OVERVIEW
KERRIGAN – “Bloodmoon”
Label: High Roller Records
Release date: 22.09.2023
Format: LP / CD / MC
Distribution: Soulfood

KERRIGAN are one of the most promising newcomers from Germany playing traditional heavy metal. The band was formed in Freiburg in 2019 by Bruno S. (guitars, bass) and Jonas W. (vocals, guitars). The duo recorded a demo tape consisting of original compositions “Intruders”, “Force And Will” and “Heavy Metal 2020” plus a cover version of “Rest In Peace” by Wolf (UK). »Heavy Metal 2020« was later released by Fucking Kill Records on tape and vinyl. For their first full-length album »Bloodmoon« KERRIGAN have inked a deal with High Roller Records.
Jonas starts to explain how KERRIGAN came into being in the first place: “When we jammed on some traditional heavy metal riffs during a rehearsal with our funeral doom band Lone Wanderer, we quickly recognized how much fun we were heaving playing this kind of music. We met again for another session in our rehearsal room and in no time the song ‘Intruders’ was more or less finished.” Bruno adds: “It all felt pretty natural, playing these uplifting classic heavy metal numbers in between our more doomy material. We just experimented with the first few riffs we wrote for Kerrigan and it was apparent we wanted to record a little demo containing this new material. So the beginnings of the band were really spontaneous, of course inspired by the multitude of metal bands we were listening to back at the time.”
For the first album »Bloodmoon«, Jonathan Döring, an old friend, joined the band as session drummer. Jonas: “He did such a great job on the album that we would definitely like to carry on working with him in the future.”
»Bloodmoon« features fantastic twin guitar leads in the style of the mighty Trespass. As already mentioned, KERRIGAN covered “Rest In Peace” by Wolf on their »Heavy Metal 2020« demo. So is it fair to say that the New Wave Of British Heavy Meal has been one of the main sources of inspiration for the Germans? “Yes,” confirms Jonas, “Wolf was one of the bands we were listening to a lot during the initial jamming phase of the band, and their ‘Rest In Peace’ is a once in a lifetime hit. Furthermore, there is no way around the grand masters like Maiden and Priest anyway, we can not deny the huge influence they had on us. Apart from the bands of the NWOBHM period, I was also listening to a lot of Heavy Load and Accept, whose ‘Neon Nights’ is such a great song. Twin guitar leads do not only sound great, it’s also a lot of fun to play them.”
Whereas the opening number “Eternal Fire” as well as “Forces Of Night” are both pretty fast, songs like the title track or “Hold The Banner” are rather mid-paced. “Our style of song writing is rather melodic, incorporating lots of vocal harmonies, this possibly works better with mid-tempo songs,“ explains Jonas. “I love playing really fast once in a while though, but only for short bursts, otherwise it would get boring pretty quickly.”

“Eternal Fire” – Official Video Clip: https://youtu.be/IC0OSKCgg5I

TRACKLIST

1. Eternal Fire

2. Bloodmoon

3. Against the Westwind

4. Forces of Night

5. Hold the Banner

6. Child of Sin

7. Pull the Trigger

8. Mesmerizer

(playing time: 41:16 min.)

LINE-UP

Bruno S. – Guitars, Bass

Jonas W. – Vocals, Guitars

Session Drums: Jonathan Döring

Band Links:
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https://www.hrrecords.de

https://www.facebook.com/hrrecords

https://www.instagram.com/highrollerrecordsofficial

https://www.facebook.com/Kerriganheavymetal