The Unity Announce New Album The Hellish Joyride –

Get ready for some hellish metal pleasure: Following their four successful albums ‘The Unity’ (2017), ‘Rise’ (2018), ‘Pride’ (2020) and ‘The Devil You Know – Live’ (2021), European tours as the headlining act or alongside luminaries such as Sinner, Edguy, Axel Rudi Pell or Rhapsody Of Fire, celebrated shows at Masters Of Rock, the Knockout Festival, Metal-Fest or Bang Your Head, The Unity’s fifth release, ‘The Hellish Joyride’, presents them from a more playful and varied side than ever before. “Our music has always featured a wide stylistic range, but ‘The Hellish Joyride’ stretches the boundaries of melodic power metal even further,” explains Michael Ehré, referring to the album’s twelve extremely diverse songs, which range from neck-breakingly fast-paced and groovingly cool to balladesque. On top of that, the band’s latest addition, Tobias “Eggi” Exxel (bass, Edguy), has brought fresh energy to the fold and unmistakably supports the sworn circle of Gamma Ray members Henjo Richter (guitar) and Michael Ehré (drums), vocalist Gianba Manenti, guitarist Stef and keyboardist Sascha Onnen. The new album has been scheduled for release on Steamhammer/SPV on 25 August 2023, and their European tour with Primal Fear is set to kick off just one week later. The first lead single, including a “sportive” and as always lavishly produced video clip, is entitled ‘Always Two Ways To Play’ and will be out on 14 July 2023, followed five weeks later by the second single ‘Saints And Sinners’. So let the hellish joyride begin!

The Unity belt through a dozen versatile melodic metal songs on a truly hellish ride, celebrating life and declaring unconditional optimism to be their supreme maxim. “The past few years have been a tough test for the whole music industry, with only those escaping unscathed who saw the lockdown as an opportunity and now appreciate things all the more that were previously considered to be self-evident,” says Gianba Manenti in retrospect. This category includes, for example, the groove rock number ‘Golden Sun’ with its metaphorical realization that the sun always rises again, however dark the day has been. The same goes for ‘You’re Not Forced To Stay’ with its unusual arrangements, which confidently declares their own performance to be the measure of all things, true to the motto: Love it or leave it!

No doubt about it: Their fifth album sees The Unity continue to evolve, both in terms of their compositional and their musical skill. And of course, the arrival of Tobias Exxel has further reinforced this well-oiled machine. Thanks to this latest addition, the group which has always been showered with well-deserved praise for its live performances, now features six powerful songwriters, whose wealth of ideas and great musical experience ensure that the 153-beats-per-minute ‘Saints And Sinners’ (the fastest song in the band’s history to date) features on ‘The Hellish Joyride’, as well as the anthemic ‘Only The Good Die Young’, the almost epic title track, the powerful ‘Masterpiece’, fuelled by furioso guitar riffs, and the deeply moving ‘Something Good’. 

In addition, the new album not only impresses with its impeccable songwriting but also with its sound honed down to the very last detail. Band founder Michael Ehré, who produced the new Velvet Viper album at his B-Castle Studio only a few months ago, was also in charge of the production of his own band’s latest recording. Like The Unity’s previous album ‘Pride’, the material on ‘The Hellish Joyride’ was mixed and mastered by Achim Köhler (Avantasia, Hammerfall, Helloween, among others).  

Everybody who knows The Unity will realize that these musicians are unlikely to rest on their laurels or sit back and relax. To the contrary: Their “sportive” clip to support ‘Always Two Ways To Play’ shows that from now on the band’s motto will be “After the match is before the match”. Meaning: Only a few days after the album’s release, the band – who will be touring with Primal Fear by then – are determined to give their all on stage to thrill their fans with the latest material. And as is evident from the cover artwork courtesy of Felipe Machado, the tongue-in-cheek request “Please stand well back from the platform edge!” is more than likely to apply.

Line-Up:
Gianbattista Manenti (vocals)
Henjo Richter (guitar)
Stef (guitar)
Tobias Exxel (bass)
Sascha Onnen (keyboards)
Michael Ehré (drums)