http://www.puregrainaudio.com/news/cormorant-post-new-song-on-myspace-announce-cd-release-show-with-velniasSan Francisco Bay Area progressive extreme metallers Cormorant have
unveiled a new song off their upcoming full-length, 'Metazoa'. The
album was recorded with and produced by Billy Anderson (Neurosis,
Melvins, Sleep, Primordial), mixed by Anderson, and mastered by Justin
Weis (Hammers Of Misfortune, Ludicra, Slough Feg) and is slated for a
September 22, 2009 release by Saturnine Media. The new song, entitled
“Uneasy Lies the Head,” is now streaming on the band’s
Myspace.
The band have also announced a CD release show on September 24th at
Thee Parkside in San Francisco, CA with Velnias, Elm and Fell Voices.
Cormorant’s vocalist, bassist, and lyricist Arthur von Nagel comments:
"Uneasy Lies the Head" was our attempt to fuse 70s hard rock/NWOBHM
with blackened folk metal. I like to think of it as Falkenbach exhuming
Thin Lizzy riffs. This is a hell of a fun song to play live, and I'm
especially fond of Matt and Brennan's harmonized viking chants near the
end. The understated Hammond keyboard playing comes courtesy of Matt's
brother Andrew Solis. Lyrically, the setting is the public decapitation
of Maximilien Robespierre, the leader of post-revolutionary France in
its "Reign of Terror" period. Over a mere year and a half in the
country's history, approximately 40000 citizens were executed. It was a
pleasure writing about a subject from my own Gallic ancestry, as I feel
there's a rich history there, ripe for re-interpretation in metal
songs. The opening lines are sung in French and translate to "Liberty,
equality, brotherhood... what beautiful ideas! The tyranny of the
people," a sardonic play on the national motto.”
Lyrics:
Uneasy Lies the Head
Music: Cormorant / Lyrics: Arthur von Nagel
Liberté,
Egalité,
Fraternité :
Quelles belles idées!
La tyrannie du peuple.
He once fed the scaffold
On Revolution Square,
But now the crowds cackle
At his skull shaved bare,
At his shirt torn and bloody
From the bullet in his jaw,
At his hands worn and muddy
From years burying the Law.
The Reign of Terror
Will fade into lore,
With the King of Errors’
Head on the floor.
Uneasy lies the head
That wears the crown.
They called him "Incorruptible,"
The Prince of Anarchy,
But all men grow tyrannical
At the reins of liberty.
The guillotine is power,
Its steel a despot's rage;
Blood rains down in showers
When democracy's a cage.
The Reign of Terror
Will fade into lore,
With the King of Errors’
Head on the floor.
Uneasy lies the head
That wears the crown.
He tries to speak his final words
But his mouth drips off its hinge.
The flesh, ravaged by the birds,
Makes even soldiers cringe.
On a plank his body's laid,
The wood dampened by his fear;
The lever's pulled, a falling blade,
And all the people cheered.
Check out a video of Cormorant performing “The Crossing” off their
new album, Metazoa, at a recent gig with Black Cobra, Giant Squid and
Grayceon.
For more information and band updates, be sure to stop by CORMORANT's page on
Myspace. Or e-mail them at
cormorantmusic@gmail.com.
Please direct all press inquiries to Kim Kelly at Catharsis PR (
catharsispr@gmail.com).