Crown the Empire have just debuted a cinematic music video for their pummeling new song, "Dancing With the Dead" and it's the very first time the group has not utilized clean singing in a track, making it their heaviest one to date.

The song clocks in at just under three minutes and the metalcore veterans make tremendous use of their time on this lean, hard-hitting followup to "In Another Life," their previously released standalone single which featured a guest appearance from Spiritbox's Courtney LaPlante.

Lead vocalist Andy Leo commented, “'Dancing with the Dead' came about during the rock bottom phase of quarantine. I’d felt like my purpose had been taken, and I had fully melded into the idea of just letting myself rot. I thought that rock bottom had a definite end but it felt as if I could go as low as I’d let myself. There’s a mural of heaven we put up that covers my entire living room wall and I was thinking about the book Paradise Lost where Lucifer said something like, 'I’d rather rule in Hell than serve in Heaven,' and knew that if I was doomed to be stuck in this loop then I may as well make the most of it. I was chasing after an idea of salvation that I could do nothing to reach so I decided to start building myself outward to make myself the king of the shit hole I had put myself in.”

Bassist Hayden Tree, who also provided some extreme vocals on the new song, offered, "This is the heaviest song we’ve released to date. I remember sitting down and thinking to myself that as a band, we've never released a song with zero singing in it."

He continued, "As a musician in the rock world you can sometimes feel like you have to play it safe. These days artists seem to be fearful of stepping out of their comfort zone and doing something other than their norm or what’s trending. I didn’t want to play it safe anymore. At this point I was listening to a lot of hardcore/metal bands I grew up on which shaped the riff and energy on the track. I remember showing the song to the band and instantly Brandon thought it was too heavy and didn’t feel that it could make it onto an album. I fought him on it because I believed this song could be something special. He finally came around and helped me and Andy write all the lyrics. Once we finished the track, it turned into one of our band’s favorite and craziest songs we’ve ever released."

Watch the video for "Dancing With the Dead" below and catch Crown the Empire on the road in North America this fall, provided direct support for Atreyu alongside special guests Tetrarch, Saul and Defying Decay at these stops.

Crown the Empire, "Dancing With the Dead" Lyrics

I'm done
Dancing with the dead
I can see their faces
Melt onto the pavement
When I dream
I can see the end
I'm the one who makes it
So close to god that you can taste it

So close to god that you can almost taste it
I'm done dancing with the dead

Heavy lies the crown, bear down on me
Heavy lies the crown, eternally
I am king
I am king

I'm done
Dancing with the dead
I can see their faces
Melt onto the pavement
When I dream
I can see the end
I'm the one who makes it
So close to god that you can taste it

So close to god that you can almost taste it
I'm done dancing with the dead

Witness me
Eradication of everything
Behold
All of the things that you'll never be
(GO)
Spiral
Down to the bottom of agony

So close to god that you can taste it
So close to god that you can almost taste it
I'm done dancing with the dead

I'm done
Dancing with the dead
I can see their faces
Melt onto the pavement
When I dream
I can see the end
I'm the one who makes it

Cuz I'm done
Dancing with the dead
I can see their faces
Melt onto the pavement
When I dream
I can see the end
I'm the one who makes it
So close to god that you can taste it

Crown the Empire, "Dancing With the Dead" Music Video

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