Album Review: Qyn – Archetype

I’ve been patiently waiting…

Qyn – Archetype
February 7th, 2020
Progressive Metal
Independently Released
Grand Falls-Windsor / St. John’s, Newfoundland

Is there any reasonable way to describe the debut album from St. John’s progressive metal duo than it being the Newfoundland and Labrador metal scene’s very own version of Chinese Democracy? Or perhaps that’s an outdated joke. Certainly Fear Inoculum, the long awaited fifth studio record from Tool, would be a more apropos comparison. Yet what do both these referenced records have in common? Unfortunately, it’s a ‘botched’ launch, the result of years worth of fans salivating over new music from their beloved favourite band, only to have the final product be rather underwhelming as it is nigh impossible to live up to such massive levels of hype. Qyn fits this template because Archetype is an album that was announced 11 years ago in the bygone age of 2009. The question we must ask ourselves is ‘was it worth the wait?’ Let’s dig in to find out.

From the beginning we can tell that these guys aren’t playing around when it comes to the riffs. Newfoundland riffer extraordinaire Chris Feener forms the backbone of this duo, offering tons of proggy, melodic and groovy guitar work all over this record. His guitar work especially calls to mind the work of fellow modern metallers Trivium and other groups in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal while adding a Threat Signal or Sylosis flair to the compositions. This no doubt comes across because of Feener’s previous stint in Threat Signal from 2010 to 2012. Songs like “Twigtd” (standing for “The World is Going to Die”) present significant melodic focus with lots of pretty chords forming the basis of the chorus in a similar way to melodic death metal giants like In Flames or Dark Tranquility. Other tracks like “Lucifight” are a lot more groovy in their delivery, calling to mind bands in the djent and progressive metalcore scene like Periphery and Fellsilent.

When it comes to songwriting it’s clear that Feener has everything on lockdown. There are few moments on this record where it feels like the tracks are comprised of “riff salad”, something that progressive metal is often accused of due to its penchant for crafting overblown, lengthy songs that meander and bore the listener, but there are few moments on this record where that seems to be an issue. However, that being said, the few moments where this does happen stand out like a sore thumb. A prime example would be the sweep-pick filled ending of the instrumental piece “N313 / Floydian Slip” which in my opinion far overstays its welcome. While I’m not against conceptual instrumental pieces such as this one, I felt it could have easily been a minute shorter.

The other half of this duo is vocalist and lyricist John Charles Ennis, who I can only compare to other greats in this genre of modern progressive metal like Spencer Sotelo of Periphery or Rody Walker of Protest the Hero. While Ennis doesn’t have as high of a range as these two aforementioned gentlemen, he still has some serious pipes going on. While for most of the album he sits comfortably in his mid-range, he’s not afraid to belt out a gut-wrenching scream like near the end of “Twigtd”.

The production of this record is as tight as it gets for albums released in this style of modern metal, calling to mind other groups like The HAARP Machine or Lamb of God. However, my one criticism of the production on this record is the use of fake drums. While many bands in this style of metal resort to programming their drums simply because it’s genuinely easier than finding someone with the talent to perform this style, let alone the space and money to actually own a drum set, I still think it’s not the best choice. Granted, I think these are some of the best programmed drums I’ve heard in a while, and “Lucifight” does actually include real drums courtesy of death metal alumni Alex Rudinger, but I always lament when a band has to go this route instead of trying to find somebody who can actually perform these parts.

There are other aspects of the production that I sincerely enjoy, from small touches like the “woah-oh-oh”‘s on “Lucifight” and the Morse code ambient piece at the end of “Hoi Polloi”, to the broader scope of things, like how chunky the guitars sound. The guitars and bass shine through, holding together the structure of these songs while Ennis’ vocals soar through them. Everything sits at a comfortable level and it never feels like one instrument is fighting for control over the other.

It’s safe to say that if you’re a fan of any of the other, bigger bands I mentioned above, like Trivium or Protest the Hero, this is an album that will definitely be up your alley. The combination of progressive structures with tight musicianship and groove, superb vocals and catchy melodies will be sure to tickle the fancy of any djentlemen in the audience.

In terms of what I mentioned at the beginning, whether or not this record was worth the 11 year wait, that’s a hard question to answer. For one, when you wait so long for a piece of media to be released it will undoubtedly accrue a level of hype that exponentially increases with each year between announcement and release. That’s why so many albums that are, in a sense, objectively good, have still fallen flat. The aforementioned Chinese Democracy and Fear Inoculum are prime examples of this phenomenon, as is the theoretical “new” album from the long-defunct Necrophagist. Yet I still feel that Archetype is absolutely worth listening to. Perhaps much of that can be ascribed to the fact that I wasn’t personally aware of Qyn’s existence until midway through 2019 when posts about their album nearing completion were circulating on Facebook. Maybe having that sort of ‘outsider’ perspective has allowed me to view this album more objectively that long time fans of Guns ‘N’ Roses or Tool viewed those bands’ respective long-awaited releases. But then again, perhaps not. Maybe it’s just a damned good album.

Final Verdict: 8/10
Great

Favourite Tracks:
“Lucifight”
“Hoi Polloi”
“The Insignificant”
“The Offering”

~ Akhenaten