Heavy News by Katha
The Symphony X fans here should be familiar with bass wizard Mike Lepond. But besides his fantastic work for the prog masters and countless guest appearances for other bands, he also has a solo project: MIKE LEPOND’S SILENT ASSASSINS, which released two albums so far (the same-named debut in 2014, Pawn and Prophecy in 2018).
The line-up is completed by Alan Tecchio on vocals and guitarist Lance Barnewold, Michael Romeo was deeply involved in the recordings.
Besides his love for music, Mike Lepond has a great passion for history, and the Silent Assassins unite both. Thematically, the songs are about fascinating historical characters, the music is best described as powerful old-school heavy metal, so the result are epic musical tales.
In case they flew under your radar so far, let me give you a first impression with the previously released song “Ironborn”:
In anticipation of their upcoming third album “Whore of Babylon”, that will be released on June 26th via Silver Lining Music, Mike Lepond started a video series, in which he talks about the stories behind the songs, the writing process, recording and mixing.
Check out the newest storyteller episode here (you’ll find the first two on his YouTube channel as well):
Mike Lepond states: “Years ago, I started to watch a lot of the History Channel, and something flipped in my head. I never wanted to write about hot chicks and stuff like that, so when I started to learn more about history, I knew that the marriage of history with old school crushing metal riffs would be great, epic and powerful. I wrote the first two solo albums on that premise, and this new album is another step up on that model.
Vlad the Impaler and Countess Bathory? Look, these are epic historical tales, and it just matches up with this glorious music perfectly. I hope that people will be stimulated into seeking more information and learning even more about these amazing figures. Epic tales go with epic metal!”
Band Links: WEBSITE YOUTUBE INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK TWITTER
Track-List:
1. Dracul Son
2. Ides of March
3. Tell Tale Heart
4. Night of The Long Knives
5. Champion
6. Ironborn
7. Lady Bathory
8. Power of Steel
9. Whore of Babylon
10. Avalon
Line-Up:
Mike LePond – four/eight-string basses, rhythm/acoustic guitars, backing vocals
Alan Tecchio – lead/backing vocals
Lance Barnewold – lead guitars on tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8
Rod Rivera – lead guitars on tracks 4, 5, 10
Sarah Teets – flute, lead, backing vocals on track 5
Michael Romeo – drum programming, keyboards, orchestration, mandolin
Michael Pinnella – piano on track 3, organ on track 10, backing vocals
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