VICIOUS RUMORS - Electric Punishment (29/04/2013)

Lucificum

Vicious Rumors is on fire. 3 albums in 3 years! "Razorback Killers" 2011, "Live You To Death" 2012 and the new studio album " Electric Punishment" 2013 ........and the ball keeps rolling!

The legendary San Francisco bay area metal band released a new live CD "Live You To Death" last year on Steamhammer / SPV. Tight and full of energy "Live You to Death" captures the power and excitement of the Vicious Rumors live performance! 9 live tracks with 2 Vicious Rumors style covers of Black Sabbaths " Sign of the Southern Cross" and Judas Priest "Running Wild" complete this must have live album.

No rest for the wicked . The band is in the Trident studios in San Francisco right now with Geoff Thorpe and Juan Urteaga - the same production team that brought you "Warball" , "Razorback Killers" and "Live You to Death". The new studio album " Electric Punishment'' will be out on Steamhammer / SPV in April 2013.

Geoff Thorpe, Brian Allen, Larry Howe , Stephen Goodwin and Thean Rasmussen are back with 9 new songs and a wicked cover of "Strange Ways" by KISS sure to satisfy the Vicious Rumors faithfull fans." Black X List ", " D-Block " are two thrashy speed killers while "Escape (From Hell) " and "Together We Unite" add a classic flavor. Guest appearance's by Mark McGee, Brad Gillis as well as touring guitarist Bob Capka all along with Geoff Thorpe round out this 5 man guitar gun slinger army. Its a dam "guitarmy" if you will. Its all there..... the killer guitar attack, power and speed, melody and double bass thunder and of course shredding guitar solos!!

The Vicious Rumors ball is gaining speed and rolling through your town this year...the first confirmed date is July 26th at the Headbangers Open Air in Germany. More details regarding the new studio album and live shows coming soon!!!

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Lucificum

When Vicious Rumors returned from a long, strenuous and immensely successful world tour in autumn 2011, the musicians – least of all band mastermind and main songwriter Geoff Thorpe – couldn’t really see themselves mustering the energy to release a new studio album in the foreseeable future. “2011 was a monster year for Vicious Rumors in the most positive sense of the word,” he says, looking back at that time with surprise and some satisfaction. “We were on the road non-stop for more or less eight months, played countless club shows and performed at some of the most important festivals worldwide. The last show of the tour took place as part of the 70,000 Tons Of Metal cruise – what a finale! Then everything was over very suddenly and we started to work on our new album without so much as a break. Perhaps you can imagine how difficult that was and how much concentration we needed to do that kind of work without any loss of friction.” Now the doubtlessly successful result of that big challenge is scheduled for release: Vicious Rumors are set to unleash Electric Punishment on 29 April 2013, sounding more multi-faceted and creative than they have done in a long time.

There definitely is no discernible loss of friction on Electric Punishment, which is again ruled by what Thorpe refers to as an “impressive double bass thunder, double guitar attacks and haunting vocals the way you only get them with this band”. At the same time, the ten new songs are clearly more multi-layered and diverse than the material on its 2011 predecessor Razorback Killers. “While Razorback Killers was heavy all the way through from start to finish, the new material is more in the vein of Word Of Mouth,” Thorpe explains. At the same time, the uncompromising toughness that their fans have come to expect of Vicious Rumors is present on Electric Punishment as well: the two openers ‘I Am The Gun’ and ‘Black X List’ are typical as can be of Vicious Rumors. Thorpe refers to those numbers as “classic power metal tracks which would have fitted on every one of our albums. But there’s also an unusually atmospheric song called ‘Eternally’, an anthem to our audience entitled ‘Together We Unite’ and a deeply black ballad named ‘Escape (From Hell)’. I’m sure that our fans will be just as surprised of the whole album as they will be of the final Kiss cover ‘Strange Ways’.”

