Official press release:
California death metal legion The Kennedy Veil will release their newest full-length Imperium on October 20th via Unique Leader Records. The eight-track offering was produced, mixed, and mastered by Zack Ohren (Animosity, Suffocation, All Shall Perish et al) at Castle Ultimate Productions, features guest appearances by Trevor Strnad of The Black Dahlia Murder, Sven de Caluwé of Aborted, and Dickie Allen of Infant Annihilator, and comes swathed in the cover art of Robert Cook.
The occult has been a construct within civilizations all over the world, varying in degree and modernity, but always present. Each individual culture derives its occultism from the dark myths that permeate within its subconscious hive mind. America as a culture — as an experiment — has been volatile since day one. Plagued by a history of genocide, slavery, and corruption, its burgeoning occult is in its fragile yet violent infancy. Imperium highlights themes of this encapsulation: That is, fear, myth, despair, and humanity’s inclination toward utter corruption.
Taking influence from a purer, more ancient evil of European descent, The Kennedy Veil has incorporated symphonic, blackened themes that parallel the lyrical aesthetic. Moving one step away from the more technical side and two steps into a deeper, darker, more blackened aggression.
Issues the band:
“We are beyond excited to bring you our newest and greatest interpretation of darkness and intensity: Imperium. This album shows our maturation not only as musicians but as individuals seeking truth amongst a never before seen landscape of obfuscation and evil. These eight songs came from our hands to warn of the oncoming desolation our culture is awaiting. We give you Imperium. A new chapter in The Kennedy Veil tome. Nowhere is safe.”
Pre-orders for Imperium will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, sample first single, “Flesh Of The Sun”, featuring The Black Dahhlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad, currently streaming at Decibel Magazine right here:
Imperium track listing:
1. “Godslaughter”
2. “Legacy Left”
3. “Hunted To Extinction”
4. “Draconian”
5. “Last Born”
6. “Flesh Of The Sun”
7. “Dawning Of Wrathful Deities”
8. “Seething Rot”
Drummer Gabe Seeber says:
“The world of metal has become flooded with your quintessential ‘tech’ bands. It seems to me that many metal bands of today put so much focus on cramming as many notes as possible into songs, and playing the most difficult riffs with less focus on song structures as a whole. Without taking anything away from the obvious creativity and talent of today’s generation of death metallers, we in The Kennedy Veil are aiming to harken back to a more primal and aggressive form of the genre.”
The opening lyric of the forthcoming Unique Leader release, Imperium, simply states, “reclaim death.” Seeber continues:
“To us, it is a statement, a statement of remaining true to what the genre was built from, while still bringing our own ideas of modern death into the fold. We really focused more on structure with this release, and I think those who have heard our previous works, will notice that immediately.”
The Kennedy Veil has recruited bassist Tyler Hawkins and Monte Bernard as the new frontman moving forward, and are taking influence from a purer, more ancient evil of European descent. Barnard notes:
“Lyrically, I drew from the current culture of our nation’s short but bloody history. In such a short time this political experiment has not only uncovered, but proudly enacted some of mankind’s most hideous acts. This album draws from these events, highlighting a theme of universal evil hiding under the surface of all races, cultures, and peoples.”
Imperium will be somewhat of a departure from the band’s previous effort, Trinity Of Falsehood, taking one step away from the “technical” side and two steps into deeper, darker, more blackened aggression. Guitarist Casey Childers said of their new direction:
“I feel like this album is taking us back to riffs and memorable song structures. We really focused on stepping our writing game up and worried less about over the top technicality and speed. The new album shows a lot more depth and experimentation than our previous work.”