The Florida power/thrash metal band Seven Kingdoms follow up 2022’s Zenith with the five-song EP The Square. It includes four new original songs along with a cover of the ’80s hit song “Kyrie” by Mr. Mister. Guitarist Camden Cruz catches us up on all things Seven Kingdoms.
Chad Bowar: Were your homes affected by Hurricane Milton?
Camden Cruz: We have all lived through many many hurricanes here in Florida. We have all been super lucky even with this most recent one, Milton. We actually didn’t have a ton of damage. It’s mostly lots of debris from trees and branches, but of course, we are lucky ones. Many are not so lucky, so for this we are always grateful for generally getting out of all of these without much damage. We are all inland a bit, so we are not on the coast which usually gets it the hardest.
Are the four original songs on The Square newly written, or from the Zenith sessions?
These are all new songs that were written after the Zenith cycle. We actually wrote about 9-10 songs for the next release, and these were part of that batch. We picked four during the writing cycle and finished those four, which are the ones on the EP. The upcoming record should have a feel of this EP but with more songs of course. With the EP, we try to show an example of what people can expect on the full length release, so that’s what these are.
How did you decide to cover Mr. Mister’s “Kyrie?”
When we do our crowdfunding campaigns to finance the recording cycle, we sell a perk that is called Pick The Cover. So our cover song selection comes from this process. One of our backers provides us a range of about 10 songs, and we go through this list with them and pick from it. “Kyrie” was on this list and we ultimately settled on that song.
How did you approach the arrangement in terms of staying true to the original vs adding your own spin?
We were actually intimidated with all the keyboard sounds that this song has. (laughs) We let our producer Jim Morris look at it and he actually made all the keyboards for us virtually, as he is a huge old school prog rock fan and had everything ready for us, so that was super cool. We could just concentrate on what we do on our own instruments and vocals. With all cover songs, we learn the guitar with the metal tone and make a version that is more of a metal style then the drums, bass and vocals will fall into place.
It seems we keep everything very similar, maybe changing the key or tempo a bit, but overall its the same… The tone of the song just comes from the band, which is what makes it sound different. So its cool that they come out sounding very different, but in reality, it is very similar. The tones are really just different and more metal sounding.
How did you come to sign with Reigning Phoenix Music?
Our manager actually helped us land this deal. I have also known Gerardo and company a long time and it was a natural move for us, especially now we have a worldwide team behind us. It’s great to be with a label that is putting in lots of effort as this was not always the case. We are super happy with them so far and we are very much looking forward for the full release that will come end of next year on the label.
How did you decide to team up with a label again after being independent for a while?
As many know, we had a really bad time with a previous label, so we went independent for a while. We actually are still doing a crowdfunding but in conjunction with RPM. It’s somewhat revolutionary for us, to be able to have best of both worlds. We as a band are used to taking on the financial risk and also recouping these costs via crowdfunding. So with this, there is less money for the label to put upfront and they really just need to focus on promotion.
We are a very very proactive and in-house type of band, so the typical new-school deal doesn’t really work for us. We are very much into controlling our own, but we need the power of a large label’s clout and promotion. I believe we have struck a middle ground here, so really looking forward to the next release in this world of ‘best of both worlds.’ It has taken some time to get that sorted, but we are happy with the way its working so far!
Do you have a timetable for your next full-length album?
We are supposed to have the full record out sometime in the fall/winter of next year. As long as the schedules are kind, I believe we should be able to make that mark. We have a lot of songs written already but they also need to be finished, and polished up. I’d say we are about 30 percent done so far with it as of today.
How were the video shoots for “The Square” and “Through These Waves”?
These were super fun, but very packed over two days in Daytona Beach. We dont have a huge budget and we also do all our music videos in house, as I and also our brother Jimmy film, edit, color and produce all our videos. We save a lot of money this way as we own the gear and the manual labor of editing and stuff comes directly from me. (laughs) This has allowed us to produce lots of video content for a fraction of the typical price.
We have of course invested in the gear, but this is also something I do on the side. It makes it easier in the long run. With these two videos, we shot them as a part 1 and 2, and wanted to showcase where we live, in Florida, and what better way than to do it on the beach?! We cut both of these videos over two days with a small crew and a ton of work!
How important are videos in the promotion process these days?
Music videos are super necessary for a growing band. You MUST have them. This is why we invested so much into the gear, because we need to cut these all the time, plus other content. Content is king in 2024 and beyond, so we take it this way.
You have both North American and European tours coming up. Where is the band more popular?
Right now, I would say North America, simply because we live here and have a substantial amount of touring history here. We are working very hard on Europe though, and this will become a huge focus in 2025 for us, so much that we may not even play North America that whole year.
Where haven’t you played live that you’d still like to get to?
We have not done Japan or Australia yet, also the big European festival circuit. I would say these are the first goals, so we are very much looking forward to breaking into these markets and also getting billed on these incredible festivals coming up.
What’s the coolest site/attraction you’ve been able to visit while on tour?
Actually one of the coolest experiences was having a day off in Los Angeles after the Powerwolf tour in the USA. We had a whole day off to spend on Venice Beach before making the 31 hour drive back to Florida. That was a wonderful experience and one I personally will never forget.
What are some of your non-musical interests and hobbies?
Honestly, I work like crazy. I am a tour manager here for the USA and have my own company here that provides tour services for bands coming into tour in North America. I’m also on the Hard Impact Management team, so I rarely have time to myself. When I do though, I try to spend it at the gym to keep up my lifting discipline and then spending time with Sabrina, our dog and cats has become the most important thing as I’ve gotten even more busy. We are super into cruise vacations, or just food/movies/ anything fun really. Recently we have gotten into disc golf because of Scott from Unleash The Archers. So that’s been pretty fun, I wish I had more time to play more!
What’s the best thing you’ve binge watched lately?
Sabrina and I actually crushed the Netflix series KAOS – the modern take on the Greek gods over a few nights on Netflix as I was working and preparing for the Wind Rose tour with Powerwolf here in Europe – I’m here now with them.
(interview published November 7, 2024)
Watch Seven Kingdoms – “The Square” Video