Surprised and most likely thrilled, because once again the band has brought all its skills to bear and come up with a real highlight. Thorpe, vocalist Brian Allen, bassist Stephen Goodwin and drummer Larry Howe were supported by guitarist Thean Rasmussen, who returned to the Vicious Rumors fold after Razorback Killers. In addition, Thorpe & Co. invited a number of former allies to the studio as guest musicians: Brad Gillis features on ‘D-Block’, ‘Together We Unite’ and ‘Eternally’, Marc McGhee on ‘Escape (From Hell)’, and last but not least tour guitarist Bob Capka helped out at the studio with a number of rhythm guitars and a haunting solo on ‘D-Block’. Thorpe: “I had a few problems with my fingers, that’s why I was glad that Bob was there to help. Otherwise it probably wouldn’t have been possible to stick to our tight production schedule.”

So it’s done: Electric Punishment is Vicious Rumors’ eleventh studio album and proves just how much of a force to be reckoned with this band continues to be. “We have permanently grown, there have been no two identical albums in our career because each album has a new, fresh approach,” comments Thorpe, not without pride. “Still we’ve never strayed from our course – perhaps precisely for this reason. We’ve remained faithful to our ideals and have always been honest with our fans. I think our loyal followers value that Vicious Rumors have never jumped on any kind of bandwagon. Everything we do comes from the heart, and Electric Punishment documents that no other band on this planet sounds like Vicious Rumors. To us, that’s an incentive, a challenge and a quality feature all in one. And it’s something our fans can rely on when we set off on our next monster tour in spring 2013.” Vicious Rumors have been scheduled to headline countless clubs and play important festivals (the Headbangers Open Air in Germany and the Alcatraz festival in Belgium having been confirmed already) before going on to Japan and the USA. Thorpe: “We’re facing big challenges again – but that sort of thing has always helped Vicious Rumors to grow!”

Tracklisting:

CD:
1. I Am The Gun
2. Black X List
3. Electric Punishment
4. D - Block
5. Escape ( >From Hell)
6. Dime Store Prophet
7. Together We Unite
8. Eternally
9. Thirst For A Kill
10. Strange Ways (KISS cover version)

2LP:
Side 1
01 I Am The Gun
02 Black X List
03 Electric Punishment

Side 2
01 D-Block
02 Escape (From Hell)
03 Dime Store Prophet

Side 3
01 Together We Unite
02 Eternally
03 Thirst For A Kill

Side 4
01 Strange Ways
02 Murderball (live) (bonus track)
03 Abandoned (live) (bonus track)

"Electric Punishment" will be released through SPV / Steamhammer on April 26th in Germany, April 29th in Europe and May 7th in the US/Canada. It will be available as a jewel case version, double gatefold colored vinyl and download.

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VICIOUS RUMORS live 2013

03.05. E-Oviedo – Sala Tribeca

04.05. E-Madrid – Pounding Metal Festival

05.05. E-Barcelona – Boveda

07.05. D-Osnabrück – Bastard Club

08.05. D-Hamburg – Bambi Galore

09.05. D-Koblenz – Florinsmarkt

10.05. D-Duisburg – Glückaufhalle

11.05. I-Milan – Metalitalia Festival

12.05. D-Obermarchtal – Kreuz

14.05. D-Berlin – K17

15.05. D-Gifhorn – In Live

16.05. D-Siegen – Vortex

17.05. D-Weiher – Live Music Hall

18.05. CZ-Ostrava – Barrak Music Club

19.05. A-Vienna – Escape Metal Corner

20.05. HU-Budapest – Club 202

22.05. D-Munich – Garage

23.05. D-Uelsen – UJT

24.05. NL-Kerkrade – The Rock Temple

25.05. NL-Rotterdam – Baroeg

26.05. NL-Tilburg – Little Devil

28.05. D-Kassel – K19

29.05. D-Bremen – Meisenfrei

30.05. CH-Uster – Starclub

31.05. F-Bartenheim – Palace Loisirs

01.06. A-Dornbirn - Schlachthaus

26.07. D-Brande/Hörnerkirchen – Headbangers Open Air

27.07. NL-Steenwijk – Stonehenge Festival

03.08. D-Hameln – K3

10.08. B-Deinze – Alcatraz Festival

21.09. US-Indianapolis,IN - Metal Fest

28.09. US-Rochester, NY - The Montage

02.10. US-Brooklyn,NY - Saint Vitus

04.10. US-Frederick,MD - Bentz Street

05.10. US-Spartanburg,SC - Ground Zero
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