Michael Schenker will release a new MSG (Michael Schenker Group) album Immortal, on January 29th through Nuclear Blast. The album title is a perfect statement describing Schenker’s legacy and to celebrate his 50th anniversary as a musician. Today, the band has released the official lyric video for its latest single, Sail The Darkness.
Vocalist Ronnie Romero (Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow) said, “Since I listened the demo, I got the feeling that this would become…a great song, because it sounds like the great old hard rock songs and the riff is just Michael Schenker at his best. And to me, it’s even more special because I had the chance to write the lyrics. I’m pretty sure the fans gonna love this one.” Watch the clip below. Dana’s note: If you cannot watch the video, refresh the page.
Immortal track listing:
1. Drilled To Kill
2. Don’t Die On Me Now
3. Knight Of The Dead
4. After The Rain
5. Devil’s Daughter
6. Sail The Darkness
7. The Queen Of Thorns And Roses
8. Come On Over
9. Sangria Morte
10. In Search Of The Peace Of Mind
Immortal will continue the tradition of the previous two Michael Schenker Fest records Resurrection and Revelation and feature a big list of friends and guests. The album’s main vocalist will be uprising Chilean-born talent Ronnie Romero, along with Michael Voss (Mad Max), Scheepers and Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Deep Purple, Rainbow) singing on two tracks each. Besides Michael Schenker himself, the album was recorded with Steve Mann (keyboards), Barry Sparks (bass, Dokken), as well as the three drummers, Bodo Schopf, Simon Philipps (ex-Toto) and Brian Tichy (ex-Whitesnake).
“Brian was thrilled to be part of it,” Schenker says. “He is a master of groove and ended up playing on six songs. I could not believe it: This man is something else. He is a true natural and very original. With his input, it made the album very solid and complete. So guess what — I am very happy.”
The newest addition to the record is keyboard player Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion, Sons Of Apollo, Dream Theater), who plays on the album’s opening track, featuring German power machine Ralf Scheepers on vocals. “Derek and myself trading solos, it sounds unexpected and beyond my expectation,” Michael says. “Absolutely fantastic.”
Immortal features ten songs, including the magnum opus In Search Of The Peace Of Mind.
“I wrote this song when I was 15 years old,” Michael says. “It was my first-ever written piece of music which I recorded with Scorpions on our first studio album, Lonesome Crow, in 1970, getting released in 1972 — when I had already left Scorpions to join the British rock band UFO in June of 1972 — when I was 17. We re-recorded this song for my 50th anniversary as a celebration and it turned out to be an epic; with an extra extension at the end of the song, which turned out absolutely fantastic with Simon Phillips on drums, doing his usual amazing stuff.” The result is a true highlight and features even more surprises. “Gary Barden sings the first verse, continued by Ronnie Romero — and in the end, we have Ronnie, Doogie Whiteand Robin McAuley screaming their heads off, as a tribute to my 50th anniversary,” Michael says. “Absolute amazing. Thanks to the guys for doing this!”
One Response
Ive never been a fan of guest singers to me it dilutes the true sound and style a band is trying to put across , this is finally a decent new schenker tune i have said numerous times on this site schenker should team up with romero , so glad they found their way to each other , it does sound alot like classic MSG, i wish he could somehow capture something similar to UFO , very solid tune ~