Symphonic power metal formation Almanac, led by guitarist and long-time Rage member Victor Smolski, will release their third studio album next March. Dubbed Rush Of Death, it will land in stores on March 6th via Nuclear Blast Records.

Statement from Victor Smolski: "The new Almanac line-up has been working out very well indeed, and following on from our latest headline tour and festival run in Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia and Korea, it seemed the perfect time to enter the studio. I spent a lot of time on the song writing and I contemplated a lot on what has influenced my style throughout my thirty plus year career. There's the hard riffing in tracks like Unity and Soundchaser of Rage, bombastic orchestration in "Suite Lingua Mortis", plus the versatile vocal parts and crazy solos in Lingua Mortis Orchestra. You can find all these influences on the new Almanac album Rush Of Death, which some people might find surprisingly heavy. It is a very guitar-intensive record which consists of two parts: one half with energetic metal songs without orchestration, and the other half (no less harder!) contains an epic "Suite Lingua Mortis Part 2" recorded with the same symphony orchestra as the original Part 1 of Speak Of The Dead by Rage.

"Album guests Frank Beck of Gamma Ray and Marcel Junker have enriched the vocals with their versatile range of singing. Lyrically, we've remained true to ourselves and have researched the history thoroughly. As an adrenaline junkie, I found that the theme of "gladiators" has tied in very well with the songs, but this time, we transferred the issue to the present - portraying racing drivers as modern gladiators. I'm very familiar with the dangers of being behind the steering wheel: with eleven 24 hour Nürburgring races under my belt, including various victories, but also fails, I have already fought many hard fights. We as a band also took ourselves to the limit in the studio, staying true to the motto: "pedal to the medal!"

Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Almanac