Battle Hymns MMXI

Battle Hymns MMXI is a complete re-recording of the band's 1982 debut, Battle Hymns, by its 2010 line-up. The band explained that technology had at last caught up with its custom-built touring and studio gear, giving the debut's songs the sound of its recent records. In October 2010 bassist and producer Joey DeMaio said the aim was not to outdo the original but to use technology the band had lacked in 1982 to make the songs as loud as possible; he also cited fans' requests and the wish of Donnie Hamzik, the band's original drummer, back in the line-up, to play them again. Announced as Battle Hymns 2011 until shortly before release, it reads Battle Hymns MMXI on its cover and spine. Eric Adams sings, Karl Logan plays guitars and keyboards, DeMaio four-string, eight-string and piccolo basses and keyboards, and Hamzik drums and percussion. The booklet credits the recording to the band at Haus Wahnfried and in "Hell", with Dirk Kloiber engineering; Ronald Prent mixed and Darcy Proper mastered the album at Galaxy Studios. The music is by DeMaio and Ross the Boss, except "Metal Daze" and "Battle Hymn", which are DeMaio's alone. The narration Orson Welles spoke on the original "Dark Avenger" was recorded anew by Christopher Lee at Abbey Road Studios in London. Four singers form the Haus Wahnfried Choir; Francisco Palomo adds keyboards. Tracks 9 and 10, previously unreleased, come from the band's first concerts in 1982: "Fast Taker", taped in Abilene, Texas, on 31 July, and "Death Tone", at Reunion Arena in Dallas on 1 August. The album was announced for 26 November 2010, when, the band says, its online store The Kingdom of Steel began offering the download; the CD came out in Germany on 3 December and elsewhere in Europe from 6 December. A 2011 Special Edition swapped the 1982 recordings for four live songs from that spring's tour and was sold only with a special issue of the British magazine Metal Hammer. The album is dedicated to Ronnie James Dio and Joro Panaiotov.