Who: The Wise Man’s Fear
Where: Indiana, USA
What: Melodic metalcore with hints of fantasy and deathcore
About:
Hailing from Indiana, USA, The Wise Man’s Fear formed through friendships in high school and college, completing their line-up in 2014 when they discovered guitarist Codi Chambers on a Craigslist ad. One year later the band released their independent debut Castle in the Clouds, the first in an album trilogy. Lost City followed in 2017 and, three years on, the trilogy comes full circle with the fantasycore trailblazer’s latest release Valley of Kings, which is out today (29th May 2020) via SharpTone Records.
So, what does fantasycore actually mean? “Fantasycore is modern melodic metalcore with fantasy instrumentation and sampling along with story-driven lyrics set in a fantasy universe called Pneuma,” the band explain.
Pneuma, the fantasy universe in which the trilogy takes place, shares a cast of characters and interlocking story arcs across all three records.
“We began work on the trilogy back in 2014 with Castle in the Clouds, which plays kind of like a fantasy reframing of ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’,” the band continue. “It deals with the first type of conflict: man vs. environment. Our second record The Lost City serves as a prequel to the events of Castle and tells the tragic backstory of the villain of the series, Chaotica, through a plot inspired by the Atlantis and King Aurthur mythos. It uses the second conflict type: man vs. man. Valley of Kings takes place 1000 years in the future relative to the prior two records and deals with the third conflict type: man vs. self.
“Together, the records form a triad with their album art colors (RGB), their classical greek elements (air, fire, water), and the location of the album artwork (if you stack the album covers one over another they create a timeline for the records, with Castle in the Clouds representing air on top, The Lost City occupying the ocean below, and Valley of Kings deep below the earth under the sea). They also create a time loop that cycles endlessly. The main common thread throughout the trilogy is charting the things that are quintessential to the human experience: the good, the bad, and the evil.”
The Wise Man’s Fear‘s unique exploration of immersive fantasy and their metalcore-meets-deathcore-meets-alternative hybrid has proven a success, racking up five million independent streams and landing them on Spotify’s New Core and New Metal Tracks playlists. The band’s song In Reach (Out Of Touch) was even featured between rounds on an official Starcraft II League tournament.
Verdict:
Quite frankly, we love it. You can get lost in soaring vocals and epic soundscapes for them to be suddenly ripped away with snarling deathcore and crushing breakdowns – and trust us, it works. The band have perfectly honed their craft to deliver music that is multi-layered not just in genre, but through their highly immersive and in-depth fantasy universe. There’s so much to explore and even if the ‘fantasy’ element isn’t you’re thing, the music alone will be enough to win you over. Now that the trilogy is complete, we’re very intrigued to see where The Wise Man’s Fear‘s journey takes us next.
What’s Next?
“We’re writing new material and being proactive at the moment. We’d love to tour in support of Valley of Kings as soon as the world goes back to normal, but we sort of have to play things by ear for now.”
For Fans Of: Of Mice & Men, Memphis May Fire, Blessthefall, Chelsea Grin
Find Them: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify
Watch:
The Wise Man’s Fear‘s new album, Valley of Kings, is out now via SharpTone Records, available to stream or purchase HERE.
