Tales of epic fantasy lands are usually the preserve of block-busting Hollywood trilogies.
But one band are bringing grand stories of mythical battles out of the silver screen and to the ears of fans as part of their all-encompassing live sets.
The idea is a long term project of Huddersfield four-piece End Begin, who want to take listeners on a journey that will make them question, learn and set their imaginations’ alight.
A progressive rock group, they have put their screaming guitar riffs, incessantly pounding bass rhythms and emotive singing to good use to illustrate the compelling tale of a man on a mission to save his realm from death and destruction through their debut album, Empire Fool.
And more impressively, the grand idea was thought up not in a Hollywood studio but in a humble bedroom of one of the band members, after meeting in 2010 at Huddersfield University.
Vocalist, Dave Rangel, lives in Milnsbridge and works alongside David J. Freeman on guitars and backing vocals, Rory Smith on bass and Dominic Turton on drums.
Dave said: “Three of us met while in our final year of university and were sat in someone’s bedroom jamming after we decided to start a band together.
“Before we knew it we had come up with a whole concept for an album based around this idea of a man’s struggle to try restore peace and democracy in his own land.
“It begins after he returns to his home, which he had previously looked after, to find that it has been torn apart by wars and tyranny.
“He thinks his absence is responsible for what has happened so vows to do so we have conjured up narrative which allows our listener to follow but also feel like they are bearing witness to his huge quest.”
The result has been a gripping eight-track odyssey which follows the man who gains a sort of superhero persona through his dedication to his cause.
Dave said: “We took a lot of our inspiration from biblical and other religious texts but it’s not a Christian album.
“The idea is to explore ideas within these stories and bring them to life to see how they could work, while encouraging people in turn to share their own ideas.
“Our message to those who listen to it is to take it seriously but not that much.”
Their wry humour can be found in their choice of name for the album, Empire Fools, which they released on April 1.
Dave said: “The name idea was inspired by the fact that we’d taken so long to make the record because we wanted to get it just right, and thought that some of our fans wouldn’t believe us if we told them we had actually released it.
“It’s hard to just go out with a demo as everyone has high quality recordings nowadays so we wanted to do something special.”
Dave said that the album is only the start of what the band hope will become a long, heroic poem about their protagonist.
“We’re not like a lot of bands who may write a few songs that make up a story – we see this album as part one of a long journey, which we’ll continue in future releases.”
Empire Fools is now making up the basis of their sets which they are currently touring around the country.
Music lovers will be able to hear it played live in Huddersfield on May 22 at The Parish in Huddersfield, before they appear in Nottingham and further afield.
To find out more about End Begin, go to www.facebook.com/endbeginband or go to soundcloud.com/endbegin
