During a conversation with Ultimate Guitar's Justin Beckner, Firewind guitarist Gus G. discussed the band's forthcoming album, and his evolution as a guitar player. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

UG: On every new album, we get to see a little bit of an evolution in your guitar playing as well. Is there a riff or a solo that challenged you or pushed you outside your comfort zone, either as a guitarist or a songwriter?

Gus: "Yeah, I always go for that and try to one-up myself on every record. I don't know, I always leave that for the people to judge. Technically speaking, there are a couple of songs that are pretty demanding - 'Welcome to the Empire' is one of them and "Break Away' - there is a lot of guitars on that one, it's probably the longest guitar solo on the record. The thing that we were going for, and I remember talking about this with Dennis Ward who helped me produce the album, he said, 'Don't be afraid to add more layers and make it more busy on the guitar.' He was just advising me that it's better to have more stuff than too little and having it sound too empty. So, that and then some small production tricks that go into multi-layering and stuff like that."

UG: I read that, early on, you got a scholarship to Berklee and you dropped out a couple of weeks in. Looking back now, what are some things that you have learned about being a professional musician that school never could have taught you?

Gus: "A lot of things. That's where you really learn - out on the road. There are a lot of things, not just in the music industry, but in life, especially, if you want to be a touring musician, it's trial-and-error. You have to go out there and do it and make mistakes and fail and that's how you learn, like anything in life. I don't think that any academic course could teach you that. They can tell you the terms of what a publishing deal looks like, but unless you do sign that contract and that shitty publishing deal, you won't know what to look for on your next deal. That's how you learn a lot of things. The only tip I have to say is to keep your eyes and ears open and listen to those who know. Be careful, but at the same time, don't be afraid to make choices to actually go out there and do it when there is an opportunity."

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Firewind's new album, Firewind, will be released on May 15 via AFM Records.

With his charismatic voice, new member Herbie Langhans (Avantasia, Radiant, Seventh Avenue, amongst others) refines each and every last one of the ten new songs and infuses them with an expressive force that is remarkable.

Gus G and Herbie Langhans got to know each other back in the autumn of 2019, when the Firewind leader was looking for a suitable replacement for Henning Basse after the tour with Queensrÿche. Just a few weeks later the recordings for “Firewind” were a done deal, ready for Swedish sound engineer Tobias Lindell (Europe, Avatar, H.E.A.T.) to mix them in Lindell Audio Studios.

The result is impressive indeed. Firewind boasts 11 prime examples of melodic metal songs. The skill, craftsmanship and power bleeds through every note, a passion you can almost taste, with hymnal melodies as a particularly outstanding feature.

Tracklisting:

"Welcome To The Empire"
"Devour"
"Rising Fire"
"Break Away"
"Orbitual Sunrise"
"Longing To Know You"
"Perfect Stranger"
"Overdrive"
"All My Life"
"Space Cowboy"
"Kill The Pain"