debut album," upsetting their fans, particularly those that had made travel plans to see the band. They have since issued the following update:

"Of course, all tickets for the cancelled release parties will be refunded! Please send the voucher along with your bank details to the club where you purchased it, and the money will be wired back to your account. Again, we want to apologize for the cancellation. It was not our intention to disappoint YOU, our most dedicated fans, that´s why we want to offer you the following:

A meet & greet with Michael and Kai on March 29th in Hamburg, exclusive and free of charge for all the fans who already purchased tickets for the release parties!

If you want to attend this meet & greet, please send an email with the confirmation of your ticket to Jutta (release-unisonic@suefish-promotion.de), she will give you further information."

Check out the new video for 'Unisonic' and a promotional video clip below:

In live news, Unisonic has the following shows booked:

May

12 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Teatro Flores
14 - Antofagasta, Chile - Statix Rock & Soccer
16 - Santiago, Chile - Teatro Teleton
18 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - HSBC Hall
20 - Mexico City, Mexico - Circo Volador
27 - Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Rock Hard Festival

June

15 - Clisson, France - Hellfest
21 - Milan, Italy - Gods Of Metal

July

1 - Malakasa, Greece - Rockwave
12 - Vizovice, Czech Republic - Masters Of Rock

October (with GOTTHARD)

11 - Barcelona, Spain - Sala Apolo
12 - Madrid, Spain - La Rivera
13 - Pamplona, Spain - Sala Totem