DIO, HALFORD, MORBID ANGEL Members Guest On New Album By RENE THOMSEN
October 20, 2014, 9 years ago
Originally issued in Europe in September, René Thomsen's sophomore album, Unbroken, will be released in North America October 28th.
Following the success of his 2009 debut album Let´s Get Ruthless, which featured a wide range of renowned metal musicians, René Thomsen continues this superb combination for his second release, Unbroken, which includes internationally known guests such as: Udo Dirkschneider, Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Dio, Heaven & Hell), Bobby Jarzombek (Halford, Fates Warning, Sebastian Bach, Riot), David Vincent (Morbid Angel), Mathias Don Dieth (U.D.O.), Andre Hilgers (Rage, Sinner) and Helge Engelke (Fair Warning, Dreamtide).
René Thomsen has composed twelve songs for Unbroken, most of them together with Fair Warning producer and guitarist Helge Engelke. “I’ve known Helge since the eighties when we shared a rehearsal room,” Thomsen remembers. “Ever since, I’ve known that he is the perfect co-songwriter and producer for my music. He’s got that unusual musical sense that Unbroken has thoroughly benefitted from.”
The roles of the guest musicians were allocated on the basis of the recordings which Thomsen and his group (Robert Soeterboek - vocals, Ingo Lühring - bass, Mike Pesin - guitar, Max Dietzmann - drums) cut: Thomsen’s long-standing friend David Vincent (Morbid Angel) played bass on ‘Draw The Curtains’. Vinny Appice was the drummer of Thomsen’s dreams for ‘We Made It’, which he wrote during the night following Ronnie James Dio’s death in remembrance of that great American rock singer. The song’s guitar solo and its intro ‘Six Thirteen 64’ were written by Mathias Dieth in direct collaboration with René Thomsen. Dieth also came up with the idea of asking his friend and erstwhile colleague Udo Dirkschneider to record the vocals. It would have been impossible to perform this number in a style more charismatic than Dirkschneider’s.