http://www.myspace.com/redkeymetal

A new star is born to fascinate all Power Metal fans. The newly founded band is called RedKey and the five-some has just released its debut album .Rage of Fire.. Even though we are talking about a debut album, the musicians themselves aren.t newcomers at all. Many of you probably are familiar with vocalist Thomas Rettke and guitarist Sascha Paeth who, back in the late .80s and early .90s were the heart and soul of the Metal band .Heaven.s Gate.. Their albums IN CONTROL (1989) and LIVIN. IN HYSTERIA (1991) were internationally acclaimed and in South East Asia the band was treated like royalty in league with Judas Priest and Helloween.

Once the band broke up Rettke and Paeth decided on different paths for their future endeavours. In .99 after the release of MENERGY Paeth started to work as producer and became a sought after expert in the trade. He produced well-known Rock acts such as Edguy, Kamelot and Rhapsody as well as the latter.s mastermind Luca Turilli.s solo albums. Rettke on the other hand acted a guest musician to various bands. Not a single one of Rhapsody.s albums has been recorded without featuring his vocals and bands like Edguy, Kamelot, Running Wild, Victory and Mob Rules also didn.t want to recording without him singing. Rettke also played a major part in the Metal Opera AINA . DAYS OF RISING DOOM. Here we are more than seven years after the last recording of Heaven.s Gate and both Rettke and Paeth are working together again. Says Rettke, .I had a lot of ideas for songwriting and eventually I met up with Sascha last year to let him hear what I was up to. He immediately offered to record some of the demos and also added most of the guitar arrangements. When I asked Sascha whether he.d be interested in us playing together once again it was the renaissance of our musical co-operation.

Another of their old friends was also ready and willing to once again start playing in a band, guitarist André Barowski, who used to be part of Steeltower . Rettke.s and Paeth.s band previous to Heaven.s Gate. Daniel Eichholz on drums and bassist Klemens Klarhorst joined RedKey and together they recorded RAGE OF FIRE. The album has its roots in traditional Melodic Metal but is so varied that fans of the more modern styles of Heavy Metal will also love the new output. We never considered a reunion of Heaven.s Gate. Some of the former band members have turned their backs on music altogether and I wanted to work with new and highly motivated musicians to create a different sound. RedKey.s music is a lot rougher and straighter that Heaven.s Gate.s used to be., says Rettke.

Immediately following the intro RAGE OF FIRE.s title track starts of fusing the best of NWOBHM, like Judas Priest in the early .80s, with elements of guitar oriented US-Power Metal the likes of Racer X, Vicious Rumors or (Wicked) Maraya. The following track .Be My Guide. is dark and monumental and due to the variety of Rettke.s vocals and the virtuous guitar playing puts one in the mind of artists like Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford. .Rebellion. is a rhythmic hymn with a fantastic sing-along refrain in the vein of Judas Priest.s PAINKILLER.

Regardless of whether you listen to the lead-guitar-duels in .Peace & War., the perfect fusion of slow rhythm and staccato riffing in .Easy Way Out. or the melodic .Obsession., all tracks are arranged up to today.s standards, powerful guitars along with expressive vocals to make any headbanger want to do just that . bang along. The 8-minute epic .The Fortune. perfectly rounds off the album. Rettke and Edguy.s front man Tobias Sammet sing a duet that sums up what RedKey and their debut are about. RAGE OF FIRE is a unique and first class Melodic and atmospheric Power Metal album and is sure to be RedKey.s key to success to a brilliant future on the international Power Metal stages.

LINE-UP:
Thomas Rettke - Lead & Backing Vocals
Sascha Paeth - Guitars
Andrè Borawski - Guitars
Klemens Klarhorst - Bass
Daniel Eichholz - Drums

Wargod48

NP: Double Action - Sokaris

Great album! It got a lot of spins when I first got it.

Yes great cd and they are currently working on a new cd but can't find any info on it!

Wargod48

NP: Windrow - Trilogy