Statues Expand Upon The Concept Of New Album, 'No Grave, No Burial'

10 July 2017 | 5:44 pm | Alex Sievers
Originally Appeared In

The Perth noisemakers give us some further context about the conceptual story behind their upcoming LP, 'No Grave, No Burial'.

The Perth noisemakers give us some further context about the story behind their upcoming LP, 'No Grave, No Burial'. 



Two weeks ago, Perth's Statues unveiled their brand new single, the immensely powerful and emotionally scarred 'No Grave, No Burial', culled from the forthcoming album of the same name that will land later this year.

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Now, the narrative of this new album is set during a fictional civil war, where our protagonist must find his own safety by leaving his home due to political conflict and unrest - a hand that many people around the world have been dealt in recent years. So, to escape this grand mess and as these tales of hardship go, he must lose those that he loves, battle his own inner demons, face those who took all he knows from him, and uncover a horrific truth at the end of his vast struggles. And according to the band "He fights to find freedom, only to discover further persecution and a bleak reality". It's all a rather harrowing tale for the character in question by the sounds of it to me.

Of course, some concept releases go really in-depth and the extra mile (see: anything by Defeater and The Gloom In The Corner) whereas others just aren't up to scratch (see: Periphery's 'Juggernaut' releases, for instance). Before we find out which camp Statues fall into for this new record, I got in touch with the band to ask a couple questions so that they could provide some added context and weight to this new record; just so y'all know what you're in for when it drops. Oh, no need to thank me, you're all very welcome!

Read what the WA heavy group had to say about their upcoming album below.


KYS: Where did the concept’s inspiration come from? Was it drawn out from other stories and art or is it simply metaphorically representing certain life events or experiences of the members?

"The story itself is somewhat a reflection on what is currently happening in the world; war and violence ripping nations apart, and more importantly to us, the people being caught in the crossfire of something they want no part in. The key to this story is to remember that while this character’s journey is fictional, it is a very plausible outcome for someone in that same situation. We hate the way innocent refugees are treated, and we also hate the reasons they are stuck in this position in the first place; be it because of foreign occupation, religious wars, dictatorial regimes, anything. The goal in the story is to remind the listener, that these are real people, with real aspirations, that deserve a proper shot at life."

KYS: With this new record being a concept album, are you looking to provide something as deep or as long running as say, the albums from Defeater or The Gloom In The Corner?

"The story reaches a natural conclusion by the end of the album, so chances are this will be a standalone concept. We wanted this story to be somewhat open, and reflect sentiments of any person who may be in a similar situation in the world. But I don’t think this will be a continuation into anything else from here. However, I’m definitely keen to write more concept albums with Statues. It was a really awesome challenge, and as a result, I’m really proud of the music we’ve created."

KYS: So, what came first – the album and its music or this story of a fictional civil war and the character’s journey through that experience?

"I started writing a few tunes last year, and at about one and a half songs deep, I felt that I needed some semblance of structure to the process. A story/concept was something I had wanted to try for some time, so I pitched the idea to the rest of the guys. One of the songs I’d already completed had given me the imagery of fleeing a war or some kind of immediate crisis, and so based off that initial idea, we went ahead and fleshed out the story, and what each song would come to represent. Nearly all the music was created after the story was drafted. We wrote music that would try to capture the emotions of the character at that point in time, so hopefully, that feeling is not only present in the lyrics, but in the instrumentation too."

KYS: Are you worried that maybe short of telling people that this is indeed a concept release, the story may fly over people’s heads or they may not notice or care about the narrative at all?

"I’m personally not too concerned about that. We want to make it clear that this is a concept album, and that the story itself about being stuck in the middle of a war you want no part in, is one we feel strongly about, especially at this moment in history. However, Statues is a band that makes music for the sake of music as well. If you want to enjoy it for just that, that’s fine. If you want something more, it’s in the lyrics and the other content we’ll be pushing throughout the album cycle. We want people to resonate with the emotions of the character, and have the realisation that there are people like this who live lives like this, but we also can’t force people to care about that either. Take from it, what you will."

KYS: I’m a massive fan of ‘Together We’re Alone’ and the song ‘No Grave, No Burial’, is a very emotional song of losing someone close to oneself. Is the slower, darker and more melodically paced sound how the rest of the record will follow or will fans still get those insane, groovier moments like ‘Foreseeing The Cloud And Not The Rain’ and ‘Oh, Precious Commodity’?

"Thanks! There’s a solid mix. No Grave, No Burial is a really heavy track emotionally and is really the climax for that side of the record. However, everyone in the band still loves huge riffs and the element of chaos, so that sound is still a staple part of the album too! There’ll just be a lot more variance on this record compared to ‘Together We’re Alone’."



Statues new album, 'No Grave, No Burial' will be released later this year independently. Colour me very keen!

Statues