Crown The Empire Announce New Record

Dallas-based post-hardcore outfit Crown The Empire have announced their brand spanking new record, 'Retrograde'.

Slated for a July 22nd release, 'Retrograde' will be the band's third studio album to date, following their sophomore concept album, 'The Resistance: Rise of the Runaways'. If you're feeling especially giving and excited, you can throw away all of your hard-earned money on one of the many pre-order bundles here. Seriously, take your pick 'cause there's a fair few to choose from. I mean, there's not as many as In Hearts Wake had for 'Skydancer' (now that was a lot aye?). Oh well, at least neither of these bands are pushing for beach towels, watches or even socks, of all things.

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CTE has been going strong for more than half a decade now, having played the Warped Tour circuit in both America and Australia (R.I.P.) as well as a variety of successful headline tours. They have set themselves apart from their peers with their use of circus-like theatrics and elements in their music and concepts alongside an intense live performance. Now, that sounds like a press release but trust me; this band goes hard and fast live and have some serious songwriting chops that would make most Warped Tour-core bands blush.

Speaking about 'Retrograde', vocalist Andy Leo had this to say:

“This album has been an accumulation of ideas, lessons and observations about who we are as a band and how we see the world. It's taken 5 years for us to grow and really nail down a sound that doesn't fit the status quo of what people are expecting from us. We've reinvented ourselves and we hope you enjoy the ride.”

Looking at the tracklist for 'Retrograde', the first thing that popped out to me was the omission of any reference to a guy named "Johnny". Johnny Ringo is a recurring symbol/motif in the band's work, having had tracks such as 'Johnny Ringo', 'Johnny's Revenge' and 'Johnny's Rebellion' from previous releases, 'Limitless', 'The Fallout' and 'The Resistance', respectively. The omission of the "character" might be a sign that Leo's above statement about 'reinvention' will ring true.

Whether it's a good or bad type or reinvention we will have to wait to see come next month. And hey, at least he didn't say that classic line: "We're returning to our roots."