Texas metal titans Ignitor have unleashed a video for “Machine Gun”, originally recorded by New Wave of British Heavy Metal legends, Saxon. The cover song is taken from Ignitor’s new album, “Horns and Hammers”.
The track and video features cameos from vocalist Marc Lopes of Metal Church, Let Us Prey and Ross the Boss, as well as Ross the Boss Friedman himself of Manowar and The Dictators.
Ignitor vocalist Jason McMaster explains:
“I was in Germany playing a festival with Watchtower, where we were direct support for Metal Church. I met up with Marc and we became fast friends. It was an obvious idea to me to ask him to guest on a track on the new Ignitor record. This great Saxon cover of ‘Machine Gun’ was perfect. He kicks so much ass on it, I am super proud of it.”
Ignitor guitarist, Robert Williams, weighs in on the idea to get Ross the Boss, with whom Marc also works.
“Jason called Marc and so it only seemed fitting that I reach out to my friend Ross to throw a ripping guitar solo into the mix. Ross was immediately into the idea and just killed it. They both shine on this rendition of “Machine Gun.” We have a ton of respect for both of these guys.”
The video concept was created by Marc Lopes himself. Marc has his own digital creative design company called Sonatheria. It was convenient and hands on for Marc, as he created content for the “Machine Gun” video in his own studio. Basic B-roll footage was shot in Texas, and then sent to Marc by the band to incorporate into the editing.
Jason on the video:
” When we finally saw the final edit, we were blown away. Excellent work by Marc at containing the energy for this video. I am stoked to share a song with him and that involvement even goes beyond contribution of his voice. He is one of my favorite singers in metal, and then, his digital video production work truly added to the power of the track.”
The U.S. version of Horns and Hammers adds the ripping cover of Saxon’s classic “Machine Gun”, featuring guest vocalist Marc Lopes (Metal Church, Ross the Boss, Let Us Prey) and guest guitarist Ross “The Boss” Friedman (Manowar, The Dictators, Ross the Boss). The European version of Horns and Hammers features a live performance of Ignitor’s 2020 track, “Hell Shall Be Your Home”.
“Machine Gun” is available on all streaming outlets, available for download, and the video is a global release on YouTube.
Another storm-the-gates, metal onslaught, “Horns and Hammers” delivers all the dramatic power and fury that landed previous albums Haunted by Rock ‘N’ Roll and The Golden Age of Black Magick in the hallowed realms of Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, Raven, Dio, Accept and other legendary keepers of the metal creed.
From the title track’s speed-metal war cry and the Maiden-esque “Imperial Bloodlines” to the cowbell-driven “Shattered Crosses” and the 70s-inspired heavy metal of “Ferocious the Martyrs” (featuring guest keyboardist Gabriel Guardian of Immortal Guardian) the 11-track Horns and Hammers is a mighty mix of classic heavy metal spiked with NWOBHM, thrash, power metal and the atmospheric textures of prog-metal and fantasy.
“We raised the bar high with our last two albums so we couldn’t settle for anything less than a full-on metal assault,” said founding guitarist Stuart “Batlord” Laurence. “We’ve always honored our influences, but we’re also very insistent that our music – first and foremost – sounds like Ignitor. With Horns and Hammers, we’ve covered the spectrum of metal and taken Ignitor to a whole new level.”
Fronted by the soaring vocals of Jason McMaster (Watchtower, Dangerous Toys, Broken Teeth), Ignitor’s strength is further forged by guitarist Robert Williams, bassist Billy “Chainsaw” Dansfiell and drummer Pat Doyle. Whether charging and pounding like clashing titans (“Dark Horse”, “Chaos Maximus Eternal”) or luring the listener into gothic tales of doom and deceit (“Suicide Anthem,” “Taken Up With Serpents”), Ignitor delivers with shuddering impact.
“Robert brought a ton of songs and riff ideas to the table and Billy had some great ideas that blossomed into full-blown songs,” Laurence said. “Once we started jamming with Pat’s pummeling backbeat, we knew we had something special.”
“As the arrangements started coming together, I found myself completely immersed and inspired to come up with the lyrical themes and characters to carry the songs to completion,” McMaster added. “I’m really proud of the band’s individual and collective contributions, and I think we all agree that Horns and Hammers is a triumph by any measure.”
The album’s stunning cover art – featuring a medieval warrior and his mighty steed surveying a hellish killing field – comes courtesy of renowned fantasy/sci-fi artist Claudio Bergamin whose credits include Judas Priest (Firepower), Burning Witches (The Witch of the North), Cassius King (Field Trip) and Klassik ’78 (Phantoms), among others.
Produced and mastered by Stuart “Batlord” Laurence at Emphatic Audio in Austin, TX, “Horns and Hammers” was mastered for vinyl by Cris Burns. “Hell Shall Be Your Home” was recorded live in Austin TX at Kick Butt Coffee in 2019, and engineered by Ernie Basaldua with mixing by Stuart “Batlord” Laurence.
Photo Credit: Steve Miller
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