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| Photos Credit - Jamie Kaufman |
Our Dying World’s drummer Tom Tierney attended a small boarding school in New York state, which has gained notoriety after a disproportionate number of former students choose to end their lives, and the atrocities, torment, and abuse that took place at the school have come to light. These horrors have been channeled into the single “Survivor”, which is haunting and diverse.
The song starts with clips of a joyful choral arrangement of Tierney’s high school choir before now-deceased student Jon Martin Crawford echoes his testimony in the Supreme Court. This is followed by heavy and slow riffs, acoustic and clean vocal breaks, anguished howls, and desperate pleas of a boy who was once left in the woods at a school filled with cultists and now shoulders the pain of feeling like there’s something wrong that no one will ever understand. The band comments:
“Survivor was one of those songs that we threw into the single list to really bring diversity to the two standalones before we released the record. We want to give the listener both sides of the spectrum and then let your imagination take you to what you think you’ll hear next. Aside from it being a very deep and personal song, Tom thought it might be best that the song gets its own time to stand alone so that the alumni would get to see it more for how it was written as a personal feeling and effort to work through some major issues, and not just as another song on an album that’s lumped in with some metal songs. Tom put a lot of work into this and wanted certain people to know that it was not just another topic that went into a record; there are certain people we hope it brings some closure too about events that aren’t widely discussed.”
Throughout the song, the listener can hear the agony that Tierney conveys hearing that his fellow alumni are slowly dying off, and with everything he has in him he dedicates this song to them. Through the solos, the listener can almost feel the weeps and cries in his notes and bends.
“Survivor” is heavy, both musically and in melancholia. It is recommended listening for fans of Lamb Of God, Wintersun, and Children of Bodom.
Watch and listen to the lyric video for “Survivor” via its premiere on TheCirclePit.
The album “Hymns Of Blinding Darkness” is being released on June 24, 2022.
Album pre-order at https://ourdyingworld.com/music/
Album Teaser - https://youtu.be/e2gQomH-a3w
Music Video - Veil of The Reaper - https://youtu.be/QBBlQVNaJoI
Track Listing:
1. Ads Moriendi (1:46)
2. Everything We Know Is Gone (4:42)
3. Under The Hunter’s Blade (7:33)
4. Survivor (7:32)
5. Path Of The Nomad (4:58)
6. Diary Of A War Dog (6:31)
7. Valediction (1:50)
8. Veil Of The Reaper (4:37)
Album Length: 39:32
Album Credits:
- All songs written and performed by Our Dying World
- Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Alex Crescioni at Stygian Sound
- Album Artwork by Nick Laux
- Album Band Lineup:
David Ainsworth – Vocals
Raymond Sanchez – Guitar
Austin Mitrofanis – Guitar
Graham Southern – Keyboards and Orchestration
Nick Loxx – Bass
Tom Tierney – Drums
About:
Over the last few years, Los Angeles’s Our Dying World has gone through a tremendous evolution of sound from thrashy death metal of their debut EP Expedition to the symphonic and melodic keyboard-oriented stylings of bands like Children Of Bodom, Nightwish, and Dimmu Borgir.
Formed in 2018 by drummer/guitarist Tom Tierney (ex-Whiplash), the group has played shows all over the USA in their short time together, bringing their sound from the fabled Sunset Strip in Hollywood to the New Jersey Metalfest where they opened for Metal Mike of Halford.
One thing is clear from the young band as they prepare for the release of their second release; they’ve come to stir the standards that hold the metal scene and redefine them.
