What the "Another Sacrifice Gone Wrong" album cover is an homage to
The 80s produced a lot of cheesy movies. That's not at all an insult. As a guy who likes movies, I happen to like 80s movies because in the 90s, America got too serious and has been serious ever since. With some notable exceptions, we've lost our sense of humor and more importantly, our urge to have fun.
Astral Eyes as a band is many things. We are the inventors of Romantic Metal. We also intend to bring fun back to the world. I want to see people let loose again, to really enjoy themselves. Instead, today's folks worry too much about what others think of them and hold back instead of letting loose. Fuck that! You only live once and don't die with regrets.
The album cover itself is a tongue-in-cheek homage to the 80s, mainly three movies - Dragonslayer from 1981, Conan the Destroyer from 1984, and Clash of the Titans (also from 1981).
In Dragonslayer, we have a King who every year, sacrifices a female virgin to the dragon to keep the dragon from eating everyone. The virgins are picked by a lottery. Of course, his own daughter is conveniently missing from the lottery cards. Needless to say, the movie's about the hero who comes along and saves the future girls by slaying the dragon. I won't go into further detail as it's a must see for 80s movies fans. Yes, it's dated by today's standards, but put that aside and you'll enjoy the flick.
In Clash of the Titans, we use Ancient Greek mythology instead of a more wizards and warriors theme. Think swords and sandals. Perseus has to save the girl from being sacrificed to the Kraken. You can guess what happens. Recently, there was a remake, which didn't live up to the original. The original was one of the last big budget movies that featured stop action monsters. It's definitely a must see. (Life tip - do NOT compare your daughter's beauty to the beauty of a Goddess while in that said Goddess's temple. Goddesses don't like that shit).
I happen to like Conan the Barbarian significantly more than Conan the Destroyer. Nevertheless, the theme is exactly what we need - the hero (Conan obviously) must save the virgin Princess from being sacrificed to the evil God. Although it lacked the charm of the first Conan movie, it still impacted my psyche greatly.
So, as much as I love the 80s, I wanted to give the artwork a twist. I wrote up instructions for our artist, Ming Luke, to make a piece where the beautiful damsel in distress instead of getting rescued somehow gets free herself and turns on the people who were to sacrifice her. Then I let Ming Luke work his magic. And boy, he really did!
When I first saw the completed artwork, I was floored! I immediately hired him to do the second album cover as well, despite the album being a few years off. I can't say enough about how awesomely talented Ming Luke is. He's already sent us the second album cover and I'm once again floored. I can't show it to you yet, but here's the first album cover. You'll see that his artwork is a perfect representation of everything I asked for.
