Artist: MARTY FRIEDMAN
Album: INFERNO (CD)

Release date: 2014
Media type: CD

The brand new studio album from guitar legend Marty Friedman. Famed for his defining work in Megadeth and Cacophony before relocating to Tokyo, where he is now a national celebrity, Marty now returns with Inferno, a forward thinking and powerful album, bringing together a masterclass of international musicians and Martys unmistakable playing. At the end of the 20th Century, few guitar virtuosi were as respected and revered as MARTY FRIEDMAN. After first rising to prominence alongside fellow six-string whiz Jason Becker in the influential band Cacophony and via his well-received solo debut "Dragon's Kiss," FRIEDMAN joined Megadeth, with whom he soon wrote and recorded the thrash landmark "Rust In Peace." His 10-year tenure with the iconic group -- during which they sold more than 10 million albums worldwide and earned multiple Grammy nominations. That wasn't enough for FRIEDMAN, though. "I wanted to create a new landmark to which my future music will be compared," he says. "That idea of just going completely balls-out -- knowing what the full potential of my music and my playing could possibly be, and actually making it a reality -- was what drove me through the whole process."

The result is "Inferno," FRIEDMAN's first album of original material in four years and his first in more than a decade to be released worldwide simultaneously. Recorded in Los Angeles with engineer Chris Rakestraw (Children of Bodom, Danzig) and mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Amon Amarth), the album features what FRIEDMAN recently told Guitar World is "the most intense writing and playing I can do," with the goal of "go(ing) completely ape-shit, in the most 'Marty' way possible." "I'm extremely proud of the work I've done with Cacophony and Megadeth, but I was never interested in looking back or stopping there," FRIEDMAN says. "'Inferno' is the album that fans of my work with those two bands have always wanted me to make. I've finally made it, and completely on my own maniacal terms." Notably, "Inferno" includes several collaborations with players influenced by FRIEDMAN, including Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom), Revocation guitar whiz David Davidson, Jorgen Munkeby (Shining NOR), the flamenco/metal acoustic duo Rodrigo y Gabriela and acclaimed rocker Danko Jones. In addition, the album features FRIEDMAN's first songwriting collaboration with Jason Becker since the pair played together in Cacophony. Ultimately, though, it's arguably the most compelling chapter yet in FRIEDMAN's improbable international journey -- one for which he's excited to have fans in all countries along for the ride.

TRACKLIST:

01. Inferno
02. Resin
03. Wicked Panacea (feat. Rodrigo y Gabriela)
04. Steroidhead (feat. Keshav Dhar)
05. I Cant Relax (feat. Danko Jones)
06. Meat Hook (feat. Jorgen Munkeby)
07. Hyper Doom
08. Sociopaths (feat. David Davidson) 
09. Lycanthrope (feat. Alexi Laiho & Danko Jones) 
10. Undertow (feat. Gregg Bissonette and Tony Franklin) 
11. Horrors (co-written by Jason Becker) 
12. Inferno (Reprise)