Press from Frontiers Records 21-October-00: "Ring Of Fire" is Mark Boals second solo album following the Japanese only release in 1998 of "Ignition". Mark is best known as Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force singer and is a first class vocalist, recently awarded by BURRN! Magazine readers in Japan as Best Overall singer of 1999.
He first started singing folk songs and playing piano at the age of 5. Later on he started playing the clarinet and saxophone in school, but he did not start playing bass until about the age of 12. His first band was called "Jasmine", followed later by a lot of local groups in the Midwest area of the USA. In 1983 he joined Savoy Brown and one year later he became the front-man of the Ted Nugent band. In 1985 he finally joined Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, recording all lead vocals on Malmsteen's third album "Trilogy", but soon after he left the band in September 1986. He came back into the musical world in the early nineties recording vocals on the album "Paganini's Last Stand" with Maestro Alex Gregory (1992) and joining Billionaires Boys Club (recording "Something Wicked Comes" in 1993). In 1999 Mark rekindled his relationship with Yngwie Malmsteen on "Alchemy".
Finally this year, after the completion of "War To End All Wars", the latest Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force album, he started on june 19th 2000, the recording of "Ring Of Fire" at the Paramount Recording Studio in Hollywood, California.
Some very special friends joined Mark on this solo adventure. First, on lead guitars, none other than famed axe hero Tony MacAlpine (Planet X and several other projects), who also co-wrote several songs on the album. On keyboards (and co-writer of "Atlantis") the Ukrainian ex-Artension maestro Vitalij Kuprij. Drums are provided by Virgil Donati (Southern Sons / Planet X). Bass and vocal duties are of course performed by Mark himself who also produced the album.
The result is nothing less than a masterpiece for all lovers of great melodies with guitar and keyboard solo-battles, in a heavy neo-classic style !
Front-cover artwork for "Ring Of Fire" was supplied by famous Belgian artist, Eric Philippe, who has done work for the likes of Rhapsody, Stratovarius, Riot and Gamma Ray.