Blackdiamond from Metal Shock Finland recently interviewed guitarist Simon Johansson from Swedish metallers WOLF as part of their Tribute To RITCHIE BLACKMORE week.

Some excerpts can be read below and the full interview can be heard on the audio player at this location.

Simon also gave Metal Shock Finland an exclusive, a title of a track from their upcoming album, as it is his tribute to Ritchie Blackmore.

On Wolf, Simon said: “We’ve received the master version of the album, it sounds just fabulous. We have some things to do like finishing off the cover, doing a video and everything that has to be done for the release. For me, it’s really fun to be part of the Wolf music catalogue, as it’s the first album I play on, even though I’ve been in the band for three years almost.”

Discussing Ritchie, Simon expressed: “He’s a legend in every aspect. For me the biggest things is RAINBOW, one of my absolute favourite bands of all time. If you have a top five list, I always put Rainbow Rising on it, it’s one of the best albums ever. The song ‘Stargazer’ is probably the best song ever written. I really love the way he plays and how he brought the classical style into rock. He inspired guys like Yngwie Malmsteen, who pretty much built all of his style on what Ritchie did, even though he developed it further. It’s always inspired me in my way of playing, he was a bit responsible for me starting to play guitar. Actually one of the new WOLF songs called ‘The Dark Passenger,’ I do my Ritchie Blackmore tribute on that one – I play the slide solo. I took the idea for the solo from the Ritchie Blackmore catalogue, so that’s my personal tribute to Ritchie. I think when you hear it you’ll see what I mean.”