Hi Rageheads

Twenty one

Music: Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

Musically it's one of the heaviest pieces we have done since a long time. A real wide range of arrangements from very slow parts with dark atmosphere up to super low tuned massacre riffs combined with super fast and unusual but catchy melodies... evil! Victor put a lot of emphasis on the guitar sound, so everything sounds more fat and wide. All songs will be recorded with his new signature model of Engl which is even the most aggressive one of all Engl amps. Partially, riffs were doubbled 3 times. Twenty one starts with a unique intro played with traditional Belarusian instruments e.g.chopping board (Zymbaly)! The casino noises Victor recorded in New York (many thanks to the Skyline Records Studios for the support). Special thanks also to croupier Heather for the winner hand -"21".

The song is about gambling. The poor guy in the words is an addict and looses all he has in the game Black Jack. (U.S.: "21")

Serial Killer

Music: Peavy Wagner / Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

This, almost 6 minutes long song is one of the most unusual songs we're done since long. On one hand on the musical side, here I'm singing some parts with brutal Death Metal grunts for the first time. The complex guitar and drum arrangements are also to mention, here are very interesting changes of rhythm from straight grooves with fast sixteenth to triplet parts. Also the fantastic guitar solo with classic touch which bring over a similar atmosphere as Victors solo at "Set This World On Fire".

Also the lyrics are extreme: Here I write from the view of a serial killer, really bizarre.

Psycho Terror

Music: André Hilgers / Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

This song shows André together with Victor first time as a composer. It has super heavy riffing and a well-fitting hymn like chorus. Here, Victor is able to work out a real fat basis with halting midtempo killer grooves and droptunig. The arrangement develops up to a short drum solo at the end.

Forever Dead

Music: Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

This song fits perfectly to "Twenty one", the grooves are a bit more jungle-like, Sepultura - inspired I'd say. Mean riffs with real heavy vocals, you've never heard me like this! For sure, that doesn't sounds old, even we still kept our trademarks. The guitar riffs of Victor are full of energy, the guitar solo is arranged elaboratingly, characterized by the catchy chorus melody at the end.

The lyrics are my personal bill with my difficult childhood where I had big problems with my dead father.

Concrete Wall

Music: Peavy Wagner / Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

The ideas for this one are already 10 years old. They never really fitted to what we needed so far, but now in slightly revised version they are right. It's a real old school thrasher, heavy, direct in your face. Just like the title.

The words are about inner strengths, the enemy can spit his teeth...

Destiny

Music: Peavy Wagner / Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

Power Thrash Metal at it's best. Heavy and fast it comes to the point, no prisoners. Perfect co-operation of drums, bass and guitars, real fat and super tight. Only the chorus comes hymn like, catchy and hard.

The song is about how we can take our fate in our own hands. Carpe Diem.

Death Romantic

Music: Peavy Wagner / Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

This one has a quite complex arrangement with some cool groove changes and killer guitar arrangements. Here, Victor has unpacked his special guitar, with which he can control different sounds like clean, crunch, distortion and piezo at the same time, what creates a real interesting overall body of sound (as at Straight To Hell). At the solo there are very interesting harmonic phrasings, where Victor has combined many different stiles together. The chorus is typical RAGE, fast and catchy.

The words are inspired by an spectacular suicide case, where 3 young girls arranged a meeting over internet to kill themselves. The dark side of Facebook...

Black And White

Music: Peavy Wagner / Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

Fat, weird guitar-riffs, kinda progressive and experimental with classical breathed on harmonies and very interesting drum arrangement are marking "Black And White".

The words say how we change our environment drastically, we destroy the species variation until, in a metaphorical sense, we stole all color from the world.

Feel My Pain

Music: Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

We take the foot abit from the gas, a cool intro with great bass-chords and terrific guitar-taps, as Victor did at "Lunatic" earlier, creates a cool mood before we go off with super fat groover-riffs. A perfect song for driving on the highway full throttle.

The lyric is about a ruined life, a looser close about to burst. A psycho-study...

Eternally

Music: Victor Smolski
Lyrics: Peavy Wagner

Some of you may know this song from the 20 years Nuclear Blast sampler, where Oddleif from Communic sung it. We changed it a bit and now it's a real heavy-ballad.

This is about suicide, too.

House Wins

Music: Victor Smolski

Intro for "Twenty One". (see description above)

Release of "21" will be the 24th of February, shortly before we start touring for the album. I can't wait to burst these new songs for you on stage, this will be killer!

See ya

Peavy

Statement of Victor;

The meanwhile twenty-first RAGE studio album has been recorded. "The songs of "21" are even better as they already sounded at the rehearsal room", Victor Smolski is telling us. "Everything is real powerful and aggressive and has got much more energy and the necessary aggression. I have taken much time for the sound check and took lots of effort for the arrangements. I think "21" is the best arranged album concerning interaction of guitar, bass and drum playing what RAGE did in the last years. As a producer I have a big responsibility, but after 10 years of working together with Charlie Bauerfeind it's always getting easier, we understand each other blind, so to say. I'm very happy with the performances of Peavy and André (so evil you haven't heard Peavy before), with my guitar work I'm also really satisfied, I've tried to implement the best I can momentarily. The concept of the album has become really round, all songs are completely rounded, hard, aggressive, no "Happy Metal melodies", but nevertheless varying. My favorite song: "Forever Dead", something between "Kill Your Gods" and "Down".

Photos: Joe Derschka

The Russian version of the studio report you'll find here: Russian Rage fanclub

Studioreport "Strings To A Web"

Test recording for "Strings To A Web"

Studioreport "Never Give Up"

Studioreport "Carved in Stone"

Test recording for "Carved in Stone"

Studioreport "Into The Light"

Studioreport "Speak Of The Dead"

Test recording for "Speak Of The Dead"

Studioreport "Majesty & Passion"

Studioreport "Soundchaser"

Studioreport "Unity"

Studioreport "Welcome To The Other Side"