The Scrolls of Akhenaten: April 26th, 2024

April 26, 2024 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

Despite being on the road in a completely different country I still will find the time to provide you with eight killer album recommendations because music is what makes the world go round. On that topic I’ve encountered a number of bands over the past week that definitely deserve a bigger audience.

Black

The first time I was exposed to Infant Island it was when they were added last minute to a huge mixed bill that featured the likes of Gatecreeper and Fearing. It was odd but given how mixed the bill was I guess it made sense to toss a screamo band on there. Admittedly I wasn’t all that into them for this live show but decided to check out their new record when it dropped earlier this year and was shocked to find out just how damn much I liked it. This album is fucking phenomenal, featuring tons of atmosphere, triumphant guitar work that screams out over relentless blast beats and passages of intense, cathartic screaming. Screamo and black metal may seem at polar ends of the musical spectrum but bands like Infant Island manage to bridge that gap almost flawlessly and this record is proof of that. Obsidian Wreath is a phenomenal release that deserves your attention.

Death

Eyecatcher is a four piece death metal outfit that my own band Ratpiss played with while on tour in Long Island City, New York. This Maryland quartet was amazing in the live setting and their brand of Obituary / Power Trip worshipping death metal was right up my alley. Checking them out on the recording side of things I am happy to report that their first self-titled release is just as good sounding as the live versions of these songs were. This is ripping death metal with thrash metal and grindcore influence that would not go unwelcome on a playlist next to bands like Frozen Soul and Sanguisugabogg. While this EP is “blink and you’ll miss it” short, it’s packed with more killer riffs and drum beats that you can shake a disembodied leg at. If the cover art doesn’t sell you on it already, let the song titles like “Blood Carnival” and “Wormtongue” entice into the grotesque nature that awaits.

Doom

I was first introduced to Horndal through my friend Tyler. Admittedly when I first checked it out I wasn’t sure about it but after numerous repeat listens it dawned on me: this album is fucking incredible. This thing combines elements of the bright, harmonized guitar work of groups like Thin Lizzy or Kvelertak along with the progressive riffing nature of bands like Mastodon as well as the raw sense of urban decay ushered in by bands like Tombs or Morne to create a sound I’ve never quite heard before. This thing is a beast of modern metal, and not in the same way that people describe Lamb of God. This is the pinnacle of modern metal music, utilizing every aspect of heavy music that I personally love in such a way that I’ve never been privy to. It’s experimental while also being catchy as fuck, all while the gruff caveman vocals detail stories about the history and legends of the band’s hometown for which they are named.

Prog

Orbs was a band of particular interest to me back in 2010 when they first emerged onto the scene of modern, nu-progressive artists that had readers of the blog Heavy Blog is Heavy fawning. Featuring such notable names as Dan Briggs from Between the Buried and Me, Adam Fisher of Fear Before the March of Flames, and Ashley Jurgemeyer of Abigail Williams, this was a supergroup of sorts that existed to blend elements of jazz, prog, and space rock with a post-hardcore affectation and approach to songwriting, and holy moly did they ever knock it out of the park. Almost 15 years after the fact I still come back to this album and can sing along to all the words like no time at all has passed. Relentlessly interesting and masterfully composed with hooks for days both on the vocal front as well as the instrumental front, it’s a shame Orbs hasn’t been more active in the intervening years.

Punk

Another band that Ratpiss has shared the stage with, multiple times now. Philadelphia’s Diuretic absolutely fucking rule. Not only are they super cool people, but their music fucking rips too. The band has released one EP and a demo as of their existence so far, with Martyrfucker being the most recent effort. Pissed off, aggressive, loud and nasty, this is grindcore as it should be. Along with the general angry vibe of the music it also sounds raw as fuck. It’s not really “pure” grindcore in a sense since most of the music on here doesn’t rely exclusively on blast beats, and there are a lot of groovier sections with two-step parts that lean them a little bit more towards the hardcore punk side of grindcore. That said Diuretic is still full of angst, piss, and vinegar, and this EP is a prime example of just what the Philadelphia grind scene has to offer.

Thrash

This Montreal thrash trio, which has since evolved into a quartet, have been slowly making a name for themselves over the past year in Quebec and the wider Eastern Canadian scene. Taking influence from both the realms of old school thrash metal legends like Slayer and Anthrax as well as newer crossover institutions, the band doesn’t really fall squarely into one category or another. There’s a hefty amount of hardcore punk influence going on here, especially on the EP’s opener “Chernobyl”, but the ripping thrash doesn’t take long to kick in. Guitarist Christophe Michaud has one goal in mind and that’s to rip your head from your neck by making you headbang like a fucking lunatic. He accomplishes that goal in spades on here, while making sure the punk influence keeps things fun and upbeat.

