Since time immemorial metal (as in HEAVY metal) has been synonymous with dragons, warriors, warlocks, and general fantasy or sci-fi themes. On the one side you’ll have bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Bathory, Black Sabbath etc, and then you’ll get bands like Thor and Manowar on the other.
Leaving furry codpieces and fluffy boots aside one only has to browse the metal section of any music store (if there are any left) to see images of desperate warriors cleaving through ranks of the enemy, or maybe some lone figure on a quest or calling upon the arcane magick of the underworld (you get the idea).
Games such as Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 are a veritable smorgasbord of inspiration and lyrical subjects, and the imagery certainly helps to inspire. Look, for example, at bands like the mighty Bolt Thrower and also Sabbat, both having released songs or whole albums that are firmly rooted in the universes created by Games Workshop.
Anyone who has seen my lyrics will probably know straight away where I get about 50% of my inspiration from… and I quote:
‘Sons turned against their father,
And the Imperium of Man,
Siding with the Chaos Gods
The lost and the damned.
The clash of mighty beings
Is written upon the stars,
As he hammers forth his justice
In the bloodiest of wars…’
Taken from ‘Thunderkill’.
All it really boils down to is that we are able to take our nerdism to the next level 🙂
This weekend saw me and my buddy Dethtron and our band ‘Crusader’ head into Bombshelter Recording Studio to begin the arduous task of recording our EP ‘Rise of the Templars’. We spent 3 days working closely with Dan ‘The Man Who Can’ Precision, who was the founding member of ‘Rise Against’ and also has ties with ‘88 Fingers Louie’ and ‘Ryans Hope’.
It was a blast going through the process and although some of it was repetitive and boring, we found ways to amuse ourselves and pass the time. I have still yet to lay my vocal tracks down, as some gremlins in the machine put us back a little on Sunday morning.
The EP will be a 4 song affair, and I have to say, I’m very excited about it. We’ve put our 110% heart and soul into this and I think it’s really showing. Dethtron has gone that extra mile to add some synth effects into a couple of the tracks to add another shovelful of epic awesomeness onto the mix. You can hear some rough stuff at this site, which Dethy graciously uploaded the WIP tracks to.
While we were there, I spied a copy of the old Talisman game by GW. Turns out that Dan was a bit of a gamer himself a while back… Me and Dethy popped the boxes open to find them full of old Squat minis, and some Chaos Renegades and a ton of old skool plastic Space Marines!
I’ll bring you more info as developments unfold. Including our first shirt design 🙂 All of this stuff will be available to buy through When Cannons Fade as soon as its ready to go.
Throw the horns!
Paul.
When Cannons Fade... 