Swedish epic heavy doom metal warlords SORCERER have announced the addition of bassist Justin Biggs to the group's ranks. Says the band: "This may come as a surprise to some, maybe not to others. Justin is the handsome fellow on stage left that has been filling in for Johnny Hagel on all our gigs this past year, doing a splendid job, we hasten to add, and we're very happy to announce that he is now a full-time member. "Coming from a heavier direction than some of us other guys, we're really excited to see what he will bring to the table in terms of songwriting. He's already played us some of his ideas for the album and they are heavy as shit so we are very much looking forward to bringing his musical personality into the SORCERER sound. "But what about Johnny, you ask? Well, we are also very happy to say that he will stay on as a member but not playing live with the band. He will take part in some of the decision-making and the creative direction of the band but most importantly he will still be every bit as involved in the songwriting as before, and we wouldn't have it any other way so all you Hagel fans, stay cool. He's still with us. "Also, as we stated a couple of days ago, we've started doing some serious work on the third album. There's a ton of new music floating around, and although it's still early days in the writing process, we can promise you that this album will be an absolute beast. We plan to write at least until early summer, do a few exclusive festivals (as of now we're playing Bang Your Head!!! and ProgPower USA) and then head into the studio early fall to record the album for an early/mid-2020 release. Shit can always happen, but this is the game plan." SORCERER released its latest album, "The Crowning Of The Fire King", in October 2017 via Metal Blade Records. SORCERER emerged out of Sweden in the late 80s and was one of the very early bands to champion what is now known as "epic doom metal." Besides genre pioneers CANDLEMASS, groups like SOLITUDE AETURNUS, WHILE HEAVEN WEPT and SORCERER were among the few groups around representing this style of metal. During its existence, SORCERER produced two self-financed cassette releases, both of which quickly became underground cult classics regularly hailed by metalheads as some of the finest of the era. After a few personnel changes, the group disintegrated in 1992 and since then some of the bandmembers went on to find some success with other groups. Bassist Johnny Hagel achieved greater success in TIAMAT and later SUNDOWN. Vocalist Anders Engberg has also made a name for himself with several other bands he has fronted, such as LION'S SHARE, TWILIGHT and SECTION A. In the fall of 2010, members of SORCERER were coaxed into reforming to play a one-off gig at the Hammer Of Doom festival in Germany and, a year later, the Up The Hammers festival in Athens, Greece. Both shows were received extremely well and the thoughts of putting together a new album started to take form. In March 2015, SORCERER released the critically acclaimed "In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross". SORCERER played several festivals in support of the album — Sabaton Open Air and Rock Hard Festival, among others, with the latter especially being a huge success for the band, selling out their entire merch supply even before finishing their set. 2015 also saw the release of the EP "Black", which consisted of three songs left over from the "In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross" sessions, as well as an acoustic version of the track "Prayers For A King". In the end of 2015, the band started to write material for a follow-up album to "In The Shadow Of The Inverted Cross". Progress went pretty fast and ten new tracks emerged out of the royal epic doom chest. The songwriting carried on throughout 2016, and in early 2017, they went into the studio to record. During the recording, the band and drummer Robert Iversen parted ways because of musical differences, and Lars Sköld (TIAMAT, AVATARIUM) filled the role as session drummer on the album. In the early summer of 2017, the album was ready to be mixed by the very talented Ronnie Björnström (AEON, CUT UP, 220 VOLT), who also turned the knobs on their last album. The mastering this time was expertly handled by Mr. Thomas "Plec" Johansson (SOILWORK, WATAIN).
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