Adrian Vandenberg, along with drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Randy van der Elsen, have welcomed vocalist Mats Levén to Vandenberg, releasing the single House On Fire ahead of the new album Sin, due later this year. Levén has previously worked with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Therion, Candlemass and Yngwie Malmsteen, to name but four.
“He’s an amazing singer,” Adrian says. “I’d heard him online, and we got in touch. It’s funny because his mom brought the first two Vandenberg records back to Scandinavia from England when he was in his early twenties. He was a fan. He’s a workaholic like me. We picked up after COVID-19 and put the new album together. The spark is definitely there.
“On top of that, Koen and Randy lay down the most solid concrete, grooving foundation that I could ever wish for. I’d say it’s one notch heavier than [previous album] 2020.”
Sin was recorded in Holland and Los Angeles with Bob Marlette [Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie], marking a natural evolution for Vandenberg. Adrian’s scorching pinch harmonics and a great chorus underline the new song House On Fire.
“In one way, it’s a party song,” Adrian says, “because it keeps you tapping your foot. Mats added a different, darker twist with his lyrics. It also envisions a person who’s frustrated about the things other people have. This person can’t control their anger and sets the place on fire.”
Adrian exploded out of The Netherlands and onto the global scene with 1982’s self-titled Vandenberg, which included the hit single Burning Heart. Heading For A Storm [1983] and Alibi [1985] followed, and he would the United States, Europe and Japan with acts like Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss, Rush, Scorpions and Michael Schenker.
Asked to join Whitesnake, Adrian famously ripped the legendary lead on the 1987’s Here I Go Again, co-wrote Slip Of The Tongue and would tour worldwide in a devastating guitar partnership with Steve Vai.
Roaring back with the comeback album, 2020, the song Freight Train has surpassed 1.6 million Spotify streams. Now, with Sin, the influential axe-slinger delivers a vibrant, visceral, and vital vision on the group’s fifth full-length offering.
“For me, music is very much like a painting,” Adrian says. “You have your ups, downs, lights, and shades. One song might make you want to jump on the table and party your brains out. Another song will inspire you to think. Either way, you’re thrown into a landscape, which my favourite albums still do to me. You could be in your car or at home with your headphones plugged into a sound system, and you’re in a different world.”
House On Fire looks to a bold future for the band, and Sin, due from Mascot Records, is bound to mark a new, exciting year. “Like every other band or artist, we were forced to hold our horses when we found ourselves playing our part in one of those Hollywood Outbreak-style movies these past Covid years,” Adrian says. “Without having auditioned for a role.
“You’ll understand we were extremely eager to break out of the stables with a loud bang, so we thought it’d be more than appropriate to set the world on fire with this new track, House On Fire.”
