The Countdown has started. It is less than four weeks until "Firebirth", the new GOTTHARD album, is released on June 1st. From this Friday 11th May, you can sample the music on iTunes (Switzerland and Germany only). This is the start of a countdown lasting three weeks on the Download portal, on which one new song per week will be presented.

It all starts on 11th May with the song "Give me Real", an earthy rock number perfectly in style with early GOTTHARD; the rhythm will immediately sweep you along. One week later, on 18th May, the song "Shine" will be available for pre-listening. This blues mid-tempo number presents lots of emotion upfront. And then on 25th May, the last track "The Story's Over", will be presented; as a listener, you will immediately be compelled to stamp your feet.

All three songs will be offered on iTunes for immediate download and when the entire album is released and you decide to buy it, the downloads already paid for will be taken into account and subtracted from the total price of the album.

For those of you not used to using such portals, you should check out GOTTHARD'S Facebook page. On 19th May, a track by track pre-listening will be started, in which part of each song can be heard and the band will give a comment on every one.