Polish heavy metal rockers SCREAM MAKER have announced the upcoming release of their fourth studio album, Land of Fire, on July 14, 2023. The first video from the album, "Can't Stop the Rain", is out today.
SCREAM MAKER will set out on a headlining tour on June 3 in Chorzow, Poland at the Leniczowka Rock'n'Roll Cafe.
"Land of Fire is the first album where we achieved full stylistic coherence," explains the band. "It's heavy metal, of course, but filtered through our musical tastes, experiences from recording previous albums, and a sense of what will work well in live performances. Land of Fire may not be the most aggressive thing we've recorded, but it's not about aggression, it's about melodies and musicality. We made sure that the vocals are memorable, and the guitar solos capture the essence of what's best in classic heavy metal. Why the title Land of Fire? We don't tell stories from Mordor on this album, nor do we directly refer to the current events that actually make the world burn. Land of Fire is a metaphor for what's happening within us. We are torn apart by internal conflicts, contradictory thoughts swirl in our heads, paralyzing decisions. Sometimes, there's a true mental war raging within us, leaving behind ruins of memories, plans, and aspirations."
Land of Fire sees the Polish heavy metallers building on the strengths of their previous three releases to deliver their finest hour yet.
Watch the Video for "Can't Stop the Rain" on KNAC.COM HERE.
SCREAM MAKER formed in Warsaw, Poland in late 2010 when the original members, including current member Michal Wrona (guitar), gathered together out of a shared love of heavy metal. Wrona is joined in the current incarnation of SCREAM MAKER by vocalist Sebastian Stodolak, bassist Jan Radosz, drummer Tomek Sobieszek, and guitarist Bartosz Ziolkowski. The band has produced three full-length studio albums (2014's Livin in the Past, 2016's Back Against the World, 2022's Bloodking), plus one EP (We Are Not the Same) and has played over 300 shows in Poland and abroad, including gigs with luminaries such as Judas Priest, Motörhead, Megadeth, Saxon, Slayer, Nightwish, Primal Fear, Stratovarius, Onslaught, and many more.
The band recorded their debut album, Living in the Past, with producer Alessandro del Vecchio (JORN, Hardline, Revolution Saints) and the album featured guest appearances from Jordan Rudess of DREAM THEATER and Wojciech Hoffmann of TURBO. The album was released by Perris Records in April of 2014 in the U.S. and Europe and followed by a tour that included shows with Primal Fear, Paul Di'anno, Blaze Bayley, and more. In May 2014, the band toured China for the first time, playing six festivals and unexpectedly becoming the first Polish artist to have an album released by a domestic record label in China.
In the summer and autumn of 2015, between gigs with Saxon, Black Label Society, and Motörhead, SCREAM MAKER gathered at HEAR Studio in Warsaw to record their second album, Back Against the World. The album was crafted under the guidance of Radoslaw Kordowski, as well as, once again, Alessandro Del Vecchio. The album was released in May 2016 and once again the band got busy playing shows in support of the album, including shows with Megadeth, KORN, Slayer, another tour of China (their third, but not last, as China has become a regular touring destination for the band), as well as the third edition of the Ronnie James Dio Memorial that they had started back in 2014, but this time, the tribute included several shows. The band would organize a fourth edition of the Ronnie James Dio Memorial in spring 2017, and in December 2017, the band opened the first ever Polish concert by the Dio Returns tour. The band has continued with the Ronnie James Dio Memorial shows as the years have gone on, turning it into a regular tradition.
Once the global pandemic hit in 2020 and slowed the band's regular busy touring schedule, they focused on fine-tuning and recording material for their third full-length album, Bloodking, which was released in January 2022 and subsequently re-released by Frontiers Music Srl in December of the same year after the band signed a deal with the label. The album was mixed by Tomasz "Zed" Zalewski, with two songs, "When Our Fight Is Over" and "Hitting the Wall" being mixed by Alessandro Del Vecchio, and was very well received by both fans and critics, with Metal Hammer Poland giving it a glowing review. With touring opening back up, the band got busy playing gigs again and planned their own two-day festival in Warsaw (with Polish legends TURBO headlining) in September 2022, which also includedanother edition of the Ronnie James Dio Memorial. In the fall of 2022, the band embarked on another tour with the Ronnie James Dio Memorial, after which they devoted themselves to writing and recording their fourth full-length album, which would ultimately become Land of Fire.
Land of Fire Track List:
- "Perpetual Burning"
- "Can't Stop the Rain"
- "Everybody Needs Illusions"
- "Zombies"
- "A Nail in the Head"
- "The Rider"
- "Dark Side Of Mine"
- "Way to The Moon"
- "Land of Fire"
- "See the Light"
- "Below"
SCREAM MAKER Live:
- 6/3 Chorzow, Poland - Lesniczowka Rock'n'Roll Cafe
- 6/17 Wloszakowice, Poland - Rockowe Granie
- 7/7 Przegaliny, Poland - Motopiknik
- 7/22 Pleszew, Poland - Zlot Samochodowy
- 9/29 Krakow, Poland - Garage Pub
- 9/30 Sandomierz, Poland - Lapidarium
- 10/6 Warszawa, Poland - Hybrydy
- 10/20 Gdynia, Poland - Pub Torpeda
- 10/21 Poznan, Poland - Pod Minoga
