Heavy Lies The Crown Updates & Videos From Mid-November 2025!!

It's been way too long, so let's get caught up on what St. Ignace, Michigan deathcore band Heavy Lies The Crown were up to late last month! When we left off with them in mid-November, they were en route to Southeast Michigan for gigs in Hamtramck and Battle Creek, and after the former concert at The Music Factory on the 12th, frontman Brandon West uploaded the video below to their Facebook page, which he filmed mid-song during their own set in selfie-mode! The vertically shot (but partially sideways) clip features brief appearances by guitarist Jaxon Massaway and Kaycee Mason, who was behind the drumkit (no word on why Blaze missed that weekend's gigs). At the angles that Brandon shot from, we do not see guest bassist Rob Vandewiele (of Detroit's Nothing After This), who was filling in for an absent Christian Cook. Short but unique look at H.L.T.C. in concert, and it's brutal while it lasts, so give it a watch below!

Next up, here's more videos from The Sanctuary, this time from the band's new official YouTube channel! Content from it has only sporadically been acknowledged on their Facebook page, but videos from the show were belatedly posted there last month, allowing us to actually see the band with Rob on guest bass, and thanks to the more plentiful footage than usual for them, we can see more of the instrument variance between on-stage performers. This video was as a four-piece with Brandon also playing rhythm guitar, while this 9 minute video has Brandon just on vocals, and that's how the 11 minute video (opening with "*69") starts too, but for the last song, everyone but Rob swaps roles (Jaxon on vocals, Kaycee on guitar, and Brandon on drums). Jaxon's harsh vocals are more drowned out in the mix than Brandon's were, but if you're familiar with his own solo music (which I am behind to talk about more on here), you will approve!

It's great to see official video that backs up the plugs that they like to swap instruments and vocal duties during sets, and the filmer got some solid footage from both the floor and on the stage proper! I'm actually going to embed the fourth Hamtramck video below, as it features an impromptu guest drummer, namely Alex Fuhr, a guitarist in the Warren, Michigan metal band Neverender. He was literally called up to replace Brandon right before the song began, and here, Brandon and Jaxon share vocal duties while Kaycee handles guitar. The filmer hung out behind Alex to get some unique band's-eye views, and Alex hung in well on a brutal song! Give this and more from The Sanctuary a watch above & below!

Right after the selfie video above, Brandon (or "Brando", as it were) starred in this solo update video to plug their pop-up gig with four other bands at the Influence The Band Headquarters in Taylor (outside of Detroit) on November 14th, and again teased the angle that impromptu guest performers were welcomed. That appeared to have been an early matinee concert, as in the next video from that afternoon, he and the band were prepping to drive east for their concert opening for Saving Vice at The Music Factory in Battle Creek. He noted there that "they were finishing up on some... backing tracks and click tracks and stuff" to up their game, and also reminded everyone of the guest bassist situation for this run of shows. A video from the Battle Creek concert was posted next, and while Kaycee is on drums, it's actually of Detroit metal band Influence, who he is also a member of and also opened this concert.

Kudos to guitarist Jay Daniels for wearing one of Heavy Lies The Crown's limited-run hockey jerseys that night! Their next video was actually a clip of Brandon panning around inside The Music Factory and ending at Influence's merchandise table, followed by this short vertical video of a person in an H.L.T.C. jersey (maybe Jay again?) being jokingly flipped off when approaching a merch table. To cap off this post, we have one more video from Heavy's YouTube channel to share here, as they uploaded one 8 minute video from Battle Creek, featuring Brandon on vocals, Jaxon on guitar, Kaycee on drums, and Rob on bass throughout. The video quality is really good here and compliments their sound, though they really should identify what songs are performed in the videos for fans' sake so they know what to look for. Good stuff and as heavy as fans should expect, so check out their Music Factory set below!

We have more to share from November (let alone December and January) from Heavy Lies The Crown, so stay tuned for that in the near future, and weekend concert previews next! Thanks everyone!