New York hardcore legends SICK OF IT ALL will release their twelfth studio album, "Wake The Sleeping Dragon!", on November 2. The follow-up to 2014's "The Last Act Of Defiance" was produced by Jerry Farley (EVERY TIME I DIE, DEMON HUNTER) over a two-and-a-half-week period at Nova Studios in Staten Island, New York and was mixed and mastered by Tue Madsen (MESHUGGAH, THE HAUNTED, MADBALL). The cover artwork was created by Ernie Parada and can be seen below. The official lyric video for the first single from "Wake The Sleeping Dragon!", a song called "Inner Vision", can be seen below. Drummer Armand Majidi comments: "It's a blasting, screamer of a song in the vein of early DISCHARGE or EXPLOITED, and the lyrics deal with reacting to the horrors of the world by looking inward to find peace in difficult times." "Wake The Sleeping Dragon!" features guest appearances by RISE AGAINST vocalist/guitarist Tim McIlrath and HOT WATER MUSIC frontman Chuck Ragan. Working with friends is one of the key factors that are very important to SICK OF IT ALL, so asking Parada for the striking front cover was an obvious choice. "There is no reason to burn bridges in this business," says drummer drummer Armand Majidi. "Our history with Ernie Parada goes back to the late eighties, so working with him, there is a kinship that makes things easier to communicate." Singer Lou Koller and Parada came up with the idea of doing monster-movie styled art as the cover. "The dragon climbing the Empire State was a concept I always wanted to see brought to life, so the two ideas were destined to come together this way," Lou says. SICK OF IT ALL and Tue Madsen, who mixed and mastered "Wake The Sleeping Dragon!", have maintained a long-lasting relationship based on understanding, friendship and most importantly, good results — three factors any band would be very happy with. Jerry Farley also became a very important part of the creation of this album. After working with him at Nova Studios in Staten Island, New York, they went for a closer approach on this album. "This is the first time we've ever had a producer involved from start to finish, including the songwriting process," the band says. "His objective viewpoints helped settle a lot of little issues that could have easily become stumbling blocks, and the songs themselves ended up benefitting from them." SICK OF IT ALL's latest release was the "When The Smoke Clears" EP, which came out in November 2016 via Century Media Records. Photo credit: Montecruz Foto
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