NWOBHM (New Wave Of British Heavy Metal) legends DIAMOND HEAD continue to promote their acclaimed 2016 self-titled album with live dates and a brand new video for the song "Diamonds". "'Diamonds' is a song that pays homage to the legacy of the band," says vocalist Rasmus Andersen." It features vintage and modern performance footage from DIAMOND HEAD's career. It reflects on the band's forty years and gives lyrical nods that point to some of DIAMOND HEAD's best songs." The video, created by Emmy Award nominee Roman at Snakejam Studios, precedes the band's upcoming return to the United States for the first of two short runs that include performances at Rocklahoma festival on May 27 and Psycho Circus in Las Vegas on August 19. "We are really looking forward to Rocklahoma which will be our largest U.S. festival to date," notes Andersen. "We hope to see and meet loads of fans on our shows between the 17th and 27th of May. We will be playing songs from our new album and classic catalogue along with one or two surprises for the hardcore fans." Released via Dissonance Productions last June, "Diamond Head" is the first album to feature Andersen on vocals. Its release ended an eight-year silence for the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal icons. Asked in a 2016 interview with Swirls Of Noise why now was the right time for a new DIAMOND HEAD album, guitarist Brian Tatler said: "I think it was our new singer Ras coming in fresh that gave the band a new energy and some new ideas. Once I had heard him sing live a few times, I thought we should try and write some songs together just to see if we can. We discussed this in various dressing rooms and hotels on the 2014 European tour. Then in December 2014 I gave Ras two CDs with about forty-five pieces of music on that I had been working on since 2007, Ras listened to them and picked out songs that he liked and that he could work on but we had a brief this time. We all said, 'It should sound like DIAMOND HEAD.' It's partly the way I write and the riffs and chords progressions I come up with that make it sound like DIAMOND HEAD. We actually rejected a few things that did not fit 'the brief.' Once the songs sounded good in rehearsal, I knew they would work live and on record. Some of the songs had a brilliant vibe in rehearsal, then it was just a question of recording them." Formed in 1976, DIAMOND HEAD influenced a slew of early '80s thrash metal bands, in particular METALLICA, who recorded the band's "Am I Evil" as a B-side to their 1984 "Creeping Death" single and again included on the band's multi-platinum 1998 covers album "Garage Inc." METALLICA would record three additional DIAMOND HEAD songs: "Helpless" ("Garage Days", 1987), "The Prince" ("One" single B-side, 1989), "It's Electric" ("Garage Inc.", 1998).
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