Trad

Vancouver’s Gatekeeper are the best kept secret in the world of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal originating from Canada. This band embraces every classic metal cliche, taking as much influence from bands like King Diamond and Mercyful Fate as they do bands like Blind Guardian. They straddle the line between old school heavy metal outfits like Dio as well as pure power metal that emerged from Europe in the 80’s and 90’s a la Helloween. Delightfully melodic and impossibly catchy, every song on this record is absolute fucking banger and deserves to be blasted at max volume. With lyrics inspired by the works of famous fantasy and horror authors like Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft, listening to this album makes me feel like Conan the goddamned barbarian, riding a mighty steed across the plains of uncharted wilderness, a great broadsword strapped across my back.

Non-Metal

Com Truise – *In Decay*
**July 16th, 2012**
**Synthwave**
**Ghostly International**
**Orlando, Florida, USA**
**Standout Song:** “Data Kiss”

Have you ever been on a long-ass drive that you started early in the day, like before noon, and you keep on screaming down the highway, still having not reached your final destination as the sun goes down behind the hills and it seems like night is going to last forever? You’ve had one too many energy drinks and you’re wearing sunglasses to minimize the glare of the searing lights of the construction zone you’re passing through? Well this album is the soundtrack to that vibe. This is a night driving album if there ever was one. Much like other synthwave artists like Perturbator, Carpenter Brut, or Filmmaker, Com Truise has made a career off of perfectly encapsulating the atmosphere of the liminal space that is a highway after dark. That said Com Truise’s music is a bit more chillwave-leaning than the retro and horror inspired vibes of those other artists, but the comparison is still apt.

~ Akhenaten

The Scrolls of Akhenaten: April 12th, 2024

April 13, 2024 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

This one is coming to you a day late because life got in the way this past week and I didn’t get as much time to hammer out which albums I wanted to recommend to you all on Friday. I was also busy hosting a show at The Traxide in Montreal featuring some rather excellent bands from the Maritimes, namely the blackened death metal stylings of Paratomb and progressive metal wizardry of Omnivide, along with local thrashers Grimhold and death-sludge riffologists Obelisk. Now that I’ve got a few moments of free time to myself this Saturday (between recovery) I’m going to make up for it. Read on for some of your (somewhat) regularly scheduled riff recommendations!

Black

The first time I heard this record I was absolutely floored and to this day it continues to shock me. I’d like to thank Devon Milley for this recommendation as it was through him that I discovered this band. I’ve never heard a band so perfectly emulate the sound of Darkthrone’s early material. Everything on this record from the guitar tone to the drum approach to the production to the vocal approach is the closest I’ve ever heard a band mimic that style, and they do it wonderfully. The riffage is so pure and kvlt and trve and devoid of any bells and whistles. Even the vocals sound eerily similar to the range and tone of Nocturno Culto on those classic black metal albums as well as the post-Panzerfaust era of the band. All you have to do is listen to the first track here, “Three Desecrated Hosts”, and you’ll see what I mean. If you’re at all a fan of that style of Norwegian black metal, then Germany’s Pakkt is a must-listen, especially for Darkthrone die-hards like myself.

Death

I first discovered this band through a video made by the YouTuber known as The Punk Rock MBA. I think that guy sucks but I’d be lying if I said he hadn’t put me on to some cool music over the years. Human Remains is definitely one of those bands. The first time I put this record on I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing. “A deathgrind diamond” as one Bandcamp reviewer named Brett put it, this thing is fucking weird. There are sounds on here that I didn’t even know a guitar could make before I listened to this thing. It’s exceptionally brutal, uncompromising, relentless, and unapologetically experimental. There’s plenty of moments where the music remains firmly rooted in brutalizing the listener with blast beats and atonal guitar riffs before launching into interludes that feel like they’re drawing upon bands like Mr. Bungle and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Of course Dillinger was probably influenced by this band considering that Human Remains predates them.

Doom

Wardehns – *Now Cometh the Foul*
**December 21st, 2018**
**Stoner Metal / Sludge Metal / Crust Punk**
**Independently Released**
**Wausau, Wisconsin, USA**
**Standout Song:** “Denim Dogs”

I was put onto this band through a friend of mine who just happened to be playing them out loud on a Bluetooth speaker while I was hanging with some pals at their house. I was pretty much immediately hooked by the quality of the riffage, the production value, and just how similar it felt to the kind of sludge metal that I am really drawn to: bands like Mastodon, Kylesa, and Black Tusk. The ones who are a little artsy but aren’t afraid to get deep, down, and dirty with their music. Wardehns certainly scratches that itch for me and I’ve had this record on repeat ever since that initial encounter. It’s monolithic in size, with every song imparting the image of a group of intrepid travelers and warriors climbing their way to the top of a frostbitten mountain, surviving blizzards and avalanches, and fighting horrible beasts all along the way. The album cover is indeed a perfect representation of what kind of music you’ll hear on this thing. It comes highly recommended.

