Back in May we premiered the brand new solo single and video ‘Alcoholocaust’ by the legendary multi instrumentalist and vocalist SNOWY SHAW. Now just ahead of his performance at Wacken Open Air this weekend, Metal Shock Finland are proud to present the exclusive worldwide premiere of Snowy‘s second song and video ‘Nachtgeist’, from his much anticipated forthcoming album, due to be released early in 2017.

The video is directed by Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company and mixed and mastered by Arnold Lindberg of Sound Industry. Like ‘Alcoholocaust’, the new track and video ‘Nachtgeist’ was written, performed and produced by Snowy himself. Check it out here:

Snowy has stated that when he said he was going solo he meant that in the truest sense of the word, “but for stage I couldn’t possibly sing and play all the instruments at once and therefore have selected a live band consisting of highly skilled and competent musicians who are capable of making my conceptual supershow justice . 
The latest addition to the ranks is David Grimoire from one of my side projects Opera Diabolicus on bass guitar, who’ll be doing his first show with us on Saturday at Wacken Open Air.
Other than him we’ll have Eric Rauti on guitar and drummer Petter Karlsson ( formerly of Therion, Diablo Swing Orchestra ) who’ve been featured in my live band since the Halloween spectacle show 2012. The Wacken show might be his last ever as a drummer though…”

Senior Manager Alison Booth caught up with Snowy to find out some more about this new release which includes guest star appearances of some of his favourite artists. The conversation can be read below:

Hi Snowy, how are you doing?
You’ve just released the second song and video ‘Nachtgeist’ from your forthcoming album, can you tell me more about it and how you’re feeling about your new work?

“I feel very excited about it and especially to finally and get to it and get my thumb out of my ass, so to speak as I’ve been waiting for so damn long to start realizing my visions.

Like you say this is the second song/video of 4 in total that I have planned to release during 2016, as part of my conceptual plan to be out in advance of the album that will see a February/March release. Given things works according to plan. At this point and for a number of reasons I can’t and won’t reveal too much details about the upcoming album(s), but I can tell you it’s quite a massive body of work and something quite extraordinary like you’ve never seen before.

Although I’m collaborating with a number of sound engineers and studios, and have invited some of my all-time favorite musicians and artists to participate as guest stars on some songs I am singing and playing all instruments myself. Needless to say, I write and produce all of it myself and I must say it feels wonderful to have a full creative outlet and artistic freedom without little if any interference from other members and so on.

For the Nachtgeist filming I was delighted to work together with my buddy Patric Ullaeus of Revolver Film Company, and I think it turned excellent and very very close to my original visions and ideas. Part John Bauer, part horror movie and folklore with a touch of classic Disney on the top.”

You worked with some great names on this track – Lasse Johansson, Mike Wead and the God of Hellfire himself, Arthur Brown! As an artist who has collaborated with so many musicians, what were your reasons for choosing these people in particular this time around and can you tell me about your experience working with such an iconic showman as Arthur?

“Like I mentioned earlier, I feel very privileged having reached a position in my life or career if you want, where I can include on my own recordings some of my heroes and favorites that have had a huge impact and been a big influence to me.

Mike Wead and I go back and among other things worked together in Memento Mori and he’s a phenomenal guitarist. I’ve always loved Candlemass and Lasse is unquestionably one of my favorite solo players and I always thought I should have him doing a guest appearance on one of my songs. I asked him probably 10 years ago and if I’m not mistaken it was for this particular song as a matter of fact that had a solo background with a typical Candlemass style that oughta be perfect for him,. or Mike. So I figured why not involve them both in a trade off kinda solo.
For the record I gotta say that I’m not usually starstruck in the least and I’m very selective with whom I idolize.

In the case of Arthur, ( or King Arthur as I sometimes jokingly call him) he may be a complete unknown to the average metal fan but to me it means the world. Perhaps even more so because he was the pioneer shock rocker years ahead of Alice Cooper. An underground unsung hero and typical one hit wonder with his massive hit Fire released in 1968, the same year I was born. He loves my version of Fire by the way and I couldn’t be any happier.

When I brought Arthur to the studio to record his narration thingy, my engineer Arnold didn’t have the slightest clue who this crazy looking 74 year old english hippie was who was screaming like a banshee at the top of his lungs and was visibly in shock yet impressed. Afterwards he said, now I know there is hope for you too Snowy.”

Wacken Open Air festival is this weekend and you will be performing with your band there on Saturday – what can fans expect from your show and what are your thoughts about performing at the legendary festival?

“If you don’t mind I’d like to flip your question around and tell you what you can NOT expect from my show, which is a generic and predictably boring metal show that you’ve seen a hundred times before. Other than that everything’s possible.

I love Wacken and I’ve played there many times before with my former bands but this is the first time with my solo band and I’m very excited about it and think we gonna have a great time and deliver a great show.”

If you’re going to Wacken this weekend, don’t miss Snowy‘s show on Saturday 6th August at 4.15PM on the W.E.T. stage!

Also check out:
Music, merch and all sorts of accessories and memorabilia available at Snowy‘s Official Webshop.

Official Facebook page.