The Monarch

The Monarch/ Merauder hang tonight in Chicago.

I love this song. Not just because I wrote it but because it perfectly sums up my idea to the meaning of life. “Though we must perish, our legacies survive”…

It’s all about handing down our best qualities and life experiences to our children in order for them to not only craft their own path, but to have your hand guide them as they craft it.

A Moment To Lose Your Breath Provided to YouTube by DistroKidA Moment To Lose Your Breath · The MonarchA Moment To Lose Your Breath℗ In Shadows RecordingsReleased on: 2024-05-03Auto-gene...

On June 10th, original guitarist of The Monarch, Clay Russell, passed away.

Clay and I formed the earliest version of The Monarch together back in 2003. I’d take my acoustic ideas over to his house and Clay would help me work them into pieces that eventually became songs of first album “All the world’s pain.” I guess you could say he was my first guitar teacher…. although I still really suck at guitar.

I learned a lot about metal from Clay. He introduced me to black and death metal which took me down a whole new road of inspiration. I remember watching videos from Wacken for the first time in his room as a teenager. Years later when I finally got to play Wacken, I couldn’t help but think that Clay somehow helped me get there.

From the first album I ever played on and up until our most recent album, I always ran my playing by Clay, almost looking for his heavy metal seal of approval. Clay always said that his favorite album of my drumming was Borknagar’s “Urd” as it was the most dynamic to his ears.

Clay made such a profound impact on my musical journey and I will forever be grateful.

RIP to The Clayer

🤘🏻-Daved

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