Following their fantastic 2011 debut album The Sun Is Down and the Night Is Riding In, Ottawa punks Crusades have upped the ante for their sophomore release, signing with No Idea Records.
Called Perhaps You Deliver This Judgment With Greater Fear Than I Receive It, the album sees the group continuing to explore dark themes via melodic punk rock. You can stream the album now here on Exclaim.ca before its November 5, but as the band explain, that central idea has been Crusades' mandate from the start.
"Certainly there was a very focused intent in Crusades' creation," frontman Dave Williams tells Exclaim! "For some time I'd wanted to start a dark yet not inaccessible project that conveyed some of the counter-religious themes of the heavier bands I listen to — from Mercyful Fate to Morning Again to Life of Agony to Catharsis.... Concerning rules and parameters, only the individual records thus far have had truly specific themes, but there has been an overarching anti-Christian theme throughout. I imagine that will be the case, in varying degrees of abstraction, for the foreseeable future."
The group take a literary approach to challenging Christianity, this time focusing in on the life and death of philosopher Giordano Bruno.
"The record's title is a rough translation of Giordano Bruno's response to his sentence of death by the Roman Inquisition for crimes of heresy at the end of the 16th century," Williams says. "Bruno was imprisoned in a lightless dungeon for eight years before being burned to death in a crowded marketplace for 'holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith.' He was a brilliant philosopher, artist, mathematician, astronomer and poet. This LP is a reflection on his life and death, on his ideas and writings, and on his place in history as a martyr for free thought, science and anti-Christianity. He is the archetype for the modern atheist."
Like their previous material, the new record was produced at Pebble Studios by Ottawa's Mike Bond, who also completed mixing and mastering.
"The process was relatively painless, as we were well-rehearsed, well-organized, and knew what to expect from Mike and vice versa," Williams recalls, noting Bond's roots in the city's punk and hardcore scene. "It's helpful to have someone who knows exactly what I'm talking about when I ask for semi-obscure sonic references like 'Cave In Jupiter drums,' 'Kaospilot octave parts,' or 'Ire screams.' And yes, we're incredibly pleased with the final outcome."
From there, the group linked up with No Idea Records through Tony Weinbender, organizer of Florida's annual punk get-together The Fest and publicist for the label.
"Tony Weinbender sent us an email inviting us to play The Fest 11 in 2012 and mentioned that our first LP was his 'top' record of that year," Williams recalls. "He and I corresponded for some time afterward and it came up that No Idea had been my favourite label for many years and home to many of my beloved defunct and current artists — Left for Dead, Radon, HWM, the Swarm, Small Brown Bike, Spoke, etc."
No Idea will issue Perhaps You Deliver This Judgment With Greater Fear Than I Receive It on November 5. For now, however, you can stream it through Exclaim.ca here.
Called Perhaps You Deliver This Judgment With Greater Fear Than I Receive It, the album sees the group continuing to explore dark themes via melodic punk rock. You can stream the album now here on Exclaim.ca before its November 5, but as the band explain, that central idea has been Crusades' mandate from the start.
"Certainly there was a very focused intent in Crusades' creation," frontman Dave Williams tells Exclaim! "For some time I'd wanted to start a dark yet not inaccessible project that conveyed some of the counter-religious themes of the heavier bands I listen to — from Mercyful Fate to Morning Again to Life of Agony to Catharsis.... Concerning rules and parameters, only the individual records thus far have had truly specific themes, but there has been an overarching anti-Christian theme throughout. I imagine that will be the case, in varying degrees of abstraction, for the foreseeable future."
The group take a literary approach to challenging Christianity, this time focusing in on the life and death of philosopher Giordano Bruno.
"The record's title is a rough translation of Giordano Bruno's response to his sentence of death by the Roman Inquisition for crimes of heresy at the end of the 16th century," Williams says. "Bruno was imprisoned in a lightless dungeon for eight years before being burned to death in a crowded marketplace for 'holding opinions contrary to the Catholic faith.' He was a brilliant philosopher, artist, mathematician, astronomer and poet. This LP is a reflection on his life and death, on his ideas and writings, and on his place in history as a martyr for free thought, science and anti-Christianity. He is the archetype for the modern atheist."
Like their previous material, the new record was produced at Pebble Studios by Ottawa's Mike Bond, who also completed mixing and mastering.
"The process was relatively painless, as we were well-rehearsed, well-organized, and knew what to expect from Mike and vice versa," Williams recalls, noting Bond's roots in the city's punk and hardcore scene. "It's helpful to have someone who knows exactly what I'm talking about when I ask for semi-obscure sonic references like 'Cave In Jupiter drums,' 'Kaospilot octave parts,' or 'Ire screams.' And yes, we're incredibly pleased with the final outcome."
From there, the group linked up with No Idea Records through Tony Weinbender, organizer of Florida's annual punk get-together The Fest and publicist for the label.
"Tony Weinbender sent us an email inviting us to play The Fest 11 in 2012 and mentioned that our first LP was his 'top' record of that year," Williams recalls. "He and I corresponded for some time afterward and it came up that No Idea had been my favourite label for many years and home to many of my beloved defunct and current artists — Left for Dead, Radon, HWM, the Swarm, Small Brown Bike, Spoke, etc."
No Idea will issue Perhaps You Deliver This Judgment With Greater Fear Than I Receive It on November 5. For now, however, you can stream it through Exclaim.ca here.
