Feduk's horizons widen on solo effort
RED RAM — RIDE TO WEEPING WALL
Mark Feduk's Red Ram project continues to blur genre lines with its latest release, Ride to Weeping Wall.
Billed as an album “intended to be a single artistic expression listened to in its entirety,” Ride to Weeping Wall has an epic scope generally left unexplored on earlier Red Ram releases, which burbled with electropop flourishes alongside rootsy rock elements. On Ride to Weeping Wall, Feduk's horizons have widened, inviting new textures and themes into his work.
Ostensibly a solo effort backed by a host of musicians, Ride to Weeping Wall jumps the radio dial, from twangy country referencing Feduk's time in local alt-country legends The Uncas to the swirling, grungy psychedelics of early
Screaming Trees, sometimes all within the same song.
Soaring pedal steel navigates across songs If Ya Wanna Ride and Weeping Wall lending a forlorn quality, while a dirty harmonica punches through Writings on the Wall. The vocal stylings of Cadence Burns back Feduk's singing, which is often distorted and fed through echo delays to make him sound like recollections of half-remembered heartbreaks.
Chalk it up as a concept album or a cohesive journey through a theme, but Ride to Weeping Wall feels well-earned and organic. Nifty studio tricks pop up on subsequent listens, making it a joy to pick up on unorthodox percussion or what sounds like whispers lurking in the mix. Even with the production wizardry colouring the songs, one can't help but wonder how well these songs will sound performed live, which you'll get your chance to witness as Red Ram is performing a live release party Saturday, May 21 at The Black Dog.
Listen to Red Ram's Ride to Weeping Wall on all digital platforms, including Bandcamp.
TYMO — THE ART OF A MANIAC
Never judge a book by its cover, but the rule doesn't apply to metal albums. The genre isn't known for its subtlety and if the album cover showcases death, destruction or something that looks ripped from a Z-grade horror VHS front, you
know what you'll be getting.
Edmonton thrashers TYMO'S new album The Art of a Maniac comes plastered with a mutant Bob Ross and his canvas in front of a bombed-out city with a UFO hovering in the background, portending the songs of carnage within.
The lads have honed their skills since 2017's Purge & Reset, as The Art of a Maniac is not only faster, but brasher. One after another, the tracks pummel and pulverize, leaving the listener dizzied and wowed with a finger on the repeat button.
The album kicks off with a bit of needle crackling and jumps into Tymonicide, an instrumental rife with machine-gun guitars soloing and rapid-fire drums beating the track into a gooey mire.
The single Sanity Clause lays out a lot of the album's themes: choking on sanity, keeping demons at bay through self-medication and allegiance to Satan. Hey, it's tongue-in-cheek, or rather tongue-in-diaphragm the way the band's vocalist-guitarist Tim Tymo growls and howls over the tracks.
War Beneath the Skull beckons the listener with its galloping guitars to whip their mane back and forth; this one can easily soundtrack chopping lumber under a full moon to gardening on a blistering summer day in your leather and denim.
But how hard does it bang? Folks, The Art of a Maniac thrashes at a level exceeding safe headbanging levels. Guitarists Tymo and Nick Schwartz played wizard with time and found a way to cram in a bounty of riffs while Harlen Jacobs anchors this madness with pulsating bass and Marc Durie's drums replicate the sound of kicking a drum kit down the towering escalator inside Rogers Place.
Listen to TYMO'S The Art of a Maniac on Spotify or Bandcamp or visit tymo.ca. An official release party for The Art of a Maniac is happening May 14 at Rendezvous Pub.