Prog

I brought up Omnivide in the intro to this article not just to tell you about the show I was at last night, but also as a genuine recommendation for a band that kicks fucking ass that doesn’t live all that far from Newfoundland. This New Brunswick progressive metal outfit just released their debut album, A Tale of Fire, last month, and are currently embarking on a tour across Canada in support of it. Having seen them live a couple of times now as well as having listened to this thing all the way through time and time again I can attest to this band absolutely ruling. If you want your brain to be disassembled and then put back together wrong then this is the record for you. Their music certainly draws heavy influence from big-name prog bands like Between the Buried and Me, but there are also shades of groups like Cynic, Obscura, and Beyond Creation to be found within. If you like any of those bands you’ll almost certainly like this.

Punk

I was lucky enough to catch Flower at Varning Fest last year, an annual underground crust punk and metal festival that occurs in Montreal. They came up from New York City to play here and absolutely tore the place apart. I thought their live performance was already great but it was checking out their recordings after the fact on my own that really sold me on them. This right here is the kind of punk I like the most. It’s loud, aggressive, angry, and dirty as fuck. All the best crust punk is only a few steps removed from speed metal and black metal and Flower really embrace that vibe on this LP. The album opens with an atmospheric blackened guitar riff that reminds me extensively of Gallhammer and Darkthrone, before the unruly punk ripping starts at full force. It’s so gross and nasty, from the raw guitar tone to the punchy drums to the pissed off vocals. Flower are fantastic, and this LP absolutely slays.

Thrash

Mexico’s Phantom are pretty much everything I want from modern thrash. Their sound is supremely old school, drawing clearly upon the bands of the 80’s, with the Teutonic sound in particular being a primary influence. If you like Sodom, Kreator, or Destruction, or at least the way those bands used to sound back in the day, then Phantom may be for you. That’s not to discount the American influence in their sound either, because notes of Slayer and Metallica definitely crop up from time to time, but ultimately they keep things rooted in that more aggressive sound that veers on the edge of black metal without ever stepping forth into the blizzard. What makes this album even more impressive is that the dudes in this band are really young, most of them being around the ages of 18 to 20. For being as young as they are they’ve got a fantastic grasp of their instruments and their songwriting capability is excellent. I’m stoked to hear what they put out next.

Trad

I never thought I would unironically enjoy a NASCAR-themed metal band but then I am the Intimidator came out of nowhere and showed me the errors of my hubris. This is the new solo project of former Poison Idea guitarist Andrew Stromstad and the entire thing is lyrically and aesthetically based around the final day of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt’s life. If that wasn’t already enough to sell you on the concept, then I’m happy to report that the music contained within is just as fucking awesome. It’s old school speed metal that draws as much influence from Metallica, Motorhead, and King Diamond as it does from a blackened speed metal act like Venom and an epic doom metal band like Candlemass. While the record may be all over the map in terms of influence it is surprisingly consistent all the way through, featuring fabulous riff after fabulous riff and vocals that’ll put hair on your chest.

Non-Metal

Shpongle – *Tales of the Inexpressible*
**March 29th, 2001**
**Chillout / Psychedelic Trance**
**Twisted Records**
**Chobham, England, UK**
**Standout Song:** “Star-Shpongled Banner”

I discovered Shpongle years ago when I was still in high school. While sick and staying home from school one day I went down an enormously long musical rabbit hole on YouTube (this was back in the day before algorithms ruined everything) which eventually led me to a fan-made animated music video for the song “Star-Shpongled Banner”. I was so enamored by the combination of the music with the visuals I was experiencing made that song stick with me for years to come, and to this day I still revisit this record from time to time. While I don’t often find myself listening to electronic music, when I do I prefer the kind of stuff that’s outside the realm of the typical club fare. I don’t go to clubs often, mind you, but I have a hard time imagining that this is the kind of thing played anywhere outside of a hippie drug den. It’s not for everyone, but if you like weird electronica you should definitely check this one out.

