New prog rock/metal band Velcrocranes will release their debut album ‘What if I Die’ on Oct. 27th, 2023. On their debut full-length, Velcrocranes remain true to the foundation that they’ve carefully laid in recent years – while showing little restraint for reaching into the bag of tricks to delight their listeners. Speaking about the creative drive behind the themes explored on the LP, the band says, “We imagine the main idea of the album as changing as the listener goes along. Our goal was to draw a parallel to the way your understanding of life’s meaning, your values and choices, and your perception of death change during your lifetime.”
The album also features keyboard contributions throughout from Adam Holzman of Steven Wilson’s band: “We’d been trying a lot of different options until at some point we got desperate enough to take a chance and write to Adam … which was totally worth it because he just hit the spot! He managed to keep our original ideas, embellish them and beautifully highlight the genre features.”
The band are also pleased to share the lyric video from the first single “Step Aside” which you can check out here:
Stream ‘Step Aside’: https://band.link/velcro_sa
On 15 November 2015, two days after terrorist gunmen attacked the Bataclan theatre in Paris – in which 89 people died – Antoine Leiris wrote an open letter to his wife’s killers. His response was a stark contrast to the expected reactions of fear and anger. Instead, he has chosen not to succumb to hatred, but to continue living a life filled with love, to rejoice in small things and stay open-minded.
“You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security”, – says Antoine, but “you will not have my hatred”.
These Leiris’ words have been transformed into a song called ‘Step Aside’ that can continue to spread the message of hope, resilience, and the power critical thinking that beats the stereotypes.
The track’s musical brilliance is evident from the outset, featuring a chunky guitar riff in 19/16 time signature that forms the foundation of the song. This rhythmic complexity gives the song a unique and entrancing quality. As the track progresses, the guitar riff evolves into a mesmerizing and intricate ‘jazzy’ arrangement, providing the perfect backdrop for an exceptional Minimoog solo by Adam Holzman.
Re: ‘What if I Die?’ Are you sure this is not a Death Metal album…?
ha, definitely not.