Singled Out: Mike Lepond's Hordes of Fire

Mike Lepond's Silent Assassins release their self-titled album today (January 26th) and to celebrate we asked Mike to tell us the story behind the track "Hordes Of Fire". Here is the story:

When it comes to lyrics, I never write about introspection. I never write about my life experiences. I don't think my life is interesting enough to be put to music. I AM a storyteller. History, mythology and literature provide the inspirations for the stories in my music. These epic tales work perfectly with a heavy metal soundtrack. The latest single from Mike LePond's Silent Assassins is called "Hordes of Fire". It is based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft called "The Festival". It is about winter solstice horror tradition, where strange people get together and ride winged beasts into the night and kill.

I've had the basic bones of this song written for over twenty years. I was in a band called Brute Force from 1988 - 1992. During this time the song was written and had different lyrics. There is even a live demo from that band with the early version of the tune on it. The song never left my mind all these years, and I was determined to get it back out there. Recently, I changed the lyrics and the vocal melodies as well as tweeking some of the parts. The new version just released is nicely updated but still retains the in your face, headbanging power of the original.

The music is very much influenced by a Judas priest song called "Delivering the Goods". It's a straight ahead headbanging metal riff that actually follows a 12 bar blues pattern. The vocal chorus melody has an overlapping diminished feel that makes it sound kind of like a metal "Beatles". The blistering guitar solo is done by Rod Rivera. The Soaring vocalist is Alan Tecchio. This song is heavy metal the way it was meant to be played.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!

Mike Lepond Music, DVDs, Books and more Mike Lepond T-shirts and Posters More Mike Lepond News Share this article Related Stories � Singled Out: Mike Lepond's Hordes of Fire � Prog Supergroup Waken Eyes Announce Album and Stream Preview More Stories for Mike Lepond Mike Lepond Music