LONDON, November 29. /TASS/. British rock veterans Uriah Heep have finished the recording of their new album, but the date of release is yet to be announced, Mick Box, founder and all-time guitarist of the band, said in an interview with TASS.
Working on both sides of Atlantic
"It [the album] was recorded in Lincolnshire in Chapel Studios the same way we did the previous album. It took us about 17-18 days. It was just incredible. We had the studio for three weeks, but we went early, because the job was done," Box said.
According to him, when the recording sessions were over, the band’s producer Jay Ruston flew back to Los Angeles, where he is now mixing the new songs. He sends variants of mixed tracks to the band, and once the final mixes are chosen, the cover design and the name of the album will be approved. For the moment, Box did not even name the working title of the new album.
"It's hard thing to achieve to get five people to agree to it. I have a list," he said.
The musician did not say when fans would be able to check out the band’s new work.
"It's still too early. We don’t know ourselves. Songs are all done. It is in hands of recording company. They look into it from the business point of view," he replied.
However, Box revealed a few details about the new album.
"On this particular album, we have Russell [Gilbrook] our drummer, he's been writing his guitar fantasies, [bassist] Dave [Rimmer] has been writing like with the previous one with Jeff Scott Sotto from Sons of Apollo, the rest [of songs] its - me and [keyboard player] Phil [Lanzon]," he said.
Coronavirus ruins all plans
So far, the musician is very pessimistic about the resumption of touring. The coronavirus pandemic has complicated the organization of tours so much that for the moment the band does not even have any fixed concert dates. As for the concerts in Russia, which were scheduled for March 2020, rescheduled for April 2021 and then completely postponed for one more year, Box said that the chance of playing these shows is low.
"It looks very unlikely due to this overall coronavirus situation. Maybe we should first go [to] America. We have agreed to a couple of shows in January in the UK," Box said.
He stressed that the members of Uriah Heep are not considering the option of performing only in Moscow and St. Petersburg as an alternative to a full-scale tour.
"We never just do two shows like most bands do, we have history there. We were the first band who played there in December ‘87. And then we returned and made an enormous tour, for months we went right through to Vladivostok or Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. We really went across to the places that didn't even have concerts before," he recalled.
The musician noted that following the UK’s exit from the EU, it has become more difficult for the band to tour in Europe as well.
"The consequences of Brexit will impact musicians’ travel. We played in 62 countries and for us to move between all these countries becomes more and more difficult. Logistically, it's becoming a nightmare for most bands. It's a very fragile situation. Outbreak here, outbreak there, and this brings everything down," the 74-year old rock veteran lamented.
How Uriah Heep was born
Uriah Heep was founded in 1969. At that time, Great Britain was going to mark the 100th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens (1812-70), and the name of the great writer was everywhere around.
One day, Gerry Bron, manager of an unknown rock band dubbed Spice suggested that the musicians could change the name of their band to Uriah Heep, the villain of the novel, David Copperfield. At first, the musicians unanimously rejected it, but, ironically, it was that very name that the musicians eventually gave the band.
Uriah Heep recorded 25 studio albums that sold over 40 mln copies.
Through the years, more than 20 musicians played in the ranks of Uriah Heep.
The band’s current lineup includes Mick Box on guitar, Bernie Shaw on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon on keyboard, Russell Gilbrook on the drums and Davey Rimmer on bass.
In 2020, the band marked its 50th anniversary since the release of their first record Very 'Eavy ...Very 'Umble (1970).
Uriah Heep became the first Western world-class band that performed in the Soviet Union. In late 1987, the band played 10 concerts in Moscow, which brought together a total of 180,000 spectators at the Olimpiisky sports complex. Nine years later, the British rockers returned to Russia making their first tour around the country. Since then, Uriah Heep has toured Russia on a regular basis.