(written by Islander)
The premiere we’re about to present is an unusual one in several respects. For one thing, the music isn’t brand new — it is an album named Deaditation that was released by the Canadian band Metaladian this past July — but the video is new, and it is a rare lyric video that takes listeners through the entire record. That makes sense, because the album itself presents a complete narrative arc — “an immersive descent into pain, revenge, and ultimately redemption….”
The premiere is unusual in other respects, mainly because of interesting details about the band’s lineup and history.
L-R: Dan Brophy – Rhythm and Lead Guitars and Vocals, Andrew Brophy – Drums and Lead Vocals, Dustin Smith – Bass Guitar and Vocals, Ruth Guechtal – Rhythm Guitar and Vocals
Photo Credit: Andrew Brophy
Metaladian began in 2003 as an outlet for the multi-faceted musical interests of composer, vocalist, and drummer Andrew Brophy. We are told that “much of the band’s foundation was written on classical guitar during his final year at Mohawk College, merging his love of thrash, death, progressive metal, and the darker works of Bartók, Penderecki, Mussorgsky, and Stravinsky.”
As time passed, Metaladian expanded to become “a family affair”, with Andrew Brophy joined by his brother Daniel, Dan’s wife Ruth Guechtal, and their good friend Dustin Smith. All four members are also part of the Hamilton band 30 Immolated; 16 Returned.
Worth noting: both Dan and Ruth have doctorates in composition, and Andrew also holds a classical-music degree, in addition to teaching music at different music studios in the greater Toronto area for twenty-five years (and privately on his own).
Under these circumstances it’s not surprising that the music on Deaditation reveals so many different facets. And as a further hint of that, the band recommend it for fans of Strapping Young Lad, early Metallica, Suffocation, Béla Bartók, and Ludwig Van Beethoven.
The afore-mentioned album-length narrative arc begins in dark and daunting fashion with “Left Hand Path“, a nearly 10-minute excursion that begins with the sound of cold winds, howling wolves, abrasively churning riffage, urgent bass pulses, sharp drum strikes, and lead vocals that themselves sound like wolves — except more rabidly ravenous.
Gruesome gutturals and wailing screams join in, providing a maniacal call-and-response quality to the vocal hostility; the drums erupt in frantic volleys; and a lead guitar also screams and frantically whistles. But the pacing also slows, and a grisly lurching bass helps the song ominously and morbidly crawl, creating an even more nightmarishly oppressive experience, in which the vocals begin to conjure images of the cast for a demonic opera.
The ensuing title song “Deaditation” does nothing to calm a listener’s nerves. It assaults the mind with cacophonous vocals, drums that call to mind some kind of horrid ritual, burbling bass notes, and grit-slathered riffing that seems to manifest psychosis — though it doesn’t match the psychotic nature of the voices. And things get very creepily hallucinatory at the end.
The band’s classical music influences begin to more prominently rear their heads at the beginning of “No Worse Death Than the Loss of All Hope“, and again near the end when the music suddenly shifts into a moody classical acoustic-guitar instrumental backed by other acoustic instruments.
Not just for those reasons, the song’s composition seems even more unorthodox than the first two numbers, and while the vocals are often still monstrous, the choral vocals, even more so than previously, call to mind some kind of infernal opera or crazed musical theater capturing the loss of all hope.
Without touching in comprehensive details on each of the album’s songs, it’s worth noting that the nearly 12 minutes of “Confrontation with God” pushes the music even further into what we might call avant-garde territory, with the rhythm section going off on inventive and deftly executed digressions, other instruments that sound like a trumpet or a woodwind unfurling jazzy melodic accents, and tempos that have no patience for staying fixed or straightforward. The song also reinforces Metaladian’s already-demonstrated tendency to end their songs in brain-scrambling fashion (but with a few moments of utter peace at the very end).
The final two songs, “Cure For Judgement” and “Welcome To Your Holy Hell“, don’t take listeners outside Metaladian’s musical version of the Bedlam asylum. They’re also elaborate brain-scramblers, both instrumentally and vocally. They too include instrumental tones that don’t sound like conventional metal instruments, as well as prog-minded drum-and-bass adventures that aren’t conventional either. They too manifest voices that sound like a cross between a diabolical bestiary and musical theater performers who left their sanity at the door.
We were promised a journey ending in redemption, and there is indeed something musically joyful about the closing song, though maybe “macabre ecstasies” is a better term for it. As for the words, they are mostly viciously and hilariously rude, though also defiant in the protagonists’ refusal to be defined by assholes. At the very end are the final recorded sounds of Brophy’s late dog, Adian.
In reflecting upon the album, I’m not sure those FFO references way up above are going to provide reliable signposts for what lies ahead. Perhaps they identify influences that helped inspire the songwriting or got spun into the creative whirligig that resulted in these songs, but, to repeat an earlier point, Deaditation seems much more unorthodox and unbridled than you might think in perusing that list, and its facets are a great deal more complex than the list suggests.
There’s obviously a lot of talent in this band, and a lot of interesting perspectives, and what they’ve done together here will hold a lot of fascination for adventurous listeners. But if you’re looking for cheap headbang thrills, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.
ALBUM CREDITS: All songs were written by Andrew Brophy, performed by Metaladian, produced by Andrew Brophy, mixed by Dan Brophy, and mastered by Andreas “Seidr Jonsson” Westholm of Dark Prod Mixing and Mastering. The album features cover artwork by Roberto Toderico of Roberto Toderico Art.
We’ll also share this parting statement, which includes news about a Metaladian show scheduled for tonight:
Metaladian’s live setup is unconventional; Brophy performs drums and lead vocals front‑and‑center, flanked by Dan and Ruth, with Dustin elevated behind. All four members contribute vocals, creating a massive, theatrical wall of sound, which can be seen and heard at the band’s next performance in Hamilton on September 25th at Doors: Taco Joint & Metal Bar with Volcandra and Graveripper.
Deaditation is available via the following links:
Bandcamp – https://metaladian.bandcamp.com/
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/album/43R5cqEGN33XTG6XsP7fo1
FOLLOW METALADIAN:
https://www.facebook.com/metaladian/
https://www.instagram.com/metaladian