Today's post has us playing catch-up on what St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown have been up to as of late, so what's new to report from the past month+? On August 3rd, frontman Brandon West (or, as commonly introduced in these solo vertical videos, "Heavy here") updated fans as to their annual birthday bash concert in St. Ignace on August 16th via this video. There, Brandon clarified that Macomb Country metalcore quartet At Water "had something come up, and so they had to rearrange some things, (but) it is what it is", giving some extra clarification as to why Ghidora replaced them on the bill. Ghidora had asked to play this show anyway when the lineup was already full, so they were a fitting replacement! Brandon also teased shooting "some music videos" at the concert, and he also teased that he's looking into other venues to host his birthday concert in the future, but he wants to keep it in St. Ignace.
Later in the update video, Brandon refers to guitarist Kaycee Mason as "our drummer", hinting that the temporary May lineup shuffling may not be temporary. At the time, Kaycee filled in live for an absent Blaze Beairl, while Paul Nolan came on as a (guest?) guitarist, but we'll let you know if anything is 100% publically clarified. Brandon also mentioned that Kaycee would be pulling double duty on the 16th, as he drums for Detroit alt-metal band Influence as well. Solid updates, so check everything out below!
Post-concert, a four seconds long video was shared on their Facebook page that night, but between the length and fans gathered in the venue, you can't even tell what band is playing! Any other teased "music videos" did not immediately follow, rather a teaser campaign starting on August 19th, where they teased that "we've got surprises coming soon" that will "just happen", allegedly via being hidden in new and old band content. Before that could (knowingly) take off with verve, the guys returned to the annual French Road Bash outdoor concert festival in Alpena on August 22nd, an event that they didn't tease their involvement in until relatively late. Among the hype was that they'd announce a "wild surprise appearance" for the French Road Bash, but an unrelated note was that this was Kaycee's other band Katharsys Theory's final concert after a seven year run. Best of luck to everyone, including Carlos with his health battle!
More than 20 bands of varying genres played at the French Road Bash, Heavy Lies The Crown among them, and Influence guitarist Patrick Bielec filmed the guys playing 103 seconds' worth of a newer song. While the band never confirmed what the "wild surprise" was in text, we can confirm that original bassist Danny Tucker (who is from Alpena) filled in for Christian Cook that night! For the record, Kaycee was still drumming, and Paul wasn't present either, but they never 100% said if Paul joined permanently. If that is Danny, then it is great to see him back with Brandon on stage, and the performance is suitably brutal with good energy, so check Pat's video out below!
On August 5th, H.L.T.C. teased that they would be "sharing some clips soon" from their upcoming album, which "is gunna (sic) throw down". Three weeks later, they began teasing what we now know to be their newest studio single from the album, with a further teaser the next day featuring cryptic text possibly teasing at song lyrics. The inconsistent capitalization may be hinting at something, but the capitalized letters don't give away any direct messages or suitable anagrams. Regardless, they confirmed by month's end that the new song would be named "Shame", and it was actually released... yesterday! Before that, they shared this brief video of Brandon messing up takes of death vocal recording in studio, while Brandon starred in a longer update video on September 3rd to confirm the single release and many of the teaser hints (like all of the references to clocks pointing towards 9:12, as yesterday was September 12th).
Brandon credited "Shame" primarily to himself and guitarist Jaxon Massaway towards its inception and how they figured out the ideal sound and approach for it, while fighting a "clarity/radio worthy sound" for the song. He cited Alpha Wolf, Knocked Loose, and Sworn In as inspirations for what they're going for sonically. Afterwards, Brandon reflected on the band's longevity and lineup turnovers, noting that they were supposed to have two bassists at the French Road Bash (hinting that Christian was supposed to play alongside or alternating with Danny), but he noted that "we're terrible at practicing" and almost cancelled the set there, chalking up Christian's absence to scheduling conflicts. He did not reference the band's second guitarist slot or what happened to Blaze, but if Paul is gone, kudos to him for stepping in earlier this year! And hopefully all is amicable with Blaze, who is still performing locally and afar with Exit 808!
Brandon next reflects on how the band has been called "raw" by some observers, partly because of how freeform their sets can be, including improvised stretches and frequent impromptu guest musicians, former guitarist Ted Olson among them. After going over their hard touring nature for shows, Brandon closes by noting that he isn't trying to reflect a tough image on stage and is just hoping to have fun with H.L.T.C.. These more personal and insightful videos do help put a face and a conscience onto Heavy Lies The Crown, so check everything out for yourself below, and we'll have more from the guys soon! Thanks everyone!
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