HELIX: New Album Artwork, Release Date Revealed

Canadian hard rockers HELIX will release their new album, "Vagabond Bones", in Canada on November 17 via Universal/Fontana. Singer Brian Vollmer has been collaborating with Sean Kelly (CRASH KELLY) on material for the CD, which was mixed by engineer Aaron Murray.

Commented Vollmer: "On 'Vagabond Bones', we were working under a self-imposed deadline of having the CD out for the fall of 2009.

"The writing relationship between Sean and I developed when Sean joined the band this past spring. At the same time my writing relationship with Gord Prior came to an end as he could not commit to the project, so Sean and I began writing with each other and quickly hit it off.

"When Sean got the job as the new guitar player for Nelly Furtado, we made a pact between the two of us to finish the new CD before he had to take off on tour. We went right down to the wire last week, but in the end victory was ours and everything was finished by the time Sean got on the plane for Europe.

"We really lucked out with the talented people we were able to involve on the project. From the recording to the artwork, the team we assembled did a remarkable job on a shoe-string budget.

"I'm very proud of this piece of work. I hope the fans will enjoy it as much as I did recording it."

"Vagabond Bones" tentative track listing (not final sequence):

01. The Animal Inside (Won't Be Denied)
02. Go Hard or Go Home
03. Vagabond Bones
04. Monday Morning Meltdown
05. When The Bitter's Got The Better Of You
06. Hung Over But Still Hanging In
07. Best Mistake I Never Made
08. Make 'Em Dance
09. Jack It Up

Vollmer's track-by-track description of "Vagabond Bones" can be found on the band's official web site.

The classic '80s lineup of Canadian hard rockers HELIX — Brent "The Doctor" Doerner on lead guitar, Greg "Fritz" Hinz on drums, Daryl Gray on bass, and Brian Vollmer on vocals — recently reunited and is planning to hit the road throughout western Canada in October.

Regarding his collaboration with Kelly, Vollmer previously said, "We hit it off as writers right from the start, and the tunes we've produced so far have been getting great feedback. I've been playing them not only for industry people but to fans as well. One thing for sure — whether you love or hate this CD, you'll find it very different from anything we've done in the past. In particular, 'Monday Morning Meltdown' is a real stretch for us. It's BEATLES/CHEAP TRICK-influenced, which led Rudy Blair of 680 News to comment to me that '…if he hadn't known who it was us, he would have thought it was a young band.'"

"Writing with Sean Kelly has really brought out some of my other musical influences, like DAVID BOWIE, T. REX, and ALICE COOPER. You can hear traces of them in different songs we've put together."

HELIX has been active in the past several years with several releases. The band's most recent collection of original material, "The Power of Rock and Roll", came out in 2007. Their latest CD, "A Heavy Mental Christmas", was made available in all Canadian Wal-Mart stores last November and received airplay worldwide. The CD also received great reviews from the critics.