Edguy Unveil Album Art, Tentative Tracklisting for 'Age of the Joker'

German hard rock/power metal band Edguy will release their new album, Age Of The Joker, via Nuclear Blast Records in August. The band have recently revealed the cover art (shown at left) and a tentative track listing for Age Of The Joker, which is the band's ninth full-length studio album. While no official track listing is available just yet, Rock Hard is reporting that the following tracks will appear on Age Of The Joker: "Robin Hood," "Nobody's Hero," "Rock Of Cashel," "Pandora's Box," "Breathe," "Two Out Of Seven," "Fire On The Downline" and "Behind The Gates To Midnight World."

Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet recently issued the following update on the recording sessions: "We have chosen the Peppermint Park to record the basics there. I had done a few little bits and pieces for AVANTASIA there, but it's so great to record drums and stuff like Hammond B3 with a big bad fat mean Leslie. The room is big and the sound is mean! We were always striving for a powerful but natural sound. I guess we had a good sound recently, but I think there is always room to improve. "The more I listen to what's going on in the heavy metal world these days, the more I long for drums that sound like drums. I want them to sound powerful without sounding like Atari. Sascha and I came to the conclusion that we have to start from scratch and do things the way they have to be done, not the fashionable way. I don't want a distorted master-copy, just so it is loud enough on an iPhone or on PC-speakers. "If you talk to your most fancy producer, he will say something like: 'Well, it's the sign of the times, you have to be able to compete in the loudness war …' What the fuck?! If I want it to be loud, I turn up the stereo. I want dynamics, room, a real big sound, not that distorted trendy compression. Why don't we all move back a little and record great sounding music, not loud sounding music? Do a Google search for 'loudness war' and you'll see what I mean. "Whatever," he added. "The new songs sound great, we have 13 of them, and we'll pick maybe 10 and put them on the album. We have anthemic melodies, although it's not kitsch. When you record anthemic music, you tend to be dangerously close to kitsch. It's a fine line, and I think we balance on that fine line pretty well. To cut a long story a little insignificantly shorter: I just think it is great, and that's what counts. Real music, you know? We'll keep you informed, if you want it or not!"