A Natural Death

A Natural Death is the fourth studio album by Horse the Band.

Overview

Frontman Nathan Winneke states: "A Natural Death is about the futility and arrogance of creation and destruction, the overwhelming scale of space and time, and the brutal majesty of nature, the horror of birth and the beauty of death. Everyone who will ever live will die a natural death, and will soon after be forgotten for eternity. Hopefully this album will serve as a warning to the human race to stop taking itself so seriously, as we have seen the dire consequences of its actions in the future. You are nothing."^[1]

This album takes a departure from a lot of the Nintendocore aspects, that made the first two albums popular. While still there, the guitar work is much more highlighted and gave the band a much more "metal sound". Nathan Winneke has stated this album is his least favorite, due to the fact "...it is metal, and I hate metal." He also, along with other members consider it the band's darkest work to date.

On May 15, 2007, the album leaked onto the Internet. A few days later, the band announced a new release date of August 28, 2007. The record was originally planned for a June 26 release.

Upon the album's release, "Murder" was frequently played on the Sirius Satellite Radio station, Hard Attack. In 2007, the album peaked at #4 at the Top Heatseekers and at #27 on the Independent Albums charts.^[2]

Track listing

1. "Hyperborea" – 2:45
2. "Murder" – 4:14
3. "The Startling Secret of Super Sapphire" – 3:18
4. "The Beach" – 1:07
5. "Face of Bear" – 4:02
6. "Crickets" – 1:06
7. "New York City" – 4:47
8. "Sex Raptor" – 3:18
9. "Broken Trail" – 3:16
10. "The Red Tornado" – 3:42
11. "Treasure Train" – 2:57
12. "His Purple Majesty" – 3:04
13. "Kangarooster Meadows" – 1:23
14. "Rotting Horse" – 4:28
15. "I Think We Are Both Suffering from the Same Crushing Metaphysical Crisis" – 7:24
16. "Lif" – 4:48

Best Buy Bonus Tracks:

1. "Crow Town " – 3:40
2. "Hyperborea (Midi Version)" – 2:34
3. "Treasure Train (Midi Version)" – 2:54

iTunes Exclusive Bonus Track:

1. "The Red Tornado (Midi Version)" – 2:45

A music video was made for the tracks "New York City" and "Murder".

Trivia

• Originally the song "Crow Town" was on the album as track 10, and "The Red Tornado" was track 9, this was replaced just after the release with "Broken Trail". In the song "Lif" where various fragments of the previous songs are played throughout, you can hear the crows crowing at one point, exactly as they do in the song "Crow Town" furthermore showing it was an original song for the album.
• The song "The Red Tornado" refers to the comic book superhero Red Tornado.

Personnel

Horse the Band

• Erik Engstrom – keyboards, Game Boy, samples
• Nathan Winneke – vocals
• David Isen – guitar
• Dashiell Han Arkenstone – bass, baritone, organ
• Chris Prophet – drums

Production

• Brian Virtue – production, engineering, mixing
• David Klein – album artwork and layout

References