Greek heavy metal band FIREWIND has made a significant impact on the global metal scene for the last 25 years with their powerful blend of melodic metal, soaring vocals, and intricate guitar work.

Originally formed in 1998 by guitarist Gus G. (who is also known for his stint in the OZZY OSBOURNE band), Firewind initially began as a project but quickly evolved into a full-fledged band. Their music combines elements of power metal, neoclassical metal, and hard rock, characterized by fast-paced rhythms, elaborate solos, and anthemic choruses.

Now Metal Department can offer a long overdue reissue of their out-of-print 2nd album 'Burning Earth', originally issued in 2003.

Firewind already attracted a lot of attention with their debut album 'Between Heaven And Hell', but things really took off for them with the release of the 2nd album.

Former Kenziner frontman Stephen Fredrick is responsible for the excellent, powerful vocals, and Pagan's Mind skin tanner Stian Kristoffersen is to be found on the drums.

The reissue comprise a digipak CD featuring 4 bonustracks, and a limited edition vinyl LP edition.

BURNING EARTH (2024 reissue) - Liner Notes

"Burning Earth" is the sophomore Firewind album and the follow up of our debut "Between Heaven & Hell".
I remember it took forever to get the first album off the ground, as we started from nothing. I had been demoing up songs for years and sending them to Leviathan Records (whom I signed my first record contract with), as they were trying to figure out how to help me put a band together.

After the debut album came out, it had some success in Japan where we achieved pretty good sales and very positive feedback from European press. 

Naturally, I started writing songs for the next album. At the time I had no idea that the follow up album would become a turning point in Firewind's story for various reasons. But let's take a look back in history:

While working on the new songs, I realized I needed a more stable band and the first lineup change happened - enter bass player Petros Christo (who's the longest running member in Firewind after myself) and Norwegian drummer Stian Kristoffersen of Pagan's Mind who I met during my time living in Sweden. American vocalist Stephen Fredrick was still on board and co-wrote the album with me. 
You have to remember these are the 00s, so it's early years of Internet, no smartphones and lightning-fast file sharing. I would demo my ideas, burn them on a CD and then mail them to Atlanta, where Stephen worked on vocals and lyrics together with producer, David Chastain. After recording everyone's parts remotely, we finally took the recordings to Gothenburg, Sweden where we mixed the album at Studio Fredman w/ my then Dream Evil bandmate, Fredrik Nordstrom. The artwork was done by Japanese illustrator, Kazuo Hakamada who was suggested to us by our Japanese label at the time, EMI.

This album turned out to be one of the most important Firewind albums overall, as it featured 2 standout tracks - I Am The Anger and the instrumental, The Fire & The Fury. I remember David Chastain always telling me to play more solos and showcase my guitar abilities and that's how I came up with this instrumental piece. Both of these songs have become staples on our setlist and we play them live to this date. 

A very nice memory I have from this album, was going to Japan on a promotional tour. It was September 2003 that I spent a week in Tokyo doing press and even filming a video clip for "The Fire & The Fury" which shows yours truly, performing on a boat that cruised around Tokyo Bay, with a wall of amps behind me!

Back then, underground Metal bands didn't really do videos like everyone does now, cause this was before YouTube. Doing a music video meant that the label had plans to air it on a television show, so you can imagine what a privilege this was, for a newcomer act like us!

Burning Earth also marked the first few Firewind live activities. In January 2004, we were invited to perform 3 shows in Japan, and later we played our first couple of shows in Europe too. Stephen Fredrick opted out of  touring, and we recruited Sri Lankan vocalist City Somapala and keyboardist Bob Katsionis for the shows to support the album. 

Overall, I feel this album has stood the test of time. In the age of streaming, it is still going strong and after many years I'm very happy that we have the opportunity to reissue the album as a physical product - both on CD and vinyl! Crank it up and enjoy listening!

- Gus G. 2024

Album credits

Produced by David T. Chastain and Gus G.

Guitars, bass and keyboards recorded at A29 Studio, Thessaloniki, Greece
Vocals recorded by David T. Chastain at Leviathan Studios, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Drums recorded by Espen Mjoen at Mediamaker Studio, Skien, Norway
Mixed by Fredrik Nordstrom at Studio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden
Mastered by Eroc at Eroc's Mastering Ranch, Hagen, Germany.

Cover art by Kazuo Hakamada
Photographers: Angelos Lyritzis, Steven Taylor and Henning Theodorsen
Layout & Design by Federico Maragoni

Additional performances:
Additional background vocals by David T. Chastain
"Breckerfelder" thunder on "Steal Them Blind" by Eroc.

Official band website: WWW.FIREWIND.GR

www.facebook.com/firewindofficial
www.instagram.com/firewindofficial
www.youtube.com/firetv