DIAMOND HEAD Debut New Animated Video “The Messenger” (Live At The Cambridge Corn Exchange)
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British heavy metal icons, Diamond Head, have released the animated video for “The Messenger”. The track is the second single taken from the upcoming live album, Live And Electric, out this week.
“’The Messenger’ (Live at the Cambridge Corn Exchange) Is a very powerful track. It started life in my head when I was watching Cradle of Filth live on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise,” remarks founding member and lead guitarist Brian Tatler. “They played a song with a fantastic groove which reminded me of Tobacco Road by the Nashville Teens. I thought to myself ‘that’s brilliant, I will try and come up with a riff for a groove like that’ and so I came up with ‘The Messenger’ riff (everything comes from somewhere). We recorded it for the album The Coffin Train and played it live on the 2022 UK and European tour opening for Saxon. It always sounded good live, even next to classic Diamond Head songs like ‘The Prince’ and ‘In The Heat Of The Night’. We recorded all the shows on the UK tour and thought this version at Cambridge was the mightiest. Heavy Metaaaaaaaal!”
The video, by widely acclaimed visual arts icon, Costin Chioreanu, can be viewed here.
With a thunderous crunch and genuine ‘in-your-face’ production that places the PA up against your ears, British heavy metal icons, Diamond Head, are proud to announce the release Live And Electric, a live album that delivers every nuance of that four-letter word thanks to a song selection that covers Diamond Head’s seminal career, and a sound that leaves you breathless in the stalls and smelling the sweat and leather of a classic British Heavy metal night.
Recorded in 2022 on the band’s tour with Saxon, Live And Electric takes in performances from Aberdeen, Blackburn, York, Cambridge, Cardiff and Bexhill, creating in the process an unmistakably British energy which is superbly recorded and mixed by Jay Shredder, with singer/frontman Rasmus Bom Andersen mastering. By now, the rock and metal scene knows all about Brian Tatler, whose riffs have genuinely defined a genre as well as influencing one of the world’s biggest-ever rock bands, Metallica, but the contribution of Andersen to these Diamond Head performances is explosive as he bursts with power, presence and personality.
The seamless way in which old classics such as “The Prince” and newer stormers like “Belly Of The Beast” thunder down the tracks is a testimony to the lock-tight no-nonsense foundation that Paul Gaskin (bass), Andrew “Abbz” Abberley (rhythm and lead guitar), and Karl Wilcox on drums add to the alchemy and the balance of respect plus reinvigoration for treasures “It’s Electric”, “Helpless” and “Am I Evil?” is electrifying. Live And Electric is a true roots representation of Britain’s metal communities, and a wonderful live celebration of Diamond Head’s distinctly British heavy metal music which feels as fresh, vital, and important now as it ever has before.
Live And Electric is set for release on on July 11 via Silver Lining Music and it’s available to pre-order here.
In a new interview with Mark Kadzielawa of 69 Faces Of Rock, DIAMOND HEAD guitarist Brian Tatler, who has been playing with SAXON since early 2023, was asked if there are any plans for DIAMOND HEAD to release a new studio album as a follow-up to 2019's "The Coffin Train". He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's gonna be difficult to do a new DIAMOND HEAD album, because since joining SAXON in 2023, I've been focusing on that. Obviously, I had to learn the material. Then pretty much straight away we went into start work on a new album, which ended up being [SAXON's latest album, 2024's] 'Hell, Fire And Damnation'. So with all the dates I've done and with all the amount of time that I have to put in preparation and stuff for new material with SAXON, DIAMOND HEAD's had to have a backseat. We've had to put it on hold. We can't be booking gigs, because they may very well clash with SAXON dates. And I would have to do the SAXON dates and we would have to cancel the DIAMOND HEAD gigs, if they clashed. So, I'm focusing on SAXON. I'm really enjoying it.
"DIAMOND HEAD is not finished," Brian clarified. "It's just, as I say, on hold. It's just on hiatus. And who knows? I think everybody still really, really likes doing DIAMOND HEAD. So we'll just see what's further on down the road, really."
