Please tell us a few words about the new release, about the music on it as a whole or a few words on each track in part. How are you happy with the final release?
Yes. The band is very pleased with the outcome of the sound of our self titled debut album, CROWN OF EARTH . We really can’t complain as our choice of studio engineer is pretty much a genius and can make anyone sound great, lol. Richard Gavalis recorded the album at Dome Sound Recording Studio located in Royersford, Pennsylvania. www.domesound.net .
As far as the songs go, I think my favorite song is “Frank (The Hell Raiser)” because it’s just straight ahead raw and powerful. I get to use my full vocal range in it. The lyrics are about the guy in the movie Hellraiser who is tormented by the demons from hell. I know Michael Ellis really loves playing “Sinneress” live because he wrote it about all the bad girls in the audience. I think Christopher Graziola also likes playing Sinneress live because the end half of the song is one long guitar solo. I’m pretty sure MarkyZ likes playing “Powerminds” and that goes for Vinny also, because of the dynamics and the double bass throughout the song.
Lyrically, as a band, we are very proud of one song in particular and that would be “Born Again Warrior” as it turned out to be a dedication to the men and women of United States Armed Forces. Particularly the Veterans, if they come home wounded and modern medicine is able to fix them up good as new, then they are Born Again Warriors! We also have a video out for “Born Again Warrior” Check it out here: www.crownofearth.com/videos and here on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0VexUTiJjOg
How would you describe/label the music on it? Does it sounds like anything we might have heard before?
Well of course you can find similarities in any style or genre of music. That’s just because as musicians, our influences show through in our songwriting and playing style whether we want them to or not. As Mike Ellis always says, “there’s only seven notes to work with.” I always say that it’s very hard to sound “original”. I try hard not to sound like other singers. I try hard to be original.
Where was it recorded and how much time did it take you to record it? Any interesting stories from the recording/producing the material?
We recorded the album at Dome Sound Recording Studio with Richard Gavalis located in Royersford, Pennsylvania. www.domesound.net. By the way, Richard can “mix” and / or “master” anyone’s album from around the world. Hit him up if you need to complete a project at a great price. He just completed the album for Bam Margera of Jackass fame. Richard has multi-platinum credits to his name from producing a number of The Bloodhound Gang’s music. He’s the real deal…. Richard Recorded, Engineered, Produced, Mixed and Mastered the entire Crown of Earth album. As for any stories during the recording sessions, if you consider the night in the studio where I had to pull our guitarist (Michael Ellis) away from our then drummer (Nikki) who consumed a couple cases of beer, and I had to force Mike into the back room before he ripped the drummer's face off, then no, everything went as expected. Honestly, that was expected too.
What can you tell us about the cover artwork? Is there a link between the artwork and the lyrics? What are the topics of your lyrics?
I have always appreciated cool artwork on albums. That’s why I made it a point to find the right artwork for our album by a talented artist from Texas, Phil Wohr. In a sense, it’s so typical and common for a metal band to have this type of imagery. On the other hand, our album cover is undeniably kick ass! It’s just timeless for a Heavy Metal band to have a cool image like that on their album cover. I really love it and I think it goes well with the earth theme in our name.
Here’s a little run down of what the lyrics are about…. FRANK (The Hellraiser) stems from the movie Hellraiser. Mike does the talking voice on the song. I do the main screaming. SINNERESS, well… Mike likes to announce at our shows, that the song was written for all the bad girls in the audience. Seems to go over well. It’s also very close to being an “instrumental” song because when I’m done singing my part, I have time to go cut the lawn and have a martini by the time Chris is done with his guitar solo towards the end. POWER MINDS is mainly about conspiracy theories. WHY SHOULD I CARE is about the age old tale of boy meets girl, girl dumps boy, boy doesn’t give a shit. Not sure what PILE DRIVER is really about…. maybe hardcore sex? INTO THE NIGHT has an anthem type sound with all the group chanting. TRUE LIFE is a dark sounding, feel good song with a positive message. BORN AGAIN WARRIOR is a song which ended up being a good dedication to the troops. We support the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, particularly, our Veterans.
What do you expect to gain through this release? What are the band's aims at the moment?
Crown of Earth has been speaking with another excellent band from Pennsylvania called CORNERS OF SANCTUARY and it looks like we’re going to play some shows with them this summer. Those guys are a workhorse band and it doesn’t look like anything is stopping them anytime soon. I’m happy to say that we will be playing music together on the same stage relatively soon. Keep a lookout on our website and other social media sites for show announcements.
Is there a special format the material is released in? Or is it released in multiple formats? How many copies were pressed?
We pressed about 2000 copies on Compact Disc format for now. We are selling them regularly at all our shows. I know that vinyl albums are back on the rise. We may decide to press a vinyl record sometime in the future. We’ll see how that goes. We also have like everyone should these days, are digital download cards of the Crown of Earth album.
Where and how will you promote this new release?
So far Crown of Earth has teamed up with a great publicist who specializes in Metal music. His name is Benjamin and works for Online Metal Promo . If you really want to get your name out there, he’s the man to do it. Look him up. He has a great artist list. Some of my favourite musicians works with him like such names as Ross “The Boss” Friedman, Stu "The Hammer" Marshall, Sean Peck of CAGE! The list goes on and on….
Where can we order it from?
The band always appreciates people like you at PEST and all other webzines and media outlets which help to promote the cause to keep Metal Music Alive! I know the guys, and I know that I can speak for each member in our band Crown of Earth on this matter. So, thank you very much PEST , for your efforts! We very much appreciate it.
Also, please visit our our official website at www.crownofearth.com and follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and all the social media sites. Please pick up a kick-ass new COE T-Shirt and our new album on CD or Digital Download here: www.crownofearth.com/shop
Facebook: www.facebook.com/crown.of.earth
Twitter: www.twitter.com/CrownOfEarth @crownofearth
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/crownofearth
Reverbnation: www.reverbnation.com/crownofearth
Shameless Plugs…
Dome Sound Recording Studio - for any mixing task worldwide! - www.domesound.net
Traditional Artwork fused with Digital Rendering: www.captfroggerz.webs.com
CROWN OF EARTH - Official Website: www.crownofearth.com
Booking and other info, please contact us at: coe.band.info@gmail.com
Until Next Time!
Thank you,
CROWN OF EARTH
Danny Knight, Michael Ellis, Christopher Graziola, MarkyZ, and Vinny Corrad
May 2017