The Darkness before the… Halo
Hello,
Its an exciting if not slightly stressful time for The Crüxshadows.
We’re in the midst of our DARK HALO Tour in Europe (Germany, Belgium, The UK, & The Netherlands), the new album “As the Dark Against My Halo” is about to be released on CD (Aug 3 in Europe, Aug 8 in the USA) & as a digital download (Aug 3 in iTunes worldwide), and our favorite annual event DragonCon in Atlanta GA is only a month away! Its all happening too fast!
The New album is, in my humble opinion, by far one of, if not the best CD(s) we have ever put out. I am particularly proud of it. And seeing as its about 78 minutes long it has plenty of bang for the buck. As the Dark Against My Halo will be presented in a Digipack similar to our refreshed versions of Ethernaut and Wishfire, and also in this case the cover art is done by ‘yours truly.’ It is of course the first full length since 2007’s DreamCypher and it pretty much picks up where the last album left off. Its both dance driven and introspective, edgy and passionate, and tied together by the kinds of hooks people have come to expect from us… but at the same time I took some chances and really challenged myself as a vocalist. If you can’t tell, I am really excited about it. Please pre-order your copy… or if you need more convincing we have put out a preview of the whole CD on youtube to give you a taste- basically a minute or so from each song to let people know what the CD will be like.
The link to the preview is here, please check it out. And don’t be afraid to subscribe to our youtube channel.
If you can’t wait for our beautiful Digipack it should be available as a digital download August 3rd in the iTunes store (DRM Free!). Other stores will follow in the next few weeks, including availability in a number of subscription services if clouds are your thing. Here is an image of the final cover:
Cover for As the Dark Against My Halo
So we have been playing a lot of the songs from new album throughout our European Tour, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Things have been tough the last few years, but I really feel like everything is headed in the right direction, and the live fan response really reinforces that. We are doing everything currently within our power to promote the new CD, but we really need our fan base to get behind this disc and help spread the word to everyone and anyone. Unfortunately there is not a lot of money available to buy advertisements etc:-(, but the strongest advertising is the kind you can’t buy: word of mouth. This CD represents so much to us… and we have overcome a great deal of hardship to complete this disc, please consider helping us to create the ground swell the album really, truly deserves. Blog it, tweet it, facebook your friends, email, Vampire freaks, put a sign on your car, knock on the neighbors door and tell them about it, be creative- basically whatever you are willing to do- please do it… As we travel to venues all around Europe in our big purple nightliner (thats a bus for those of you not in the know:-) ) I have become acutely aware of how many people are actually behind us. It is humbling… and moving. If we can just all of us make a noise at the same time, I know the world will hear us…
On a side note, I’m sure there are a few live concert posts from the current tour. But I just saw this fan footage from our shows and thought I would drop it into my post. There are probably better performance clips out there, Audio is obviously from a point and shoot-but i thought it was cool and the dancers looked amazing. Email me if you find others we should let people know about.
Angelus Everlasting
Halo
intro + Valkyrie
July 31st we play in Göttingen. If you live in this area of Germany and are able to come to the show, I have good news: an email from the director of Wishfire Records in Europe that says we will have pre-release copies at the show. That means this show will be the first to have access to the new CD. I can hardly wait to see them:-) It also means that barring the unforseen, Dresden, Berlin, Goessnitz, & Mannheim will also be able to buy the CDs at our live show! In the United States we will of course have them for DragonCon, and we will be available to personally sign copies. I am looking into whether it will be possible to sell signed copies for a few weeks in the USA online as well… I’ll let you know if we can swing it:-)
On a personal note, I am really happy that my daughter Anmi has been with us on tour. She is so amazing, I can’t begin to tell you. Jessica and I are so proud of her. Shes 15 months Old, but she is so much more aware and alert than she should be. Anyway, enough of my daddy pride… but in case you haven’t seen the photo of her on stage:
Anmi before A CXS performance Dark Halo Tour
And speaking of photos- Max Michaels of Movement Magazine has been traveling with us and documenting much of the tour in photographs. If you are interested, he has a facebook page dedicated to his photo impressions of our tour. Feel free to check it out at
http://www.facebook.com/CruxshadowsEurope2012
Additionally, since we secured the rights to Crüxshadows back-catalog earlier this year we have been busy releasing or re-releasing many of our past CDs as digital downloads under the Wishfire Records Label. This means that now when you buy most CXS titles, a good percentage of the money will actually get to Crüxshadows. We even made available digitally Night Crawls In…
I guess that about sums things up. And as its very late, if I write any more it will have to be in the next few days.
Much love to you all-
Live Love Be Believe
-Rogue, of The Crüxshadows.
I already pre-ordered my copy of your new album. Can’t wait for listening to ‘Angelus Everlasting’.
It really touched me when you played it in Nuremberg.
This is amazing on so many levels, I can’t wait until tonight!!!
SO happy for you guys!
Glad to hear that the tour is going well. I really look forward to a new album. I can’t wait until you tour in the US. I hope you hit Columbus, Ohio. It has been too long since my wife and I have been to a Cruxshadows show. Best shows EVER!
I haven’t purchased the CD yet, but will do so soon 🙂
I am SOOO EXCITED!~ You guys are BACK. ^_^
It’s so good to hear all this positive news! I can’t wait for DragonCon!!!
I am so very much looking forward to seeing you all at Dragoncon, its the main reason I even go. The clips I’ve seen online and the preview of the new album is amazing. Also, I hope there will be copies of the magazine covering the tour available at Dragoncon. I know I’d love to have one.
Hope the rest of the tour is fun and safe!
A huge thank you for the amazing show in London, you guys were awesome (as usual) and the new material rocked…a lot!!! Can’t wait for the new album!
Here’s to future smooth sailing! 🙂
So loved you coming over to the UK again!! Its been a looooong 3 years not seeing you!! Saw you at the Southampton and London gigs, and were able to be at the front in both too! My friend, Wayne, took the footage of the clip from southampton linked in your post 😉 There are 3 more where that came from too! Although it was a small turn out, the atmosphere was amazing. I felt sorry For Jess and Jen for not having so much room to dance in, and they seemed much happier in London 🙂
As always I find you all so inspirational and thank you so much for always making sure you hug each one of us that wants it, it does mean so much. I know its been a tough few years but things have got so much better, Anmi is living proof of that (she is truely adorable, you must be so full of pride)
I love the new album and will gladly buy it in downloadable form asap and will buy the physical cd as soon as i can find it over here (at the moment it seems to be just on import and so mega priced up, which, if it was ALL going to you, I would happily buy – as i know it isnt i will have to wait!)
Thank you for making my year by Touring over here again xx
Live. Love. Be. Believe. always xx
So happy to have this album out!! Feels like I’ve been waiting forever, but that’s what you gotta do when you want the best things, right? Love you guys so much, and I’m glad to hear that things are FINALLY working out for you. Please continue to do what you do, because it’s AMAZING and INSPIRING and everything that’s wonderful about music! xoxoxoxo
love, Stephanie
p.s. And PLEASE come to Texas or Oklahoma if you get the chance! Would love to see you guys again!