Jimmy Kay and Alan Dixon from Canada's The Metal Voice recently spoke Live to former Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley and his guitarist Chris Appleton (Absolva) about Blaze's upcoming studio album "War Within Me' which will be released April 9 2021. All songs written and produced by Blaze and Chris Appleton. Blaze and Chris also answered fan questions
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When asked about the writing of this new album
"We did the trilogy, it was a big undertaking. Three albums, three years. We spent so much energy making those three albums of great quality in the songs that we just ran out of energy creatively speaking. We were going to come back from South America and do a little bit of touring then do some writing then some festivals, Then what happened was we did one of the last gigs of any band I think in March 2020 at Burr Fest in London and it was fantastic and then gigs disappeared and never came back. We were already scheduled to start recording so in one way we were really sad that all these shows disappeared but each festival that disappeared gave us an extra three days to work on the album and what we did was use that as sort of cooking time which is very important for the process that we write. And it was great it gave us that little bit of extra time to really find the arrangements, we are always looking for the best journey. From the start to the end how do we connect the lyric, the music and the emotion." Blaze
"There was a bit of tangling in writing songs, it does get challenging at times but that's just one of the things we do when we are songwriting cause we are always trying to get the best results and if one of us is thinking one way and one is thinking the other. I think the good thing about me and Blaze is that we always want to try everything with a song before we actually go one particular way. " Chris Appleton
"We had some ideas that were in the vault for a couple of years, a lot of brand new things and we knew at the beginning that it was a positive album and it was going to talk about heroes. The album was going to say when you feel
hopeless, when you feel like you can't go on, get this album out and remind yourself that you can. " Blaze
When asked if the musical direction of the new studio album is more like Iron Maiden or Blaze Bayley solo
"It's a combination of both, everything that we do has that kind of Maiden influence. I wouldn't say it's an out and out Maiden copycat when you are listening to it. If you say harmony guitars and memorable riffs like Maiden then it's definitely in there but if you listen to the album it goes towards the heavier side of metal and it does sound like a Blaze Bayley solo album. This is the fourth album I have worked with Blaze with and because we have written so many songs together now we just jell." Chris
When asked about the production
" We went back and listened to all my solo albums and started to get a vibe, it was good because it gave us a common reference when we were writing the new album of the parts we liked from the past music. We took a decision that we would record this at home studio cause we had great success with my acoustic album" Blaze
When asked if Blaze would be open to supporting Iron maiden on tour
"It would be a lot of fun, certainly I would love to see the guys, I spoke to Steve Harris a couple of months ago about what he is doing and how we are coping with everything. So it really would be a fun thing to do." Blaze
When asked what was it like performing with Paul D'ianno in the past
"So much fun, we had so many great times together, it's been so much fun touring with him. What a great laugh, what a great personality." Blaze
Would he consider Steve Harris as a guest on a future studio Blaze album
"Yes, definitely, the toughest thing about that is logistics, where is Steve at that time, has he got time to do it, is he on the road with Maiden or British Lion? But yes." Blaze
War Within Me" was recorded during 2020 with work split between Blaze's studio at home in the West Midlands and Christopher Appleton's studio in Greater Manchester. The now very consistent lineup, chosen from British metal band ABSOLVA, played on the album — Christopher Appleton (guitar, backing vocals), Martin McNee (drums), Karl Schramm (bass). Blaze and Appleton shared the work mixing and producing, while Ade Emsley (IRON MAIDEN, TANK, BRITISH LION, VOODOO SIX) handled the mastering. The striking and detailed artwork is provided by Akirant Illustration (IRON MAIDEN, "Star Wars").
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"War Within Me" track listing:
01. War Within Me
02. 303
03. Warrior
04. Pull Yourself Up
05. Witches Night
06. 18 Flights
07. The Dream Of Alan Turing
08. The Power Of Nikola Tesla
09. The Unstoppable Stephen Hawking
10. Every Storm Ends