WARMEN, the brainchild of former CHILDREN OF BODOM keyboardist Janne “Warman” Wirman, will release a new album, “Here For None”, on August 18 via Reaper Entertainment. The LP’s first single, “Warmen Are Here For None”, is now available on all major streaming platforms. The lyric video for the song was created by René Berthiaume (EQUILIBRIUM) and can be seen below.
Janne states: “I am personally so fucking exited to finally release new music from our new lineup! This feels like a brand new era in the WARMEN saga and we can’t wait to get the rest of the new album out there for you and to start playing these songs live!”
René adds: “It was an honor to create the lyric video for WARMEN because as a fan I know and respect the involved musicians for many years. I loved the idea behind the cover artwork and it was a lot of fun to translate it into a three-dimensional scenario.”
“Here For None” heralds a new era. True to the motto “The king is dead, long live the king,” WARMEN is not only headed towards heavier shores musically due to the band’s updated lineup, but it can also be said with justification that WARMEN is taking on the musical legacy of Wirman‘s former band in a spectacular way.
“I will always be Janne from BODOM,” Wirman says. “That’s okay with me. I’m happy about it and I don’t have to hide my past. I also see that as a positive thing for WARMEN.”
Janne and his brother Antti Wirman and longtime friend Jyri Helko have recruited Seppo Tarvainen on drums as well as Petri Lindroos (ENSIFERUM) on vocals to make “Here For None” a true masterpiece of melodic death metal.
Comments Wirman: “Whether you know of WARMEN or are new to our music, you are in for a treat! We have put a lot of thought and energy into this release and the new album really represents what we are musically. A lot of melodic stuff and crazy soloing with brutal riffing and drumming.”
“Here For None” track listing:
01. Warmen Are Here For None
02. The Driving Force
03. A World Of Pain
04. Too Much, Too Late
05. Night Terrors
06. Hell On Four Wheels
07. The End Of The Line
08. Death’s On Its Way
09. The Cold Unknown
10. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
WARMEN 2023 is:
Janne Wirman – keyboards
Petri Lindroos – vocals
Antti Wirman – guitar
Jyri Helko – bass
Seppo Tarvainen – drums
WARMEN started as a solo project of Wirman, and when the keyboardist wasn’t traveling the world with CHILDREN OF BODOM, he was regularly recording albums with his brother, Helko (bass) and Mirka Rantanen (drums; KOTIPELTO, ex-HEVISAURUS). After the much-too-early end of CHILDREN OF BODOM and the tragic death of Alexi Laiho, Janne, together with Antti, found his way back to music through WARMEN.
Janne comments: “After the abrupt ending of CHILDREN OF BODOM, I wasn’t sure if I’ll ever make music again. We did a couple of song writing sessions last year with my brother and Jyri and I realized that I still have a lot of desire for music and together we wrote an album of exciting new stuff. We teamed up with Flori and Greg from the Reaper Entertainment, as I had worked with them before with great results, and knew they understood my past with BODOM and where we wanted to go next with WARMEN.”
Flori from Reaper Entertainment adds: “After all, it’s an open secret that our company name was a reference or tribute to CHILDREN OF BODOM. Greg and I were big fans and attended many of the band’s concerts together. In the process, we developed a great friendship with the band — but especially with Janne. When we saw on Facebook that Janne and Antti were working on new WARMEN songs, we just had to offer them our help. It’s a great honor for us that Janne accepted immediately and now we can eagerly wait for the new album.”
WARMEN‘s last official album, “First Of The Five Elements”, was initially released in 2014 via the crowdfunding platform PledgeMusic, which however ceased operations shortly thereafter. Since very few copies of the album hit the market, Reaper Entertainment re-released the album to shorten the wait for the new album. The direction of the material is classically inspired power metal, but, similar to CHILDREN OF BODOM, the focus of WARMEN is on the interplay of guitar and keyboard perfected by the Wirman brothers. In addition to ten original songs, cover versions of Madonna and Alice Cooper provide surprises, and for the vocals on “First Of The Five Elements”, the quartet was able to secure Pasi Rantanen (THUNDERSTONE),Jonna Kosonen and Laiho as guest musicians.