~ Akhenaten

Album Review: Dendron – To Save Ourselves

November 1, 2022October 23, 2022 / Akhenaten / 1 Comment

*“By the light of the moon you had drawn me out, like the siren sound, just like the siren sound.”*

Dendron – To Save Ourselves
January 28th, 2022
Progressive Metal / Djent
Independently Released
St. John’s, Newfoundland

Dendron first splashed onto the Newfoundland heavy music scene in 2016 with the release of their first EP, Glass Spire. I gave the EP a pretty positive review though I was critical of the vocal style which I felt was somewhat lacking and incongruent with the band’s style of music. Now here we are six years later and the band has bounced back with a brand new full length record as well as an updated lineup. Peter Burton remains as the vocalist while guitars have been taken over by both Ryann Brophy and Connor Whalen. Bass duties are handled by Quinn Whalen whereas the drums remain in control of Nathan Tizzard.

Whereas the music on Glass Spire was much more straightforward progressive metal, Dendron have seriously upped their game for To Save Ourselves. This record feels like a continuous piece of music, perhaps inspired by some of the band’s contemporaries in the “big metal” world, like Between the Buried and Me or TesseracT. Each song flows into the next, making it feel like the album was intentionally composed as one big song, with motifs and sound repeating throughout. Each song does have a point where it stops before the next one begins, but the way the songs are placed in the tracklist makes it feel as if though it’s one big piece.

The first thing I noticed about this album is how much better Peter Burton has gotten as a singer. Holy hell, this guy can sing. On Glass Spire I was very uncertain about how he’d play out as the band’s vocalist because many of the passages seemed to be off-key or showcased a level of struggle when trying to hit certain notes. It’s clear the Burton has been practicing a hell of a lot in the last six years because he is on absolute fire on this album. On top of that his voice has a certain quality to it that, while I wouldn’t necessarily say is nasally, is definitely in that higher and softer register that reminds me of the clean vocals from other modern prog metal vocalists like Spencer Sotelo or Tommy Rogers.

The guitars on here are also pretty damned good. Brophy and the two Whalens have really upped their riff game, coming up with riffs that are not only quite complex but also catchy as hell. The chorus riff for “THREEPERCENTREALITY” is going to be stuck in my head for quite some time. It’s something that I feel a lot of djent bands kind of forget, but just because you can play staccato breakdowns in a weird time signature doesn’t mean you’ve written a good song, but Dendron does not delve into that territory. These guys can write a great hook while still keeping it weird and out there with regards to the timing of things.

Tizzard is also on fire with the drumming on this album. As comes naturally with the complexity of riff-writing in the progressive metal genre, the drumming also has to be up to snuff, and that’s definitely the case here. Every change-up, and transition on this record is tight as hell, with all kinds of different time signatures locked in perfectly with the guitars. It’s not all flashy, of course. Slower sections like the chorus of “Pull Guard” are appropriately simple for the kind of big, loud and emotionally heavy moment the band is trying to present, but he also has some pretty deadly fills throughout the record’s runtime.

The production on this thing is also just absolutely nuts. Everything on here is so crystal clear it’s almost annoying. I do prefer my metal to have a bit of a gritty edge to it when it comes to the production but for this style of modern progressive metal I know that’s not what most people are going for. Rather I think the clarity works in Dendron’s favour as you can hear every little intricacy of the guitar and drum work. My only issue with the production is that I feel like the drums sound a bit too electronic for me. I know they’re not programmed, they are indeed organic, but I wish there was just a little bit more dirt on the mix specifically for that instrument.

This is a pretty damn impressive album, even for progressive metal. The songs on here are memorable and emotive, with hooks for days that result in tracks like “THREEPERCENTREALITY” becoming earworms, while others like “Refrain” serving as moments of quiet catharsis before the ending 13 minute long behemoth that is the BTBAM-esque “Cambyses”. On top of that it’s so obvious that the musicians involved in this band have improved so much at their instruments as well as at songwriting in the time since Glass Spire. If this is where Dendron is at right now, I can’t wait to hear what they’re going to do next.

Final Verdict: 9/10
Awesome

Favourite Tracks:
“Dodging Glances”
“THREEPERCENTREALITY”
“Pull Guard”

For Fans Of:
Between the Buried and Me
Periphery
TesseracT

~ Akhenaten

Metal Maniacs: Greg Ravengrave

July 29, 2022January 20, 2024 / Akhenaten / Leave a comment

This edition of Metal Maniacs features Greg Ravengrave, the multi-instrumentalist behind Mistwalker, drummer of Ratpiss, as well as numerous other projects, and the founder of Heavy NFLD.

Hey folks! After doing this project for a few months thanks to the inspiration of Winterhearth frontman and guitarist Andrew Marsh I figured it was finally time for me to sit down and write about my own series of inspirational and influential records that led me to become the musician I am today. For those of you who don’t know, my name is Greg, I’m the founder of Heavy NFLD and the guy who mainly writes for this blog. I write and record everything in the black metal project Mistwalker, play drums in the crust band Ratpiss, and have umpteen-thousand other side projects besides that which span a number of different genres. With that out of the way, let’s get into it!

