Guitarist Gus G. (FIREWIND, OZZY OSBOURNE) recently shot some video lessons focusing on tracks from the latest Firewind album, Days Of Defiance. Check out clips posted by Matt Zacharis below:

Firewind recently updated their festival schedule for 2013. All confirmed dates can be viewed below:

April

14 - Mons, Belgium - Power Prog & Metal Festival @ Lotto Mons Expo
27 - Dortmund, Germany - Rock In Den Ruinen

May

5, 6 - Germany/UK - Full Metal Cruise

June

1 - Polesine, Italy - Pegorock Festival
7 - Sölvesborg, Sweden - Sweden Rock Festival

August

9 - Derbyshire, UK - Bloodstock Festival
10 - Berlin, Germany - DRK Rocks
15 - Dinkelsbühl, Germany - Summer Breeze

Metal Kaoz recently conducted an interview with Gus, who talked about the upcoming Firewind live album, plans for finding a permanent replacement singer, and about releasing his debut solo album. An excerpt follows:

Q: You have a live album coming out soon, right?

A: "Yes and it is in the mixing stage."

Q: How many songs shall we expect in this one?

A: "We haven’t decided yet. We have many recordings at our disposal and we have to choose the best ones because there are some issues to some of them."

Q: Does this mean that you will be re-recording parts that were not that good?

A: "No, because we have a lot of material and we will just leave outside whatever is not good enough. We did not record only the Greek shows but we recorded almost all the shows in the previous European tour with LEAVES’ EYES so we have a lot material to choose from."

Q: That sounds like a lot of work.

A: "Yeah, it is a lot of listening. After the shows in December I got in the studio and started listening to all the tapes and picked the best songs to use. A week ago I listened to the final mix and I liked it a lot except from some songs, so we have to put some additional work on this."

Q: Do you have a release date in mind for the live album or even a title?

A: "The plan is to release this sometime during this summer and there are some ideas regarding the title but nothing solid to tell you. We are working on the final mix, the cover artwork while being on the US tour, so I think the entire project will be completed after this tour."

Read the complete interview at this location.