German iconic black metal duo Mystic Circle has announced its Kriegsgötter MMXXV compilation album, slated for release on 6 June through ROAR. The first single and video, "Afraid To Shoot Strangers (Iron Maiden cover)", featuring Sarah Jezebel Deva on guest vocals, is already out.

But let's go back a quarter of a century to the year 2000: Mystic Circle was at its peak after the release of its third studio epic, Infernal Satanic Verses and was rightly regarded as Germany's leading black metal band. In the summer after the turn of the millennium, the Ludwigshafen-based band followed up with the 5-track EP, Kriegsgötter II, a compilation of cover versions and new recordings. However, the founding line-up broke up during this phase, and A. Blackwar left the band. Only his return in 2020 and the reunion with vocalist Beelzebub conjured up the spirit of that time again, resulting in the two great new records, Mystic Circle (2022) and Erzdämon (2023), closing the infamous circle (or pentagram?) again.

Kriegsgötter MMXXV is an extended new edition with eight tracks featuring furious cover versions of classics such as from Bathory, Celtic Frost, Possessed or Acheron, including the mentioned, completely re-recorded Iron Maiden's cover "Afraid To Shoot Strangers".

The decision to cover "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" and release it in the new edition brings the band full circle to the past. "At some point back in the 90s, the A Real Live One by Iron Maiden was on high rotation in our car CD player and we got stuck on the song", A. Blackwar reveals. "We listened to it over and over again. Then we decided we had to cover it with our keyboards and guitars. It's good that we've done it 25 years later, it wouldn't have been the right time back then. Now the result is exactly how we both imagined our version to be. Also, Sarah Jezebel Deva was immediately back on board and her vocals ennoble and complete the track, her vocals are just a gem", says the founding member, praising the British soprano. Link

Kriegsgötter MMXXV tracklist:
01. One Rode To Asa Bay (feat. Sarah Jezebel Deva)
02. Die Götter der Urväter
03. Azazel's Soulfly
04. Cry Little Sister (Theme from "The Lost Boys")
05. Afraid To Shoot Strangers (feat. Sarah Jezebel Deva)
06. Death Metal
07. Acheron (Medley)
08. Circle Of The Tyrants