Unleash The Archers were formed in 2007 in Vancouver. Fronted by the woman with the powerful banshee voice Brittney Slayes, the band combines highly technical playing with power and speed. The result can be remarkably uplifting an empowering, and their style of melodic power metal have gained them a global audience.
I still think of this amazing Canadian orchestra as a relatively new band, but incredibly, their 15th anniversary is creeping ever nearer on the horizon. Time is certainly not standing still, despite the title of their incredible third album Time Stands Still (2015). That was the album I discovered them with, and it became one of my favourite albums of that year. Apex (2017) was a great follow-up with a much more ambitious and complex sound, but it didn’t settle quite as comfortably as their previous one for me. Ahead of this year’s release, Time Stands Still was still the benchmark they would be measured against.
Abyss is their fifth studio album, and was released on 21 August 2020. Like many other releases this year, it was pushed back a few times from its original April date due to the Covid-19 situation.
Stylistically, the album places itself somewhere between the two previous albums. It has more of the melodic hooks and the raw, in-your face quality of Time Stands Still, while retaining some of the ambitiously epic and larger than life arrangements of Apex. It’s a fine balance, being simple yet multifaceted at the same time, but the band have surpassed themselves on Abyss. The result is an album with an exciting soundscape and many moments of adventurous, immense beauty.
Abyss is a concept album that actually continues the story introduced on its predecessor. The band originally planned to release Apex and Abyss as a double album, but were running out of time and decided to release Apex on its own. This may have been beneficial as the second part now gives the overall story more musical diversity, making the combined works more multifaceted and interesting. This strengthens the overall narrative. Where Apex is grounded and dark and heavy, Abyss is lighter and more ethereal, reflecting the different settings – and story elements – of the albums.
“It just started with the main characters, the Immortal and the Matriarch,” vocalist and chief story writer Brittney Slayes told American Songwriter. “I knew I wanted my villain to be female because what’s scarier than a woman hungry for power? And I wanted my protagonist to be a male, tragic hero type. I was inspired by them and how they would interact, both super powerful, but not destroying each other. That’s when I came up with the curse where the Immortal must serve whoever awakens him, so then I asked why does she want him? What can he do that a normal man can’t?”
During the first half of 2019, as they started writing the album, the band disconnected from everything related to Apex to search for new influences and approaches. In the second half of the year they wrote the new songs, and recorded the album in January 2020. They travelled to Denmark to record in Hansen Studios in Ribe, located on the west coast. The band later expressed relief that they were able to do the recordings before the Covid-19 lockdowns.
In an interview with Loudwire, vocalist Brittney Slayes described the story on the album as follows: “Our protagonist, The Immortal, is once again awakened at the beginning of our story, but this time he is in an unknown place: a ship out in deep space. He wanders alone for a time, reflecting on his misdeeds, searching for his new master. Finally, he finds him, and learns that it is the Grandson of The Matriarch, our antagonist. The Immortal had taken The Grandson’s father away some sixty years before, to be sacrificed by The Matriarch in a ritual to achieve immortality (the events from Apex) and now the Grandson seeks revenge against The Matriarch with the aid of her own weapon, The Immortal.”
According to Slayes, Abyss deals with topics such as good vs. evil and light vs dark, while showcasing the conflict between the protagonist’s good and bad sides and his will to define whether he’s just a tool or a free being.
I love concept albums personally, even though this album has so much story, character development, action, thoughts and reflections that a mere music album is struggling to contain it all. This may be why the band has revealed their plans to release a comic book containing the full story from Apex and Abyss. That would be a great companion piece to the music and I’d love to see that happen.
Overall, Abyss is an album where the band is not afraid to try out new things. For the first time, they recorded an album using only seven-string guitars, and they have also explored how the synthesizer can embellish things, using it to write several of the songs on the album. This has given the record a different quality than Apex, with more ethereal and diverse sounds. I think the record is musically stronger than all their previous albums for it, and it is very befitting of the story as well – an expansive story should after all have an expansive sound.
