Mark Boals Unleashes the Force of "Gravity"
Ring of Fire returns with its fifth studio album and first in eight years.
Thanks, as always, for spending part of your day with Michael’s Record Collection. For this week’s story, I spoke with vocalist Mark Boals about the new album by his band, Ring of Fire, entitled Gravity.
I didn’t know the full extent of Mark’s vast body of work before preparing for this interview, but I had seen him perform live. He lent his vocal talents to the progressive rock band Syzygy for that band’s Realms of Eternity album in 2009 and I saw him perform with that band as part of the Three Rivers Progfest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that same year. Mark’s got a great rock voice and I enjoyed Syzygy’s set that August day in 2009.
Unbeknownst to me, I had previously heard Mark’s voice on albums such as Yngwie Malmsteen’s Trilogy, Lana Lane’s Project Shangri-La, and Erik Norlander’s Music Machine.
I caught up with Mark via Zoom while he was on the Royal Caribbean ship Oasis of the Seas, setting sail from South Florida to Puerto Rico, and he was kind enough to tell me about the new Ring of Fire record, which was released on November 11.
Let’s get to that story.
Fans of melody, feel, and technical prowess can unite in appreciation for Gravity, the fifth studio album by Ring of Fire and the band’s first record since 2014.
Ring of Fire began in 2000 with vocalist Mark Boals joining forces with guitarist Tony MacAlpine, drummer Virgil Donati, bassist Philip Bynoe, and keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij performing on the band’s debut album The Oracle in 2001 and the follow-up release, Dreamtower. Steve Weingart played keyboards on the third album, Lapse of Reality.
Ring of Fire was prolific in its early days, churning out three studio albums and a live album from 2001 to 2004. The group disbanded after that and reconvened a decade later to record Battle of Leningrad, releasing it in 2014 with Boals, Kuprij, and MacAlpine joined by bassist Timo Tolkki and drummer Jami Huovinen.
Eight years later, MacAlpine opted not to return to Ring of Fire for Gravity, the band’s fifth album, with Secret Sphere guitar virtuoso Aldo Lonobile replacing him, and Stefano Scola (bass) and Alfonso Mocerino (drums) making up a brand new rhythm section.
“I did ask (MacAlpine to return for the new album), but his manager now wants him to just do instrumental music and wants him to concentrate on his solo career,” Boals said. “And so, he wasn’t able to do it, but we’re still good friends.”
The band absolutely smokes through 10 tracks of neoclassical metal. There are elements of power metal and progressive metal, with Kuprij providing classical elements throughout via piano and synthesizers.
Writing on the new album was a collaborative effort, Boals said.
“In the past, I've written full songs — music, lyrics and melodies, everything — but on this one, Vitalij wrote five musical ideas, and I did the lyrics and melodies, and the other five songs were written by Aldo — the music part,” he said. “They would just send me music tracks, and I'd come up with lyrics and melody to go over top of it.”
The band worked mainly remotely, with Boals and Kuprij working in different places in the United States, while Boals said Lonobile recorded his parts as well as Scola’s bass and Mocerino’s drums in the same studio in Italy. The album was written and recorded post-lockdown and Boals said it got delayed a little due to Kuprij’s tour with Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
The opening two tracks show off what the band can do musically, with incredible solos and keyboard runs. The second track on the album, “Storm of the Pawns,” is one Boals said might be his favorite on the record.
“It's different, depending on which day of the week it is, I guess, or when I'm listening to it, but I like all them — but I really like ‘Storm of the Pawns,’” he said. “I just like the deep heavy classical piano playing (Kuprij) does. That was really kind of hard to work on, because that song is all over the place with piano stuff, and the breaks, and the breakdowns, and the different timings. It was pretty intense.”
The scorching intro of “Melancholia” is one of my favorite moments on the album, with Kuprij and Lonobile showing incredible chemistry for having just joined forces and working separately. Although it can be said for the whole album, the playing on this track is particularly good.
