Melodic power metal band ARTIZAN has announced that ICED EARTH vocal legend Matt Barlow will make a very special guest appearance on the title track of their new album Ancestral Energy. The track reveals an intriguing back story for the original song 'Curse of the Artizan' which was released in 2011. Matt will perform the voice of the Artizan's ancestors.

Official statement from Matt Barlow: "I’m happy to announce that I will be lending my voice to the forthcoming release of the new Artizan album 'Ancestral Energy.' In addition to my own musical project, Ty and the guys of Artizan have given me the opportunity to appear as a guest vocalist on what I believe will be a great conceptual endeavor. If you have followed what the band has recorded previously, you know that they are very much into 'storytelling' and that’s something that has always interested me in this genre. As another benefit, I will get to work with producer Jim Morris again as he puts the guys through their paces at Morrisound Recording. I’m looking forward to recording the song that I’ll be performing on, and think that we’ll have a great time with it. Keep listening."

Artizan founder/drummer Ty Tammeus states: "We are proud and honored that Matt will be contributing his talents to the new album. We will be showcasing Matt's full vocal range on the passage that we have created for him. I am ecstatic that we all get to hear Matt again!"

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Ancestral Energy will be released April 2013 via Pure Steel Records.