Pete Feenstra chatted to Frank Gilcken, Frank Ferrara and Jake Leger for his Feature show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. In this interview edit Pete finds out more about the band’s 40 year live hiatus… (4:12)

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Bang - early 1970s U.S. power trio

Sometimes compared to Black Sabbath and Grand Funk Railroad, U.S. early seventies power trio BANG undertake their first ever European tour in April, including a date at London’s Borderline on 19 April.

BANG released three critically acclaimed albums on Capitol Records in the early 1970′s before disappearing for a number of years. The 1972 self-titled debut album ‘BANG’ is considered an important forerunner to the early Doom Metal genre. The original band featured guitarist Frank Gilcken, lead singer/bassist Frank Ferrara and drummer/lyricist Tony Diorio.

However, even as the single “Questions” was charting, there was a corporate shakeup at Capitol which saw the band’s supporters moving on and replaced by A&R men who had their own signings to promote. Ultimately, after making a third album in 1973 ‘BANG Music’ the trio disbanded.

The band reunited in 1996 and released a new album titled ‘Return To Zero’, with the more metal-oriented album ‘The Maze’ (featuring new versions of old favourites “Love Sonnet” and “Bow To The King”) following in 2004.

And now, much to the excitement of their fans, BANG will be performing live in Europe in 2016! Says Frank Ferrara, “The three of us realised that BANG was still a musical force. And even though a lot of years have passed, we were writing songs as if it were yesterday.

The dream is alive, and with renewed thirst and love of the music, we are resuming our quest.” With drummer Jake Leger, and the Franks, the band will remain a three piece, sounding just like the records!

Finnish label Svart Records is re-releasing BANG’s four classic albums: Death Of A Country, Bang, Mother/Bow to the King , Music Album. They are being re-pressed on both vinyl and CD and will be available early 2016.

BANG - European Tour (April 2016)

Bang European tour dates:

April 14 – Roadburn Festival – Tilburg, The Netherlands
April 15 – Immerhin – Wurzburg, Germany
April 16 – Kulturbahnhof – Jena, Germany
April 19 – Borderline – London, UK
April 20 – Truckstop Alaska – Gothenburg, Sweden
April 21 – OCCII – Amsterdam, Netherlands
April 22 – Bassy – Berlin, Germany
April 23 – Goldgrube – Kassel, Germany
April 24 – Glazart – Paris, France
April 26 – Loppen – Copenhagen, Denmark
April 27 – Grand – Malmo, Sweden
April 28 – Geronimo FT – Stockholm, Sweden
April 29 – Rocksound – Barcelona, Spain
April 30 – Sound Bay Festival – Lisbon, Portugal

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