RavenEye is a UK rock band formed in 2014 by multi-award winning guitarist/singer Oli Brown, and Aussie bassist/singer Aaron Spiers.
In 2015, RavenEye released its debut EP, “Breaking Out”, and toured extensively worldwide with headline shows, direct support slots for Slash w/ Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Deep Purple and Blues Pills and appearances at major US rock festivals, including Aftershock Festival and Louder Than Life.
2016 started out fast and furious with a successful UK headline tour in January and February, as well as the direct support slot for The Darkness on its US tour in April/May and appearances at Hellfest (France), Download Festival (UK), Rock For People (Czech Republic), Azkena Rocks Festival (Spain) and the direct support slot for Halestorm in Denmark, France and Switzerland. RavenEye will also perform at this year’s Maximus Festival in Brazil and Argentina. Their incendiary live shows have captivated crowds and put them on the map as a ‘must see live’ band.
Following their signing with Frontiers Records, Oli and Aaron joined forces with the masterful New Yorker, Gunnar Olsen (drums), to record their debut full-length album, NOVA. RavenEye brought in Warren Riker (Lauryn Hill, Michael Jackson, Down, Anders Osborne), who engineered mixed the band’s EP, to help capture the band’s true sonic identity on the new album at the renowned Water Music in Hoboken, New Jersey. The result is an exhilarating eleven-track album that pushed the band beyond its boundaries and into an astonishing new musical frontier.
From the hard hitting riffs of “Inside”, “Madeline” and “Hero” to the raw sounds of “Wanna Feel You” and “Oh My Love’ to the stark reality of life and death in “Eternity”, NOVA transports the listener on an emotional journey of defiance, pain, love, loathing and ultimately, death.
“Wanna Feel You” sets the tone for the album with hard hitting riffs, incredible drumming, a brief acoustic interlude and an explosive ending. This song evokes strong feelings of desire, both lyrically and sonically, and provides a glimpse of what lies ahead on the rest of the album.
“Inside” is a tune about personal demons and specifically, the inability to escape one’s own inner voice, which, at the worst of times, can encircle and ultimately control you.
“Hero”, ironically, is inspired by the idea of how complacency and how it can lull one into feeling bigger than who one really is and for all the wrong reasons. RavenEye is driven by the idea of pushing harder everyday, rather than taking a backseat to other people’s efforts. Believing you’re the hero - while others are left to pick up the pieces and fix the “wreckage left behind”.
“Madeline” originally had a completely different verse, riff and lyrics. After much creative debate, the only thing kept was the original chorus. RavenEye rewrote the rest of the song, clarifying the message. It’s heavy, but it’s a love song of sorts, the things you do for love, for better or for worse.
“Out Of The Rain” was inspired with certain industry-type people in mind. When RavenEye started out, there was a lot of questioning the very formation of the band. This is our salute to them.
“Eternity” was the first definite track of the album. While so many other songs were being written, it was hard to decide on favorites and the track list, but this song was always going to be on it. These lyrics take people on the final part of their journey. The song is more about being embraced by death. Originally, the song did have a chorus, but creatively, the chorus offered too much resolve. No one really knows what happens when we go, so we didn’t want to offer anything absolute with the song.
NOVA genuinely defines RavenEye and the things for which the band stands. Hard riffs, heavy sounds and lyrics with meaning, keeping the true 3-piece element to the sound; nothing other than guitar, bass, drums and vocals. Performing live takes this journey to the next level and developing those shows from the tracks of NOVA truly sets the present and future fans of RavenEye on the path.
