OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE:
Genre-bending, modern metallers, Crown the Empire, have released their heaviest track to date. The song, titled “Dancing With the Dead,” is the band’s first that features no clean vocals and instead features a furious, guttural exchange between vocalist Andy Leo and bassist/vocalist Hayden Tree. Accompanying the new track is a darkly cinematic music video, featuring a real life chess board where protagonist (Andy), has to physically overpower the seven deadly sins, to overthrow the clutches of the evil King (Hayden). Watch the official music video below.
Speaking on their brutal new track, Andy Leo shares:
“’Dancing with the Dead’ came about during the rock bottom phase of quarantine. I’d felt like my purpose had been taken, and I had fully melded into the idea of just letting myself rot. I thought that rock bottom had a definite end but it felt as if I could go as low as I’d let myself. There’s a mural of heaven we put up that covers my entire living room wall and I was thinking about the book Paradise Lost where Lucifer said something like ‘I’d rather rule in hell than serve in heaven’” and knew that if I was doomed to be stuck in this loop then I may as well make the most of it. I was chasing after an idea of salvation that I could do nothing to reach so I decided to start building myself outward to make myself the king of the shit hole I had put myself in.”
Hayden Tree adds:
“This is the heaviest song we’ve released to date. I remember sitting down and thinking to myself that as a band, we’ve never released a song with zero singing in it. As a musician in the rock world you can sometimes feel like you have to play it safe. These days artists seem to be fearful of stepping out of their comfort zone and doing something other than their norm or what’s trending. I didn’t want to play it safe anymore. At this point I was listening to a lot of hardcore/metal bands I grew up on which shaped the riff and energy on the track. I remember showing the song to the band and instantly Brandon thought it was too heavy and didn’t feel that it could make it onto an album. I fought him on it because I believed this song could be something special. He finally came around and helped me and Andy write all the lyrics. Once we finished the track, it turned into one of our band’s favorite and craziest songs we’ve ever released.”
Crown the Empire will be hitting the road as special guests (along with Tetrarch) for Atreyu on their “Baptize Tour.” Kicking off in Dallas, Texas on November 9th, the tour will continue through 26 further US cities, culminating in Santa Ana, California on December 16th. The band will also be playing a one-off Los Angeles show – “The Battle of Los Angeles” with Volumes and Slay Squad on December 19th at 1720.
Dates:
11/9 — Dallas, TX — Gas Monkey Bar And Grill [tickets]
11/10 — Houston, TX — The Warehouse [tickets]
11/11 — New Orleans, LA — Republic NOLA [tickets]
11/13 — Daytona, FL — Welcome to Rockville [tickets]
11/15 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade [tickets]
11/16 — Charlotte, NC — The Underground [tickets]
11/17 — Baltimore, MD — Rams Head Live [tickets]
11/19 — Pittsburgh, PA — The Roxian [tickets]
11/20 — Sayreville, NJ — Starland Ballroom [tickets]
11/21 — New York, NY — Webster Hall [tickets]
11/22 — Albany, NY — Empire Live [tickets]
11/23 — Hartford, CT — The Webster [tickets]
11/24 — Worcester, MA — The Palladium [tickets]
11/26 — Detroit, MI — The Majestic [tickets]
11/27 — Columbus, OH Newport Music Hall [tickets]
11/30 — Cleveland, OH — The Agora [tickets]
12/1 — Grand Rapids, MI — The Intersection [tickets]
12/2 — Joliet, IL — The Forge [tickets]
12/3 — Belvidere, IL — The Apollo Theater AC [tickets]
12/4 — Minneapolis, MN — Skyway Theatre [tickets]
12/6 — Kansas City, MO — The Truman [tickets]
12/7 — Denver, CO — The Summit [tickets]
12/9 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Depot [tickets]
12/10 — Boise, ID — Knitting Factory [tickets]
12/11 — Portland, OR — Roseland [tickets]
12/12 — Seattle, WA — The Crocadile [tickets]
12/14 — Santa Cruz, CA — The Catalyst [tickets]
12/15 — San Diego, CA — House of Blues [tickets]
12/16 — Santa Ana, CA — The Observatory [tickets]