With “Obsidian,” Crobot’s upcoming new album set for a Sept. 13, 2024, release (Megaforce Records), the band has shared the album’s title track and music video.
“The ‘Obsidian’ music video is a performance piece that we shot in this dilapidated house that was built in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, in 1900,” vocalist/lyricist Brandon Yeagley said. “The ceiling was coming down, paint was falling off the walls, there’s drywall everywhere that had fallen from the ceiling, the place was just like a snapshot of a 1960’s-something place frozen in time. And there had been a public bar in the house that may have been one of the very first speakeasys in the town, which was where we shot this video.”
“‘Obsidian’ was the last song we worked on,” guitarist/songwriter Chris Bishop said, “and we had already decided to have that be the album’s title. We had four different versions of the song, but, especially with the melodies and lyrics, we weren’t completely happy with it.”
Looking for a new perspective on the track, Chris and Brandon sent the song to Howard Jones, (Light the Torch, ex-Killswitch Engage) who they had worked with before.
“Howard just ran with it,” Yeagley said, “and came back with what is now the final title track. And it encapsules everything that I wrote about on the record. The lyrics are about reflection, taking on those aspects of who we are that we don’t necessarily like, but are all parts that round us out as people. The lyrics also illustrate what obsidian means to someone who’s a crystal collector, and the symbolism surrounding obsidian.”
While Yeagley prefers to leave most things ambiguous, he shines a bit more light on the song’s backstory.
“I had been doing a lot of research on Druids, on Celtic shamans, different types of spirituality,” he said. “I was born in the country’s coal region, and I was raised around anthracite coal. One day I went out for a walk just beyond my backyard, I’m walking around this tree, and sure as shit, there at my feet is a huge piece of black coal, the size of a softball. When I picked it up, I realized it wasn’t coal, and as a huge fan of ‘Game of Thrones,’ I thought there was no way this could be dragonglass.”
It was indeed a huge chunk of obsidian.
“It was several weird things—strange synchronicities that led me to that stone,” Yeagley said. “I took it along with me to Jamaica when the band played ShipRocked, a cruise to Jamaica. That trip started with a tornado during load-in, and then the boat was punctured and took on water, all while going through the Bermuda Triangle. When we got home and went to collect our luggage, the bag with the thousands of dollars worth of camera gear came down the conveyor belt completely open, and then we found out that our van had been struck by lightning. But the obsidian made it through.”
Crobot previously shared a visualizer for the song “Come Down” from the “Obsidian” album.
Crobot will join up with CKY for a 16-date U.S. tour that kicks off Sept. 12 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Tour dates:
September
12 Cannery Hall, Nashville, TN
13 Radio Room, Greenville, SC
15 Tally Ho Theatre, Leesburg, VA
17 Lovedraft’s Brewing Co., Mechanicsburg, PA
18 Empire Live, Albany, NY
19 The Webster, Hartford, CT
22 The Rockpile, Toronto, ON Canada
26 Buffalo Iron Works, Buffalo, NY
October
1 Granada Theatre, Dallas, TX
2 Scout Bar, Houston, TX
3 Come And Take It Live, Austin, TX
6 Black Sheep, Colorado Springs, CO
8 The Nile Theater, Mesa, AZ
9 Brick By Brick, San Diego, CA
10 Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles, CA
11 House of Blues Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
