Saviors of Classic Rock Black Country Communion Set to Release Third Studio Album "Afterglow" on October 30 -- Preorder Now

The Supergroup unleashes first track "Confessor" as free download

BCC releases 6-episode web TV series of never-before-seen interviews and behind the scenes footage in the studio

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Sep 19, 2012, 09:00 ET

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Country Communion, the English-American rock band named "Best New Band of the Last 10 Years" (VH1 Classic's That Metal Show) and featuring the talents of bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Trapeze, Black Sabbath), blues rock guitarist/vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin), and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater), will release their third studio album Afterglow (J&R Adventures) on October 30, 2012. Pre-order your copy here: http://bit.ly/PEdsSJ and receive the album by street date.

Brand new track "Confessor" is now available as a free download here: http://bit.ly/UhJ823

BCC has announced their only concert of 2013 at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall in Wolverhampton, England on Saturday, January 5, 2013. The concert is significant, as it is based in the heart of the Black Country, where both Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham grew up as kids. For more information and tickets, visit Planet Rock (www.planetrock.com) which will launch an exclusive 48-hour ticket pre-sale on Wednesday, Sept. 19. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, Sept. 21 via www.thegigcartel.com.

Like BCC's previous albums (2010's self-titled debut and 2011's '2'), Afterglow was produced by Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, the Black Crowes), who formed the band after watching Bonamassa and Hughes perform together at a Guitar Center event in November 2009. Afterwards, Shirley got in touch with Sherinian and Bonham to round out the group and they released their debut album in September 2010. Classic Rock Magazine called it "Possibly the best hard rock album of 2010." A mere nine months later, the group released their sophomore album '2'. Guitar World named it #12 in their Top 50 Albums of 2011; Planet Rock Radio listeners crowned them Best New Band; in November, BCC scooped up the Breakthrough Award at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards.

In terms of content, Afterglow expands upon the progression that took place between 'BCC' and 'BCC2'. "It's a deeper album, musically, than our first two albums, but it does not step away from the genre we're in," said Hughes, who wrote the bulk of the album's 11 songs after BCC's Summer Tour in 2011. "I wanted this album to have more acoustic moments than the previous two. I wanted to hear more of Derek [Sherinian] and I wanted an angelic side to the vocals as well as the more aggressive one, like on the songs 'Crawl' and 'Midnight Sun'. Above all, I wanted more drama."

Rock Guitar Daily's Tony Conley says, "It sounds like there's a war going on... It rages with an unbridled passion unseen on the first two Black Country releases, and this passion adds immensely to the music. Glenn Hughes has made the statement of a career - his voice is more powerful and under control than ever, his phrasing shakes, quivers, screams, and howls with rightful indignation… His lyrics are as amazing, and they tell tales that could be heard in a variety of interpretations. Joe Bonamassa hits his strings like Ali hitting Sonny Liston - wicked accuracy and vicious intent that can't be hid. These two titans are like a couple of super heroes fighting a war set up by some unseen bad guy... Afterglow is a huge record... it is Black Country rock at its best."

Bonamassa compares the album's sound to "a jet engine" and Shirley, considered the unofficial fifth member of the band, added, "When I finally managed to get them all to convene in a studio and they start playing, it's like everything I've ever loved about Rock. Intense musicality from everyone, first and foremost; then bombast, self-indulgence - the kind that Jimmy Page made as the template for being a Rock Star - and then stunning sensitivity."

To support the release, BCC is running a 6-episode web TV series which can be viewed here: www.youtube.com/bccommunion.

Watch the Afterglow trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgfDppDzLXA

Afterglow Track List:

1. Big Train

2. This Is Your Time

3. Midnight Sun

4. Confessor

5. Cry Freedom

6. Afterglow

7. Dandelion

8. The Circle

9. Common Man