Boals said the Italian guitarist, who was an excellent choice to replace MacAlpine, was a good fit for Ring of Fire.
“Aldo is really super easy to work with and he can take a lot of abuse,” Boals said with a laugh.
The title track is one of the album’s highlights, with a chunky opening rhythm, underlying soaring keyboard washes, and Lonobile’s deft guitar pyrotechnics. Lonobile also makes good use of power chords in “Gravity,” and Boals sings the hell out of it. The vocalist has a range of influences, but his musical favorites emerged from diving headfirst into the Columbia Record Club as a kid and he always gravitated toward great vocals.
“I can’t remember all 12 (records), but I know one was Jethro Tull Aqualung, one was Black Sabbath Paranoid, one was Deep Purple — I don’t remember which one but it was probably the first one they released here,” Boals said. “My favorite rock bands — I can’t remember which one I loved first, but I loved Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. I liked everything across the board that had good singing. I was really into singers, so I really liked even Tom Jones and James Brown and people who weren't rockers but were intense singers anyway.”
“Sky Blue” is a gorgeous ballad that proves Ring of Fire can do more than shred. With soaring harmony vocals, an emotional solo by Lonobile, and beautiful acoustic guitar accompaniment, the band shows it can play with feeling as well as chops.
As with “Sky Blue,” the band continues to make emotional connections with the melodic “21st Century Fate Unknown.” Mocerino shows his chops on this one. The doubled vocals sound phenomenal, and the band plays fewer notes per minute than on the faster tempo songs, letting a chord or a note hang in the air — until Lonobile unleashes his solo, that is. The Italian deserves to be better known in this country, because he can flat out play. If his name sounds familiar, it might be because I spoke to him about Secret Sphere’s Lifeblood album back in March of 2021. He’s a terrific guitarist and producer.
“Another Night” is a second ballad on the album, but it’s a bit more on the atmospheric side than “Sky Blue.” The harmony vocals in the chorus remind me of Scorpions — but without the German accent.
The band ratchets the technical playing back up in “Run for Your Life,” a frenetic, driving song that puts the power in power metal. This song is probably the most overtly prog metal effort on the record, with technical musicianship that stands up against the likes of Dream Theater and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Likewise, album closer “Sideways” is a melodic song that still manages to impress with the band’s technical playing.
Gravity is an album that I think would appeal to many tastes. There are chops and speed for days, but there is also plenty of power, beauty, and melody. There is sufficient variety to avoid fatigue, as the band members seem to instinctively know they can’t just hit the listener over the head with their technical ability for a solid hour. Boals’ voice still sounds great at age 63 and he hits some impressively high notes on this album.
The album is available through the Frontiers Music web shop or on the usual larger online retailers. Boals said he’s excited about the record and that he believes the band will be able to do some live dates, at least in Japan and Europe.
Hopefully that will happen, as the songs from Gravity deserve some live performances.
Tracklist
The Beginning
Storm of The Pawns
Melancholia
Gravity
King Of Fools
Sky Blue
21st Century Fate Unknown
Another Night
Run For Your Life
Sideways
For more information on Mark Boals and his various projects, visit his official website. And if you like Boals’ voice but don’t like some of the shredding style of playing that Ring of Fire presents, check out his project Shining Black, which has much more of a melodic, album-oriented rock feel with the same great vocals. Shining Black’s second album, Postcards from the End of the World came out in March, making 2022 a busy year for Boals.
Thanks again for your time. I had a great time chatting with Mark. You can see the full interview in the video below or download/stream Episode 86 of the Michael’s Record Collection podcast. In addition to discussing Ring of Fire, Mark talked about his early influences, how he ended up performing with Savoy Brown, Ted Nugent, and Yngwie Malmsteen, how he crossed paths with Erik Norlander and performed some prog shows with Syzygy, forming Shining Black with Ölaf Thorson, and more.
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