Sal Italiano

Source: Bravewords.com
Two years after their current release, Juggernaut Of Justice, Canadian cult metal act ANVIL are back with their latest studio album. Hope In Hell, an impressive metal recording featuring 13 haunting songs, has been scheduled for release on May 27th in Europe and May 24th in Germany on SPV / Steamhammer and will be available in four different formats: as a limited-edition digipak including two bonus tracks, as a jewel case CD, double gatefold colored vinyl LP and as download.
These are the first cuts featuring ANVIL‘s new bassist Sal Italiano, who joined the band a year ago. “We’re really happy with Sal, his style is powerful and amazingly imaginative. It’s a little as if we’d enlisted Steve Harris,” enthuses guitarist/vocalist Steve ‘Lips’ Kudlow, who composed the whole album together with drums legend Robb Reiner.

Hope In Hell was written and recorded following an 18-month world tour which took ANVIL around the globe. “We hadn’t expected this kind of extensive tour when we brought out Juggernaut Of Justice,” Kudlow confesses. “Time just flew by. I could hardly believe it when I found myself in the studio again after the tour, ready to work on the next album. The reactions to Juggernaut Of Justice and the shows had been so positive that we had plenty of ideas and inspiration for new material.”

Kudlow promises the kind of album that ANVIL fans will love: no concessions to short-lived trends, no modern frills but traditional metal with lots of classic rock music elements.

“What we do is totally timeless,” says ANVIL’s frontman. “We’ve never tried to change our sound or experiment with trends and fashions. We live in our own world and have maintained our individuality and own identity.”

Like Juggernaut Of Justice, Hope In Hell was produced by Bob Marlette (BLACK SABBATH, AIRBOURNE, ALICE COOPER) at the NRG Recording studios in North Hollywood, California, and brilliantly mastered by Maor Appelbaum (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, SEPULTURA).

(Photo: Grant Yoshino)

Canadian metal legends ANVIL made their live debut with their new bassist Sal Italiano last night (Friday, January 27) at the Live Wire concert club in Mentor-on-the-Lake, Ohio.

The band’s setlist was as follows:

01. March Of The Crabs
02. 666
03. School Love
04. Juggernaut Of Justice
05. Winged Assassins
06. On Fire
07. This Is Thirteen
08. Mothra
09. Thumb Hang (dedicated to RIOT’s Mark Reale)
10. Swing Thing
11. Fuckin’ Eh
12. Metal On Metal

Encore:

13. Forged In Fire
14. Running

Several photos taken at last night’s concert can be seen below (all pictures by Bill Peters).

Sal Italiano is a member of the Long Island, New York IRON MAIDEN tribute band LIVE AFTER DEATH and original progressive metal act THE NIGHTMARE STAGE, as well as a former member of the acclaimed ’80s heavy metal group CITIES.

ANVIL‘s longtime bassist Glenn Gyorffy (a.k.a. Glenn Five or G5) announced his departure from the band on January 16, citing creative differences.

Glenn Five joined ANVIL in 1996 and has appeared on seven of the band’s albums, including “This Is Thirteen” and the group’s latest release, “Juggernaut Of Justice”, on which he wrote and sang the song “This Ride”.

Commented Glenn: “Playing in ANVIL has given me some of the best years of my life. However, after nearly 16 years with the band, the time has come to move on and try new musical endeavors. Although ANVIL has been a great band to play in, I have been limited creatively. I have a wide taste in music and I feel that it’s time to broaden my horizons.”

Speaking to Metal Shock Finland about Glenn‘s exit and Italiano‘s addition to ANVIL, guitarist/vocalist Steve “Lips” Kudlow said, “We hired an old friend to do the tour and are currently working with a new, improved bassist. There was no major issue in fixing this at all, and in fact, everything was sorted out within a few hours of Glenn departing. Glenn tried to make it difficult by leaving without proper notice, but we’ve been preparing for this for quite some time. This did end up for the better, as it is a huge improvement with our new guy, both musically as well as personally.”

ANVIL‘s latest album, “Juggernaut Of Justice”, was released in Europe on June 20, 2011 (three days earlier in Germany) via SPV/Steamhammer. The effort was made available as a limited-edition digipak (including two bonus tracks), double gatefold LP in blue vinyl, standard version and a digital download.

The End Records celebrated ANVIL‘s career with “Monument Of Metal: The Very Best Of Anvil”, a 19-track career retrospective that will earn “must-own” and “must-hear” status for fans both fans new and old.

All photos below by Bill Peters