Blind Ego is back! The guitarist of the German flagship Art-rock band RPWL Kalle Wallner has kept his promise and recorded a new studio album. The first single, “In a Blink of an Eye”, is out now, along with an elaborate video.
Wallner explains why the longest song on the album was chosen: “We are living in very turbulent and unsettling times. This central song encompasses the whole album very well. In a single moment, life as we know it can change completely. Not just our own, but that of an entire society or nation”.
The new singer Kevin Kearns leads the listener breathtakingly through all the emotional highs and lows before the waves calm down and the song closes with a wonderful guitar solo. It’s not least because of solos like this that Wallner is quickly compared to Pink Floyd icon David Gilmour.
Watch the video for “In a Blink of an Eye” below.
Wallner has once again worked with author Dominik Feiner, but this time the workflow was exactly the opposite: the lyrics were written first and Wallner composed the music. “I’m always looking for new challenges, such as writing on a specific topic as part of a team for RPWL. ‘Voices’ was more or less an instrumental album and now, for the first time, I composed to finished lyrics instead of finding the lyrics for the music”, explains Wallner. You can hear this inspiration in the songs: they sound fresh and unspent, they are very varied, have hard and soft tones, are sometimes driving and quite complex rock songs and sometimes ballads. All these elements come together on “The Hunting Party” to form a very special unity. The lyrics of the seven songs can be interpreted very differently: in a very personal way, but also in an outward-looking, social way. You can always be the “hunter” but also the “hunted”. Wallner says: “I like lyrics that you can empathise with and that leave enough room for your own thoughts and speculations”.
In addition to Wallner’s exceptional and distinctive guitar playing, it is above all the talented and first-class singer Kevin Kearns who contributes to the great overall impression of the album. Kearns, who normally strikes a completely different note in his own metalcore band Cyant, turns out to be the ideal singer: he interprets the songs on “The Hunting Party” in a particularly emotional way, taking you with him through all the quiet and loud passages – sometimes straightforward, sometimes delicate, but always highly expressive and bursting with energy. They are once again joined by exceptional drummer Michael Christoph and Wallner’s long-time musical companion Yogi Lang (RPWL), who not only leaves his mark on the album as co-producer and keyboardist, but is also responsible for the crystal-clear mix and mastering.
The title track already contains both the melodic and complex elements of Blind Ego and catapults the listener right into the centre of the album. This is followed by “The Stranger”, a wonderful classic Rock song with sing-along potential. “Spiders” is a real up-tempo rocker before the first half draws to a close with “Boiling Point”, a very dynamic Alternative-style track.
This is followed by “Breathless”, which almost makes a Progressive Metal statement with its hard riffs and edges. Wallner releases the listener from “The Hunting Party” with the beautiful melancholic ballad “When the Party’s Over” into an open ending.
You would like to play the album again right away…
The new album “The Hunting Party” will be released on October 18th, 2024, via Gentle Art of Music on CD (digisleeve), red vinyl and digital.
Pre-order “The Hunting Party” here and pre-save it here.
Tracklist:
1. The Hunting Party
2. The Stranger
3. Spiders
4. Boiling Point
5. In a Blink of an Eye
6. Breathless
7. When the Party’s Over
European Tour Dates 2024:
20 Nov 2024 | Hamburg (GER), Logo
21 Nov 2024 | Zoetermeer (NL), Poppodium Boerderij
22 Nov 2024 | Rüsselsheim (GER), Das Rind
23 Nov 2024 | Freising (GER), Lindenkeller
24 Nov 2024 | Oberhausen (GER), Zentrum Altenberg
(Support: Marco Glühmann & Band)
Weblinks:
www.blind-ego.com
www.facebook.com/blindego
