Crown Lands have released new album Apocalypse via InsideOutMusic. The pair – whose last release Ritual I & II forsook complicated time signatures and labyrinthine instrumental passages for new-age sounds and ambience – have returned to full-throttle prog. And they’ve revisited their long-running Fearless chronology.
The new record continues a science-fiction narrative that sprawls across space and time while exploring real-world themes of radicalisation, corporate greed and the impact of violence, which now stretches back across several releases.
“The story started with The Oracle, which finished off [2021 EP] White Buffalo,” says guitarist/keyboardist Kevin Comeau. “And then that story picks up with Fearless [2023], where Starlifter really tells the meat of it.”
Ritual I & II are also part of the narrative, reflecting a period of calm in the story – and Apocalypse is actually a prequel to Fearless.
“The very last notes that you hear as Apocalypse fades out are an Asus4 arpeggio, which opens up Starlifter,” says Comeau. “You can actually listen to these albums back-to-back in reverse order.
“We’ve always been really into that concept of making sure that albums or songs from the entire Fearless chronology can work together as one giant piece.”
While Apocalypse is set in a galaxy far, far away, but its themes are current and earthbound; the connections between a song like Foot Soldiers Of The Syndicate andcontroversial American law enforcement agency ICE are clear and deliberate.
“How do they become a tool of this military arm? What creates that core sort of situation?” says drummer Cody Bowles.
Recorded in Comeau’s home studio and in Nashville with regular collaborators David Bottrell and Nick Raskulinecz, Apocalypse is Crown Lands’ most audacious work to date.
“Nick has such a great grasp of how you make something heavy yet still radio-friendly,” says Comeau. “He did the last couple of Rush records. He’s responsible for the biggest Foo Fighters records. He truly is the absolute master of commerciality in the face of heaviness.”
Apocalypse is on sale now.
