My Hands Are Empty is once again produced by Zack Ohren and Robb Flynn, and masterfully mixed by Colin Richardson, with the accompanying video directed by Mike Sloat / Roaring Mouse Productions.
The shoot proved a challenge in the Covid19-era, with Northern California health officials shutting down the shoot 24 hours prior, but ever the improvisers, the band were able to salvage the whole affair. The stunning results can be viewed below.
From the haunting opening vocal, the classical drums, the melancholy guitar line, the listener knows they are in for something epic.
The sky gets a little darker, the goosebumps start to prickle the skin, ears search to hear what comes next. By the time the verse kicks in, the heaviness overtakes…
“MISERY, cover me in waves, the heartache is slowly, withering, I become her slave…”
And so begins a song of depression and opioid addiction. Guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn, “I have some family members who have beaten their opioid addiction and have some still in the throes of addiction. It is painful to watch, and I deal with it with great difficulty. It is a song of sadness, but there is hope as well. I have beaten my own drug addictions and we can fight through this, together, and share our pain with the world.”
He continues, “Musically I wanted to go for a bit of a “Through The Ashes Of Empires” vibe, and it had a grandiose vibe from the beginning, something about that vocal melody haunted me day and night. I sent it off to one of our collaborators Joel Wanasek, and he came back with a whole depth and dimension with strings and keys that really made the song come alive. I added the guitar harmony in the chorus soon after and I knew we were on to something special.”
Oran O’Beirne
www.overdrive.ie 2020
