Watch the new video for Oceans Of Slumber's The Hanging Tree

(Image credit: Press)

Oceans Of Slumber have released a new video to accompany their current album, Starlight And Ash, which is out now via Century Media. As vocalist Cammie Beverley explains, The Hanging Tree explores the band's childhood:

“An old childhood home, a frequently visited spot along the meadow, a closet we pass in our grandmother's house, a tree in the town centre that has scars from its terrible past... places hold memories and they never forget them even when buried under the changes of time.”

The Texan prog metal band's fifth album takes more of a singer-songwriter approach with softer vocals, and explores the fictional tale of a religious group, coloured by Beverley's own upbringing.

She explains: : “The album is scenery and stories inspired by characters, settings, and themes from the band’s (traumatic) childhood experiences. These encounters are woven into the lives and tales of individuals in a fictitious community living on the Gulf Coast.”

The video for The Hanging Tree was directed by Angela Herr and Bianca Greene for FirstSight Agency and is thematically tied to its post-apocalyptic predecessor The Lighthouse.

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.