Metal Shock Finland‘s Senior Manager Alison Booth also has a metal radio show on TotalRock and it’s now time for the last Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem of this year, coming up on Tuesday 20th December! The show, as always starting at 6PM GMT on http://www.totalrock.com, will be celebrating the holiday season with a few metal Christmas songs in between some favourite releases from the year, from bands such as AVANTASIA, LORDS OF BLACK, EVIL MASQUERADE, MYRATH, PITCH BLACK PROCESS and many more!
Also featured on the show will be some end of the year new singles from KREATOR, BATTLE BEAST and SEPULTURA along with a very special track only released on video until the new album next year, the epic new Yuletide offering from SNOWY SHAW – ‘Krampus’! Also a Christmas pressive giveaway from Swedish hard rockers DESTINY, be there!
‘Krampus’ is the third new music and video released during 2016 from Snowy Shaw‘s forthcoming first album as a solo artist to be out in early spring 2017. Odd and unconventional as it may seem, ‘Alcoholocaust’, ‘Nachtgeist’ and now ‘Krampus’ could and should be viewed as premotional videos rather than promotional since the songs themselves aren’t available yet until next year. Made to introduce the fans to the new chapter in the wondrous world of Snowy Shaw, both musically and visually and to offer a sneak peak on what’s to come. ‘Krampus’ is created by by Snowy Shaw, Lucky Ludde and Patric Ullaeus and recorded at Tomten’s Verkstad. Mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström at Studio Fredman, check out ‘Krampus’:
Over the past few years having played shows and released the live DVD/CD box “SNOWY SHAW: 25 years of madness in the name of metal” where Snowy and his namesake band ( + special guests) play “All his favorites songs from all his former bands” as well as two separate live albums “Snowy Shaw,.. is Alive! “and “Live in Hell”. All of which about 65% are Snowy‘s own compositions, while the rest consists of music Snowy either recorded with the original band, toured the world playing or both.
Since replacing Mikkey Dee as a drummer in King Diamond in 1989 Snowy has earned himself a reputation as one of the scene’s most hard working multi-talented artist and multi-istrumentalist with numerous bands and projects such as Therion, Sabaton, Notre Dame, Dream Evil, Dimmu Borgir, Mercyful Fate, Memento Mori, XXX, Opera Diabolicus, Kee Marcello, illwill, Mad Architect, Denner/Shermann etc.
2017 sees him bring his spectacular show to the U.S for the first time with the sold out show at Prog Power Atlanta, in September. The plan to to add more U.S dates as well as a tour of South/latin America during the period is currently in the making.
“Frankly speaking, after all these years with various duties and positions in countless bands I’ve reached a point in my life where I feel that if I don’t get to do my own shit now, and the way I want it I might as well give up music altogether. Apart from doing the occasional recording session job every now and then I really can’t picture myself ever joining another band again. As grateful and proud as I am, having had the privilege of working with all those fabulous bands in the past, it’s a bit like Been there/ done that. So come hell or high water, for the rest of my days I’ll be a solo artist. And I do mean that in the truest sense of the word, meaning that I’m doing it all myself with the exception that I do have a live band appearing with me while on stage. Although I might be able to play and sing it all on the recordings I simply can’t do it all at once for obvious reasons“.
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.
Metal Shock Finland is proud to exclusively premiere the brand new epic video ‘Alcoholocaust’ by the legendary SNOWY SHAW.
The video will be unleashed worldwide on Tuesday 24th May. Check it out below:
Metal Shock Finland Senior Manager Alison Booth states:
“This new song and video is a brilliant example of the unique talent Snowy Shaw displays in his work. What a great sound, can’t wait to hear what’s next!”
‘Alcoholocaust’ is written, produced, recorded, played and sung by Snowy Shaw. Mixing and mastering was done at Sound Industry, Gothenburg by Arnold Lindberg.
As a matter of fact, this also marks a new chapter as this is Snowy‘s first new original music video released as a solo artist.
Whereas over the past couple of years he has released the exclusive Live DVD/CD box “SNOWY SHAW: 25 Years of Madness in the Name of Metal” ( 2014) and a couple of albums and singles, all recorded live from his conceptual super show. A remarkably theatrical and entertaining show where the multi talented artists perform “All his favorite songs by all his former bands” including King Diamond, Dream Evil, Therion, Notre Dame, Memento Mori, Dimmu Borgir, Mercyful Fate, Illwill, Sabaton, XXX, Opera Diabolicus and more. See some links here:
The 2016 edition of his super show can next be seen live at Wacken O.A in August and Metallsvenskan June 3rd, which is also the only show on home turf Sweden, as Snowy has opted to focus primarily on working on new material being recorded and filmed, with a tentative release of a full length studio album by February next year.
Although his super shows have consisted mainly of material from his past and often featured special guest stars from the aforementioned bands, no less than 65% of of the material performed was inked by Snowy Shaw himself. But as previously stated above, ‘Alcoholocaust’ is the first new original material under his own name. – Enjoy!
Also check out:
Music, merch and all sorts of accessories and memorabilia available at Snowy‘s Official Webshop.
As part of our 40th anniversary celebration week for the classic RAINBOW “Rising” album, we recently caught up with the legendary Snowy Shaw, well known for his work with KING DIAMOND, DIMMU BORGIR, THERION, DREAM EVIL and more, as well as his solo work. Snowy has recently released a new teaser clip of his forthcoming video, entitled ‘Alcoholocaust’, which can be viewed on Snowy‘s official Facebook page here.
Snowy is a huge RAINBOW fan and spoke enthusiastically about “Rising”, the full audio can be heard on the player below:
“I consider it a masterpiece and pretty much a milestone. I should say it’s the quintessential album that introduced a more Dungeons and Dragons type fantasy heavy rock to the masses.
It meant a lot for music evolution, it’s a perfect album. It’s the perfect hybrid, from everything to the sound, to the artwork, to the performance, to the songs. I think it was revolutionary in its day and I can’t think of any album that made that renaissance Dungeons and Dragons once again, imagery that Dio introduced to it. I really think it made a splash in the metal world, or back then the heavy rock world.”
Discussing favourite tracks, Snowy expressed: “Obviously we have Stargazer, that’s pretty much everyone’s favourite, but I also love Tarot Woman and Run With The Wolf.”
Legendary Swedish vocalist and multi instrumentalist, SNOWY SHAW (KING DIAMOND, DIMMU BORGIR, THERION and more), has released a new teaser clip of his forthcoming video, entitled ‘Alcoholocaust’. The clip can be viewed on Snowy‘s official Facebook page here. Snowy gives fans the following message:
“Happy Friday 13th to all you ghouls and girls out there! Brand new shit from me coming up very soon. Enjoy the teaser from the new video and track Alcoholocaust. Remember to spread it like the plague, or I’ll be haunting you in your sleep. Thanx-A-Bunch /Snowy”
Snowy has been performing live shows and has more dates to come this summer:
Metallsvensken, Sweden – 3th – 4th June
Wacken Open Air, Germany – 4th – 6th August
For more details check out Snowy‘s official website at this location.
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