Yngwie Malmsteen and Music Theories Recordings / Mascot Label Group have announced the release of a new studio album titled PARABELLUM on July 23. The album will be available on a Ltd. CD Boxset, Red Transparent 2LP, a web-exclusive Splatter 2Lp (Ltd 300) and digital. Today, they present ‘(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum’ which can be previewed here:
Yngwie shares, “(Si Vis Pacem) Parabellum is a piece of great difficulty. Drawing inspiration from Paganini’s 4 octave arpeggios it is very satisfying to apply this extremely challenging violin technique to my own composition. Starting in B harmonic minor, it transposes to D natural major and then into F# Phrygian. It is a natural flow within the chord progression of relative keys and modes.
It was very challenging and exciting to perform this piece and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.”
Earlier this year Yngwie also revealed ‘Wolves At The Door’ https://youtu.be/F74Tw99qfRg and ‘Relentless Fury’ https://youtu.be/Kc7mStq_w2k. The pre-order has gone live here: http://smarturl.it/Yngwie_Malmsteen
The name of Yngwie Malmsteen has always stood for uncompromising excellence. In a career that now spans more than 40 years he has proven himself to be a unique artist. You can try to categorise him in any way you wish. But the manner in which this supreme Swedish craftsman has continually developed his music makes Malmsteen sublimely transcend any definition you attempt to impose.
He now has a catalogue of 21 solo studio albums, each of which has much to commend. Moreover, the guitarist played a crucial role in helping to establish Alcatrazz as a significant force in the 1980s. Malmsteen’s artistry has always clearly incorporated a healthy virtuosity, but his talent goes well beyond a comprehensive control of the guitar. The man is a fine composer and, on recent releases, has also showcased a strong vocal presence.
One aspect of his approach has always shone through, and that is an abidingly deep respect for the music he plays. Malmsteen has constantly done whatever it takes to bring out all of the color, shade and hue embedded in each one of his compositions. This has never been more focused and informed than on his new album ‘Parabellum’. Malmsteen shares, “I always try to push myself on every album I do, and attempt things which are more extreme than previously. But what has helped this time is that I wasn’t able to go on the road because of the pandemic. It meant I could take much longer in the studio, both to write and record. Because I am usually always on tour, which is great, I haven’t had the luxury of spending a lot of time working on new music for more than 20 years. But I suddenly had no pressure at all on that front. And I feel the album has benefited enormously as a result.”
The striking portrait on the cover was painted by the accliamed artist David Benegas. Malmsteem states, “That was my wife April’s idea. David lives near us in Florida, and we were talking to him about other projects. I did a photo shoot with Mark Weiss, who I think is a great photographer and someone I’ve worked with for a long time. Then David based the portrait on this. The painting itself is huge, and we’ve had the idea to use it to raise money for the April Way Children’s Foundation (‘dedicated to bringing the artists of the world together to give hope to kids, teens, and young adults that have been orphaned or are in foster care all across the world’).”
In closing he shares, “The bottom line for me is that the passion I feel for the music I make has to be obvious. I am the sort of person who lives in the moment. I wanted this album to have a joyous, spontaneous atmosphere. This must never sound as if it’s been rehearsed so much that it becomes routine. I hope people will put on this record at the start and listen right through to the end, from start to finish. I recorded this as a singular piece of art. Not as a collection of 10 tracks you can hear in any order you want. I was asked by Mascot what song would be the lead track. The one for which I’d do a video. You know what? I’d like to do videos for everything here. I view this album as having a natural flow from start to finish. It’s not to be cut up into little pieces. I want fans to experience the delight I had in making it.”
