Gamma Ray, Germany's power metal titans, are currently putting the finishing touches on their 11th studio album Empire of the Undead. While this isn't very interesting in and of itself, keep in mind that the band's studio and rehearsal space, Hammer Studio, burned to the ground last year destroying virtually all of Gamma Ray's equipment.
Luckily the tapes containing all the new material from Empire of the Undead survived the blaze, and Gamma Ray are in a new studio right now putting the finishing touches on the album which should be out sometime in Spring. Regarding the fire, Gamma Ray mastermind Kai Hansen had this to say:
"If this could not stop us, nothing ever will. We got rid of a lot of shit that we gathered there. Unfortunately, a lot of good equipment as well. Anyhow, we look towards the future, we saved the production and we can continue now in this new place. By mid-January we should be done with the work on this album."
It's cool to hear that Hansen is still keeping a positive outlook despite his studio and equipment being destroyed in a freak hellstorm of fire. It's hard to imagine jumping right back into the mixing process after something like that happens. There's no set release date yet, but you can listen to the title track from the album below. Gamma Ray have a long track record of great power metal albums, and based on this song it seems like they're continuing that tradition. Keep checking back here at Metal Injection for information as it becomes available!
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Ue8CbZ9Nl0Q[/youtube]
