Photo by: John McMurtie
Official press release:
English melodic metal band The Raven Age announce Exile, out September 17 via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records. The new album is a beautifully curated selection of songs featuring 11 tracks including 2 new original songs, plus fan favorites from their 2019 release Conspiracy as well as hand-picked live tracks from tours in front of massive audiences in Chile, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Vocalist Matt James says:
“The concept for Exile is something we had been toying with for a while. We had done alternate acoustic style versions of songs before and the response was so positive it made us think about doing a whole album this way! Obviously, The Raven Age is first and foremost a metal band but due to the melodic nature of our songs they can lend themselves to this kind of treatment. We were pleasantly surprised how great so many of the songs sounded stripped back to their bare bones.”
He continues:
“Each reimagined song has now taken on a new life of its own and gives the listener a completely different perspective from them. The two new tracks ‘Wait For Me’ and ‘No Man’s Land’ were a homage to this project’s concept and we hope it shows people the band’s versatility and different dimensions. Exile is a passion project for our fans in between albums and with the current climate of the planet, it gave us the perfect excuse to roll with it!”
Track one and lead single “No Man’s Land” is out today with an accompanying lyric video here.
Guitarist George Harris recalls on writing the track:
“‘No Man’s Land’ is a song reflective of the mental state I was in when everything hit at the start of 2020. The band had a huge couple of years touring wise and had built up so much momentum, the morale in the camp was higher than ever before. Our last gig of 2019 was at the London O2 Arena alongside Alter Bridge and Shinedown, so to go from those heights to nothing was devastating for us.
We’re at the stage in our careers where we rely on that momentum and buzz to keep us reaching forward, and to have the rug pulled from underneath us left us in a state of limbo where we suddenly didn’t know if everything we’d built so far and worked so hard for was all for nothing.”
The Raven Age have also announced their streaming event The Year The World Stood Still. The show will be taking place on Thursday, September 16, in celebration of Exile’s release. With the ongoing pandemic complicating travel plans, the band wanted to ensure that fans all around the globe could experience the Exile premiere firsthand. The band will be accompanied by a string quartet and pianist and the night will include a live Q&A session with The Raven Age. Tickets for The Year The World Stood Still are available now here.
Exile is available to preorder now at this location.
Exile track listing:
- “No Man’s Land”
- “Wait For Me”
- “Fireflies”
- “As The World Stood Still”
- “A Look Behind The Mask”
- “Dying Embers”
- “Hold High The Fleur De Lis”
- “Seventh Heaven” (Live In Santiago)
- “Angel In Disgrace” (Live In Los Angeles)
- “Surrogate” (Live In Vancouver)
- “Forgotten World” (Live In London)
The Raven Age is:
Matt James – vocals
George Harris – guitar
Tony Maue – guitar
Matt Cox – bass
Jai Patel – drums