That is achieved straight away on the opening track Waking Dream. The song feels like an intro of sorts, setting up what is to come. Certainly that is the case from a story perspective, the song serving as an interlude that connects the end of Apex with what follows on Abyss.
In the spirit of other rock operas/concept albums, we will hear the band reuse certain musical themes or melody lines, representing characters or moods while giving the record a familiar and cohesive sound. One such example is found on Waking Dream which has a chord progression based on the riff later used on the final track Afterlife. It’s a great example of using similar themes in widely different ways, and it bookends the album nicely. “I wrote both vocal melodies at the same time,” said Slayes. “I wrote the chorus for Afterlife and made sure it worked for Waking Dream, and then used the same melody and changed the words so that the last track on the album was reminiscent of the first.”
The song re-introduces us to The Immortal, now asleep in his mountain. He is dreaming, which is the only time he is ever free. He is in a difficult place after the events of Apex where the Matriarch forced him to do heinous acts. In his dreams, he reaches for the light while trying to avoid drowning in blackness. In the end he awakens.
Musically, the song follows suit by emulating a sleepy atmosphere while ramping up the point where we are waking up with the Immortal. The first minute represents slumbering, with an extended guitar melody section with Slayes humming over parts of it. The vocals come in and sing over a similar musical bedding. The song only has one verse, but it’s sung twice with the quieter background before the song gains power. It does not change its structure, just its intensity, and the verse is repeated again with more intensity in the powerful section.
Waking Dream ends with a musical link leading into the next song Abyss, which is where things are taken to the next level. This is a scorcher of a song, with a fast tempo, crushing riffs, and a powerful melodic vocal on top. This is where the story truly begins. The Immortal wakes up and finds himself on a vast starship somewhere in space. He looks out the window and sees the infinite abyss of a night sky filled with stars. He is scared but starts looking for answers, feeling like new opportunities are ahead.
The band has described Through Stars as a synth-wave song that they “hid” behind a metal sound. It is interesting that it started as a synth-based piece, because it’s not a prominent part of the finished thing. It’s still resulted in a song with several layers, and the inspirations from 1980s music are not hard to hear.
In this song, the Immortal is exploring the massive spaceship and not finding any living thing. He wonders why he is there, battles feelings of isolation, and reflects on the bad things he did in the past with shame and humiliation. He feels cursed, created to serve someone and having to do what he is told, but he starts confronting the fact that maybe he let this happen to him. He is desperate to find a new master to start a new mission.
Legacy explodes from the first note, bursting at the seams with energy. The frantic drums, overcharged guitars and everything else sets up a song that once it settles down is actually very melodic and powerful. Musically this is similar to the Devin Townsend Project, which has the same type of powerful sunburst charge in a lot of their songs.
The arrangement of this song is very interesting as it doesn’t follow a usual verse-chorus structure. Especially, it really has no chorus. There are musical hooks that can give the same release as a chorus, primarily the return of the supercharged section from the intro every so often. The song was felt to flow well the way it was, which suits lyric side of things really well as there is a lot of backstory here. It needed to be told a certain way, so in this case, the lyrics may have guided the music more than normal.
The song introduces the Grandson of the Matriarch from the Apex album. He emerges as the Immortal’s new master. There is a lot of backstory here – who is the grandson, why he is here, why did he awake the Immortal, and his view of things. He confronts the Immortal whom he had initially blamed for the death of his father, but realized he was just the matriarch’s tool. They start working together to free the universe from the Matriarch and her evil influence.
As we stand in this place and you wander who I am
Can’t you see in my face I’m his son, his earth and ash
And you are here as servant one last time
Together we will bring her to the light
Return To Me was written as one of the heavier songs on the album, but it also contains a lot of synth. The guitars spin a web of intricate melodies and riffs as the song powers along. As is typical for the power metal genre, the music is constantly oozing energy and tempo, while showcasing strong melody lines and momentum. This is perfect given the chase that is starting with this song.
