''The Premonition'' is the fifth full-length album by

Firewind Firewind is a Greek power metal band formed in Thessaloniki in 1998. The group is currently signed to Century Media Records and was originally a small project created by guitarist Gus G. to showcase his demo, ''Nocturnal Symphony'', in 1998. ...

and their only album to feature the same line-up as its predecessor.

Gus G. Kostas Karamitroudis (born 12 September 1980), better known as Gus G, is a Greek heavy metal guitarist. He currently plays with his band Firewind. He has also played in Mystic Prophecy, Nightrage, Arch Enemy, Dream Evil and Ozzy Osbourne ...

said "we basically kept the ''

Allegiance An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign. Etymology From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...

'' 'winning team' together" much to the apparent surprise of fans.Firewind.gr news update November 28, 2007, cited March 4, 2008

Creation process

The song writing began in part while in tour supporting the band's previous album ''

'' during which time they wrote 6 titled songs (Remembered, Life Foreclosed, The Silent Code, Mercenary Man, My Loneliness, Head Up High)Firewind.gr news update November 12, 2007, cited March 4, 2008

said "Song writing-wise I think all songs are special and once again everyone was involved in the writing" while in the studio they recorded a total of 12 original songs and "a few covers" including their cover of the

Michael Sembello Michael Andrew Sembello (born April 17, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, composer and producer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sembello was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his 1983 song "M ...

song "

Maniac Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior. Maniac may also refer to: Film * ' ...

also said:

Touring and promotion

Firewind started touring after the completion of the album in January, in which time they filmed the content for the bonus DVD. They are scheduled to tour supporting

Kamelot Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed by Thomas Youngblood, in 1987. The Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album '' Siége Perilous'', and shared songwriting credit with Youngblood until his departure in A ...

on their "Rule the World Tour" in April through Europe and then in May on their "Tyranny and Bloodshred" tour through North America with

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharis ...

, Dark Tranquillity, and

Divine Heresy Divine Heresy is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California by founder of Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares and Devolved drummer John Sankey. Although the band's origins trace back to 2002, Divine Heresy was officially for ...

.firewind.gr
2008 tours page, Cited April 1, 2008

Release history

Unlike previous releases, ''The Premonition'' wasn't first released in the band's homeland,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, although it was first announced for release there. Instead, it was initially released in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: ...

(

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

) on 21 March 2008. Then the following day in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, and Switzerland. On 24 March 2008 it was released in Greece,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

, and to a large portion of the rest of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. In

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, it was released on 25 March 2008, and the following day in Sweden,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. It was released four days later in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 7 April 2008.Firewind.gr news update March 19, 2008, Cited 1 April 2008 It was re-released on vinyl on 3 March 2010, making this their first vinyl release, and including the Japan bonus track "Ride to the Rainbows End".

Singles

The first single from ''The Premonition'', "Mercenary Man", was released on the band's official Myspace page for streaming almost two months before the album's release on 2 February 2008, and one month before the album's release as a maxi-CD exclusively to

on 25 February 2008. In-between the two release dates, the band filmed the music video for the song in Sweden with

Patric Ullaeus Patric Ullaeus is a Swedish director and photographer. He is the founder of Revolver Film Company, based in Gothenburg. With his music video "The Serpentine Offering" for Dimmu Borgir he won the "Norwegian Grammy" award Spellemannsprisen in the ...

as the producer.blabbermouth.net
news archive February 28, 2008, Cited April 1, 2008 "Mercenary Man" entered the Greek Top 50 Singles chart at #6 and is peaked at #5. Meanwhile, the two singles from their previous album, ''Allegiance'', were still charting in Greece. "Falling to Pieces", which peaked at #11, it was still in at #43, and "Breaking the Silence", which peaked at #16, was still in at #33.
page on the Greek Top 50 Singles, Cited April 1, 2008

Track listing

B-sides

#"Spirits in a Digital World" (Gus G., Christo) – 4:04 (from the "Mercenary Man" single) #"Mercenary Man coustic (Gus G., Papathanasio) – 3:54 (from the "Mercenary Man" single)

Unreleased song

The instrumental song Perasmenes mou Agapes, originally by

Manolis Chiotis Manolis Chiotis (Greek: Μανώλης Χιώτης; March 21, 1921 – March 20, 1970) was a Greek rebetiko and laiko composer, singer, and bouzouki player.English translation He is considered one of the greatest bouzouki soloists of all ti ...

, was cut at the final stages of the release for copyright reasons. The song had a few live performances by Firewind including at the Gagarin Open Air festival in Athens 2007. It was also played on 12 January 2008 during the filming of Live Premonition but was cut from the DVD.

Bonus DVD

The special edition version of the album comes with O-Card packaging and a bonus DVD with four songs, recorded at a live performance of the album in the Principal theatre in

Thessaloniki, Greece Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, on 12 January 2008, and interviews with all the band members.Firewind.gr news update March 5, 2008, cited March 8, 2008 #"Into the Fire" – 6:34 #"Head Up High" – 3:43 #"Mercenary Man" – 3:56 #"My Loneliness" – 4:01

Personnel

;Band members * Apollo Papathanasio – vocals *

– guitars * Babis Katsionis – keyboards *

Petros Christo Petros Christodoulidis ( el, Πέτρος Χριστοδουλίδης), born March 4, 1975 in Greece, is the current bass player of the Power metal band Firewind. He has also played in Breaking Silence. He is the owner of Emerald Cafe, named af ...

doylidis – bass * Mark Cross – drums ;Guest musicians * Marcus Palsson – backing vocals on tracks 2, 5, 8 & 9 ;Technical staff * Fredrik Nordström – mixing, engineering * Henrik Udd – mixing, engineering * Rickard Bengtson – engineering * Gustavo Sazes – artwork *

– photography * Olga K. – photographs of Mark Cross

Footnotes

External links

*Firewind's official website
/spa
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Premonition, The 2008 albums Firewind albums Century Media Records albums Albums produced by Fredrik Nordström Albums recorded at Studio Fredman