Fates Warning vocalist Ray Alder has confirmed the future arrival of a studio collaboration with band-mate Jim Matheos, albeit not under the Fates Warning moniker.
While talking to Sakis Fragos from Rock Hard Greece, Ray broke the news as follows (you can watch the excerpt of the video interview below, around the 3:20 minute mark): “I will say that I just finished another album, a few weeks ago. Jim [Matheos] and I did an album. It has a name, we have a label, it’s finished. It won’t be out until next year, all songs are written by Jim and myself, and it’s not called Fates Warning. We thought about it, but it’s just very different music. No other musicians in that album, just the two of us”
Alder has been doing interviews as part of the promotion cycle for his recently announced sophomore solo album “II” , slated for June 9th, 2023. This week Ray revealed the second single/music video from the album, entitled “Waiting For Some Sun”. Watch the atmospheric video created by Manu Giménez / MG Media Productions, below.
Ray Alder commented about the track: “I wanted a totally different style for a song on the new album. Something that set itself apart from the rest. Mike and I got to talking and I said I want a song where the chorus is in the beginning but builds and gets bigger every time it repeats. Also dark with a lot of attitude. This is the music he came up with. I personally love how the vocal melody has nothing to do with the guitars. A sort of chaos that makes sense. At least to me…”
Once again, just like for the “What The Water Wants” debut, the new album was written with guitarists Mike Abdow (Fates Warning touring member) and Tony Hernando (Lords Of Black) – who both also performed bass guitar on their own songs –, features drummer Craig Anderson (Ignite, Crescent Shield) and was mixed by Simone Mularoni (Rhapsody, Michael Romeo, DGM). Ray Alder’s second album is simply entitled “II”, but in musical terms this is a much more revealing, exploratory piece of work than its predecessor.
“II” Album Artwork
Ray Alder checked in with the following comment about “II”, whose cover artwork can be seen above: “When we wrote the first solo album I wanted to try some different musical styles. I didn’t want it to be really heavy, but more musical with catchy choruses. I think we did a pretty good job on that first one. But with this new album I wanted the music and lyrics to be darker and heavier. I think Mike did a fantastic job with the music. He listened to what I was saying and thinking musically. Tony knows that I like the big choruses and somewhat traditional sound. And of course Craig did an amazing job on the drums as usual. It’s an honor to be able to work with them. This album is more of a reflection of what I heard going forward as a solo artist. Longer songs, deeper lyrics and really pushing myself vocally. I hope that whoever listens to it enjoys it as much as I did while working on it…”
“II” Track-listing:
1. This Hollow Shell (06:02)
2. My Oblivion (04:36)
3. Hands Of Time (06:08)
4. Waiting For Some Sun (04:29)
5. Silence The Enemy (04:41)
6. Keep Wandering (05:51)
7. Those Words I Bled (05:51)
8. Passengers (05:51)
9. Changes (07:45)
“II” is available as limited first-pressing Digipak CD edition with a bonus track (An acoustic version of the opening track “This Hollow Shell”), as Digital Album (Also including the bonus track!) and as LP on 180gr. vinyl, both on unlimited black vinyl as well as on transparent red vinyl in a limited edition of 300x copies, available exclusively via the IOM Webshop and from CMDistro. You can pre-order the album in its various formats HERE.
