Friday, March 21, 2008

VALIENT THORR - New Album IMMORTALIZER - June 17

On a single-minded mission to preach their message of redemption wrapped in rock n' roll, Venus' favorite export, Valient Thorr, is ready to drop their latest album with the June 17 release of IMMORTALIZER on Volcom Entertainment. The new record - their fourth in five years - is a testament to the band's hard-working existence, with a staggeringly productive tour schedule that finds them averaging close to 250 dates a year. Having just capped 2007 with a successful support slot for metal heroes Motörhead on their recent tour of Germany, Valient Thorr will be back on the European roads this spring. First up is a trek with Turbonegro and Year Long Disaster, from March 24 in London through April 8 in Finland; then it's on to Valient Thorr's own headlining club tour from April 10 in Copenhagen through April 19 in Nuneaton, England, with alternating support acts Gob Squad, Boss Martian and Intervurt.

Valient Thorr recorded IMMORTALIZER in Seattle with legendary Jack Endino, producer of seminal albums by Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney as well as younger upstarts Hot Hot Heat and High On Fire. Recording with Endino in his hometown of Seattle, Valient Thorr continued to work from the starting point of their classic 70's influences such as Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, as well as those groups' more obscure yet equally important contemporaries like Master's Apprentices and Sir Lord Baltimore to create a shredding yet soulful, heavy-rocking opus.

Previous albums such as the band's self-released 2003 debut Stranded on Earth, their 2005 Volcom debut Total Universe Man, and 2006 follow-up Legend of the World tackled the world's problems straight on with a blunt, in-your-face attack on the Bush Administration, war in the Middle East and capitalism run amok. With IMMORTALIZER, the band is taking a more "allegorical lyrical approach," says frontman Valient Himself. Meanwhile, new guitarist Voiden Thorr brings a sharper metal edge into the fold, joining fellow six-stringer Eidan Thorr, drummer Lucian Thorr and bassist Nitewolf.

Since hitting the road full-time, Valient Thorr has enjoyed successive, high-profile stints on the Vans Warped Tour in 2005 and 2006, and has toured incessantly with such varied acts as Joan Jett and the Black Hearts, Eagles of Death Metal, Gogol Bordello, Fu Manchu and Motörhead. Following their spring European tour with Turbonegro, look for Valient Thorr to bring their brand of heavy metal mayhem back to their adopted turf of the good ol' U.S.A. later in 2008.

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