The Sword – Age of Winters

When I was but a wee lad I was growing up in the town of Glovertown, which is about three hours outside of St. John’s, in the Gander area. I grew up in a pretty strict Christian conservative household where my family did everything in their power to shelter me from the outside world. In all honesty, it was pretty fucked. Thankfully we eventually got the internet. At this time in my life I was pretty heavy into gaming and I was obsessed with the PS2 video game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. One day I was browsing YouTube and found a trailer for the game’s sequel, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. The song used in that trailer? “Iron Swan” by The Sword. The heaviness, aggression and insanity of the instrumentation in that song was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Coupled with visuals of vast swathes of Venezuelan jungle being burned to the ground and tanks and attack helicopters blowing shit up, it kicked my ass. From that moment I was hooked and needed more. Thankfully the rest of this record, including such classics as “Freya” and “Winter’s Wolves”, had plenty more megalithic riffage to offer my adolescent brain.

Slipknot – Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses

While The Sword was my gateway drug into metal, it wasn’t until Slipknot came across my ears that I delved fully into my nu metal cringelord phase. I first heard “Before I Forget” on Guitar Hero III as a teenager and, in all honesty, it didn’t quite click with me. However, when I eventually came across the song “Duality” on YouTube I was hooked. The rest of the album was like a drug, from the absurdly heavy and chaotic early tracks like “The Blister Exists” to the absolute banger that is “Pulse of the Maggots”, this album was exactly what my miserable, angst-filled teenage brain needed. Even the quieter, more solemn songs on this album, like “Circle”, “Vermilion”, and “Vermilion Part 2” hit me right in the feels. From this record I would eventually branch out into the rest of Slipknot’s discography and became a die-hard Maggot.

Judas Priest – Painkiller

Around the same time that Guitar Hero started to fall off as a franchise, Rock Band came in to absolutely dominate the rhythm game market, and me, along with many of my friends, became obsessed. Towards the end of high school we used to host Rock Band parties on a pretty regular basis, and I can even credit the game with being how I first learned how to play drums. When Rock Band 2 came out near the end of the 2000’s I ate up the amount of metal tracks that had been included on the game’s disc at release, including Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”. I was blown away by the sheer sonic assault of the drum into. I had never heard anything quite like it. I was obsessed and immediately went to listen to the rest of the record. I remember having the thought, “this is fucking metal, man”. For real, if an alien visited Earth and asked me to define heavy metal I would play this album. Every single song on this thing is an unabashed banger. This is one of the few records in existence I would say is an 11/10, and to this day it remains in fairly constant rotation on whatever device I’m using to listen to music.

Mastodon – Crack the Skye

Similarly to Judas Priest, I also discovered Mastodon through Rock Band 2 thanks to the inclusion of “Colony of Birchmen”. At the time, however, that song didn’t quite click with me. Luckily it was only about a year later when the band would drop one of the most critically lauded records of their career. Crack the Skye came to me at exactly the right moment in my life. It was dirty and dark but was incredibly complex. This album introduced me to progressive metal but also encouraged me to push my drumming skills to the next level. Brann Dailor is an absolute monster on this record and I spent many hours in the rec room of my parent’s house trying to nail this entire album behind the kit.

Between the Buried and Me – Colors

Yet another artist discovered through Rock Band 2, albeit this time through the game’s downloadable content. “Prequel to the Sequel” was my first exposure to progressive metal of this stripe. The guitar playing on that song is on another level and the sheer complexity of the track as it twists and morphs into so many different areas still boggles my mind to this day. When listening to the full record it’s clear that Colors is in a class all on its own when it comes to contemporary progressive metal. Aside from showing me just what was capable within the framework of the “metal” genre, this band also got me into harsh vocals. There was a long time where I didn’t like screaming, no matter if it was the ultra low gutturals of a band like Cannibal Corpse or the higher pitched snarl of metalcore bands, I wasn’t into it. I could only tolerate Slipknot because for some reason in my adolescent mind Corey Taylor’s yelling wasn’t the same as a straight up death metal scream (don’t ask how I justified that, because I wouldn’t remember). But once I got into Between the Buried and Me I really understood just why harsh vocals were so appealing to people, and from then on I was sold.

