Singled Out: Lords of the Trident's Charlatan

Keavin Wiggins | 04-04-2022

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Lords of the Trident just released their new album ""The Offering" and to celebrate we asked frontman Fang VonWrathenstein to tell us about the song "Charlatan". Here is the story:

"Charlatan" was one of the first songs from The Offering that I knew was going to be a single. And at the time I wrote the lyrics, we hadn't actually decided that the album was going to be a concept record...but I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the video. For a number of years, I'd used a special pyrotechnic effect on stage where I strung cannon fuse around a sword, and then lit it on fire.

The fuse in question was a special type that would crackle and sparkle as it burned, and it produced a big, almost strobe-like effect in dark venues. I figured I could use that sparkling fuse in a completely dark environment and that might make a pretty awesome video. Turns out, I was right...but there was an important piece of info that I didn't know.

I had planned to purchase a bunch of the fuse and string it ALL OVER the studio - across the drumset multiple times, in front and behind us, maybe even up and down some microphone stands - and do a bunch of takes where the full band was playing the song while all the fuse was burning. What I didn't know was that the warehouse in China that produced this fuse burned down (go figure) in late 2019. The company had plans to rebuild the factory and warehouse immediately after the fire, but something else catastrophic happened in China in late 2019: COVID. That put the warehouse rebuild on hold indefinitely.

So, unbeknownst to me, I had a small supply of the ONLY remaining crackling cannon fuse in the world. And I also had this grandiose video planned that required hundreds and hundreds of yards of the stuff! After taking stock of what I had, I realized that I only had enough fuse for one take per person. And I didn't even know if it was going to look good on the camera because I couldn't even run a test shot beforehand! So I strung up what I had, prayed to Dio, and hit record.

Thankfully, the video you see today ended up being the final result! It did take us a few members' takes before we realized that A: we should've probably removed the gasoline cans from the garage before filming each member, and B: that we should've probably opened a window while filming. Most of us were coughing up gray snot for a few days due to the fuse smoke. But hey - ANYTHING for sick footy, am I right?

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here