The month of April is upon us and we asked you, the Loudwire readers, which new album you were most looking forward to picking up. In the end, it really came down to two albums vying the Release of the Month title with Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Deep Purple leading the voting with their new InFinite album. They finished just ahead of Richie Kotzen's Salting Earth solo disc, while He Is Legend's Few, Liv Sin's Follow Me and All That Remains' Madness also put up solid voting totals.

The legendary rockers have been through many different lineups over the years, but have settled into a solid combo with Ian Gillan, Ian Paice, Roger Glover, Steve Morse and Don Airey over the last five albums. Welcoming producer Bob Ezrin into the fold, the group set about the task of recording their latest effort. Ezrin stated in a preview video teasing the album that he was interested in capturing the band within their first few takes on a performance, making for music that was more in the moment. As for the approach, Ian Gillan states in another preview clip, "I used to be an angry young man… and now I’m f--king furious again. It’s amazing." Meanwhile, Roger Glover adds, "I think the character of the band has changed, but the spirit hasn't."

InFinite is definitely a title that catches the eye, and when asked about the meaning, Gillan dug deep, stating, "If you take it literally you may, quite reasonably, think the ‘Finite’ part of the word describes the life of deep Purple, with a clear beginning and a nebulous end; but what of the ‘in’ bit? The word infinite is a three-dimensional double-edged sword. It describes something that goes on forever in all directions; not unlike its temporal equivalent ‘Eternal’ What’s that all about? Stephen Hawking declared (in ‘A brief History of Time’) that, before the Big Bang there was nothing. That would put the kibosh on the idea of our universe being Infinite, as he provides a starting point, which is not acceptable to the concept. So, Hawking’s universe in ‘Finite’; by definition; whether he agrees or not."

He continues, "Ironically, he is quite wrong (scientists always are eventually), therefore the Universe is infinite, which means it will never end, and also means that it never started, and the corollary to that of course is that we don’t exist. There is a metaphysical solution to all this, but it will have to wait until the tour is over because (thanks heavens) there are only 24 hours in a day (for the time being) or 10 hours in a metric day."

Did you follow all that? Don't worry, you'll definitely be able to follow the InFinite album, which is off to a great start with the songs "Time for Bedlam," "Hip Boots" and "All I Got Is You" leading the way. Deep Purple deliver swinging drums, atmospheric guitars and lush keyboard work that is on par with the music that led them to their Rock Hall induction last year. The album also includes such solid cuts as "Get Me Outta Here," "On Top of the World," "Birds of Prey" and the album closing cover of The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues."

Deep Purple's InFinite album will be released by earMUSIC on April 7, and you can pre-order the disc via Amazon, iTunes or in a variety of packages at the band's merch site. The band is also hitting the road this year as part of "The Long Goodbye" tour. They'll play Europe between May and July before returning stateside in August and September for shows with Alice Cooper and the Edgar Winter Group. Keep track of all their shows here.

Congrats again to Deep Purple, as the Loudwire readers have voted InFinite as the April 2017 Release of the Month.

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