Poets of the Fall, the real life band behind Old Gods of Asgard, has released a new range of merchandise mysteriously called Smooth & Unusual. There are two pieces kickstarting the collection; a rather dapper looking t-shirt and a tote bag perfectly styled to pack more books than your ordinary fabric bag. Someone page Mr Wake.
The collection plays with a number of different fonts and imagery from the bands' twenty-two year history. The Smooth & Unusual design features a shield outline with the text "Est 2003" above the new Poets of the Fall logo. Written beneath in the font from their Signs of Life album (and their first logo) is the line, "Without Silence There Can Be No Music". Their iconic morpho logo, used frequently in early material rests at the base of the shield, with the text "Smooth & Unusual".
Smooth & Unusual, T-shirt. Up first, let's take a look at that shirt! The t-shirt is made of 100% pre-shrunk heavy cotton weighing at 192 g/m². A classic short sleeve, it has reinforcements in the collar and is double stitched at the hem and sleeve to provide extra durability. With international delivery, the shirt is available for €28.68 in S, M, L, XL, 2XL, and 3XL.
Smooth & Unusual Tote Bag. The tote bag is too made of 100% cotton and weighs slightly heavier at 220g/m2 for extra durability. The base is 10cm across and features a box shape to allow easy storage. It's designed to to carried on a shoulder, with long handles to help with the heavier shops. Available in one size, the bag is available for €14.33.
A bit of information about the band: Although two of the band members were involved in Remedy's original Max Payne title, officially, the band's relationship started back in 2003 with Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. For the game, Poets created their first song, Late Goodbye, based on a poem by Sam Lake, after a conversation between Marko and Sam about the formation of his new group.
Almost a decade later, the band returned for the studio's next game, Alan Wake, creating the custom songs, The Poet and the Muse and Children of the Elder God, under their alter-ego, Old Gods of Asgard. Their song War, from their album Twilight Theater, also made an appearance in the game. They returned again two years later for Alan Wake's American Nightmare, with the songs Balance Slays the Demon and The Happy Song (the latter also appearing in the album Temple of Thought). Around the same time, Can You Hear Me, created as an exclusive single to their Alchemy Vol 1 collection, also appeared in the studio's debut mobile game, Death Rally.
After Alan Wake, while they still worked alongside the studio, issues outside of both parties' control led to the absence of a unique track within Quantum Break. Although players can still hear elements in the reworked version of Labyrinth, heard in the Clearview album. It was only in 2019's Control that the band and studio were able to work once again, bringing Take Control to the table, used during the Control's memorable Ashtray Maze sequence, along with Ultraviolet's The Dark Disquiet making an appearance.
For Alan Wake 2, they returned with three unique songs custom-made for the adventures; Dark Ocean Summoning, Herald of Darkness, and Anger's Remorse. Weeks after the launch of the game, the Old Gods of Asgard debut album, Rebirth - The Greatest Hits was released, nicely coinciding with their performance on The Game Awards stage.
Image & Source: Poets of the Fall's Facebook
