At times it’s hard to believe that the band Firewind has been out in the musical trenches and killin’ now for 20 plus years. Firewind is the baby and brilliance of guitarist extraordinaire Gus G (Ozzy Osbourne, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil). The band just recently released the follow-up to 2017’s Immortals. Their new self-titled album is the first on a new label (AFM Records) and the first with lead singer Herbie Langhans (Sinbreed). The end product is one of the strongest albums in Firewind’s extensive catalog. We sat down with guitarist Gus G right before the album’s release to talk about the new album, bringing in Langhans and how the pandemic brought Firewind and their new found momentum to a screeching halt.
This is the first Firewind album with first album with Herbie Langhans on lead vocals. I feel like this is the music version of which came first the chicken or the egg. Were you already working on the album when he was brought in or did you start it after he was on-board?
Gus G/Firewind: When I started writing this album, it was still with the previous singer and lineup. To me, I went in making these songs business as usual. I went in to make the follow-up to the Immortals album from 2017. I quickly realized that this was going to be a little bit of a different album compared to the last one. I saw there was a little bit of a hesitation there with ideas from the guys. Long story short, I wrote the stuff. Joe, my drummer, and I went to Germany to record the drums and when you lay down the drums, that’s it. That’s the material right there. Then, I tracked the guitars over that. Then, we went on the tour with Queensryche. All this time, there was no action on vocals or vocal melodies and it was a bit strange. I had a feeling that something was happening. We came back from the tour and I realized that we needed to find a new guy because it just wasn’t happening anymore. Herbie comes in and he has to write lyrics and melodies for seven or eight songs while putting his own stamp on it while keeping within the Firewind realm stylistic wise. We barely knew it each, but I trust somebody with their ideas. I’ll give them a shot like that. The first thing I did was send him the riff to “Devour” and the next day he sent me back the lyrics and vocal for that one and I was like ‘wow!’ To me, it sounded like how Firewind should be sounding, so we were good to move ahead. That was really like a crash task. That was a tough task for any singer who would step into something like that.
I can only imagine how that must have felt like for him. Dude, he knocked it out of the park.
He did and thank god there was a really good chemistry between us. I let him be himself and do his thing and I think he felt good with that. He came up with his ideas, but we also went back and forth with ‘how about this’ and ‘try this.’ We’re still finding out about each other and how we both work, but he really does have a great work ethic. Every day he would get up and write lyrics and by lunch he would present me a vocal idea and I would get back with him. It was really good; I was really impressed.
There are 11 tracks on the album; did you have to cut anything to get it down to 11? I ask because all 11 of these tracks are killer!
We had 13 all together and one more that didn’t quite make it; the label asked for some extra tracks for down the line. There was another track that we did the music for, but not the vocals yet. I’m not sure if it will be on the next record or maybe a single, but we’ll see.
When you knew you needed another vocalist, what drew you to Herbie?
It was interesting because I was talking to my manager here in Greece about possibly finding someone here from Greece. There were several guys on the list, but I wasn’t feeling strongly about it. When I hear somebody sing, I can somehow visualize whether they can do this with us or not. I don’t know what it is, but either I like what I hear and I know it can fit in with Firewind or it’s a no-go right away. It’s almost like I don’t have to audition someone because I know right at first. A couple of days later, I thought that maybe I should shoot an email over to the record label and maybe they might know of somebody. My manager suggested Herbie Langhans and I was like ‘who is that guy?’ They sent me a bunch of links and the minute I clicked on the link I immediately realized. There was this song from a band he used to be in called Sinbreed and I immediately knew that I knew this guy. We did a festival together in Spain eight years ago, but we never met. I clearly remember listening to him and thinking how he would fit great in Firewind. Fast forward seven or eight years later and how funny is life? They put me in touch with him and we started talking. The first thing I asked him to do was sing on one of our older songs and I sent him the demo for “Head Up High” and the guy just fucking killed it! I knew right there and then that he was it. Then, I said how about a new idea so I sent him the riff for “Devour” and he sent he back the lyrics and vocal. That was it! Then he helped the other guys and turned out to be a really cool guy and not just some crazy mother fucker. Then, we talked about what I wanted from him and my expectations, where he was hoping to go and had in mind.
Does the revolving members thing get frustrating for you?
It does get frustrating and it’s not like I want to keep changing members. Back in December after all of this happened, I felt like quitting and stopping the band. I felt that I had enough and I was done, but I decided to think about it for a few days. Does it make sense to keep on going and do this? All of these negative things start coming to mind, but I realized that I wasn’t ready to give it up yet. It was almost like I let go of all of this stuff that I had and the thought that the fans would hate me for changing to another singer. I just needed to do this and give it a last shot. When you decide that sometimes, it’s a very liberating kind of feeling. Especially this time more than ever because it was almost like when I was a kid and I had first started. It was strange; it was this pure kind of feeling and sometimes you lose that when you’re in the business for so long.
Well, on behalf of many fans out there, thanks for not giving up.
(Laughs) I’m really glad too! I’m honestly glad that I didn’t stop the band right there. I think it would have been a mistake.
I know you’re itching for its release on May 15 and probably a little impatient.
I am and I’m doing a lot of interviews where I’m getting a really good response about the album. I have to say that it’s probably the best feedback on Firewind that I’ve received in I can even remember when. It’s also very frustrating at the same time because this coronavirus doesn’t allow us to tour at this time. I really feel like this is the album that can take the band to the next level.
The usual release an album then tour on it for about two years is not happening now. Are you like everyone else and put everything on hold?
It’s really hard to say; I’m not going to lie here. I don’t have anything booked yet. We had this North America tour for a month and a half next year and it’s been pulled. I’m in touch with my booking agents and they don’t have any info yet. I really think things won’t happen until 2021, but I’m not sure when. We’re all trying to predict through our conversations when it will be safe to have things happen but right now even doctors aren’t sure let alone booking agents and promoters. All of the big festivals here in Europe have been canceled. We’re just waiting to see man just like everyone else. Right now, our top priority is to stay healthy and safe. There will be a day pretty soon when we can all go back out there and play concerts safely.
We’re all impatient, fans and musicians alike. I read this interview with Joe Satriani yesterday where he said that all we do in our touring lives is hurry up and wait. You wait 23 hours a day to play that one hour on-stage. At the end of the day, I am bummed out, but I’m used to waiting for something. If you plan something out for the next year, then you wait.
Back to the new album; “Overdrive” caught me off guard dude! That is one killer track!
A lot of people are talking to me about this song so it seems that it’s striking a chord with a lot of people. It’s one of those songs that’s a little bit different for Firewind. It comes straight from my love for Black Sabbath and the DIO era of Sabbath specifically. I knew it was a little bit different so I showed it to Herbie and told him this was my vibe for it. I could visualize everyone’s fists in the air when we would play it live. Then he goes ‘how about making a song about the fans who love this music and support plus our love for metal that keeps this thing going?’ So, that’s what that song is all about. Originally, I thought it was going to be one of those bonus tracks. Again, it was one of those things where I send Herbie the demo and he comes back to me the next day with the vocal line and it sounded so good when he sang it. In the end, we knew it was a different kind of track but it was also a very cool track so we knew we had to keep it and put it in the tracklist.
It’s cool to hear that so many people are feeling it as well.
Who knows; we may end up doing a video for it at some point down the line.
Gus, I feel like I could talk to you all night about music, but I know our time is limited today. Thanks so much for the chat today. Is there anything that you’d like to close with?
Thanks for the support and for taking the time to talk to me. I hope everyone can stay healthy and safe and we hope to see you sooner than later when it’s safe for us to go out there and tour the world. God bless you all!
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