UK trio Black Orchid Empire have unveiled their new single / video ‘The Raven’, taken from their new album Tempus Veritas, set for release on 14th April via Season of Mist.
Pre-order Tempus Veritas here: https://shop.season-of-mist.com/list/black-orchid-empire-tempus-veritas
Stream the single and pre-save the album here: https://orcd.co/tempusveritas
On ‘The Raven’, the band comment: “‘The Raven’ is a song inspired by our love of Viking folklore and mythology. After the Danish Vikings began raiding England in the 9th century, many sought long-term settlement – they were farmers who saw an abundance of rich, fertile land in the hands of the Saxons. ‘The Raven’ is written from the point of view of such a settler who, after many years in a foreign land, is struggling with the feeling of losing touch with the old gods of his former home. The insane video created by our friend and visual collaborator Alina Gordienco is a brilliant modern-day take on the idea of losing your identity and fighting your inner demons.”
Watch the video for previous singles:
‘Glory To The King’: https://youtu.be/bY76U2RyHgk
‘Deny The Sun’: https://youtu.be/b1uukX9KALY
On new album Tempus Veritas, he continues: “Interwoven with the fabric of our history as a species are countless opportunities for stories. Little pieces of imagined narrative, set within events we all collectively know as historical, that seek to explore what it means to be human – this is the idea behind Tempus Veritas. Whereas Semaphore looked to the future, this record reinvents the past, wondering what it was like to be inside the mind of a person living through times of consequence. Musically, we continue to seek the boundary between the savagely technical and the undeniably beautiful and attempt to push it as far as possible. We poured our entire creative beings into making this album – we sincerely hope you enjoy it.”
Black Orchid Empire have also announced their Tempus Veritas headline tour, with support from Giant Walker. Full upcoming dates are as follows:
Apr 22: KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton (Empyre album release show)
Apr 15: Lume Fest
UK headline tour:
Jun 28: UK, Derby, The Hairy Dog
Jun 29: UK, Anarchy Brewery, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Jun 30: UK, Glasgow, Audio
Jul 01: UK, Manchester, Yes Basement
Jul 02: UK, 229, London
Black Orchid Empire create huge, memorable rock music that combines heavy-hitting savagery with intense melodic beauty. Their technical, fearlessly complex grooves and gigantic sing-along choruses have already earned them a widespread fanbase.
A ferociously tight live band, Black Orchid Empire have toured Europe and the UK extensively, supporting Skunk Anansie, HED p.e, INME and Black Map as well as festival slots at Download, Standon Calling and Planet Rockstock. Black Orchid Empire have sealed the bands reputation as a force to be reckoned with.
Having released their debut album Archetype (2016) to universal acclaim, Black Orchid Empire signed with German label Long Branch Records to release the follow up albums Yugen (2018) and Semaphore (2020). Both albums received stellar reviews and over 4,000,000+ combined streams.
Tempus Veritas is a collection of stories that seeks to find compelling imaginary narratives hidden away in what we all think of as history. Behind every milestone or major event in humanity’s long, complex past lies a treasure trove of possibilities for invention – how did Pope Urban VIII feel when confronted by his friend Galileo about the true nature of the sun? What really happened during an almost triumphant but ultimately doomed Everest attempt? What was it like to be a Norse settler amongst the Saxons; did the omens of the ancient gods begin to disappear?
In approaching Tempus Veritas, Black Orchid Empire sought collectively to push themselves both musically and thematically. Their pursuit of heaviness, melody, emotional power and rhythmic complexity has pushed them to create something they‘re immensely proud of. Semaphore was an album of Sci-Fi, this is an album of Hi-Fi. Tempus Veritas.