Devin Townsend Project – Addicted

This was my introduction to Devin Townsend, an artist who has arguably had the most effect on my life as a musician, at least from a work ethic perspective. Addicted, like many of the other records on this list, came to me at the perfect moment in my life. It melded heavy guitars with a 100% pop aesthetic, fusing heaviness with absurdly catchy bubblegum melodies, and it was like a sonic version of crack to my ears. I couldn’t get enough of it. It was this album that made me realize that no matter how complex or impressive the musicianship on any given record is, what really matters to me as a musician is if your songs are memorable, and so I started putting a lot of focus into trying to craft catchy hooks over anything else. Granted, I wasn’t actually recording my own music at this point (around 2009/2010-ish), but it greatly influenced the music I did end up working on in the coming decade. Aside from that, the sheer amount of music that Townsend put out around this time wound up having more of an effect on me than the music itself did. How he was able to put out so much material so quickly, most of which was pretty damn good, astounded me, and I aspired to try and live up to that as much as possible with my own works.

SikTh – Death of a Dead Day

The first time I heard “Bland Street Bloom” by these UK tech metal legends I was blown away. If Between the Buried and Me opened my mind to what was capable of being played on guitar, and Devin Townsend showed me that prog and metal can still be catchy and poppy without sacrificing heaviness, SikTh showed me that you can maintain both of those qualities while also being insane. No doubt a huge influence on the djent scene that emerged in the 2010’s, none of the bands that followed in SikTh’s footsteps could ever really hold a candle to these guys. Sure, I love Meshuggah as much as the next guy, and they undoubtedly started the style, but SikTh has a special flavour that nobody could ever really match. As much as I love groups like Periphery and Tesseract and Born of Osiris, SikTh is the gold standard for technical and progressive metal, and this album is the pinnacle of that. To this day I’m still mesmerized by the guitar and drum work on this thing and I can only hope to one day be able to even come close to what is performed on this record.

Stolen Babies – There Be Squabbles Ahead

I was never quite a goth kid when I was in high school but I always kind of wanted to be. There was definitely an appeal to the aesthetic presented by what is considered typical “goth” media like The Nightmare Before Christmas or My Chemical Romance, but given the oppressive nature of high school in small town Newfoundland I never really went full tilt, so to speak. Musically I wouldn’t even end up getting into actual, honest to Satan, goth rock until recently. Back in high school I found myself drawn more to avant garde metal, which, in my opinion, is usually just a fancy way of saying carnival musical with distorted guitars. Stolen Babies were my entryway to that world, and to this day I don’t think any band has quite managed to capture the feeling that their debut record, There Be Squabbles Ahead, has. I remember hearing one song from these guys on YouTube and being unable to find the rest of the record anywhere, save on a torrent site, so I let the album download over the course of a week and when I finally got to listen to it I was enthralled by what I heard. It’s fair to say that this record has influenced my own music to a degree, especially when it comes to some of the Halloween-themed releases I’ve dropped as Mistwalker (namely Of Pumpkins and Pinecones). And yes, before you ask, I did end up buying the album. I own a CD copy of it at my parents’ place in Glovertown.

Amon Amarth – Twilight of the Thunder God

This one probably doesn’t come as much surprise to anyone. The band’s most popular and critically acclaimed record, Twilight of the Thunder God is remembered fondly for a reason. This album is another 11/10 for me. Every track on here is so flawless both with their songwriting capability and memorability. Every song on this album is memorable and stands apart from the others on the record with their own individual flavour and uniqueness. This was probably the first death metal record I ever full enjoyed, this or At the Gates’ Slaughter of the Soul. However, it was this album’s (and band’s) Viking themes that drew me. It was around this time (2011-2013) that I became very interested in Norse mythology and Viking history, and this record was my gateway to that. The riffs and the vocals are so powerful that nary a melodeath record has risen to accomplish what this album has. It was this record that led to me incorporating occasional themes of paganism and Norse myth in my own music when I officially started recording under the name of Mistwalker in 2013.

Darkthrone – F.O.A.D.

It was when I was in college (from 2012-2014) that I met my Kristopher Crane (from the projects Nemophilist and Acorn to Great Oak and also from the bands Impaled Upon the Mountains and Grimacing, which we formed together) who introduced me to black metal. I was aware of black metal before college but it never quite clicked with me. Once I was a bit older and felt a bit more depressed in my adult life I think that’s when I fully got it. The album that really did it for me was F.O.A.D. by Darkthrone, which Kris had introduced me to. Songs like “Canadian Metal”, “The Church of Real Metal”, and “Raised on Rock” just hit me right in the gut. To this day Darkthrone is the band that has inspired me the most as a musician, particularly in terms of style. Their mixture of black metal with old school heavy metal and crust punk (particularly their 2000’s era) and even the doom metal they’re doing these days is exactly the kind of music I want to create.

