ONWARD

Traditional metal powerhouse ONWARD will be embarking on a string of dates in support of their release Reawaken opening for Brazil's ANGRA and the legendary BLIND GUARDIAN from Germany in December.

“It's all really exciting, but we're still in shock, and all of our friends are in total disbelief that we're doing this,” states ONWARD guitarist Toby Knapp. “It's an extreme honor to play with Blind Guardian and Angra. I'll be in good company guitar-wise, so I'll have to keep my chops up [laughs]…”

“We're very happy to be playing all new cities,” shares vocalist Michael Grant. “People have been asking us when we'll go play for them, and now we will. Blind Guardian, Symphony X, Angra… what more could we ask for?”

While battling a small case of a nervous stomach just before leaving for the Angra/Blind Guardian tours, Toby Knapp shared some information about their upcoming 2003 album, entitled New Fathoms Down:

“The new album is a rebellion against where we were headed, which was being pigeonholed as very cliché power metal. I scrapped 10 full tracks and started over again because I told myself, 'We can't do this. We have to go somewhere else.' The way I see it, there's no need for side projects. We can do everything we want all within one band, giving ourselves more freedom as musicians, as artists. Funny thing is, I had no recording equipment when it came time to work on the record. There was a series of freak accidents that landed me some equipment. It took me exactly 7 days of staying up constantly to get the new album done… Musically we would describe this as mid-'70s Zeppelin meets Dio-era Rainbow. It is still very much a metal record, but a complete departure from our previous albums. The vocals are a bit more loose and the guitar tones will have nothing to do with the 'crunch' sound. I'm going to attempt to get this recorded strictly analog.”

Some of the new song titles include: “New Fathoms Down,” “Front Line Away,” “I Will Be Waiting,” “The End of Loneliness,” “The Emerald Encounter,” “Enemy Ten,” “Sleeper's Island,” and “The Day When Nothing Died.”