Ravensire

Ravensire

A Stone Engraved in Red

Cruz Del Sur Music

14 June 2019

Ravensire is battle heavy metal, the type that the band imagines goes well with movies of wars in the ancient times of the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and similar contexts. Battles and tests of fighting will, ancient heathen idols and the powers of dark magic, heroes and villains, violence and brutality, and betrayal and royalty are all at the center of the music, and this band conjures it up with their songs as odes to those times and spirits. History and mythology, and tales and legends form vehicles for the band’s music of bravery and treason. The audience’s vision of those images from a long time ago have to play a role in the enjoyment of the music. People with little imagination or little interest in the empires and wars of ancient times might find it difficult to understand or stomach what these “warriors of metal” do. In case it is not clear, in contradistinction to some modern/contemporary norms, this band will never, ever write a song about how their boyfriend/girlfriend does not treat them well nor will they write songs about how bad their relationship with their mom/dad is. However, they will write songs about a queen that married her mother’s lover, then murdered the king, in order to ascend to the throne of a kingdom in ancient Iberia, Carthage or Mesopotamia.

The musicians of Ravensire might be History Channel junkies. They might not know what is going on in the latest popular sitcom that coworkers discuss at the water cooler, but they know about the differences between the weaponry, armor and army formations of the ancient Athenian and Spartan militaries. As a matter of fact, they might have either written songs about the topic already or are planning to do it on future recordings. In addition, Ravensire has decreed that Ravensire tunes must be odes to the warrior values. The songs must say, “Arise, warrior of metal, raise your fist, and bang your head.” The songs must not be too slow that you cannot rock out nor too fast that you don’t know what to do. Uptempo rockers is the main tool at their disposal and they wield it willingly and efficiently. Finally, readers should be sure to hear for themselves the vocals. It’s a gritty, and perhaps a bit nasal type of lower singing, and rough around the edges. “Keep it true” is no convenient slogan for these Portuguese men o’ war, it is their mission.

ravensire.bandcamp.com