Honourable Mentions:

At the Gates – Slaughter of the Soul
Baroness – Red Album
The Black Dahlia Murder – Nocturnal
Darkthrone – Transilvanian Hunger
Diablo Swing Orchestra – The Butcher’s Ballroom
Equilibrium – Sagas
High on Fire – Death is this Communion
The Human Abstract – Digital Veil
Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance
Kylesa – Static Tensions
Mastodon – Leviathan
Periphery – Periphery
Slipknot – All Hope is Gone
Whitechapel – A New Era of Corruption

~ Akhenaten

Album Review: Rick Massie – Eclipse

September 1, 2020August 30, 2020 / Akhenaten / 1 Comment

*Oh what a glorious day to stay to watch the sun’s rays coming home again.*

Rick Massie – Eclipse
May 1st, 2020
Progressive Rock / Progressive Metal
Independently Released
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory [Originally from Labrador]

Rick Massie is a name that many a Newfoundlander or Labradorean metalhead may be unfamiliar with. After all, the artist based all the way up yonder in Whitehorse, Yukon is pretty far away from the small and well connected scene that we’ve got going on on the island. But those who have had the acumen to delve deep into our province’s heavy metal history may know that Massie was once a member of Wars of Winter, a progressive black and death metal outfit from Port Saunders that also featured Glen O’Keefe of Oceanic, as well as The Sacred Innocent, a short-lived thrashy heavy metal project based more in the Corner Brook area. However both of these projects were active in Massie’s younger years and ever since the artist moved to Whitehorse he’s been working towards becoming a solo musician. Now that work has culminated in the release of his debut solo record, Eclipse, written, recorded, mixed, mastered and released all independently from his home in the Yukon. The album has received a lot of coverage and press from the progressive rock underground so let’s dive in to see what Massie’s first solo effort has to offer us.

Eclipse begins with it’s title track, an ominous and foreboding instrumental intro that features dark and moody guitar leads playing over syncopated bass drum patterns. The song does a decent job at setting the stage for the kind of metal that we’re about to get into further into the record, though what follows next may be a bit of a surprise to uninitiated listeners. “A Moment of Truth (Uncertainty)”, which follows “Eclipse”, is immediately blatant in showing off Massie’s primary influence of Devin Townsend. From the clean guitar passages to Massie’s soft, breathy voice to the additional layer of vocal melodies in the background to the layered synths and ambiance the entire record is positively dripping in Townsend influence.

On that note, the mood that this album elicits is undeniably one of positivity and hopefulness. In contrast to the feelings of aggression, darkness and anger that are present in the majority of metal music, Massie does his best to emulate Devin Townsend’s messages of peace, hope and introspection. That’s not to say that there aren’t moments of angry outbursts or more aggressive riffing and segments on this record, as evidenced by the blackened death metal bridge on “Mysterious Ghost” that explodes out of nowhere into a cacophony of blast beats and darkness, but by and large the vibe is very much pushed in the direction of uplifting the listener through lots of major chords, swelling synths and soft vocal melodies. “A Moment of Truth” may be the most obvious example of the positive vibes that this record brings to the table.

As a vocalist I can’t say that I would compare Massie to Townsend in every respect because, well, Townsend is unquestionably one of the best vocalists in metal today, with an insane range that includes everything from lo-fi indie rock crooning to operatic, ear-shattering belts to straight up death metal and black metal growls. However when it comes to the softer side of things Massie does conjure memories of some of Townsend’s work, particularly on albums such as Ki and Ghost. That being said it’s not like Townsend is Massie’s one and only influence. There are many moments such as in the latter half of “Time After Time” or “The Way” where Massie gets a bit throatier and a bit raspier and it reminds me of some of Brendon Small’s solo work with the Galaktikon albums.

In terms of Massie’s guitar playing the riffs on this record are oftentimes very simple and straightforward with by the numbers chord progressions and hard rock strumming patterns. That being said its the layering and ambiance that really makes the guitar passages on this album worth listening to. For example the opening of “Time After Time” is a soft, clean, reverb-drenched segment that leads into the dual-guitar attack that comes after. One guitar plays some higher leads that soar over the mix while the other guitar plays a Ziltoid-esque tremolo chugging pattern. Massie’s ability to meld syncopated chugging guitars with ambient leads is stellar and is really what drives most of the guitar playing on this album. All this isn’t to say, however, that the album is devoid of intricate, proggy guitar playing. For example the ending of “Time After Time” has some pretty weird stuff going on on the lead axe and “The Way” has some cool chuggy moments that play around with skipping beats and subverting the listener’s expectations. Plenty of songs like “Sunrise in the Rain” and “Mysterious Ghost” have some very understated guitar solos that scream above the mix so it’s clear that Massie knows when to put the focus on what the guitar is doing.

