The Mountain Goats Announces Dungeons & Dragons-Inspired Album

American rock band The Mountain Goats has just announced a new album called In League With Dragons, inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, and set for release on April 26th.


10_404_404_679_mini_900.jpg



My favorite quote from that NPR interview, "I am earnestly hoping that a new genre called "dragon noir" will spring from the forehead of nearly two years' work on these songs, but, if not, I am content for this to be the sole example of the style."

And the song they include is excellent in my opinion. Very D&D.

YOUNGER

[Verse 1]
Crank that siren high
Drain the wellspring dry
Map out your coordinates
Send out scouts by day
Dole out mercenary pay
For restless young subordinates

It never hurts to give thanks to the local gods
You never know who might be hungry
It never hurts to scan the windows on the upper floor
I saw a face there once before when I was younger

[Verse 2]
Set the torch aflame
Call the night by name
Stake out your dark position
Lie in wait
By the gleaming city gate
Try not to lose sight of the mission

It never hurts to give thanks to the broken bones
You had to use to build your ladder

[Verse 3]
Moment close at hand
Half of you will never understand
And it doesn't really matter
Big smile on my face
Capsule just in case
Underneath my tongue

Voices on the breeze
I heard voices once like these when I was younger

[Bridge]
Blood rushing to my face
I know that sweet warm taste
And the bitter trace

[Verse 4]
Storm right down that hill
If I don’t, no one will
Follow me right through the chaos
This whole house is doomed
Even the big parts get consumed
Prepare a grave for Menelaus

It never hurts to give thanks to the navigator
Even when he's spitting out random numbers

I knew what those figures meant
And what they hoped to represent
When I was younger
[Outro: saxophone solo]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

log in or register to remove this ad

tmanbeaubien

Explorer
Song didn't inspire anything for me. Maybe it ties into the other songs on the album?? Lyrics were kinda all over the place suggesting stories, but didn't actually tell one.
 

lyle.spade

Adventurer
I had never heard of them before reading this, and so I listened to a snippet of their stuff on Amazon. If you're not familiar with them, they are a folksy mostly unplugged acoustic guitar-driven outfit with mostly slow songs. To me, RPGs, especially of the fantasy genre, will always be best scored with Metal. This stuff reminds me of the music that drove Bluto Blutarsky to smash that guy's guitar on the stairwell at the Delta house.

If you like Lesbian Seagull, you'll dig the Mountain Goats.
[video=youtube;4BaKOluofCA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BaKOluofCA[/video]

...and after watching that video, I think many of you reading it will recognize the ATF team is just a group of PC Murder Hobos, on the job. Good stuff - solving problems the way players often do.
 


Flexor the Mighty!

18/100 Strength!
Other of bands do this. Check out Gygax.

And yes for me classic and power metal is the soundtrack for RPG games. When working on games stuff its Manilla Road, Virgin Steele, Manowar, Omen, Blind Guardian, Visigoth etc.
 

lyle.spade

Adventurer
To add to my case that Metal is for RPGs, please see below the lyrics to Judas Priest's "The Sentinel," from their "Defenders of the Faith" album.

Along deserted avenues
Steam begins to rise
The figures primed and ready
Prepared for quick surprise
He's watchin' for a sign
His life is on the line
Dogs whine in the alleys
Smoke is on the wind
From deep inside its empty shell
A cathedral bell begins to toll
A storm begins to grow

Sworn to avenge
Condemn to Hell
Tempt not the blade
All fear the Sentinel

Amidst the upturned burned-out cars
The challengers await
And in their fists clutch iron bars
With which to seal his fate
Across his chest is scabbards rest
The rows of throwing knives
Whose razor points in challenged tests
Have finished many lives

Now facing one another
The stand-off eats at time
Then all at once a silence falls
As the bell ceases its chime
Upon this sign the challengers
With shrieks and cries rush forth
The knives fly out like bullets
Upon their deadly course
Screams of pain and agony
Rent the silent air
Amidst the dying bodies
Blood runs everywhere
The figure stands expressionless
Impassive and alone
Unmoved by this victory
And the seeds of death he's sown

Sworn to avenge
Condemn to Hell
Tempt not the blade
All fear the Sentinel

I used this a few years ago as inspiration for a Big Bad guarding an important site in a DnD game.
 

Neat! It’s a funny world we live in, where a fairly popular (I know they routinely sell out shows) band releases a D&D-inspired album. But I’m quite happy to be living in that world.

As for metal, I certainly love my share of it. Rhapsody of Fire, Rainbow, Xandria, Blind Guardian, Black Sabbath, Emperor, Mayhem, and so on. There’s plenty of fantasy-themed metal, but it hardly is exclusive to metal. Heck, going way back, how many albums have Space Rockers Hawkwind released inspired by Moorcock?
 

lyle.spade

Adventurer
Neat! It’s a funny world we live in, where a fairly popular (I know they routinely sell out shows) band releases a D&D-inspired album. But I’m quite happy to be living in that world.

As for metal, I certainly love my share of it. Rhapsody of Fire, Rainbow, Xandria, Blind Guardian, Black Sabbath, Emperor, Mayhem, and so on. There’s plenty of fantasy-themed metal, but it hardly is exclusive to metal. Heck, going way back, how many albums have Space Rockers Hawkwind released inspired by Moorcock?


All true!

And did you know that Lemmy, late of Motorhead, was a roadie for Hawkwind? You created a transition back to Metal, and maybe didn't know it. :)
 



Related Articles

Remove ads

Remove ads

AD6_gamerati_skyscraper

Remove ads

Upcoming Releases

Top