Combining the anthemic melodies of traditional and power metal, the precise, aggressive attack of thrash, and twists of dark intensity borrowed from second-wave black metal, Jersey, USA’s Mindrazer plays a style as familiar as it is fresh. Their debut album, “A Thing of Nightmares” (Produced by Kevin Antreassian – The Dillinger Escape Plan) was released this past October via the label Misanthropic Records and to demonstrate it to new fans who have yet to discover them, they have a new lyric video for their battle-ready track “Crusader”. It’s a frenetic epic with an infectious riff along with constant twists and turns that paint the picture of riding into battle to fight on a blood-covered, snowy battlefield in medieval Finland. Nick DeFuria (Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Classical Guitar, Additional Percussion) and Brian Weissman (Drums, Percussion, Harsh Vocals) recorded an actual sword fight live in the studio for the song. They brought in swords they got at a Renaissance fair and spent an hour screaming and bashing them together to make layers and layers of a battle sound effect. They explain the track in further detail:
“Crusader is the epic orgasm of the album. Telling the seldom-told tale of the Crusade of Finland, this song is a whirlwind of technical riffs, melodies, and epic proportions. Blazing guitar harmonies, machine gun lyrics, and a drum solo bring this album to its peak. It covers three key signatures and changes time signatures twice and it even features a real sword fight recorded by the band for this song. Another goosebumps moment for sure if there ever was one, This brings the record to its conclusion with a bang.”
Watch their official video here:
Track Listing:
1. Entombed In Time (5:36)
2. Suffer in Silence (4:05)
3. Left to Rot (6:09)
4. In the Corner of Your Eye (6:06)
5. Knightfall (5:35)
6. The Misanthropist (6:11)
7. Extractor (4:51)
8. Better Dead (4:07)
9. Crusader (6:25)
10. Mercy (1:12)