It's always interesting to learn about the artists you work with. So when you have a signature pick, naturally you want to learn as much as possible about the artwork and theme. So we're going to embark on a short series where we talk about the background to the artwork. If you're lucky enough to have caught one of our signature picks, then this is for you!
It makes sense to start with our first signature artist, Paul Templing, of Gloryhammer, who has now released 2 signature picks with us. To coincide with launching Return to the Kingdom of Fife, Paul was keen to refresh his latest signature pick. Knowing Gloryhammer have built a reputation on having universe of great depth in their music we asked what the background to the artwork was and after a thoughtful pause he shared this extensive insight:
"The latest signature pick design comes from a concept I had for a purpose entirely unrelated to picks but it turns out that a coat of arms is actually perfectly pick-shaped - who knew? So when it came to thinking of a “mk.II” Ser Proletius pick, the design was fully formed and ready to go.
The coat of arms design itself incorporates a few different elements to represent the different stages of the Ser Proletius character and the Knights of Crail (if this lore is already too deep for you then you’ll be glad to know that someone’s put together an entire wiki on the GH universe - get reading!)
There are two eagle heads, one feathery and very much alive to represent the glory days (so to speak) of the Knights of Crail where they rode around on mighty eagles fighting epic battles. The second is an eagle skull to represent the 38-B timeline from our latest record where everything has been destroyed by a nuclear attack orchestrated by the clone of an evil wizard. Still following? Okay, good.
There is a sword - I don’t think I’ve ever actually been pictured with a sword but there’s definitely some sword wielding referenced at some point in the deep lore. Also I couldn’t have a hammer because that’s Angus McFife’s thing.
One thing I have been pictured with way back when we did the photoshoot for our first album is a knight’s helmet. I borrowed it for the day from one of my re-enactment buddies and it was 100% real and weighed an absolute ton. So that same helmet is referenced as a little easter egg at the top of the shield.
The shield itself has a templar cross on it because, for whatever reason, originally the Knights of Crail were a knight’s templar. Maybe because it sounds a bit like my real surname? Who knows? The Gloryhammer wiki, probably. Certainly not me. Anyway, it’s in there.
Then finally there’s a Latin motto which reads “In Alis Aquilae” which roughly translates to “On the wings of eagles” and it’s a reference to the song “Brothers of Crail” from our latest album. This was my main contribution to our last record and the song itself is about the Knights of Crail so what could be better? Is it grammatically correct? I have no idea, I never studied Latin at school!"
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