US metalcore quartet Crown The Empire have shared a brutal new single titled “Dancing tith the Dead“. You can view the single’s cinematic official music video below.
“Dancing with the Dead” sees Crown The Empire venture further into their newfound heavy sound. The band’s new direction, initially teased by their previously released single “In Another Life” featuring Courtney LaPlante, sees the metalcore group stray from the relatively softer post-hardcore sound of Retrograde and Sudden Sky in favour of a more refined, punchier version of their earlier metalcore sound. “Dancing with the Dead” continues this progression, serving as potentially the heaviest outing from the band to date.
Speaking on their brutal new track, lead vocalist 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.”
Co-vocalist/bassist 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 [Hoover] 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 [Leo] 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.”
While currently stand-alone, both “Dancing with the Dead” and “In Another Life” are presumed to be part of the group’s yet-unannounced fifth studio album. For all things Crown The Empire, metalcore and music in general – including any and all news on the band’s upcoming full-length, keep it locked on Boolin Tunes.