Here's the latest news and notes from St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown, so what have they been up to since we last left off with them in September? In their first brand new Facebook update in October, frontman Brandon West starred in this "Reel" to promote their last concert of 2024, at The Delft Theater in Escanaba on October 19th. Odd that he hyped the show while not wearing a shirt, but any press was good press! Brandon followed that up with another short & vertical video (not a "Reel" this time) to plug the Escanaba show, while also announcing that they had signed with Ceresco, Michigan's Bloodlust Media with Jacob Dillon as their new manager. This will allegedly help for more posts and the band's positive future, so keep that in mind! Brandon also teased the then-impending release of their new single "These Walls" there. Good (if somewhat vague) updates, so as it's not a "Reel", it is embeddable on the SMS, so check that video out below!
Some actual promotion of the Escanaba show followed as October continued, confirming that the show was a fundraiser entitled Fight Breast Cancer With Music, and featured nine metal bands, including Hannahville death metal band Ghidora, who opened for H.L.T.C. at the 2nd Street Music Festival in St. Ignace this summer. Brandon filmed one more short/vertical video to hype that event, and mentioned a promotion where older merchandise might be given away free if you mention at the merch table that you saw this video. Obviously outdated now, but a good incentive to follow their social media! Also, is it odd to anyone else that Brandon introduces himself in these videos as "Heavy Lies The Crown", when it's usually just him? On October 21st, they said that this was a "hell of a show" and promised to return to Escanaba, before sharing this video featuring assorted clips from Fight Breast Cancer With Music. Despite featuring multiple bands that night, live audio from the concert is not heard.
Instead, we hear a 93 seconds-long sample of "These Walls", and it's a nice preview for sure, but I've always been the type that preferred seeing/hearing raw live footage, and I wonder what they're sitting on unreleased from this event? I'd be curious if I was any band filmed here, granted, especially with the multiple strong camera angles! Strongly edited regardless, so check out this highlight/teaser video below!
Note that in the description for the above video, Heavy Lies The Crown teased that they'd have "new music soon" and a "new sound soon", so read into the latter however you like. After announcing pre-orders for another run of official hockey jerseys on October 22nd, Brandon elaborated in this video, with this year's jerseys notably being customizable for name and number. I believe we're past the deadline for ordering, but it's neat to see a local band making their own hockey sweaters! As of November 7th, H.L.T.C. "have begun working on new music with our newest members and have new merch coming soon", which is definitely an encouraging update! Three days later, they kept that up by announcing that they were "about to start working on a new music video", and their first official photos since guitarist Kaycee Mason and drummer Blaze Beairl came on board were posted to Facebook later that month. While not pictured in their new lineup photos, guitarist/ex-drummer Jaxon Massaway is still in the band!
According to H.L.T.C., he was tracking guitar for their new music as of November 25th, but "it is still possible that he is going to go back to traveling" (this relates to his day job), though "if you make us famous, then we can keep him". The video embedded below features new black & white footage of Jaxon playing guitar, but it just features a riff sample from "These Walls", and they actually posted three other short videos that month dubbing the same riff over jokey non-band footage too. Check the new Jaxon clip out below, and yes, I do want to talk about his solo music here sooner or later, so keep posted for that!
Among even more non-band teaser videos to hype "These Walls" in the ensuing months (now syncing the song up with anime, turkeys, and Black Friday shoppers!), Heavy Lies The Crown released an instrumental version of that song to major streaming services on November 27th. The band elaborated on the song on Facebook, which was first written "three to four years ago" around the time of their full-length self-titled album (later renamed "Knuckle Butter"), but saw major adjustments due to lineup changes and members moving out of the area. The song was reworked to include Blaze's drumming and, while not heard on the instrumental, revised vocals. The band did note that they are incorporating more djent guitar here, as heard in the prior samples of the track, but as of this writing, the full version with Brandon's complete vocals is not out yet. To close this single-band post, the guys posted this studio update video below onto Facebook on Friday, and while just 28 seconds long, you do get new stuff to see!
In the description, they noted that they're "getting some things hashed out and ready to roll", with "These Walls" (sampled here yet again) being "a hint of what we are forming to become". The video features new black & white footage of Kaycee and Blaze working on new material in studio (no sign of Brandon or Christian, let alone Jaxon). While short, the video quality looks great, and here's hoping that the implied "Studio Update #2" arrives in due course! Check it out for yourselves below!
We're almost caught up on Heavy Lies The Crown updates anew, and 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for them, so follow along as they continue bringing their aggressive original metal to the E.U.P. and beyond! I haven't commented in full on "These Walls" yet due to A. the final copy with vocals not being out yet and B. the chance that it'll be on a new album ahead, but if you like progressive death metal, don't bypass "These Walls" on major streaming services linked here. That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!
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