EMPLOYED TO SERVE RELEASE NEW ALBUM FALLEN STAR ON APRIL 25TH
VIA SPINEFARM – PRE-ORDER/ PRE-SAVE HERE
REVEAL NEW SINGLE ‘ATONEMENT’ FEAT. WILL RAMOS OF LORNA SHORE
LISTEN HERE / WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
APRIL UK HEADLINE TOUR ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK’S KERRANG! COVER STARS
Photo credit: Bethan Miller
Leading lights of British metal, Employed To Serve, take pride of place on the heavy metal world stage as they return with brand new single ‘Atonement’ feat. Will Ramos of Lorna Shore, plus long-awaited new studio album, ‘Fallen Star’, set for release on Friday, April 25th.
“We want to fly the flag for heavy metal and the traditions that it holds,” offers guitarist and songwriter Sammy Urwin, “But at the same time we want to play our part in taking things forward.”
Listen to lead single ‘Atonement’, HERE.
The track features Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos, who in addition to his guttural growls, offers clean vocals for the first time ever on an album feature. The song is built around distorted guitars, battering-ram rhythms and a Judas Priest-style solo, before shooting into what Justine describes as “an arena rock chorus!”
“’Atonement’ takes aim at those who try to lord their power over you. The only way to defeat these people is by rising above their behaviour and pushing forward on your own path,” explains Sammy. “We wanted to lead with this single because it is the track that encompasses the ethos of Employed to Serve as a whole. We’re strong believers of working hard and not letting life and the negative people in it affect your goals and aspirations.”
Watch the video for ‘Atonement’ feat. Will Ramos HERE.
The music video was largely filmed in Scranton, PA, home of the American mockumentary sitcom, The Office (US).
Justine adds, “the studio was a shrine to the show, and Dwight, which was fun to explore in between filming! We wanted to portray someone in power/authority trying to wear down their captive through aggression. I found it very hard to keep a straight face while choking out Sammy, by take 15 or so I got more into it as the jetlag and hot weather made me feel more unhinged…”
Since meeting in their teens on the outskirts of London, vocalist Justine Jones and guitarist / co-vocalist Sammy have had their sights fixed on the road ahead. At first, it was all about standing with the local scene bands they admired, but before long they were forging a path of their own, lifers with a mission, evolving from the feral mathcore of their early EPs to detonating a full-throttle career high with 2021 album, ‘Conquering’.
And now there’s ‘Fallen Star’, an 11-track tour-de-force that sees the collective ETS vision refined to an even sharper degree…
Produced and mixed by Lewis Johns, a longstanding presence behind the desk, it features a number of special guests, including Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach on ‘Whose Side Are You On?’ and Svalbard’s Serena Cherry on ‘Last Laugh’.
‘Fallen Star’, the band’s third album via Spinefarm, is a record of dizzying diversity, yet also one that is utterly uncompromising. Taking a deliberately different path to the cathartic anger of fan favourite release, The Warmth of a Dying Sun (2017), ‘Fallen Star’ focuses on positive themes, such as finding inner confidence, sticking fearlessly to beliefs and embracing the power that flows within a tight-knit group.
TRACK-LISTING
1. Treachery
2. Fallen Star
3. Atonement (feat. Will Ramos)
4. Breams Me Down
5. Familiar Pain
6. Brother, Stand Beside Me
7. Now Thy Kingdom Come
8. Last Laugh (feat. Serena Cherry)
9. Whose Side Are You On? (feat. Jesse Leach)
10. The Renegades
11. From This Day Forward
Today marks the start of the pre-order for ‘Fallen Star’, which will be available in various formats including a limited run of ‘black sunburst’ and ‘orange w/ black splatter’ vinyl. Pre-order Fallen Star HERE.
ETS have played every type of big show imaginable, from Bloodstock through to Glastonbury in the UK, and Hellfest, Wacken and Roskilde across Europe. On previous album, ‘Conquering’, they pulverised arenas all over the UK and Europe in support of metal behemoths, Gojira.
In support of ‘Fallen Star’, Employed To Serve kick-off what is shaping up to be a mammoth touring schedule for 2025 with an April UK headline run, taking Celestial Sanctuary and Burner along as special guests. The 5-date stint finishes with their biggest London appearance yet, at 02 Academy Islington.
EMPLOYED TO SERVE UK HEADLINE TOUR DATES w/ CELESTIAL SANCTUARY & BURNER
APR 21 Wolverhampton @ KK’s Steel Mill
APR 22 Glasgow @ The Cat House
APR 23 Leeds @ The Key Club
APR 24 Cardiff @ Clwb Ifor Bach
APR 25 London @ 02 Academy Islington
Tickets go on sale @10am UK time on Friday, January 24th.
ETS will appear at a plethora of European summer festivals, including Graspop (Belgium), Jera On Air (The Netherlands) & 2000 Trees (UK). Details of further worldwide touring will be revealed in due course.
ETS are this week’s Kerrang! cover stars, their fourth time on K!’s “front page”.
Read their in-depth interview, HERE.
Employed To Serve have come, have seen, have conquered and now reign supreme as one of Britain’s brightest stars, hell bent on forging their legacy of Heavy Metal Unity. Long may it continue.
EMPLOYED TO SERVE is:-
Justine Jones – vocals
Sammy Urwin – guitar, vocals
David Porter – guitar
Nathan Pryor – bass
Casey McHale – drums
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