The synth plays a huge role on this album, with almost every song on here being beefed up in terms of the ‘wall of sound’ effect by adding layers of ambiance behind the guitars and drums. Many songs, such as “Eclipse” and “Reflections” contain excessive amounts of choir orchestrations going on the background that enhance the album’s grandiose and epic feeling. Other moments like the beginning of “Reflections” are entirely synth-led, sounding very electronic and like something you might hear as an intro on a modern metalcore or deathcore record (think Born of Osiris or Between the Buried and Me).

The mixing on this album is very well done. Taking cues once again from Devin Townsend, Massie engages in a more lo-fi version of the wall of sound technique, throwing guitars, bass, keyboards, ambiance and ambiance all together into a storm like a soft tsunami that washes over the listener. All these elements swirl together to form a big, bombastic sound that, while not necessarily rivaling other home produced projects I’ve heard this year, is certainly unique in its own way.

I do have some issues with this record, particularly when it comes to the drums. It’s quite obvious that the drums on this album were programmed by an electronic drum machine and that is something that, while becoming increasingly more common in the world of solo musicians and home recordings, is still something I find irritating. I can be forgiving of this in the sense that of course finding a real drummer to perform on your album, which can be harder in some places than others depending on where you live, and then possibly having to save the money to pay them as a session musician, is difficult. But I hope that on future projects Massie works on he can possibly find a real drummer to fill this role instead.

I also think that the bass wasn’t given fair enough treatment on this album as I didn’t even notice it in the mix until “The Way” which is about halfway through the record’s tracklist. It feels more like the bass is just ever so subtly there because it has to be, but then when it is actually noticeable it’s just playing the root notes of each measure. The bass is a really awesome instrument that has the ability to spruce up some songs and add a lot to what a final mix can sound like. I hope that in future releases Massie pays a bit more attention to what the bass is doing in the context of his songs and maybe bumps up how audible it is in the final mix.

For a debut full length solo album Eclipse is a monumental success for Massie and he should be proud of what he’s put together here. While the album may often seem like it consists mostly of Devin Townsend worship there’s definitely room for more metal music that embraces this kind of uplifting, optimistic atmosphere and message and I’m all here for it. If you like Devin Townsend or Brendon Small’s solo work or other big names in the prog world like Opeth or Haken then I highly recommend you give this album a listen. In spite of a few pitfalls like the programmed drums and the lack of presence in the bass it’s still a solid record and a really strong first effort. I look forward to hearing whatever Massie puts out in the future.

Final Verdict: 8/10
Great

Favourite Tracks:
“Time After Time”
“The Way”
“Mysterious Ghost”

For Fans Of:
Devin Townsend
Brendon Small
Opeth
Haken

~ Akhenaten

Mistwalker Announces New Album, New Live Bassist

March 12, 2019 / Akhenaten / 3 Comments

Full disclosure: Mistwalker is my band / project.

Mistwalker, my personal blackened heavy metal project, has begun writing of it’s ninth album. The writing of the new album was announced yesterday, March 11th, through posts via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Though I don’t want to comment too much on what this new record will sound like, let’s just say that artists like Voivod, Enslaved and Between the Buried and Me have had a bigger impact on me over the last year than they have in the past. I’m not saying this is going to be a straight up progressive metal album, but the influence is undeniably there.

Earlier this month it was also announced that the role of live bassist for Mistwalker will be fulfilled by Erin Faith (stage name: Erin Faithless), also of Montreal-based skate punk band No Way Out. Erin is a talented bassist in her own right and we’re excited to welcome her to the Mistwalker lineup.

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Writing for album number nine has begun. Stay tuned for more updates as the process continues. #mistwalker #blackmetal #thrashmetal #speedmetal #heavymetal #metal #glovertown #newfoundland #labrador #newfoundlandandlabrador #nl #nfld #stjohns #yyt #heavynfld #montreal #quebec #canadianmetal #distortionmtl

A post shared by Mistwalker (@mistwalkerofficial) on Mar 11, 2019 at 7:12am PDT

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Attention. Say hello to Erin Faithless, the new live bassist for Mistwalker. Erin has not only been jamming Mistwalker tunes with me since the summer of 2018, but is also my beautiful and talented girlfriend. She also plays bass for the skate punk band No Way Out. Check them out over at @nowayoutmusic if that's your thing! #mistwalker #blackmetal #thrashmetal #heavymetal #speedmetal #metal #erinfaithless #bass #montreal #quebec #glovertown #newfoundland #nfld #nl #heavynfld #stjohns #yyt #nowayout #whoarethemistwalkers

A post shared by Mistwalker (@mistwalkerofficial) on Mar 8, 2019 at 2:18pm PST

~ Akhenaten

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