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U.S. Army Diver Releases Album That Offers An Unflinching Glimpse Into Iraq War

Top Quote Staff Sergeant Kurt Langley, a U.S. Army diver, has created an album that offers a vivid potrayal of a soldier's conflicting emotions about the realities of war. End Quote
  • Norfolk-Virginia Beach-Newport News, VA-NC (1888PressRelease) September 13, 2008 - Deep Sea Recordings is pleased to announce the release of Nervis’ second full length album, Tales of Power.

    Born in the arid sands of pre-surge Iraq, Tales of Power largely draws upon the experience and viewpoint of guitarist-singer-songwriter Staff Sergeant Kurt Langley, a U.S. Army diver.

    “There’s been a lot of music about the war,” Kurt said. “But very little from the soldier’s direct point of view. Tales of Power is not political. When I was over there the second time, I just began writing songs in the down time.”

    Many of the tracks on the 10-song album were conceived in a 6 x 6 foot makeshift sound studio where his team was based.

    In between missions in Iraq, Kurt channeled the emotions of war into new songs.
    When he returned a year later, Kurt fine-tuned the tracks and founded Deep Sea Recordings. He began recording and mixing the tracks in his home studio in Surry County, Va., while still serving as a soldier full-time.

    He teamed back up with Nervis’ drummer, Igdaf Joe Fade, in a cross-country recording venture. Igdaf, still living in Los Angeles, and Kurt e-mailed the songs back and forth, with Fade recording the drums in his own studio. Although the two had worked together as Nervis since 1994, it was the first time they had recorded since Kurt joined the Army in 2000. The album was later mastered by Dave Harris at Studio B Mastering in Charlotte, N.C.

    Despite its origins, Tales of Power is not simply a war anthem. While “The Places That Scare You,” “Judgment Day” and “The Replica” reflect a soldier’s visceral experience by coupling grinding industrial influences, pulverizing guitar riffs, and traditional Middle Eastern sounds and timing, other tracks have little or no bearing on the war.
    In “Frankenstein,” Kurt captured the obsessive and vengeful longing of Mary Shelley’s famous monster, while “Stay With Me” testifies to a shredding, often-hidden side of romance.

    However, in recognition of the album’s roots, Nervis is donating 10% of album sales to the Wounded Warrior Project.

    Nervis

    Contact:
    Kurt Langley
    (757) 685-1506
    kurtlangley ( @ ) nervismusic dot com
    Site and download: www.nervismusic.com

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