TARJA TURUNEN, HANSI KÜRSCH, MARCO HIETALA

TARJA TURUNEN, HANSI KÜRSCH, MARCO HIETALA Confirmed For Nuclear Blast 20th Anniversary CD; Title Of Album Revealed


As previously reported, RAGE guitarist Victor Smolski is working on a special CD for Nuclear Blast's 20th Anniversary entitled Into The Light. Smolski composed, recorded and produced 10 songs for various metal bands of Nuclear Blast history, including a new Rage song. His complete update on the project is found below, with all the participating singers revealed and descriptions of each song:

Peavy (RAGE):
Song Title: 'Terrified'
-- "Especially recording a new Rage song together with Peavy was great fun. There are lots of fast double bass parts, but also many groovy stuff and great melodies in chorus at 'Terrified', the title of the song. Again, I tuned down the guitars to C, as I did at 'Straight To Hell'. The song really worked out well. The lyrics are describing an inner relief."

Schmier (DESTRUCTION)
Song Title: 'Bloodsucker'
-- "Real trashy number with 200 double bass. The song deals with the current crisis in Iraq war and their causes (failed US politics)."

Andi Deris (HELLOWEEN)
SongTitle: 'A Perfect Day'
-- "Straight Helloween style Metal song with a catchy chorus. The song deals with the incalculability of life and the associated fact, that our end can overtake us any time."

Tony Kakko (SONATA ARCTICA)
Song Title: 'Ruling The World'
-- "Straight metal number with several voices and + keyboard arrangements. The song is about the arrogant power politics of the western Great Powers."

Oddleif Stensland (COMMUNIC)
Song Title: 'Eternally'
-- "Very slow ballad - heavy and modern. It's about suicide. Too often, specially young people in crisis decide to end their life, without getting straight about the irreversibility of this act."

Tarja Turunen (ex-NIGHTWISH)
Song Title: 'In The Picture'
-- "This last middle-tempo song of the CC develops itself from the ballad-like beginning to a catchy chorus, which is a good example for how harmonic a powerful metal song can fit to Tarja’s classical voice. The lyrics deal with the subject, if there were any other existences, and even if we faced directly with the facts, would we believe our eyes?"

Hansi Kürsch (BLIND GUARDIAN)
Song Title: 'Slaves Of The Desert'
-- "A long, both groovy and also progressive metal tune, with an interesting structure in the song itself, as well as in harmonics, containing many catchy metal-riffs and some arrangement parts for big choir, like Hansi is famous for the several voices work with Blind Guardian. The song is in a sense about the question, if there is an alien-like exsistence or even something like a strange population somewhere out there."

Tobias Sammet (EDGUY)
Song Title: 'Dirty Wings'
-- "The opener – one of my favourite songs - is a catchy tune with a real nice melodic chorus, which fits perfect to Tobi’s emotional voice. The song lyrics are about a person, who comes back to do it better after he fell, in spite of the mistakes he did."

Mats Leven (THERION)
Song Title: 'Death Is Alive'
-- "This is a bombastic dragging song, which contains a lot of dynamic and interesting voice arrangements. (Mats Leven’s all-round voice makes you almost feel, like the death in person is singing to you – being a great contrast to the female angel-backings). A fictional story about immortallity, similar to the Highlander theme."

Marco Hietala (NIGHTWISH / TAROT)
Song Title: 'Inner Sanctuary'
-- "Here we have an almost up-tempo piece, beginning first with a guitar-riff, followed by a celtic-like keyboard line, developing later on into a metal song with the mix of powerful orchestration, and calm keyboard arrangements, which often is used by Nightwish. The lyrics of the song deal with the fact, that life is causing deep wounds sometimes, so it's good, when you have an inner refuge to reflect, an inner sanctuary, where you can regenerate."