Track By Tracks: UTILITY PROVIDER - Challenger (2024)

1. Broken Ghost Touches:

Tyler: An instrumental track that blends elements of thrash, prog, and rock. We really focused on getting great guitar and bass tones, with powerful drums that punch in to accent certain moments in the song. Chris’s solo on top of the rhythm guitar adds a nice technical element too. I think this song really shows U.P.'s skill and musical abilities!

2. Humans:

Tyler: The music is heavy, dar,k, and punishing which is reinforced by the lyrical content. The lyrics for this song were actually written by John Murray, who spent a brief time in U.P years back. He wrote about the atrocities humans commit in the name of religion. One very powerful line is “you threw little children into unmarked graves”, which touches on the recent discovery in Canada of unmarked graves where Indigenous children were buried after being killed in the residential school system brought forth by the Catholic Church.

3. Challenger:

Tyler: This is the title track of the album so we spent a lot of time making sure the production was exactly what we wanted. The music, I think, sounds like a cool mix of thrash and power metal. The guitars are especially highlighted in this song to give it that power and distinct U.P tone that Chris is known for. The verses have quick guitar licks overtop of the main melody to add flavor. The vocals are mostly clean so listeners can hear the lyrics, which embody the theme of the album. This song in particular focuses on overcoming physical challenges with a fighting spirit. You will notice that the lyrics repeat in each verse - this was done on purpose to really drive home the point.

4. Social Murder:

Tyler: This song is meant to be an anthem. Right off the bat, we have guitar, bass, and drums smack the listener square in the face to set the tone. From there it's 2 minutes straight of pure, raw rage. Its short length makes it easy to listen to over and over again. The term ‘social murder’ was coined by Friedrich Engels in 1845 to describe the “unnatural death that occurs due to social, political, or economic oppression”. To embody that spirit I wrote the lyrics as a call to arms; throw off your chains, fuck the oppressors, and string them up.

5. Killer Instinct:

Tyler: This song is a little off from the theme of the album as it's more about the baser predatory instinct humans share with other animals, and how we use it along with our advanced minds to dominate all other species, and other humans, of the world. The music, specifically the guitar, utilizes palm muting for that loud-quiet-loud dynamic to highlight the vocals in the verses. The lyrics of each verse are meant to metaphorically tie in an aspect of human warfare with a feature of another predatory animal.

6. Northern Storm:

Tyler: A quick instrumental track that marks the switch from side A (the drop C tuning) to side B (A# tuning). This was written/composed completely by Chris and features a simple guitar riff with background noises reminiscent of a coming storm. The crickets and cracking thunder remind me a lot of the powerful storms I’d hear in Texas when my family would visit my grandma. This track prepares listeners for the “storm” that is side B, which is noticeably ‘darker’ than side A.

7. You Know She’s Metal:

Tyler: The most straight-up ‘metal’ sounding track of the album. Vadim does an incredible job on the drums with his massive snare hits and thundering double-kick work. In the chorus during the “metal” scream the vocals reach a pitch that Chris Cornell, Myles Kennedy, or even Steven Tyler would be proud of. Lyrics were again written by John Murry and embody the spirit of a metalhead.

8. Loudest Voices:

Tyler: Similar to “Social Murder”, this song also focuses on rising against oppression and the lyrics reflect this throughout the song. Musically the song could make a strong case for being considered the most dynamic on the album; several riff changes, a bass solo part, and an absolutely chaotic ending. The same could be said for vocals. A mix of clean, rough, and screaming vocals at various parts intertwined with the ‘cookie monster’ backing vocals of Tyler Parsons-Mathieu.

9. Skin and Bones:

Tyler: The chorus line says it all: “How would you feel if I stripped you down to your skin and bones?”, in other words, how would you feel if your true nature was exposed? How would you feel if we took away the facade - is it something you’d want the public to see? I find there is a distinct ‘grunge’ feel in this song reminiscent of early Nirvana. It features a simple repeating guitar riff through the verses to give more emphasis to the vocals and drums. However, the chorus guitar is chaotic and in your face. I also find the snare tone to be really great in this song. I think Chris and I do a killer job in this song with mixing vocals, especially during the chorus. This track is the only one on the album where Chris actually takes the role of primary vocalist (he is the only one singing during the verses) which pays homage to the many years where he was the primary singer in U.P.

10. Independent Soul:

Tyler: This song sounds absolutely nothing like anything U.P. has put out before. Completely clean guitar, bass, and vocals, it feels more like a metal ballad. It features beautiful guitar and bass tones all throughout and I love that there’s nothing fancy, it's just all raw, which I think encapsulates the feeling and power of this song. The vocals are reminiscent of Corey Taylor singing cleanly. Lyrics center on coming to terms with who you are and finding a way to accept yourself.

11. Scabs:

Tyler: My personal favorite of the album, “Scabs” has perhaps the best sounding vocals, clean and raspy, and uniquely features an unexpected drums-only intro. It is also the longest song on the album at 5 minutes and 55 seconds. The first half of the song is more rock sounding and you can hear this primarily in the guitars and vocals, although that signature U.P metal/rock guitar tone is still present. Things heat up in the second half with a distinctly ‘metal’ riff, very powerful drums, and intense vocals. The ending is my favorite part; a single guitar riff with repeating harmonic notes and quiet drums which allow a beautiful falsetto harmony between Chris and myself to shine through. Listen closely and you’ll also hear a subtle but intricate bass riff in the background separate from the guitar. If you close your eyes you can hear the ghost of old-school Alice in Chains. Lyrics are about overcoming addiction and trauma, surviving, and shedding your mental ‘scabs’.

12. Controversy in Everything:

Tyler: This track was actually featured on the U.P album “Lost in Humanity’s Grip” but had no vocals, so we decided to re-record it as a bonus track for our fans with the new U.P lineup. The production is miles ahead of the original recording. The music features a heavy prog element that’s really noticeable in the guitar tone and the drum structure. Vocals are mostly clean and rock-sounding, but Tyler Parsons-Mathieu’s ‘cookie monster’ vocals add a healthy dose of metal. If you listen closely you can also hear Chris do some Josh Homme-esque sexy deep vocals underneath the main vocal line around 3:12, and again at 3:55 in the song.