Oxfordshire metalcore mobsters Vera Grace have written something of a concept EP for their record, and we’re enjoying the racket so much we’re streaming it for you right now – before official release next week!
Speaking to Metal Hammer, vocalist Stephen Nulty describes Novella as “two different stories that run side by side, ending with them crossing over. The EP is set as a play, being split as two different acts. Each track represents a scene and each interlude is a changing of the act.”
“The story is about two religious brothers who have spent most of their life within the church,” the Stephen says. “One brother, ends up losing his faith and accidentally kills an innocent bystander. This brings in the second story, a tale of the mother of the murdered son and how she has to live her life with the pain, until eventually they both cross paths.”
You can listen to it below.
Stephen Nulty has also given us a track-by-track breakdown of the EP. This is what it’s all about…
Exposition “We set the story and mould the characters. It’s an introduction. It follows the story of the antagonist through his fall from grace, up until when he kills an innocent bystander.”
Act 1 “This track, in theory, is a break in the play – symbolising the start of the first act. Keeping it minimal and building the tension.”
12⁄04 “This is just after the antagonist has murdered the woman’s son. The antagonist can’t control his dark urges, resulting in him committing terrible acts. He has high anxieties from it and questions his faith. The antagonist ends up taking his brother’s life.”
Act 2 “Again this part is to break up the play, to keep the story flowing. To show change in pace and time. New scene and the start of the second act.”
Act 1 - Griever “This brings in the other story that’s running side by side – a change in character. This is from the mother’s perspective and how she finds out about her son’s death. It’s the mother’s ruin. She is informed about her son’s demise by the authorities, he was just an innocent by stander. She mourns for him. All the lyrics are thoughts and words that she has contemplated through her struggle.”
Act 2 - Catharsis “The confrontation of the killer. This is where both stories entwine together and their fates are decided. The end of the EP. The end of the play.”
