The Famine Use It All on ‘The Crown and the Holy See’ — Song Premiere

The Famine will release their second album, 'The Architects of Guilt,' on Feb. 15 via Solid State Records. What better way to prep fans for the album than by premiering 'The Crown and the Holy See' right here on Noisecreep?

"'The Crown and the Holy See' was in the first half of the songs that were written for the new record," vocalist Nick Nowell told Noisecreep about the track's sound. "It is one of the songs that doesn't have the double-time, thrashy feel that we really brought to the forefront for this album."

Listen to 'The Crown and the Holy See'

He continued, "Musically, the main riffs of this song really remind me of classic metal, weirdo melodic Slayer solos and everything. It sounds like an amalgamation of everything that was going on in extreme metal in 1995, if you put it into a blender and poured it into a tall glass of dissidence."

Nowell is biased towards 'The Crown and the Holy See,' since it was one of the first songs for which he penned lyrics and the first he tracked since moving from behind the bass to the mic. "I may be projecting," he admitted, "but I think you can hear a little bit of extra aggression and attack on this track, just because I was so excited to leave my mark on the record.

"I love [former vocalist Kris McCaddon], and there will always be people who prefer what he did for the band over what I do now -- just like some people swear Chris Barnes was a better vocalist than George Fisher [in Cannibal Corpse]. But I knew that I had to put my best foot forth in exceeding the bar that had already been clearly set. This song was literally the first chance I had to prove myself, and I guess only a combination of time and personal preference will draw that dividing line."

Lyrically, this song is fairly indicative of the theme for the entire album, according to the new singer. Nowell let it rip when painting a picture of his intentions, saying, "'The crown' representing the state, and 'the holy see' representing the church. This song is about the latent racist, middle-aged guy who votes a straight party ticket because he slurps down his doctrine from AM radio and drives a $40,000 truck with a faded bumper sticker on it that has an American flag and says, 'These colors don't run!'

"He never had the gumption to serve in the military, but his idea of foreign policy involves a dusting off prayer and a healthy dose of nuclear codes. After all, his pastor said, 'An eye for an eye' or 'plus, they pray to the wrong God anyway.' Don't worry though, he sleeps just fine at night. He already has a spot in heaven."

He finished, saying, "No matter what your opinion is on government, religion, or the complete sham of a line that separates the two, I think we can all agree that when you allow your opinion to be bought and sold by strangers with a verifiable agenda, your voice should be relegated to the fringes of important national discussions."