Here’s where it gets delightfully tangled. The 69 Eyes have announced a new EP, “I Survive“, dropping June 5 via BLKIIBLK, the Frontiers label group imprint, marking a new chapter for the Helsinki Vampires. The lead single? A cover of Thin Lizzy‘s “Cold Sweat” from 1983.
The video was filmed in January during The 69 Eyes‘ recent European tour, and it features a cameo from Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell. Which, given that Moonspell just dropped their own blood-soaked comeback in the same week, makes this the best accidental double-bill in gothic rock this year.
The cover is produced by Erno Laitinen and mixed by Barry Pointer, whose credits include Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe. Not a bad mixing desk to be sitting at.
The song itself was apparently a decade in the waiting. Jyrki 69 has said a friend sent him an old unreleased demo of “Cold Sweat” the band had recorded years prior, and after hearing it, the verdict was immediate, radio-ready rock at its finest. Sometimes the right moment for a song just takes ten years to arrive.
The full “I Survive” EP runs four tracks: “I Survive” featuring Steve Stevens (Billy Idol’s guitarist, Grammy winner for the “Top Gun Anthem”), “Cold Sweat“, “In The Misery“, and “Devil’s Rose” featuring Ed Mundell. A respectable roster for four songs.
Here’s where it gets delightfully tangled. The 69 Eyes have announced a new EP, “I Survive”, dropping June 5 via BLKIIBLK, the Frontiers label group imprint, marking a new chapter for the Helsinki Vampires. The lead single? A cover of Thin Lizzy‘s “Cold Sweat” from 1983.
The video was filmed in January during The 69 Eyes‘ recent European tour, and it features a cameo from Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell. Which, given that Moonspell just dropped their own blood-soaked comeback in the same week, makes this the best accidental double-bill in gothic rock this year.
The cover is produced by Erno Laitinen and mixed by Barry Pointer, whose credits include Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe. Not a bad mixing desk to be sitting at.
The song itself was apparently a decade in the waiting. Jyrki 69 has said a friend sent him an old unreleased demo of “Cold Sweat” the band had recorded years prior, and after hearing it, the verdict was immediate, radio-ready rock at its finest. Sometimes the right moment for a song just takes ten years to arrive.
The full “I Survive” EP runs four tracks: “I Survive” featuring Steve Stevens (Billy Idol’s guitarist, Grammy winner for the “Top Gun Anthem”), “Cold Sweat”, “In The Misery”, and “Devil’s Rose” featuring Ed Mundell. A respectable roster for four songs.
The 69 Eyes have been running on the same five-piece lineup since forming in Helsinki in 1989, and there’s something almost perversely admirable about that. Most bands with that kind of longevity are either coasting or collapsing. These lot still seem hungry.
The real story across both releases this week? Gothic rock’s old guard refusing to go gently. Moonspell with fury and manifesto energy, The 69 Eyes with leather-jacketed nonchalance and a wink at Phil Lynott. Different styles, same refusal to become nostalgia acts. Both worth your attention.
