There’s no denying… Music has become, even in its more extreme and heavier forms, a “market”. Sales figures are thrown, marketing plans are drawn, social media strategies are put into place. And the “success” outcome is measured by stream counts, quick likes without even listening to the whole album and views countings. Week after week, the machine is grinding more releases and bands, always moving forward, with listeners overwhelmed by the quantity of new music at their disposal.
CROM’s new album was not written and recorded for this “market”. Mastermind Walter “Crom” Grosse has played that game (and won in, for that matter) with Dark Fortress (he served there as bassist and guitarist between 1997 and 2001), but he retreated to his Bathory-inspired musical influences and stood his ground with his project Crom, which slowly turned into a three-man army. “The Era Of Darkness” is the new battlefield of the trio and, once again, it breathes and lives heavy metal in its most epic forms. From big chorus to gigantic, fist-pumping solos and breathtaking guitar leads, the new Crom album is a collection of varied but cohesive heavy/power metal anthems that will get your blood pumping once again for true metal, if you listen to it properly – paying attention to the lyrics, active listening and giving it enough spins, instead of just turning to the next release stream after a few minutes.
“The Era Of Darkness” wasreleased on digital, CD and LP via From The Vaults on January 13th, 2023.
Interview
Greetings From Metalheads Forever Magazine, I’m Keith Clement, How are you today?
Hi, thanx, I´m fine but we had some very busy days because of our release and our release concert last Saturday. But things went great so nobody cares about busy days of the past!
The Era Of Darkness to be out on January 13, Can you tell me about the songwriting and production behind the album?
I did the songwriting completely by myself as I also did in the past and on every Crom album. I wrote the songs at my homestudio and with midi drum computer. Later I met with our drummer Tom and worked on the details. This was the first time I´ve worked with a drummer on the songs before the recording sessions and I´m sure this helped a lot to get this great result!
The recordings were done at different places this time. The drums were recorded at a professional studio while my guitars, bass and vocals were done at my homestudio. Steve recorded his solos at his own homestudio and Victor Bullok (aka V. Santura of Dark Fortress/Tryptikon) did the complete mix at Woodshed studio.
“The Era Of Darkness” tracklist:
1. Into The Glory Land
2. Heart Of The Lion
3. The Era Of Darkness
4. Higher Ground
5. Together We Ride
6. In Your Eyes
7. Riding Into The Sun
8. The Forsaken
9. When Will The Wounds Ever Heal
10. Bridge To Paradise
11. A New Star
12. The Last Unicorn
Was there any particular concept behind it?
I started with some ideas of a concept album but later I decided to do regular lyrics. Some of them have relations but I thought the order of the songs is more important than realizing a concept album.
12 mind blowing Power/Heavy Songs, Brilliant work on this album, How as a band do you feel about the outcome?
We are very happy!!! In the beginning there were some medium reviews but in the end there were much more great reviews than bad ones. But the most important thing is that people like it and the fans REALLY like it!!! In my opinion “The era of darkness” is the best album I have written since my debut album “Vengeance” and our fans have the same opinion. The era of darkness needs time and you should give them the time. If you will do this I´m sure you´ll find some very cool details in it and love the songs as much as we do.
Do you have any special release day plans?
Due to the fact that I answer you a little bit too late (sorry about that!!) the special plans are already done! ☺
We did a great release concert near to our hometown and the reactions were unbelievable!!! We presented many new songs live for the first time and did a small accoustic part in this set with old songs like “My destiny” from the second album “Of love & death”.
How are the touring looks in 2023?
Due to our families and work we cannot do regular touring but we have some great gigs to come. We are doing some festivals in Germany, Austria and even in Copenhagen. We hope more gigs will follow!!
You have released video for Higher Ground and Lyric video for Era Of Darkness, any plans for any more videos from this album?
I don’t think that we will do another regular video. But we have an idea of another video project but there are no details yet.
Would you like to share some highlight moments for the band?
For me personally the first label deal and the release of “Vengeance” were my absolute favorite highlights and will ever be! The first label contract and the first fullength release was so special and important for CROM. And also the beginning of CROM being a “real” band was very special for me. I am so happy that I have found great band mates who fit together perfectly!!
What’s next for Crom?
We are preparing for new gigs and I´m already working on new songs. I´m always working on new songs and with the help of my band mates and Target music/From the vaults the next album will hopefully be release faster than “The era of darkness”.
What would be the big dream?
The Big dream? Maybe playing a really big festival or some special shows in the US, south America or asia would be unbelievable!!!
Finally what would be the message for the fans?
I´m very thankfull that I have a cool base of CROM fans who have supported me for many years and it´s great to see that this base is growing more and more each day!!! I hope that we can give all our fans the chance to be at our gigs and do a meeting with us after the shows with good conversations and some beer!
The Band
Steve Peyerl: solo guitar
Thomas Hagl: drums
