The Raven Age - Blood Omen [Deluxe CD]

Format: Deluxe CD
Catalogue No.: 19658795022
Barcode: 196587950224
Release Date: 07 Jul 2023
Genre: Metal

TRACKLISTING
1 – Changing of the Guard
2 – Parasite
3 – Serpents Tongue
4 – Essence of Time
5 – Nostradamus
6 – Forgive & Forget
7 – The Journey
8 – War in Heaven
9 – Tears of Stone

The Raven Age are;

George Harris – Guitar

Matt Cox – Bass, Vocals

Jai Patel – Drums

Matt James – Vocals

Tommy Gentry – Guitars

Label: Music For Nations / Sony Music UK

FFO: Bullet For My Valentine, Avenged Sevenfold, Killswitch Engage

Over 75m worldwide streams and a top 35 single in the Billboard US Charts
Global touring plot including headline shows, international festivals including Hellfest, Rock in Rio, Wacken and others, and supporting the likes of Killswitch Engage, Anthrax and Ghost
Supporting Iron Maiden across their 2023 UK & European arena run
Following a mainstage Download appearance the band will perform at major EU festivals like Rock Am Ring, Graspop and Metal Days

SUMMARY
Having established their name as one of the finest in modern British metal, thanks to two brilliant albums, 2019’s Conspiracy and Darkness Will Rise debut in 2017, The Raven Age have garnered over 75 million streams worldwide and have toured heavily across the globe with the likes of Killswitch Engage, Anthrax and Tremonti. On February 14th, The Raven Age will announce their highly anticipated third album Blood Omen. Out July 7th, it is their first record with Music For Nations/Sony Music.

Blood Omen pushes everything further than ever before. The choruses are made for arenas, the riffs are taut, direct, and free of fat. It all makes for a grand musical stage on which the record’s concept plays out. ‘Forgive & Forget’ rushes in on a scalding lead guitar riff, while the epic ‘Nostradamus’ is a tale of the great prophet. The heavy, raging ‘Serpents Tongue’, meanwhile, deals with “deceit, and never knowing if you’re being told the truth,” according to George.

This motivation is written into the album’s concept. Following the theme of its two predecessors, the raven motif looms large, this time centering on the overthrowing of old masters, with the band’s Raven King character coming to prominence. Even in the artwork, things are bolder, a close up of The Raven King, says George, “taking his rightful place on the throne.”

To capture all this on record, the band enlisted the help of long-term producer Matt Hyde (Slipknot, Machine Head, Bullet For My Valentine) to lay down the album’s framework, before setting to recording the rest of the album themselves. The final mastering was put into the treasured hands of Mika Jussila at Finnvox (Nightwish, Children of Bodom, HIM).

Blood Omen is a record of several firsts for The Raven Age. With the metal end of the operation firmly nailed down, this time around the band were finally able to realise their ambitions of using real strings. Working with noted British cellist arranger Audrey Riley (Foo Fighters, Muse, Coldplay) at the ICMP [Institute of Contemporary Music Performance] studios in London. “Watching a quartet play along to our songs was a whole new experience,” says George. “They just made everything more dramatic.”

Blood Omen is a strong, focussed, and ambitious work from one of the most rapidly rising rock bands in Britain and live they solidify this status. They have performed over 400 shows internationally across 38 countries including major festival performances such as the main stage at Download Festival, Rock in Rio, Wacken, Hellfest and many more, as well as touring with the likes of Killswitch Engage, Volbeat, Shinedown and Alter Bridge.

This summer they will be touring arenas across Europe and the UK with Iron Maiden, including London’s O2 Arena on July 8th. They have also been announced to perform at a number of major European festivals this summer including Germany’s Rock am Ring, Belgium’s Graspop Metal Meeting, Return Of The Gods Festival in Italy as well as Metal Days in Slovenia.

Marking the announcement, they have unleashed the unforgiving lead single ‘Parasite’. A barrage of riffs from guitarists George Harris, Tommy Gentry and bassist Matt Cox ushers in the Blood Omen, alongside the pummelling of Jai Patel on drums and a growl from Matt James (MJ) which transcends into wide-

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