RAGE

tracklist:
CD 1
In The Beginning
End Of Illusions
Under A Black Crown
Afterlife
Dead Man’s Eyes
Mortal
Toxic Waves
Waterwar
Justice Will be Mine
Shadow World
Life Among The Ruins
CD 2
Cold Desire
Root Of Our Evil
Curse The Night
One World
It’s All Too Much
Dying To Live
The Flood
Lifelines
Interlude
In The End

Rage are:
Peter ‘Peavy’ Wagner – vocals, bass
Vassilios ‘Lucky’ Maniatopoulos – drums
Jean Borman – guitars

Special occasions deserve their own special music!
German power metal band Rage has been around for an impressive forty years.
Forty years in which band founder Peavy Wagner and his comrades-in-arms have released lots of albums that are considered to be immortal classics.
Whether their latest release, the double album ‘Afterlifelines’, will also fall into that category will materialise in the near future, but one thing is certain already:
This outstanding recording definitely has what it takes, presenting Rage’s broad artistic range, from hard, fast and thrashy to anthemnic, symphonic and lavish.
“The fir\=[-P0OIUYTREWQ CD is entitled ‘Afterlife’ and comprises songs that we recorded as a trio, while the material on the second CD ‘Lifelines’ also includes classical orchestral arrangements,”
explains singer and bassist Peavy, describing the 21 songs, including intro, interlude and outro.
‘Afterlifelines’ will be available on Steamhammer/SPV from 29 March 2024 as a double CD, double LP, box set and digital download.
Wagner and his two band mates Jean Bormann (guitar) and Vassilios ‘Lucky’ Maniatopoulos (drums) have cut more than 94 minutes of new Rage music for ‘Afterlifelines’.
The eleven tracks on CD1 include lots of modern influences in addition to the typical Rage style, while CD2 is fully orchestrated with the support of Duisburg’s keyboardist Marco Grasshoff, from little string quartet arrangements to sweeping orchestrations featuring strings, wind instruments and piano.
Peavy:
“Some of it may be reminiscent of albums like ‘XIII’ or ‘Lingua Mortis’, but it also shows Rage’s significant artistic development of recent years.”
Peavy Wagner has also come up with some unusual themes.
In his lyrics, he picks up the conceptual thread of the previous album ‘Resurrection Day’ to spin it further.
“While ‘Resurrection Day’ comments on and summarises the history of mankind from its formerly nomadic existence to a settled lifestyle, ‘Afterlifelines’ describes a kind of dystopic scenario, where all systems known to us will collapse if we don’t fundamentally change,”
explains Peavy.
The song ‘Toxic Waves’, for example, is about the devastating amount of plastic drifting in our oceans, while ‘Dead Man’s Eyes’ is about the extinction of orangutans.
Peavy:
“A dramatic number of species has already been completely wiped out, and there’s no end in sight.”
In line with this, the apocalyptic cover artwork courtesy of Karim König is based on the lyrics not only visually, but also refers to earlier Rage covers.
‘Afterlifelines’ was produced by Rage at their own Lucky Bob Studio in Leverkusen.
At least three lead singles plus videos will be released, including the fast-paced ‘Under A Black Crown’, the opener of the second CD ‘Cold Desire’, which literally explodes after a restrained intro, and the ballad ‘Dying To Live’.
Two weeks after the arrival of the album, Rage will embark on a major European tour from 13 April 2024, with shows and festival appearances in Canada, Japan and European countries such as Germany, Austria, Greece, Poland, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Spain and Scandinavia.
No doubt about it:
2024 is set to be a real Rage year…

SETLIST 18.2.1990 Rodon Club, Athens, Greece:
Time Waits for No One
Animal Instinct
Invisible Horizons
Light Into the Darkness
A Pilgrim’s Path
Without a Trace
Guitar Solo
Death in the Afternoon
Down by Law
Drum Solo
Talk to Grandpa
Don’t Fear the Winter

