Track By Tracks: Aquila - The Great Fire (2022)

1. The Great Fire:

The Great Fire starts off slow and then it explodes. It is our traditional straightforward in-your-face track Aquila style with a Power Trip style breakdown in the middle of the song. The lyrics are about Nero causing the fire and that he wanted it to happen. There are famous paintings of Nero playing the harp while the fire was happening. Many historians have said that he did not start the fire and that he was far away when the fire happened. My vision and twist are that I am playing Nero in the song and I am saying that I caused the fire.

2. Emperor’s Curse:

This song starts off brutal and this is a rollercoaster of a track. We changed tempos a few times on this and then in the middle, you travel into this Tool like drumming. From there we add a catchy hook at the end of the song. Lyrics are very brutal from beheading and crucifying Christians to Nero taking his own life. This song is the most progressive song we have ever written, it was inspired by our own song, Bound For Glory, from our debut album Imperium.

3. A City Risen:

The lyrics for this are about what Nero is thinking before he takes his life and him reflecting on his life. He had some great ideas and he had a vision, but he was also a sick man. The song has a slower pace compared to the other tracks, but it's heavier with many hooks. I think it’s my best vocal performance ever. I used my singing range for this one, not just straight death metal vocals for this one.

4. The Plague of Galen:

Back in late 2019, McGuire and I started talking and we asked ourselves, wouldn’t it be cool to jam together again? So we did. With the pandemic happening in 2020, we were in the middle of writing a song which is now called, The Plague of Galen. A plague that happened in Rome many years ago. We thought it was fitting. The song has a melodic death metal feel to it that you can headbang to. The breakdown in the middle is crushing, ending with Iron Maiden-type guitar playing.