“We are off to bigger and better things.” – Hand Of Fire
Fans of the West Coast’s Californian thrash metal band Hand Of Fire would have noticed that the band have been very quiet over a quite a number of months, with vocalist Jim Settle performing and recording with Once Dead (formerly known as Vengeance Rising) whose release should be available by April. And guitarist Tiago De Souza had moved to Texas with his wife and family, plus he has been very busy in tirelessly contributing to projects with Dale Thompson (Perpetual Paranoia, Bride, N.O.G., The World Will Burn) and Jonathan Johnson (Sacred Warrior, Zeal, Deny The Fallen, Godman).
And late last year, now-former bassist Tom Eaton announced that he had departed from the band. Since then we have heard nothing of the progressive steps HOF were taking, until a few hours ago.
In a post on the band’s official Facebook page, Hand Of Fire have announced the departure of founding drummer Bill Davies, who has been replaced with Jason Borton (Jungle Rot, Kataklysm), and also acquiring former Testament monster bass machine Greg Christian to the fold, as he takes over for their original bassist Tom Eaton.
“Bill Davies has been replaced with Jason Borton on drums who is well known from bands like Jungle Rot and Kataklysm. We are excited for this seasoned drummer to make this new record more brutal then the first.
“Tom Eaton has also been replaced with Greg Christian, former bass player of Testament. If you think Tiago did an amazing job playing bass on the last record, wait till you hear Greg.” (Official FB, 3/10/19)
The band have also announced that they are working on a brand new album, World Of Deception, that will be the follow-up to their successful debut 2017 album Nuclear Sunrise. For this, the band will require the services of producer Juan Urteaga, and hope to start recording in June 2019. Both original members Jim & Tiago had decided a short time ago that unlike their debut album, their brand new material will not be released through Fort Wayne’s Rottweiler Records, which also has confirmed the band’s departure from their label.
“Jim and Tiago have decided HOF will not release this record with Rottweiler Records for this upcoming release. We are off to bigger and better things.” (Official FB, 10/3/19)
The band are excited and enthusiastic about the changes to the line up of Hand Of Fire and we hope the fans are too, but we are also very curious on how this all plays out, because you know with the calibre of these men and musicians I can’t fault them at all……..