A few months before my official -in the papers- adulthood, a very good friend of mine, with whom we are from the same village in the country side of greece (together we have spent some 10 years of our childhood years at exotic Karpenisi) decides to come to my parents house in athens for givingme my namesday gift.
It is an album.
‘Perfect Man’ of Rage.
A band until these days totaly unknown to me.
After we melted the vynil by playing it for hours on the record player my love for this band began.
Love at first sight!
I don’t know, how it happened, maybe the country they are from, maybe that hell of a drummer Christos Efthymiadis from Kozani (at those days there were no Greek musicians in international bands), maybe that fucking leather cape peavy was wearing…
So, during my visit at my friend’s house (where the melting of his vinyls and cassettes for copying began), I was very happy to discover the next release of the band ‘Secrets in a Weird World’.
Apparently i totaly lost control, when I heard that album.
but i really went nuts, when I held in my hands that magic piece of paper for the entrance to paradise there at Marni street…where the’Hammersmith’ of Athens used to be…Sunday 18.02.1990 was the magic day.
I still served in the greek army and after a voluntary stay of 7 days of service in the camp, just get that weekend clearance paper for that day.
I went down the Alexandras avenue alone, because i didn’t have in those days so many metalheads friends (yes, we were still walking in those days)…i still was a ‘good-looking and decent young man’ not like these healthy people, lol…
Shaved head in the spirit of the dogma either long hair or non at all, tight jeans melted in the buttocks from the cements of gate 13 of the stadium of panathinaikos and ripped at the knees for the spirit of revolution, with hand-painted pattern guns’n’roses logo on the thighs, old greek army boots, black ‘flying’ with badges, borrowed and never returned by a classmate (I still have it), a bag cap, so that the bald head does not freaze, motorhead t-shirt (what else) and the necessary accessory rings-earrings-bracelets-belts, with a beer per hand and the ticket in the pocket.
My joy was huge, cause even as a metal audience in greece we were for centuries behind other countries in live concerts I imagined a lot before the live But what I did not expect was the performance of RAGE, the participation of the audience in a relatively new band that is essentially recommended to the audience and the emotion-surprise-joy of all of us from the Greek flag that was spread in the drumkit of Christos who with his broken Greek made the necessary recommendations under our cheers and the applause of Peavy and the short-tempered Manni … Not to mention… few knew them, many learned them at that night…it was totaly insane.
An incredible performance in an approximately 40 minute set-hurricane, which ended with my favorite (all of us) ‘Don’t Fear The Winter’.
Their first song ever that I heard from the album that my friend gave me …
My opinion? The band of the evening.
Not that Running Wild did not play well … they kicked asses.
But i saw them again last year there, in a live where the performance of ‘Conquistadores’ made the walls shake…
Maybe it was my curiosity for Rage and that incredible moment to see the band i just discovered and i was excited of, maybe it was that 4-0 loose, that the local arch enemy in football received in Xanthi earlier in the afternoon, everything helped me to experience a musical metallic dream in…
After all, so many years have passed and the memory is weakening …
The only sure thing is that what increased from those first releases, that I heard, but also from the later ones, is undoubtedly my love for them and my weight … Not only mine but also Peavy’s…:-)
ps: their last album ‘Resurrection Day’ is awesome… <John 510s>

track-list:
Memento Vitae (Overture)
Resurrection Day
Virginity
A New Land
Arrogance And Ignorance
Man In Chains
The Age Of Reason
Monetary Gods
Mind Control
Traveling Through Time
Black Room
Extinction Overkill

Rage are:
Peavy Wagner – vocals, bass
Vassilios Maniatopoulos – drums
Stefan Weber – guitars
Jean Borman – guitars

Tourdates:
2021
31.07. CZ-Ostrava – Ostava V Plamenech
13.08. DE-Sandstedt/Offenwarden – Rock For Animal Rights
14.08. DE-Hünfeld – Rhön Rock Open Air
12.11. CH-Sarnen – UrRock Musik Festival
13.11. IT-Paderno – Slaughter Club
16.11. FR-Colmar – Le Grillen
18.11. ES-Valladolid – Sala Porta Caeli
19.11. ES-Granada – Sala El Tren
20.11. ES-Vitoria – Urban Rock Concept
21.11. ES-Barcelona – Sala Boveda
23.11. DE-Munich – Backstage
25.11. BE-Bilzen – South Of Heaven
26.11. DE-Hamburg – Markthalle
27.11. DE-Rostock – Zwischenbau
30.11. HU-Budapest – Analog Music Hall
01.12. SVK-Bratislava – Randal Club
03.12. DE-Mannheim – 7er Club
04.12. CZ-Prag – Club Chmelnice
05.12. CZ-Zlin – Masters Of Rock Cafe
06.12. DE-Regensburg – Airport Eventhalle
08.12. DE-Stuttgart – Universum
09.12. DE-Siegburg – Kubana
10.12. DE-Nürnberg – Z-Bau
11.12. NL-Oss – Groene Engel Cafe
12.12. DE-Essen – Turock
2022
16.03. LT-Vilnius – Club Vakaris
17.03. LV-Riga – MP Club
18.03. EST-Tallinn – Tapper
19.03. RU-St. Petersburg – Opera Concert Club
20.03. RU-Moscow – Arbat Hall
22.03. RU-Nizhnij Novgorod – Premio Centre
23.03. RU-Kazan – Big Twin Bar
02.-05.06. CZ-Plzen – Metalfest Open Air
08.-11.06. SE-Sölvesborg – Sweden Rock Festival

