TUNGSTEN Working On New Album

TUNGSTEN drummer/engineer Mark Talamo has been hard at work crafting songs for the group's next album. So far he has written and completed 11 tracks which "will take TUNGSTEN into the future," according to an official band update.

"Mark has really surprised me with these tunes," said TUNGSTEN guitarist/vocalist Al Hodge. "They have a sort of old DEEP PURPLE/European goth rock vibe to them. I'm probably going to have two songs that I will contribute to the next album as well.

"It's been a total role reversal and all of us are shifting responsibilities in the band. I think this has happened so we don't repeat ourselves with the new album.

"I've been writing some lyrics to the songs. I have about five solid song titles so far and a possible album title as well that we will reveal in the coming months as we get closer to the actual recording and the release date.

"We are shooting for a late summer release, but I'm not promising too much until we get closer to getting the album recorded."

In other news, bassist Steve Talamo has formed a new band based out of Slidell, Louisiana that goes by the name of LEECH. Steve plays lead guitar in the band and is the chief songwriter as well.

"Mark and I have talked with Steve a few times lately about the next TUNGSTEN record and how we will approach the recording aspect of it," commented Al. "Steve is very busy with his job, his family and his current band at the moment. So Mark and I talked about going back to our original plan of having me play the bass guitar on the record and getting Steve to come and play some lead guitar on some of the tracks. Steve seems eager to help us out, and by no means does this mean that he is out of TUNGSTEN, we're just shifting responsibilities in the band that's all."

Also on the TUNGSTEN-related front, Hodge's side-project THE MUDDPIGGS (in which he plays guitar) have recorded another demo over the last few weeks and will be issuing it shortly. "It's a rock n roll band with some classic rock vibes to it," stated Al. "It's sort of a hick rock band that makes you want to drink. My two friends James (a.k.a. Jamie James) and his brother Brandon (a.k.a. Jethro Tall) are jamming with me. These are they guys that helped me write, 'Who's Drinking With The Devil Tonight?' from the last TUNGSTEN album, 'The Abuse'. This is our second real demo, we did one in 1999 and this one that we will be sending out as well."

For more information on TUNGSTEN, including free access to 49 complete songs in MP3 format, visit the band's official web site at this location.