ICARUS WITCH have checked in with the following update:

"Many people have mentioned over the last few years that they miss hearing Icarus Witch as a two guitar line-up with the harmonies, rhythms and dual leads intact. Our position was that we also enjoy hearing those elements but did not want to inject a new, unknown member into an equation that was already running so smoothly on stage. While on the Paul DiAnno tour we were fortunate enough to have that secnd guitar slot for Paul's set filled by a phenomenal talent in Pittsburgh area guitarist, Ed Skero (aka Full Metal Duffy).

Performing that challenging set every night with Ed on stage proved a couple of things:

a) We sound better with the additional guitar

b) We got along so well with Ed on a personal level that the chemistry was right to make the move.

So join us in welcoming Mr. Ed to the inner circle. Once you hear what he will bring to the band in terms of classic style, vintage tone, tasty writing and Reiki healing prowess, it will be obvious that the Witch is about to take it up a notch on record and on stage every night.

Namaste Duffy...your life is about to get weirder than you ever imagined."

Following is the official press release for Icarus Witch's new album, Draw Down The Moon:

The third full length CD (fourth overall) from traditional metal stalwarts Icarus Witch, mysteriously entitled Draw Down The Moon, was released February 9th, 2010 through Cleopatra Records / Koch Distribution. The band was recently described as having a "Heavy influence of IRON MAIDEN combined with good old fashioned hard/rock metal production and great musicianship" by Don Jamison, host of VH1 Classic's That Metal Show. Perhaps this assessment helped land the boys the opening slot on original Maiden crooner, Paul DiAnno's first American tour in over 15 years, commencing this January 27 in NYC.

Britain's prestigious Metal Hammer magazine recently drafted Icarus Witch for both their cover mount compilation CD as well as an interview on their feature about the explosive rise of traditional metal with the younger generation of bands, referring to the Witch as "One of the best new bands to take up the NWOTM (New Wave of Traditiona Metal) standard and carry it triumphantly into the future. With such accolades, the pressure is mounting for the group to top their previous efforts, a feat which has been handily accomplished by the creation of this new album, their first since 2007's critically acclaimed Songs For The Lost.

With a few years of regional headline touring under their belt as well as supporting everyone from HEAVEN & HELL and COHEED & CAMBRIA to 3 INCHES OF BLOOD and TROUBLE on the road, the boys honed their live chops and discovered the formula for what translates to a frenzied crowd and what passages are better left for the headphones. The end result is a nine song battle cry called Draw Down The Moon which sees the band in a more mature, yet increasingly aggressive song writing mode, stripped of the extraneous bells and whistles of synths & samples. This is a back-to-basics, classic metal album with a raw, in-your-face production (once again with Eric Klinger at the controls) that owes as much to '70s Marshall overdrive and gothic tales of yore, as it does the '80s flash and modern metal trappings that have become de rigueur in this burgeoning scene Icarus Witch is alleged to have helped establish. Apparently the time machine has been set to reverse, and once you dig your teeth into the muscular framework of this future occult rock classic, you will forget about eras, genre tags and hype, and realize what truly matters most...this band knows how to fucking ROCK!

The tracklist for Draw Down The Moon is as follows. Audio samples can be found here, the cover art is at left (click to enlarge).

'Black Candles'

'Aquarius Rising'

'Reap What You Sow'

'Dying Eyes'

'Draw Down The Moon'

'Serpent In The Garden'

'Funeral Wine'

'Haunting Visions'

'The Ripper'