HIGH SPIRITS - s/t LP HRR 090, limited to 750 copies, 150 x black vinyl, 600 x white vinyl, gatefold cover -Torture -Night after Night -Wanted Dead -I Need to Know -Wings of Fire/Don't Look Down -Never Going Back -Midnight Lady -Calling Out to You -Set Me Free -High Spirits SOLD OUT!

Well, the world does not know too much about High Spirits. So far they have released a fantastic, self-titled demo CD-R/white label album. However, the band (or project?) has decided to let the music itself do the talking. That's why they don't really like to reveal their personalities, as a certain individual named Chris points out: "Our music is all we can offer! We don't want the world to know our names, faces, what T-shirts we are wearing, what albums we collect. It's not important. Too many new bands are focusing on their image, and also letting record companies use very silly tactics to get attention for the bands. If it works for those bands, that is great for them. But we are the opposite." Very wise words indeed ... As High Spirits are not willing to reveal who they are, it is no wonder that people are starting to speculate. For example, it is rumored that High Spirits are a side-project of a more well-known band. Chris denies: "Some websites are reporting incorrect things, but it's because we choose not to share this information." The current vinyl release on High Roller records will definitely take the name of High Spirits to a broader public. Chris talks about their short recording history: "Demo #1 had five songs. Demo #2 had four songs. And the LP is simply Demo #1 on side A (plus "I Need to Know"), and Demo #2 on side B (adding "Set Me Free"). We made the white label version because it was inexpensive, and a good way to present our songs without any distractions. The High Roller edition of the album will have artwork for the cover but the same tracklist. We have already had some great reviews. Some people have made really, really nice comments about our music. Rock Hard reviewed the first demo already, not sure about the second. It's a great magazine for the German fans." High Spirits are from Chicago and as they are not willing to comment on their style of music or their influences I would like to point out that their style is much closer to the sounds of the N.W.O.B.H.M. than to US Metal. My personal favorite on the album is "Midnight Lady", possibly the catchiest song of them all. Chris shares my thoughts: "Maybe so. Or 'Never Going Back'. But we love all of our songs, and we try to make them the absolute best. Also we try to tell stories with the songs, and 'Midnight Lady' is a great example. Maybe she is haunting you too!" "Torture" is the typical upbeat opener for this classic Metal album by High Spirits. Was it clear from the beginning that the band would choose this number as the opener for the album? "No. We didn't even know the band would be called High Spirits. 'Torture' came first, and then the idea of becoming a band followed. So it is natural to have it as the first track on the LP, and also the set-list opener when we play live. But, no, when we wrote 'Torture', we had no idea there would even be an album." The band has already written a batch of new songs, so we can look forward to a second album in the near future: "Yes. But it's important to remember that this only became an album by accident. We were simply making demos, and suddenly we had finished eleven songs. Around that time we realized that there was some demand from fans to own our music. So the LP was a good way to present all of our demos at a good price. It is really satisfying for us that now some other companies want to do the same thing for the European fans. We really didn't plan anything this way, but it's great." Matthias Mader