FORBIDDEN Preparing To Record New Material

Guitarist Craig Locicero of reactivated San Francisco Bay Area thrahers FORBIDDEN has issued the following update:

"Time for a quick news bit about what's upcoming. We're going to be laying down some tracks on a couple of new FORBIDDEN tunes next week with Tim Narducci [SYSTEMATIC] co-producing it with the band. We've been working on a gang of new material for a few months and we wanted to get the first taste out as soon as we could find the time. It's important for us to let our fans (who may be the most patient in the world!) in on what we've been at this whole time. We can tell you only this much....it's KILLER! Tim's going to do a great job of capturing our new energy and we're stoked as hell!

"It's been great working with the other guys this closely again. There is still so much more work to be done! The thing we all realize is, it's best to take our time and not rush the stuff. That would be a disservice to the ones who have been waiting. It's funny, so many opinions are thrown at us weekly about what the material 'should' sound like. The fact is — it's taking on a life of its own. We can never really go in the 'way back machine' and sound just like the kids that recorded 'Forbidden Evil'. As cool as that record was, we would be regressing a bit to do such a thing. This stuff is more in the vein as 'Twisted Into Form' with our experiences over the last 20 years wrapped into it. Heavy, melodic, thrashy, technical, FORBIDDEN!!! It's a blast.

"I can also tell you that Mark [new drummer Mark Hernandez; HEATHEN, DEFIANCE, RE:IGNITION, VIO-LENCE, TORQUE, TECHNOCRACY and SOCIAL UNREST] and Steve [new guitarist Steve Smyth; THE ESSENESS PROJECT, NEVERMORE, TESTAMENT, DRAGONLORD, VICIOUS RUMORS] are doing fantastic work. Most of the material was written like the old FORBIDDEN. Started with guitar and drums with skeleton arrangements. Mark has done nothing but impress me with his ideas and input. He's got a lot to offer and he knows that he needs to deliver. Those are still mighty big shoes to fill with Paul [Bostaph; original FORBIDDEN drummer, also formerly of SLAYER and EXODUS] and Steve [Jacobs; ex-FORBIDDEN drummer] playing on the previous albums.

"Steve Smyth has been great to work with as well! As a few of you may know, Steve lives in London but comes back to the Bay often. He was here last month. But I think FORBIDDEN can get a endorsement from Skype, because Steve and I have been working on it so much since he's gone home. You get a ton done for free with no gas money spent! We go through all the details and it's easy. Especially when there is a great chemistry within our communication. I think all of the guitar geeks (like us) are going to be blown the fuck away! We have some cool shit in store for you.

"Last thing here... Mark and I are recording with Hank Shermann's [MERCYFUL FATE] DEMONICA starting this week. That stuff is so f'n cool! Hank's been working hard on it for a while and now we're going to lay down the drums and solos here in Livermore. With Tim and Brad Barth from SPIRALARMS engineering it. Then we send it back to Hank and he'll put the finishing touches on it, then Dave Otero will mix it. Should be finished sometime in early May. Keep your eye out for the DEMONICA. It's some ripping old-school thrash written by Hank himself. We're all honored just to be asked to be a part of it. How cool is that?"

FORBIDDEN's last studio LP, "Green", was released in 1997 on the G.U.N. label.

For more information, visit the band's official MySpace page.

Professionally filmed video footage of FORBIDDEN's June 28, 2008 performance at the Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium can be viewed below (clip uploaded by YouTube user "Sebastos1").