German metallers ATROCITY are counting down the release of their new cover album, Werk 80 II, due out on February 8th in Europe and March 4th in North America via Napalm Records. Click here to hear a sample of their cover of BRONSKI BEAT's 'Smalltown Boy'.

The online single of 'Smalltown Boy' is now available through all Download portals such as ITunes, eMusic, Mp3 or legaldownload.net. You can also order it right here.

When asked about the cover, Atrocity leader Alex Krull commented:

"The original 'Smalltown Boy' sounds quite melancholic and very sad in a sense. After all, the song tells a story of somebody who is very different from the rest, has to leave his home and is about to make a new start. In the video from Bronski Beat you recognize that it is about the problems of homosexuals which are excluded from society. It is surely still a sensitive issue in a small town today, even if there are some celebs and politicians outing themselves as being gay. That’s not a surprise if you look at the Catholic church, still trying to segregate and condemn people because of that. It certainly doesn’t have anything to do with Christian charity if you want to forbid gay marriages and to denounce homosexual love. Where do we go to if we start to eliminate love? What the heck do this people think who they are? How can they dare to judge people if they even can’t have a partner in life themselves, at least in public. I don’t wanna know how many gay priests there are forced to conceal their sexuality. Anyway, for us as a metal band, it was clear that we had to enforce the heaviness for 'Smalltown Boy'. For me, you can interpret the song as of somebody being an outsider in society just because he’s got long hair or listens to heavy metal music for example. I guess many of us know this, be it a metal head, gothic or punk, to live with prejudices because of your favourite music and outfit and to stand outside society. I recently had to experience this for myself . It is unbelievable what a metalmusician is imputed and framed to all kinds of things. That’s why we perform 'Smalltown Boy' with some anger and I think that fits very well to our kind of music and the way we interpret the song!”

The tracklist for Werk 80 II is as follows: 'People Are People' (DEPECHE MODE), 'Smalltown Boy' (BRONSKI BEAT), 'Relax' (FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD), 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' (SIMPLE MINDS), 'The Sun Always Shines On TV' (A-Ha), 'Hey Little Girl' (ICEHOUSE), 'Fade To Grey' (VISAGE), 'Such A Shame' (TALK TALK), 'Keine Heimat' (IDEAL), 'Here Comes The Rain Again' (EURYTHMICS), 'Forever Young' (ALPHAVILLE), Special Edition bonus track: 'Feels Like Heaven' (FICTION FACTORY).