The band’s fans were overjoyed when in summer 2020 Rage frontman Peavy Wagner presented the group’s new line-up featuring two guitarists, announcing a return to the constellation that had recorded classics such as ‘Black In Mind’ and ‘End Of All Days’.
After last year’s departure of Marcos Rodriguez, Stefan Weber (ex-Axxis) was enlisted, followed just a few weeks later by Jean Bormann (Angel Inc, Rage & Ruins).
The fourth band member is drummer Vassilios ‘Lucky’ Maniatopoulos, who has been with Rage since 2015.
The current line-up could be seen and heard for the first time on the ‘The Price Of War 2.0’ video clip, a new edition of the same-named song from ‘Black In Mind’, which has been available on all major online channels since June 2020.
Immediately afterwards, the quartet commenced work on its brand-new album ‘Resurrection Day’, available on Steamhammer/SPV on 17 September 2021 as a CD digipack, vinyl double album, premium box-set and for digital download.
“Im surprised how quickly the new line-up has gelled into a homogeneous team and how positively the talents of each band member have come into effect,”
says Wagner, looking back on a highly creative production phase and commenting on Rage’s latest offering:
“I feel that our music is still typical Rage on the one hand while sounding so much fresher on the other.”
Rage have recorded twelve new songs covering a stylistic range that could hardly be more characteristic of the band, from raw thrash metal tracks like ‘Virginity’ (also the first video), ‘The Age Of Reason’ and ‘Extinction Overkill’, through midtempo pieces such as ‘Arrogance And Ignorance’ and ‘Monetary Gods’ to the straight forward ballad ‘Black Room’ which balances things out.
“Rage fans get exactly what they want on ‘Resurrection Day’, plus a surprise or two,”
promises Peavy, mentioning in particular ‘Travelling Through Time’, a number that explores the extremes between bludgeoning
“shoot-em up grooves” (quote Peavy)
and epic moments.
“The song is inspired by Renaissance composer Giorgio Mainerio,”
he explains.
“Theres a piece by Mainerio called ‘Schiarazula Marazula’, with a wonderful theme that I often play at home on acoustic guitar. Jean and I have adapted it to suit the Rage format and given the song a different rhythmic perspective, which has added intensity. We’ve never done a number like ‘Travelling Through Time’ before.”
While were on the subject:
‘Resurrection Day’ features another Rage cooperation with Pepe Herrero from Spain, who contributed atmospheric orchestral arrangements to four songs (‘Resurrection Day’, ‘The Age Of Reason’, ‘Traveling Through Time’, ‘Black Room’).
“As before, the maestro’s orchestration adds a whole new dimension, more depth and even more expressiveness to a number of our songs,”
Peavy praises Rage’s thoroughly successful ‘Spanish connection’.
Speaking of which:
‘Resurrection Day’ was mixed by Herreros compatriot Dani González Suárez, who has been the band`s live mixer for years.
And last but not least:
Lyrically, Peavy once again proves that he likes to think beyond pure metal clichés.
Although ‘Resurrection Day’ is no concept album in the traditional sense, a common thread runs through all the numbers:
“It’s about the history of mankind from a philosophical and psychological point of view, two aspects that have always interested me very much. And that’s exactly what I found so irresistible about making this album – to take a closer look at things that I’ve been thinking about for a long time.”
So we can look forward to a very special Rage album, and of course eventually also to live shows.
Provided that the situation allows it, Peavy and his men are set to embark on a major European tour in November 2021.
With ‘Resurrection Day’ on their setlist, the shows are guaranteed to turn into highly explosive events!