Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Michael Schenker says the deaths of some of his musical heroes made him want to work in a band environment again, according to classicrock.com.

The guitar icon releases his third album with his Temple Of Rock project on March 23. Entitled “Spirit On A Mission”, the record features bassist Francis Buchholz, drummer Herman Rarebell, frontman Doogie White and keyboardist/guitarist Wayne Findlay.

After years of operating as a solo artist, former Scorpions and UFO man Schenker says he was moved by the deaths of Gary Moore and Ronnie James Dio to go back to his rock band roots.

He tells Metalholic he got all of his experimentation out of his system in his years as a solo artist and realised he was ready to work as part of a band again.

He adds: “I’m going backwards, I’m going upside down. I was focusing on becoming a great guitarist and more of a solo thing. I got all my things out of my system, all the things I wanted to do. All the musical experiments, because no touring band would have wanted to do that.

“People are passing away, like Gary Moore, Ronnie James Dio, Johnny Winter and so many people. It’s gonna be just a memory, this incredible era that has lasted 50 years now.

“I just wanna put this to the foreground one more time.”

The recording sessions for “Spirit On A Mission” were thrown into disarray last year when computers containing much of the recorded material were stolen from a studio in Germany.

But the songs are now ready to go and Schenker says he is thrilled with the results.

He says: “I’m very pleased with it, because I like the energy. I wanted to keep it very energetic and melodic and hard and then also even heavy. And I think we captured quite a bit of that.”

“Spirit On A Mission” Tracklist:

Live And Let Live
Communion
Vigilante Man
Rock City
Saviour Machine
Something Of The Night
All Our Yesterdays
Bulletproof
Let The Devil Scream
Good Times
Restless Heart
Wicked
Searching For Freedom (bonus track)