News : Nevermore guitarist to guest on new Switchblade album

Sydney’s Switchblade are proud to announce that guitar legend Jeff Loomis (Nevermore) will be contributing a guest guitar solo on the band’s new album. Currently being mixed in Chicago by producer/engineer Neil Kernon, the track “Reflective Curse” was chosen to be the candidate for Jeff’s signature shredding.

Switchblade drummer Mat commented on the collaboration:

“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet that it’s happened… We started off talking about this years ago with Jeff and after so long you think everyone would be too busy to make it happen, but Neil was into the idea and once we asked Jeff again he was still keen to do it. So we’re really thankful that Neil and Jeff both took the time to make it happen. The solo is just incredible… Jeff’s playing with Nevermore has been one of our major influences since day 1 so to work on this track together is just crazy. I can’t wait for people to hear it!”

Producer/engineer Neil Kernon also commented:

“I was up in Seattle working with Jeff Loomis on “Zero Order Phase” when I first received an email from Mat from Switchblade about possibly mixing their album. Jeff knew the guys from working together in Australia and spoke highly of them, so I started planing on doing the mix for them. Just before I was sent the album to mix, I had a chat with the guys about the possibility of Jeff doing a solo on it, and I told them I’d talk to Jeff to see if we could make our schedules line up to make it work. As luck would have it, I was going to be in Seattle in mid-January to track drums for another album (with Mark Arrington in fact) so Jeff and I planned on getting together during that visit to work on the solo together. I had previously sent Jeff a copy of the song so that he could start working out some ideas for it if he had the chance, and we ended up spending an afternoon building it out. It’s a long section – over a minute in fact – so we had to figure out different ways to structure it so that it continued to hold the listener’s interest, with harmonies, call and answer sections etc. It’s a fantastic solo, and I think the fans are certainly going to love it. “

The album “Invictus Infinitum” will be released in Australia in April 2009 and Switchblade will be embarking on a national tour for the release. Tour dates are still being confirmed and will be available on the band’s website – www.switchblademusic.com.au