Today, two-time GRAMMY®-nominated, Emmy and BAFTA Award-winning composer Bear McCreary releases his epic album The Singularity digitally via Sparks & Shadows Records. The CD and vinyl release come out next week, on May 10. Two days after the physical release, McCreary will perform the album live, at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles with special guests including Slash, Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult), Asdru Sierra (Ozomatli), Gene Hoglan (Dethklok), Brendan McCreary (Battlestar Galactica), Raya Yarbrough (Outlander), nerdcore rapper Mega Ran, and singer Morgan Sorne.
LISTEN TO THE SINGULARITY HERE
The Singularity is an ambitious concept album, graphic novel, and concert experience featuring a legendary lineup of rock talent.
On Wednesday, May 8, Image Comics will release the graphic novel companion to the album, created by McCreary with writer Mat Groom and produced by Black Market Narrative.
WATCH THE SINGULARITY
A number of tracks from The Singularity have already been released to great critical acclaim. Most recently, Guitar World exclusively hosted the song “Escape from the Machines,” an instrumental that features Slash and Joe Satriani. The song was first written by McCreary when he was a teenager and the guitar work of the song is overdubbed of the original. Of the song, Guitar World wrote:
“‘Escape from the Machines’ is as epic and operatic as you’d expect from a rock concept record featuring Slash and Satriani largely in part thanks to Satch’s spectrum-sweeping solo that his fellow guest guitarist describes as ‘super-intense.’ ... Awe-inspiring, loaded with wild bombastic bends that wouldn’t sound out of place in the climax of a Christopher Nolan epic.”
The Singularity sees McCreary creating a unique hard-rock adventure bursting with cinematic energy from use of live orchestra choir, and international colors including bagpipes, morin khuur, and nyckelharpa. McCreary is joined by a truly extraordinary cast of musicians and vocalists that includes Slash, Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Corey Taylor (Slipknot), Rufus Wainwright, Jens Kidman (Meshuggah), Joe Satriani, Buck Dharma (Blue Öyster Cult), Asdru Sierra (Ozomatli), Gaelic rapper and poet Griogair, Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Brendon Small (Metalocalypse), Billy Boyd (The Lord of the Rings), Eivør (God of War), Guthrie Govan and Bryan Beller (The Aristocrats), Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa), Ben Weinman (The Dillinger Escape Plan), Steve Bartek and John Avila (Oingo Boingo), Warren Fitzgerald (The Vandals), Esjay Jones (We Are PIGS), Sigurjón Kjartansson (HAM), Raya Yarbrough (Outlander), rapper Mega Ran, and legendary metal drummer Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad, Dethklok). The Singularity was co-written and co-produced by McCreary’s brother, Brendan McCreary, who also contributes lead vocals to eight songs. The accompanying story is revealed in three spoken-word monologues lifted directly from the graphic novel, performed on the album by celebrated actors Lee Pace (Foundation, The Hobbit), Danai Gurira (Black Panther, The Walking Dead), and Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy, God of War Ragnarök).
“I began writing The Singularity when I was fifteen,” says McCreary. “I was obsessed, even then, with melding my love of hard rock, symphonic film scores, and dramatic storytelling into a cohesive whole, laying the groundwork for what would become a concept album, graphic novel, and multimedia concert experience. I spent the next three decades trying to perfect it.”
