Finnish rockers Von Hertzen Brothers have announced details of their seventh album, War Is Over, and released the first single from it, The Arsonist. War Is Over is the follow-up to 2015’s New Day Rising, which topped the Finnish album charts.
“We had a discussion between us about if we still have it in us, and whether we are still up for this, says guitarist Kie von Hertzen. “We wanted to break everything we’ve built into pieces and start again afresh. After doing this for years, we had to ask ourselves whether we still had the passion and music within us.
“After the last tour, we planned on having an open-ended break before starting to dig deep into writing new music. To our relief, songs started to sprout. After getting inspired by each other’s new songs, we realised that we’re on a VHB mission, and we’re not going to bend and break!”
The album was written in the Von Hertzen family’s summer cottage outside Helsinki, where the three brothers took turns to write music. “It’s a beautiful place in the inner Archipelago of the Eastern Sea,” says Kie. “It’s where we used to spend our childhood summers, so all of us have a deep and personal connection to the place. The main part of composing happens there in total peace and quiet.”
The band will be touring the UK in November (full dates below), when they’ll be joined by keyboardist Robert Engstrand, best known for his work with Swedish prog band The Flower Kings, and by returning drummer Sami Kuoppamäki, who last played with the band on their 2006 album Approach.
“We wanted to record our most musically ambitious album to date and in order achieve this, we really needed a drummer that could raise the bar higher still,” says Mikko Von Hertzen.” We all knew there was really only one man for the job. We were all extremely excited when Sami said yes as he is practically like family to us. It was like having a the ‘long lost’ fourth Brother involved, who musically and spiritually understands us and possesses the ability and talent which helped us to make the record we all really wanted.
“Now that the album is ready, we couldn’t be more excited about people getting to hear it and taking the new songs to the stage”
Earlier this year Von Hertzen Brothers signed to Mascot Records, who will release War Is Over on November 3. The album is available to pre-order now.
Von Hertzen Brothers UK Tour
Nov 05: Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Nov 06: Rebellion Rock Bar, Manchester
Nov 07: Leadmill, Sheffield
Nov 09: Think Tank, Newcastle
Nov 10: G2, Glasgow
Nov 11: HRH, Wales
Nov 12: Fleece, Bristol
Nov 14: Waterfront, Norwich
Nov 15: Talking Heads, Southampton
Nov 16: The Garage, London
Nov 17: HRH Prog, Wales
Nov 18: Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton
- Anathema move into the fast lane in Can’t Let Go video
- Von Hertzen Brothers Sign To Mascot Records
- Read Classic Rock, Metal Hammer & Prog for free with TeamRock+
- Ghost look to 2018 for new album release
Track Listing
War Is Over
To The End Of The World
The Arsonist
Jerusalem
Frozen Butterflies
Who Are You
Blindsight
Long Lost Sailor
Wanderlust
