The Premonition is the fifth full-length album by Firewind and their first album to feature the same line-up as its predecessor. Gus G. said "we basically kept the Allegiance 'winning team' together" much to the apparent surprise of fans.Firewind.gr news update November 28, 2007, cited March 4, 2008
Creation process The song writing began in part while in tour supporting the band's previous album Allegiance during which time they wrote 6 titled songs (Remembered, Life Foreclosed, The Silent Code, Mercenary Man, My Loneliness, Head Up High)Firewind.gr news update November 12, 2007, cited March 4, 2008 Gus G. said "Song writing-wise I think all songs are special and once again everyone was involved in the writing" while in the studio they recorded a total of 12 original songs and "a few covers" including their cover of the Michael Sembello song "Maniac". Gus G. also said:
Touring and promotion Firewind started touring after the completion of the album in January, in which time they filmed the content for the bonus DVD. They are scheduled to tour supporting Kamelot on their "Rule the World Tour" in April through Europe and then in May on their "Tyranny and Bloodshred" tour through North America with Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, and Divine Heresy.firewind.gr 2008 tours page, Cited April 1, 2008
Release history Unlike previous releases, The Premonition wasn't first released in the band's homeland, Greece, although it was first announced for release there. Instead, it was initially released in Italy and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg) on 21 March 2008. Then the following day in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. On 24 March 2008 it was released in Greece, Denmark, Norway, and to a large portion of the rest of Europe. In Spain and Portugal, it was released on 25 March 2008, and the following day in Sweden, Finland, and Hungary. It was released four days later in France, and was released in the United Kingdom on 7 April 2008.Firewind.gr news update March 19, 2008, Cited 1 April 2008 It was re-released on vinyl on 3 March 2010, making this their first vinyl release, and including the Japan bonus track "Ride to the Rainbows End".
Singles The first single from The Premonition, "Mercenary Man", was released on the band's official Myspace page for streaming almost two months before the album's release on 2 February 2008, and one month before the album's release as a maxi-CD exclusively to Greece on 25 February 2008. In-between the two release dates, the band filmed the music video for the song in Sweden with Patric Ullaeus as the producer.blabbermouth.net news archive February 28, 2008, Cited April 1, 2008 "Mercenary Man" entered the Greek Top 50 Singles chart at #6 and is peaked at #5. Meanwhile, the two singles from their previous album, Allegiance, were still charting in Greece. "Falling to Pieces", which peaked at #11, it was still in at #43, and "Breaking the Silence", which peaked at #16, was still in at #33.ifpi.gr page on the Greek Top 50 Singles, Cited April 1, 2008
Track listing
B-sides "Spirits in a Digital World" (Gus G., Christo) – 4:04 (from the "Mercenary Man" single) "Mercenary Man [Acoustic]" (Gus G., Papathanasio) – 3:54 (from the "Mercenary Man" single)
Unreleased song The instrumental song "Perasmenes mou Agapes", originally by Manolis Chiotis, was cut at the final stages of the release for copyright reasons. The song had a few live performances by Firewind including at the Gagarin Open Air festival in Athens 2007. It was also played on 12 January 2008 during the filming of Live Premonition but was cut from the DVD.
Bonus DVD The special edition version of the album comes with O-Card packaging and a bonus DVD with four songs, recorded at a live performance of the album in the Principal theatre in Thessaloniki, Greece, on 12 January 2008, and interviews with all the band members.Firewind.gr news update March 5, 2008, cited March 8, 2008
"Into the Fire" – 6:34 "Head Up High" – 3:43 "Mercenary Man" – 3:56 "My Loneliness" – 4:01
Personnel Band members Apollo Papathanasio – vocals Gus G. – guitars Babis Katsionis – keyboards Petros Christodoylidis – bass Mark Cross – drums
Technical staff Fredrik Nordström – mixing, engineering Patric Ullaeus – photography
Footnotes
External links Firewind's official website.