The Raven Age have been supporting Iron Maiden’s Legacy of the Beast trek promoting their latest effort Conspiracy. The record marks the second chapter for these English melodic metallers as the new album captures thirteen catchy and heavy tunes. We recently caught up with the band to discuss their sophomore effort in great detail by supplying a track by track guide.
Check out their thoughts below and order Conspiracy here:
Betrayal of the Mind:
This song was written with the intention to raise mental health awareness. A suicide within one of the band members families triggered the concept for the song. We decided to donate the first months worth of income from the single to a couple of mental health charities.
Fleur De Lis
This song was written about Joan of Arc. It’s a fascinating story during the Hundred Years War in France. Especially given the times being a young female and not coming from a wealthy or royal background, to do something so bold and brave was unheard of.
The Day The World Stood Still
“The Day The World Stood Still was written whilst on tour, it’s about being in a constant battle with your own mind, delving into dark places you didn’t know you had. Simple things like sleep become a challenge when your mind’s working on overdrive and it seems there’s no light at the end of the tunnel’. The fact that I was able to turn this into something positive and create music out of it was the escape I needed at the time to get me through it.” – Tony Maue (guitar)
Stigmata
Stigmata is about wearing the scars you’ve endured or inherited. Mostly you can’t hide or change these things so rather than doing everything that you can to change, wear them proudly and be who you are.
Surrogate
Surrogate is more of a personal track that tackles the feeling of self worth. Sometimes writing songs and physically writing this stuff down helps get these things off your chest.
Seventh Heaven
‘Seventh Heaven’ is lyrically inspired by the historical notion – the Aureole – and finding resolve in life. George Harris (guitar) explains: “’Seventh Heaven’ was written about finding a purpose. It’s easy to get yourself into a rut and become comfortable with that.
Sometimes you need something to come along that makes you realise you can be better. When you think about all the things that needed to happen to lead you to that particular moment, it’s almost like a miracle.”
Forgotten World
This song was written after reading ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris. It’s an incredible story revisited by inmate Lale Sokolov, he explains his experiences in the camp, how he fell in love with a girl he was tattooing and how she kept him motivated to keep them both alive.
The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships
This song was written about the story of Helen of Troy who was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world and how the relationship between her and Prince Paris caused a war. She was married to King Menelaus of Sparta and Paris took her from Sparta resulting in the Trojan War.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
A tomb of the unknown is a monument dedicated to fallen soldiers who’ve been either buried by allied forces or unrecognisable by their own. The song was written from the perspective of a fallen soldier worried about losing his recognition and integrity for his sacrifice.
Scimitar
This was written about the Crusades and the journey of Christ’s soldiers, the Knights Templar. This touches on how faith brought so much death and destruction, all in the name of God and the fight for the Holy Land.
Grave of the Fireflies
Grave was written after watching the Japanese anime of the same title, this was based on the autobiography by Akiyuki Nosaka. The story is from the firebombing of Kobe, Japan towards in the Second World War and what happened to a young 14 year old boy and his little sister. The harsh realities of war set in for them as the bombing robbed them of their family and their childhood. It was then the humanity of distant family and neighbours which let them down when they needed it most.
