Maria Voutyriadou and Dimitris Kontogeorgakos of the Chicago-based webzine Metal Kaoz recently conducted an interview with Ross "The Boss" Friedman and talked about the upcoming Ross The Boss album, Born Of Fire, out on March 6 via AFM Records. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Q: So, you talked about the orchestrations and “Maiden Of Shadows”, so you involved Symphony X’s Michael Romeo and Stu Marshall who wrote the song.

A: "That’s right, my Death Dealer boy."

Q: Did you “steal” the song from him?

A: "No, he gave it to me! Because after this record, I was like 'alright, it’s been two years since that and we’ve got to do another record. I have to do another record now?' I was like scared. It was the first time in my life I was like, 'I can’t do it'. But I have a band that’s fully supportive and they said 'we’re with you, man – let’s do it', so I had a few riffs, four or five, and Michael LePond had stuff, and Marc [Lopes] from Let Us Prey, and so we pulled it together. And our first record with Steve [Bolognese] on drums; he’s an absolutely fantastic drummer. So, we called together the record and to me, it’s our strongest record ever. I mean, I can’t find where anyone could fault. Track 'Godkiller' could have been on any Manowar record, and 'Maiden Of Shadows', Joey would probably pay me a million dollars for that song." (laughs)

Read the entire interview at Metal Kaoz.

Ross The Boss will release their new album, Born Of Fire, on March 6 via AFM Records. Pre-order here.

One can’t talk about genre defining acts in the metal scene without mentioning one man: Ross “The Boss” Friedman has written music history as a founding member of Manowar and The Dictators. His influence in heavy metal and also punk is noticeable to this day.

Manowar’s first six masterpieces which saw him significantly involved in between 1982 and 1988 are immortal classics today, and that the band wasn’t able to deliver the same quality again after his departure speaks for the New York based guitarist and songwriter. Since 2006 Ross again is releasing traditional and raw epic metal which calls up memories of the Manowar masterpieces from the 80’s with its very own style.

The brand new album, Born Of Fire, is the fourth album from Friedman and his band, which arrives not even two years after their chart breaking 2018 effort, By Blood Sworn. While Ross The Boss used this time for extensive touring they built their latest epos which will excite fans worldwide seemingly effortless out of nothing.

Born Of Fire is pounding yet fresher and heavier out of the speakers than before, but isn’t lacking any of the typical Ross The Boss trademarks.

Tracklisting:

"Glory To The Slain"
"Fight The Fight"
"Denied By The Cross"
"Maiden Of Shadows"
"I Am The Sword"
"Shotgun Evolution"
"Born Of Fire"
"Godkiller"
"The Blackest Heart"
"Demon Holiday"
"Undying"
"Waking The Moon"

"Denied By The Cross" lyric video:

After the successful release of By Blood Sworn in 2018, a full European tour and glorious festival shows all over Europe, the Ross The Boss band returns to Europe in April 2020 to promote their upcoming new album. Tour dates, with special guests Burning Witches and Asomvel, are listed below.

Tour dates:

April
1 - Bochum, Germany - Matrix
2 - Siegburg, Germany - Kubana
3 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
4 - Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany - Dock 18
5 - Hamburg, Germany - Knust (without Asomvel)
6 - Alvesta, Sweden - Bullet Club
7 - Oslo, Norway - John Dee
8 - Haugesund, Norway - Flytten
10 - Kolding, Denmark - Godset
11 - Flensburg, Germany - Roxy
12 - Nijverdal, Netherlands - Tattoofest Easter
13 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Little Devil
15 - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Baroeg
16 - Oldenburg, Germany - Amadeus
17 - Cham, Germany - L.A. Cham
18 - Mannheim, Germany - Delta METAL Meeting
19 - Würzburg, Germany - Posthalle
20 - Milan, Italy - Legend Club
21 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
23 - Barcelona, Spain - Bóveda
24 - Valencia, Spain - Paberse Club
25 - Pozal de Gallinas, Spain - Galia Metal Fest
26 - Lisbon, Portugal - RCA Club

(Photo - Scott Braun)