Legendary singer Tim "Ripper" Owens , former vocalist of Judas Priest , will participate as a guest vocalist on the new album by Norwegian band Nergard , Eternal White .
“The first time I heard Tim’s voice must have been when I was a 15-year-old kid, right after the release of Iced Earth ’s The Glorious Burden ,” recounts the band’s leader, Andreas Nergård . “I remember the moment when ‘Red Baron’ was blasting from the speakers. It was the most insane thing I’d ever heard at that point. He had so much authority in his voice, and those high notes were beyond anything I’d ever heard before. I immediately started diving into his career, buying the two albums he did with Judas Priest, as well as the live DVD from London. I wasn’t a fan of the song ‘Metal Gods’ until I heard Tim singing it at that show… Wow!”
“I wanted to explore a side of Tim’s voice that is perhaps a little unknown to people,” reveals Andreas, considering that the new album is based on the tragic story of the Carolean Death March , in which more than 3,000 Swiss and Finnish soldiers froze to death during an attempted invasion of Norway in 1718. Owens will play General Carl Gustav Armfeldt , who was in command of the mission.
“We know his voice is incredibly powerful, we know he can hit those insane high notes. I wanted something different. The song Tim is singing portrays a man distraught by an unbearable burden, and he really interpreted the lyrics in a fantastic way. He really sounds like a distraught man, and that gives the song a heartbroken soul,” he adds.
