Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott is featured in a new interview with Ultimate-Guitar.com, where he discusses the new Spiritual Beggars album, Sunrise To Sundown. Following is an excerpt from the interview.

Amott: "The next single we're releasing is called 'Diamond Under Pressure' and that's a song that Per (Wiberg/keyboards) completely wrote the instrumental track for and I wrote the lyrics and melody for that one. So there were a lot of different collaborations."

UG: "Diamond Under Pressure" is a remarkable song. 

Amott: "Yeah, it's one of my favorites."

UG: Would it be accurate to say that song has sort of a David Coverdale-era Deep Purple feel to it? 

Amott: "Yeah, definitely. We've been calling it 'Might Just Take Your Woman From Tokyo' (laughs). It's kind of got a hybrid thing. It's very Purplesque and we're aware that it's very Purplesque but if you analyze it, it's not like a ripoff so we haven't actually stolen any riff. It's just very much in that style and that vein. We love that stuff. That Mach III and Mach IV stuff was amazing I think and we were all fans of that."

UG: Your solo in "Diamond Under Pressure" was so cool. It was kind of split up into two parts. The first section was kind of bluesy then it goes into that Eastern, modal bit. Did you specifically write the solo to sound it was coming from two different guitar players? 

Amott: "Yeah, it just felt like it had that kind of mystical vibe. At the part you're talking about it, we're kind of leaving Mach III Purple and going into early Rainbow (laughs) You see our broad our influences are. The spectrum is just immense from Purple to Rainbow (laughs)."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Spiritual Beggars, return with their ninth studio album, Sunrise To Sundown, which will be released on March 18th in Europe, as well as March 25th in North America, via InsideOutMusic. A new lyric video for the album track “Diamond Under Pressure” is streaming below.

The album's cover artwork (which can be seen below) has been created by Costin Chioreanu / Twilight13Media (At The Gates, Grave, Arcturus, etc.).

Sunrise To Sundown tracklisting:

“Sunrise To Sundown”
“Diamond Under Pressure”
“What Doesn't Kill You”
“Hard Road”
“Still Hunter”
“No Man's Land”
“I Turn To Stone”
“Dark Light Child”
“Lonely Freedom”
“You've Been Fooled”
“Southern Star”

“Sunrise To Sundown”:

The album's limited edition version will be released as 2CD Mediabook with a bonus disc including 7 tracks (2 covers versions and 5 live songs) and an expanded booklet. The LP format will be on 180gr. vinyl and come in gatefold packaging with a double-sided poster as well as the full standard album on CD as bonus. More details about the album formats and pre-order links will be announced soon.

Just like on their previous two album releases, Return To Zero (2010) and Earth Blues (2013), Spiritual Beggars stellar lineup is consists of bandleader Michael Amott (Arch Enemy, ex-Carcass) on guitars, teaming up with Apollo Papathanasio (ex-Firewind) on vocals, Sharlee D'Angelo (Arch Enemy, Witchery) on bass, Per Wiberg (Candlemass, ex-Opeth) on keyboards as well as Ludwig Witt (Grand Magus, Firebird) on drums.

After a busy couple of last years with Arch Enemy, Michael Amott and his bandmates have once again found the availability and inspiration to lay down 11 dynamic and uplifting new songs, which not only easily demonstrate how much on top of their game Spiritual Beggars still are after over 20 years of activities, but also add a fresh and spontaneous vibe to their impressive catalogue.

Supporting the release of Sunrise To Sundown, Spiritual Beggars will finally also be hitting the road again in order to showcase the new material on the following club dates as well as festivals. New dates have been announced, the updated schedule below.

March
27 - Schijndel, Netherlands - Paaspop
28 - Köln, Germany - Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld
29 - Aschaffenburg, Germany - Colos-Saal
31 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser

April
1 - Hamburg, Germany - Logo
2 - Essen, Germany - Turock
4 - Pratteln, Switzerland - Z7
6 - Kortrijk, Belgium - De Kreun
7 - Rouen, France - Le 106
8 - Brest, France - Sale Odissey / Plougarock Festival Warm Up
9 - Nantes, France - Le Ferrailleur
10 - Paris, France - Backstage By The Mill
12 - Munich, Germany - Strom
14 - Karlsruhe, Germany - Substage
15 - Malmö, Sweden - KB *
16 - Stockholm, Sweden - Göta Källare
17 - Göteborg, Sweden - Sticky Fingers
28 - Berlin, Germany - Desert Fest

July
7 - Ballenstedt, Germany - Rock Harz Festival
8 - Oulu, Finland - Jalometalli Festival

(Photo - Masa Noda)