Following up from their well-received debut ‘The Hanged Man‘, Ten Thousand Crows released newest single, ‘The Empress‘, part two of their Macabre Arcana Project.

With over 30k streams on Spotify and a ton of positive reactions to their debut, band mates George Mackenzie and Jordan Hurst were eager to follow up the July 2020 release and set out to write something that would be bigger in every way. 

Taking a more deathcore-based sonic approach in the vein of bands like Thy Art is Murder and Lorna Shore, the band sought inspiration from famous scream queens in the horror genre as the focal point for the lyrics in their blistering new track. 

Characters like Carrie, Laurie Strode from Halloween and Annie Wilkes from Misery, were close to their minds as they developed a narrative that would become part of the lyrics, “Not only is The Empress sonically different from The Hanged Man but lyrically it’s more of a mini-story, depicting a powerful figure laying her claim to the world before her.”, states vocalist George Mackenzie. “It’s a fun, violent, heavy anthem about this badass character and was a total blast to put together.” 

To accompany the song, vocalist George Mackenzie directed the music video in which his own wife, Ashleigh Mackenzie, plays the character of The Empress. The video embraces a true DIY aesthetic, utilizing nothing more than lighting, make-up and black fabric to create a disturbing creepy portrayal of the character inspired by films like the Babdook and Insidious.

Watch The Empress here.