New album, “All Kingdoms Fall”, out on March 1st!
Midlands melodic metallers, The Black Hounds return with the release of their second full length album. The album is titled ‘All Kingdoms Fall’ and comes from the idea that everything, good or bad, comes to an end.
Celebrating a decade of The Black Hounds, the band has seen several line up changes over the years. Joe Cleaver, the band’s drummer, was the only founding member remaining. Originally starting out as a Grunge band, The Black Hounds recruited Ant Wright on guitar only initially, however he took up the frontman role and made his debut gig in 2013 at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton. Connor Hadfield, lead guitarist joined the band in 2018, prior to the recording of the band’s first album ‘Colossus’ being recorded and added complexities and depth to The Black Hounds, progressing their sound to a new level. Now, firmly identifying as a heavy metal band from grungy beginnings, George is the newest member taking over bass duties, originally stepping in to help on a temporary basis, he impressed the band so much that he was offered the permanent role.
‘All Kingdoms Fall’, is an album full of blood, sweat and tears and is a clear statement of intent from a band that have found their sound and are exploring their musical and songwriting capabilities. The album opens with ‘Foundations’, which was the first single the band released from the album, the opening track is about taking the first step on the path of building oneself back up from the lowest points in life. This is followed up by the dark ‘Tyrant’ which is about confronting abuse. The intensity builds with the instrumental track ‘Unrest’ which leads into the third single, ‘Breaking the cycle’ is about opposing the cycles of hatred that grip us, both personally and as a society. The 8 minute epic, ‘The Final Step’ tells a story of someone who has suffered through illness, on their deathbed taking the final step towards death. Progressing from pain and fear to acceptance and peace. The fourth single,, ‘Grace’ was written as a cathartic experience to process a traumatic event. ‘The Rot’ is a metaphoric portrayal of the spread of disease throughout the body. In the penultimate track ‘The End’, the album slows down to an emotional song, which is written to show the path one takes when reflecting on the events described in the songs prior to it and moving from those negative feelings and moments into a moment of acceptance of those events and accepting the fate that awaits at the end of the road. The album ends with ‘All Kingdoms Fall’, which is a song of acceptance. All things, however strong, painful or resistant they may be, come to an end.
Joe Cleaver comments on the album saying “The album is about facing life’s hardships. It’s tackling the realities of traumatic experiences but also being able to build yourself back up afterwards, overcoming adversity and acceptance.”
The Artwork came from a pre-made piece of artwork that was purchased from the artist Crossfade Production for the first single ‘Foundations’. The band liked the mask so much, they asked the artist to design three more. Ant Wright commented that “It then only seemed fitting that those masks were incorporated into the final album artwork.” The broken throne room depicted on ‘All Kingdoms Fall’ is a visual representation of the album’s meaning. The final image is a once grand throne room, occupied by a leader, which has been left to decay as that reign has come to an end.
‘All Kingdoms Fall’ was recorded and mixed by Jay Shredder of SLL Studios and the single was then mastered by Rasmus Bom Andersen of Raw Sound Studio. The accompanying artwork was designed by Barnaby Oakley of Crossfade Productions.
