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GAZPACHO NEW ALBUM ‘DEMON’ RELEASED 17TH MARCH VIA KSCOPE

February 26, 2014

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Gazpacho were formed in Oslo in 1996 by childhood friends Jon-Arne Vilbo and Thomas Andersen along with Jan-Henrik Ohme (later joined by Mikael Krømer, Lars Erik Asp and Kristian Torp) and released their debut album ‘Bravo’ in 2003.
Signing to Kscope in 2010, the band released their sixth album Missa Atropos followed by the acclaimed March of Ghosts in 2012.
While Missa Atropos was a concept album that dealt with themes of death, fear and loneliness, March of Ghosts was a collection of short stories telling the tales of a variety of characters from beyond the grave.
Demon is inspired by a conversation Thomas had with his father a few years ago where he spoke of a dark force moving through history. During the conversation his father recalled a business visit to Prague in the seventies where he visited the family of some of his hosts.
The family lived in an old apartment, recently renovated after a fire. In the debris, an old manuscript was found. The manuscript was written by a previous resident, for which no records existed other than that his rent had been pre-paid for many years.
The manuscript contained various ramblings and diagrams which formed the basis of a diary, of sorts, of the man. He claimed to have discovered the source of what he called an evil presence in the world. This presence, ‘The Demon’, was an actual intelligent will, with no mercy and a desire for bad things to happen. The author wrote as if he had lived for thousands of years stalking this presence and the manuscript contains references to outdated branches of mathematics, pagan religions unknown to the present world and an eyewitness account of the bubonic plague. So crazed were the writings that the document was donated to the Strahov Library in Prague, where it was thought it would be of interest to students of psychiatry.
The thought of this mysterious figure that had lived through the ages, hunting the ‘Demon’, seemed like too good an idea not to write about. Thomas presented the idea to the band who were just as inspired by the story, and with Jan Henrik, he started writing the lyrics based on what they thought the manuscript would reveal, drawing inspiration from previously ‘discovered’ diaries and manifests.
The story is told in four parts, ending with ‘Death Room’ which are the last words of the unfinished manuscript written just before the disappearance of the unknown writer.
Written over two years, the band have described Demon as the ‘most complicated and strange album Gazpacho has ever made’ and whether the manuscript is truly the work of an obsessed madman or an urban legend it has certainly provided the basis for an interesting twist on a concept album.
The special edition media book includes bonus track ‘The Cage’

 
UK dates:
 
14th April, Leamington Spa, Assembly
15th April, London, 02 Islington Academy
 
facebook.com/Gazpacho.Official.BandPage

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