MANILA, Philippines – The masters of mayhem, Wolfgang and Razorback, return to the scene of the crime with the forthcoming release of the much-awaited “Alive 2007” CD. The first of a series of onslaughts, it contains select but explosive live recordings from the reunion concert, which has since passed into legend, at the Music Museum.
“Alive 2007” is considered hallowed ground by both bands, marking the return of Wolfgang with the premiere of its first single R.P. Deathsquad, which ultimately, became the firing pin for Wolfgang’s sixth studio album “Villains” in as many years as well as for a soon-to-be released series of brand-new singles by Razorback.
The “Alive 2007” CD is set to wreak havoc anew as it ships on July 7 and hits stores during the week of July 17. Pre-selling kicks off now through the Alive07 Hotline 0915-6212189 and 0906-10353330 and via alive_2007@yahoo.com.
The album captures 11 tracks of Wolfgang and Razorback playing together and alternately — bigger, stronger and faster — on the same stage. Raging at full-throttle and running to CD capacity of 70 minutes, the material is “as much as we could cram into the disc,” nods Ramon Legaspi, Wolfgang bassist.
“This was the first time we did a show where both bands were featured, interweaving with each other,” said Basti Artadi, Wolfgang frontman. “Usually, one or the other opens and that’s it. At the ‘Alive 2007’ concerts, it was more about playing on the stage as a unit, separate but still as one.” The result was an energy snarling from the combined intensity.
Tirso Ripoll, Razorback guitarist, said, “Both bands’ songs are always totally re-invented live from what’s on our albums. It’s always been a blast to play with Wolfgang and ‘Alive 2007’ was really special as we hadn’t played together in years.”
The concert also marked Francis Aquino’s first appearance with Wolfgang, “and he has since become our drummer,” points out Manuel Legarda. Miguel Ortigas, formerly of Razorback, also cameos on the skins for one track.
Fans have been howling for the release of the album for more than two years, to which Louie Talan, Razorback bassist, vividly replies, “You can’t rush art! Think of this like making a great single malt.”
Artadi explained that two “Alive 2007” projects are in the works, “We also wanted to differentiate the material from the DVD (scheduled for release in January 2010), so not to worry, you will get your hands on most of it, in one way or another.”
He concludes, “I think for all of us the most important thing is that it gets done right. We did take our time to put in what we feel are some of the strongest, most-rocking bits.”
Legarda grinned. “Better now than never.”