Track By Tracks: Phaeton - Between Two Worlds (2023)

"Between Two Worlds" was a major step up for us in Phaeton, which is a big thing to say, as we were already extremely proud of what we accomplished on our debut album. As a prog-metal band that's strictly instrumental, we need to be sharp and clever to grab people's ears when there's nobody singing, and the melody lines of the twin guitars are what draw the listener's focus and take them on an emotional journey - which is the classic goal of all instrumental rock. And there's certainly no 'sophomore slump' happening here! We pushed ourselves as musicians, we pushed ourselves as instrumentalists, and we pushed ourselves as a unit to create something that had to at least be on par with the first album - and we surpassed all our expectations. We're hoping that fans of prog-metal find something enjoyable in these tunes, and will urge them into repeating listening, and we hope all the twists and turns and corners and swerves we've woven together will surprise and delight. And with us re-energized for live performance, we aim to convince the world that you can say so much...without saying a word.

Track by Track:

1. PREDESTINATION:

This was the perfect song to open the album with, as it contains all the elements that Phaeton prides itself on: Colin Righton's jazzy flutterings on the drums before he kicks into double-bass abandon and blast-beat fury; Kevin Thiessen's ever-fascinating rhythm guitar, spelling out jazz-fusion chords with metal attack; Daniel Airth's searing leads, and Ferdy Belland's aggressive counter-melodic hyperdrive attack on bass. Stops and starts and seeming chaos and then the killer riffs and the impressive harmony leads fall on everybody's head. Triumphant beauty and growling anger through amplified wires and wood. Crazy time signatures that almost topple off the cliff, but the catchy killer grooves make all the sense in the world. And on it goes.

2. OCEANS OF TIME:

This kicks off as a banger and bangs away just long enough to catch you off-guard when Kevin's spider-groove riff kicks back into half-time. And just when you've gotten used to this new theme - BOOM! Another new theme! And another! Is this just one song, or four songs welded together? Nope. Just one. And hey! Another new theme, is where Kevin and Daniel shine with harmonic interplay and trading lines. And WHOA! You thought the song was over? Think again! As with everything else we write, this tune isn't designed for an ignorable background drone. You really gotta follow the bouncing ball on this one - or at least the bouncing riffs.

3. TERRA AUSTRALIS:

The intro to this one always kills me, what with Kevin's weird jazz chords trading off against the crunch chords and the tapping, and then the groove sets in the lead guitar get to work. When the complicated melodies really get revving up, you can almost hear the tortured squeak of our helpless tendons as we desperately crawl our fretting fingers across the fretboard in pretzel patterns. There's a slight reprieve where we bring it down and present you with another hummable melody, and then things just start getting ridiculous again and it's Phull On Phaeton.

4. MONSOON:

Daniel brought this one into the band and proves that he's the Canadian King of the Killer Riff. After the kickoff crunch riffs set the mood, here comes a spooky halftime riff with a spookier guitar lead on it, and then another Killer Riff in quasi-swung time stabs out of the speakers. If Kevin is Phaeton's version of a traditional Classical Composer (mind you, one with a 7-string Ibanez), then Daniel is our Classic Metalhead (one with a 7-string Schechter). Whereas Kevin's songwriting style usually threads a string of different interlocking themes, Daniel knows how to capture the ears of even non-prog listeners by repeating the familiar themes, albeit with slightly different punctuations which are, to use formal musical terminology - Hella Cool.

5. REFRACTION:

This tune opens with what may at first lick seem to be a happy day at the beach, but the volleyball game ends soon enough when Colin's drums pick it up and then the major-9th power chords and the modal guitar leads start crazying up the works. Thought you could follow it easily enough? WRONG! More standout grooves and snappy riffs. The reggae-ish breakdown in the middle comes across almost like (Herakles help us) the Police, but then the djenty guitars envelop the proceedings and we're back into Symphony X again. Confused yet? Don't be. Listen to it again. See? It's all awesome.

6. GEOMORPH:

Another of Daniel's works. The moody intro is cool enough, and then the World's Greatest string-skipping Kissoff Riff rattles across the Schechter and gets immediately followed up by another crunchasaurus riff and then it's Melodic Breakdown time, which gives a nod back to the intro, but then what's this? The scene is now set for a dramatic build-up and then - hey, is that a synthesizer? No, it's Kevin doing his thing, and then GADZOOKS! It's yet another crushing riff (Dan's got thousands of them, truly), and then here's the World's Greatest string-skipping Kissoff Riff! Could the song be ending? Not a chance; keep listening - what? Another killer riff? What else did you expect?

7. MAGMA CHAMBER:

Colin really shines on this one. He honestly is one of the best-kept drumming secrets in all of Canadian Metal, and no, you can't have him. Kevin's ricocheting all over the bloody place on his guitar, whether it's the hey-mom-look-what-I-can-do tapping frenzy or the cultured djent of his rhythm riffs. And no, we didn't deliberately rip off Yes with the breakdown riff. And no, we didn't deliberately rip off Rush when we moved out of the breakdown riff. But then we leave all that controversy behind with a spooky underwater-bass breakdown before Kevin and Daniel boot open the hatches on another djenty-noodly detour. The halftime groove doesn't last long as Daniel and Kevin really start pulling out all the stops.

8. BETWEEN TWO WORLDS:

Our title-track Magnus Opus, all nine and a half minutes of it. The solar wind is the first thing you hear before the drops of notes patter you like coastal rain, and then it's power-chord time and we're off. This is where we stretch our limits of chordal density versus open space, spelling off with each other and working hard to make every riff mean something, and every overlying or underlying melody sing. "Ahh," you say. "Here's the breakdown! This must be the middle of the song!" We laugh good-naturedly at your presumptions; buckle up, my friends! Themes from earlier minutes return in louder, more insistent, more dolled-up manner, and we claw our way to the dynamic heights and then we plunge our way into the dynamic depths. And we bookend the closure with the solar wind again. This one was a workout to compose, it was a workout to record it, and yes, it is a killer to play, but it's all smiles and sweat from us. As it should be for you.