Sweden’s doom/crust/prog-infused death metal band Usurpress is set to release a brand new album titled The Regal Tribe on 23 September 2016 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 regards to the visual interpretation of the album’s lyrical concept.
The Regal Tribe is the follow up to 2014’s Ordained, 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 bone marrow cancer. The Regal Tribe is a heavier and darker, yet more varied, complex and thoughtful effort than their previous albums.
Pettersson explains: “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 tenth 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.”
The Regal Tribe: 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
Pre-orders are available now from HERE.
