Perpetual Flame

The  global rock guitar community will undoubtedly mark November 10, 2008 on  their calendars, as this is the exact date that Yngwie Malmsteen will be issuing his latest studio triumph, ‘Perpetual Flame.’ The album will the first-ever Yngwie album to be released via Rising Force Records, while the album also marks the debut on an Yngwie album by ex-Judas Priest/Iced Earth frontman, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens.

Twelve tracks of pure six string metallic bliss (which stretches to almost 70  minutes total), the album was produced and engineered by Yngwie himself,  and mixed by Roy Z (who has previously worked with Judas Priest and Bruce Dickinson, among others). Joining Yngwie and Ripper on the album  is keyboardist Derek Sherinian and drummer Patrick Johansson (Yngwie  contributed bass, additional keyboards, and vocals, as well), but on tour, Michael Troy will supply keyboards, and Bjorn Englen will be  laying down the bass.

Single-handedly,  Yngwie Malmsteen trailblazed the classical metal movement in the 1980’s. During a time when the majority of guitarists were merely copying Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie was one of the few rock guitarists to create his own instantly-identifiable playing style – which has been  subsequently mimicked by countless other guitarists. Yngwie is responsible for issuing some of the metal’s all-time great guitar classics, especially such releases as 1984’s ‘Rising Force,’ 1985’s  ‘Marching Out,’ 1992’s ‘Fire and Ice,’ and most recently, 2005’s  ‘Unleash the Fury.’