Metal Shock Finland’s Alison Booth recently caught up with guitar maestro Gus G. while on tour with Firewind in Sheffield, UK.

Discussing Immortals and the fan reaction, Gus stated:

“We’re surprised ‘cos we brought a lot of the new CD’s with us for our merch, but apparently everybody already has the CD and they already know the lyrics and they’ve already been singing along, which is pretty amazing! It’s refreshing you know. I think we came up with the right kind of album. From the feedback I got I think that’s what a lot of our fans have been waiting for, I think this is how the band should be sounding today honestly. It’s pretty clear to me what the sound and direction should be like and the good thing with this album is that it doesn’t only have the right sound, but it also has the right message. I’m just glad it made a lot of our fans happy.”

On Henning Basse now being permanent vocalist for Firewind, Gus enthused:

“He really fits with what we’re doing right now. He’s one of the best of this genre right now in Europe for sure. As you know, you saw my solo band two years ago and he was singing there with me. That’s when we reconnected again and he was still looking for a band to join full time and we were looking for a singer. We started talking about it on that tour and one thing led to another and here we are!”

Talking about future Firewind shows, Gus revealed:

“Russia’s a place we always wanted to play, so it finally happens now, we also have some shows in Cyprus and Greece in March. Depending on how it goes we’re looking at doing some other territories – we’d love to go to South America, we’ve never been there. It would be the first time if it happens, so it’s in the talks right now. I’m not sure if it’s gonna happen but we would love to go there.”

Firewind recently released their 8th studio album, Immortals, which has managed to enter sales charts internationally as follows:

Greece: # 6
Germany: # 72
Switzerland: # 45
Belgium (Wallonia): # 98
USA / Top New Artist Albums: #22
USA / Current Hard Music Albums: #34

Immortals marks the first time Firewind used an outside co-producer, working with Dennis Ward (Unisonic, Pink Cream 69), who not only engineered, mixed and mastered the album, but also co-wrote it together with Gus G. Next to the standard jewel case CD and Digital Download formats, “Immortals” is also released as LP on 180gr vinyl with a poster as well as the entire album on CD as bonus. Additionally, there is also a limited edition Mediabook CD with expanded booklet, three stickers and a bonus track.

“Back On The Throne” lyric video:

Track-by-track video:

“Hands Of Time”:

EPK (Electronic Press Kit) :

Firewind tour dates are listed below.

Europe & UK with special guests Manimal and Scar Of The Sun:

February
15 - Glasgow, Scotlan - Audio
16 - Manchester, England - Academy 3
17 - Sheffield, England - Corporation
18 - Wolverhampton, England - Slade Rooms
19 - London, England - Underworld
21 - Southampton, England - Engine Rooms
22 - Paris, France - Backstage by the Mills
23 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
25 - Vienna, Austria - Szene
26 - Budapest, Hungary - A38
27 - München, Germany - Feierwerk
28 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos-Saal

March
1 - Bochum, Germany - Rockpalast
2 - Vosselaar, Belgium - Biebob

European Festivals:

June
16 - Duisburg, Germany - Rage Against Racism

July
13-15 - Balingen, Germany - Bang Your Head

August
9-12 - Villena, Spain - Leyendas del Rock

September
8 - Olen, Belgium - Olensfest

Firewind lineup:

Henning Basse - Vocals
Gus G. - Guitar
Petros Christo - Bass
Bob Katsionis - Keyboards
Jo Nunez - Drums