CRUCIAL VELOCITY drops Controller, the follow up to their self titled 2023 album release. Heavier, leaner and darker than the debut album, Controller is ready for the masses.
“Crucial Velocity brings us ‘Controller,’ which I shall now coin as “tight prog.” The expressive vocals and big arrangements of progressive metal are present. Still, the band has left the grandiosity and pomposity on the cutting room floor. The longest song is a mere five and a half minutes. There are screaming guitar solos, but the band doesn’t cut to a solo break after every passage nor indulge every instrument. The result is a tight record that gets to the point. The themes of control and scathing social commentary are scored, the story is told, and the fat is trimmed away. The vocal harmonies are thick and grand but stop shy of flamboyance. When a record has a message, it shouldn’t be distracted from. Crucial Velocity has it figured out.” – Metal Digest
“On the new album, Controller, we took the elements that we loved from the debut and basically magnified them. The songs are more concise and heavy yet always melodic. There is a flow and a consistency throughout. We do not shy away from our influences. We embrace the classic hard rock and metal from the 80’s and 90’s while keeping it fresh and creating a unique CRUCIAL VELOCITY sound. Fans of Queensryche, Alice In Chains, Ghost, Black Sabbath and even prog metal will align with this album.” – Nate Bauer
The theme of “control” runs through much of the album. Political unrest with cult like figures. Online mind control. Religious control. Brainwashing men to kill thousands in the holocaust…
“Brainstorm”, the powerful and haunting lead single released on November 15, 2024, was created by CRUCIAL VELOCITY’s Nate Bauer through empathetic perspective-taking inspired by his child with autism.
Nate Bauer explains “‘Brainstorm’ is a deeply personal song with lyrics written from what I imagine to be the perspective of my non-verbal son who, as a result of Tuberous Sclerosis, has severe autism and seizures. I tried to capture what it might be like inside of his head, as he is unable to verbally communicate for himself. It is a tribute of sorts to everyone affected by autism or any special needs.”
CRUCIAL VELOCITY followed up with second single “Hollow” and a video premiere at Metal Insider on December 13, 2024. Metal Insider posted “Crucial Velocity, a powerhouse band featuring members of King Diamond, Shaolin Death Squad, and Chastain Harris, have teamed up with Metal Insider to premiere their latest single, ‘Hollow.’ The track moves as a commentary on humanity’s failure to learn from history, opening with Georg Hegel’s timeless quote: ‘The only thing that we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.’ Accompanied by a video by Wayne Joyner, known for his work with Dream Theater and Tremonti, ‘Hollow’ showcases the band’s vision of melding dark atmospheres with hook-driven harmonies.” Check it out here at Metal Insider.
Nate Bauer explains “‘Hollow’ was written after a conversation with a friend about ideology. Ideology, in my opinion, is the root of all evil. Ideology pushes politics and religion into dangerous cult like territory. Ideology promotes thoughtless thought in that you basically surrender yourself to whatever the ideology is without feeling the need to really think about what it is you are following. People placing complete trust in the ideology and the leaders who promote them. We have seen this happen over centuries with the rise of very evil leaders or civilizations. And yet, here we are in 2024 and supposedly intelligent people are still being caught up in dangerous ideological movements. We need to get back to pragmatic thought. Deep thoughtful thought. Androo O’Hearn captured the anger in the lyrics with his death metal growls while still maintaining the melodic approach that defines the Crucial Velocity sound.”
CRUCIAL VELOCITY started as a collaboration between songwriter/guitarist/bassist Nate Bauer and veteran mixing/mastering engineer Gary Long, owner of Nomad Recording Studio, in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. (www.Nomadrecording.studio). This morphed into the need for talented musicians to carry out Nate’s vision of melding the dark atmosphere and complexity of Opeth, Black Sabbath and Voivod into shorter, more accessible songs with the hooks and vocal harmonies of Queen, Alice In Chains and Ghost. Once Matt Thompson, Androo O’Hearn, and Michael Harris came aboard, (plus a guest appearance by Buddy Sledge), the band released the self-titled debut album which has been featured and favorably reviewed in Metalized, Powerplay, Rock Hard Italy and Metallurg Magazines and the music has been featured on independent radio stations across Europe, South America and Mexico.
