Sweden's doom/crust/prog-infused death metal band USURPRESS is set to release a brand new album titled "The Regal Tribe" on September 23rd via Agonia Records. The album's haunting cover artwork was created by renowned Dutch artist Marald van Haasteren (Bolt Thrower, High on Fire, Baroness, Kylesa) who was given a carte blanche with rgeards to the visual interpretation of the album’s lyrical concept. "The Regal Tribe" was recorded under the supervision of rising star producer Lawrence Mackrory (FKÜ, Darkane).
"The Regal Tribe" is the follow up to "Ordained" (2014) which saw USURPRESS leave their deathcrust path for more uncharted territories. During the composing of the new album, the band was plagued by mental disorders/depressions and life threatening illnesses in the member’s immediate families, most notably vocalist/lyricist Stefan Pettersson’s battle with his bone marrow cancer. Therefore "The Regal Tribe" is a heavier and darker, yet more varied, complex and thoughtful effort than their previous albums. This concept album is a tragic story about life versus death, about vanity and the relentless passing of time and is by far USUPRESS’ most ambitious output to date.
Pettersson develops: "We decided early on to discard the traditional way of songwriting/arranging and compose The Regal Tribe one piece at the time, starting with the first riff in the first song and ending with the last riff in the 10:th song. That way we hoped to avoid the album becoming repetitive and stale and instead more fluent and powerful. Listening back to the finished album, I’m convinced we did the right thing. This is the album we have always sought to do".
Since their formation in 2010, USURPRESS have gained a reputation as a creative and hardworking band that in a relative short time already have built up an extensive back catalogue of albums, EP’s and splits. Their aim has always been to constantly evolve and expand their soundscape, always looking forward in a restless and tireless way.
Pettersson: "Although we are very proud of all our previous works, we never look back. Dwelling on the past does not interest us at all. We started to write The Regal Tribe a couple of weeks after Ordained was released and we started to draw up the blueprints for our next album before we started to record The Regal Tribe. This is how we do things, we don’t wait for inspiration, we get inspiration from creating".
"The Regal Tribe" is also the last USURPRESS album to feature original drummer Calle Lönnberg who left the band shortly after the recording and was replaced by internationally renowned sticksman Mathias "Matte" Modin (Firespawn, Raised Fist, ex-Dark Funeral, ex-Defleshed).
Available formats:
- Digipack CD.
- Black LP.
- Green LP (limited to 100 copies).
- T-shirt in two versions.
- Digital.
Pre-orders will be available from June 9th at this link:
https://www.agoniarecords.com/index.php?pos=shop&lang=en
Track listing:
I: Beneath the Starless Skies
II: The One They Call the Usurpress
III: Across the Dying Plains
IV: The Mortal Tribes
V: The Halls of Extinction
VI: Throwing the Gift Away
VII: Behold the Forsaken
VIII: On a Bed of Straw
IX: The Sin that Is Mine
X: In the Shadow of the New Gods
Line-up:
Stefan Pettersson – vocals
Påhl Sundström – guitar
Daniel Ekeroth – bass
Calle Lönnberg – drums
August 20th (SWE): Howl from the Grave Open Air Festival, Stockholm
(with Interment, Bombs of Hades, Sorcery, Lik, Coffin Creep, etc)
Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/607830372706508/
Website: http://agoniarecords.com
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