Having declined several record deals after playing one of the first succesful online shows in the genre last year, Russian symphonic metal powerhouse IMPERIAL AGE launched a crowdfunding campaign instead and has already broken through the $50,000 USD mark, with 6 more days to go.
“Many bigger bands get much smaller advances from their labels, and most of those are also recoupable – i.e. labels loan the money to artists and then return it from the artist’s share (usually around 13% of revenue). But our fans just give us the money so that we can do what we want to do: no conditions, no questions, no debt. Why isn’t everyone doing it already?” – says band mastermind Aor.
While the crowdfunding was going on, the band was camping out in the forest on the shores of lake Seliger (Tver region, North-Western Russia) and got hit by a tornado, reported by major news channels! The camp was totally destroyed, the nearest village had 18 out of 20 houses damaged with 3 dead and 13 injured in the region. More than 30 trees have been knowcked down on the island around the camp.
Band leaders Aor and Jane who were at the camp at the time saved themselves by running out of the forest and hiding behind an elm tree on the shore.
“The world is obviously changing – its like being on a ship going through turbulent waters (see our new cover art), only the ship is Planet Earth. The here are unusual cataclysms everywhere, the human society not being an exception. The New World is obviously already right on top of us, and our main goal is not to fall off this ship until the course has stabilized.” – wrote the band on their Facebook Page.
The Kickstarter is already over 120% of its initial goal and has 6 more days to go. You can support it here:
https://kickstarter.imperial-age.com
