Finnish gothic metallers THE 69 EYES will release their eleventh album, “Universal Monsters”, on April 22 via Nuclear Blast. The CD was recorded with producer Johnny Lee Michaels at his Helsinki-based Bat Cave Studios.
The first single from “Universal Monsters”, a song called “Jet Fighter Plane”, will be released on January 15. The accompanying music video was directed by Ville Juurikkala, who has previously worked with NIGHTWISH, AMORPHIS and MICHAEL MONROE. Juurikkala also created the “Universal Monsters” cover artwork, which portrays THE 69 EYES members in movie monster lighting, showing them as classic and timeless creatures.
Says THE 69 EYES vocalist Jyrki: “The covers are planned and designed as an old-school CD covers. Remember when the booklets used to be as exciting as the album itself?! It will actually have five different covers being such a folder — each member of the band can be used as a cover creature of their own.
“Ville has really succeeded in capturing the classic movie vibe for the shots without any special make-up or photo shopping.
“THE 69 EYES are the universal rock ‘n’ roll monsters — not so many of us left anymore. So from real fans, I wish they would get the actual CD in their hands to get the full album treatment as we have planned it to be experienced!”
“Universal Monsters” track listing:
01. Dolce Vita
02. Jet Fighter Plane
03. Blackbird Pie
04. Lady Darkness
05. Stiv & Johnny
06. Never
07. Miss Pastis
08. Jerusalem
09. Shallow Graves
10. Rock ‘N’ Roll Junkie
11. Blue
The first making-of “Universal Monsters” teaser trailer takes fans into the beginning of the album’s recording sessions with producer Johnny Lee Michaels and drummer Jussi 69 in nighttime Helsinki.
Regarding “Jet Fighter Plane”, Jyrki said: “The song has a dark early ’80s kind of vibe. I wrote the lyrics those Cold War-era times in my mind. Strangely, the world has totally returned into those dark days again after recording the song.”
He added: “It’s been some 15 years since we recorded ‘Blessed Be’ and ‘Paris Kills’ albums with producer Johnny Lee Michaels here in Helsinki. You can consider ‘Universal Monsters’ as a follow-up to those records. Nobody makes this kind of music anymore.”
Source: Blabbermouth