This song introduce harsh vocals on the album, performed by guitarist Grant Truesdell. Those vocals represent the Matriarch. This is the part of the story where the she realises that the Grandson has taken the Immortal from her. It is sung with the Matriarch’s voice, and she is coming after the Grandson and the Immortal with all her furious might. This is very much an “oh, you’ve done it now!”-song.
Return what you have taken from me
Rightfully mine, I will not allow this, thief
Think you know this weapon in your hands?
You are a fool, I am his only command
I can listen to Slayes’ screams at the beginning of Soulbound over and over! This is yet another supercharged song with a wonderful mixture of power and melody, which characterises the power metal genre so well. The chorus is particularly climaxing with powerful vocals and musicians bursting out of their skin to deliver an ultimate performance, with drummer Scott Buchanan at times sounding like he has arms like an octopus, hitting more than what should be possible with a mere two hands.
The song describes the four sons of the Matriarch from Apex. They were killed in a ritual to give the Matriarch immortality, but also bound their souls to her forever to do her bidding. They are captured in a half-life stasis, unable to refuse anything the Matriarch asks of them. In this song, they are being sent after the Immortal and the Grandson. The Immortal wants to save them from their servitude, but realise that he may not have a choice but destroy them.
Faster Than Light is a suitable description of this song in every sense. The pace is frantic, with incredible guitar lines giving texture to the song. Slayes frequently gets to display the power and range of her voice on this track. Originally called The Chase, which certainly would have been a suitable title as well, both musically and thematically.
Having defeated the Soulbound, the Immortal and the Grandson are running for their lives. The Matriarch is after them, unleashing all of her fury. It does not matter how fast they fly or how far they go, they can’t seem to shake her. By the end of the song, the Immortal realises that there is no escaping, and that he has to turn and face her. He finds the strength to turn and be the powerful tool or weapon that he has always been.
Once more we’re flying fast as light
Dark matter passing in the night
Pursued by a force we can’t outrun
As we hurtle towards a dying sun
The Wind That Shapes The Land is next, which is the album’s longest track at 8:36. This song goes through many movements, from an initial introspective sequence to moments of raging fury. Nothing less should be expected, because this is the climax of the story. This is where the Immortal and the Matriarch have their showdown.
In this song, the Immortal and the grandson land on a long abandoned planet with ruins and traces of an old civilization that is now long gone. This is where the Immortal will make his stand against the Matriarch to try to defeat her and his own demons once and for all. An epic battle ensues. At the end the Immortal stands victorious, but discovers that the Grandson lies dying after getting caught in the crossfires. It is a very unhappy ending to what should have been a moment of triumph.
The song is so multifaceted that it is hard to summarise briefly. It is everything that all other songs have been at different times and more. Primarily, this is a showcase of how to build a song from a conceptual point of view. It features several dynamic shifts, with sections representing the view of a particular character. This meant that cumbersome back-and-forth dialogue between characters could be avoided, which I think was a good call.
Carry the Flame was described by Slayes as “a weird spin on a power ballad.” I think there is no danger of this song drooping to the soppy levels indicated by that tag. This is a very nice, moderately paced, melodic metal song.
The song is a duet between Slayes and guitarist Andrew Kingsley, who displays a wonderfully melodic voice. They had a similar moment on Apex when Kingsley portrayed the son giving the Immortal absolution, and he takes a similar role here on behalf of the Grandson. It’s very much a back-and-forth between the two of them as they portray the characters’ final moments together. The Grandson, just like his father, tells the Immortal to keep carrying the flame, choose his own path in life, and be free to be the good person he always wanted to be.
With such vocal talents in the band with voices that blend so beautifully together, you’re allowed to wonder why they don’t use them that way just a wee bit more often. This is a great moment on the album, where the voices are allowed to drive the song forward.
The ending track Afterlife brings out the epic in a big way. It features some amazing orchestrations written by Kingsley. When producer Jacob Hansen found the band’s own attempts to program them sounding like a Midi computer, he suggested Francesco Ferrini of the Italian metal group Fleshgod – whom he had just produced and knew what he could do – to come in and do it. Suffice to say, everybody loved what he did.
Several of Unleash The Archer’s songs have musical hooks in them that stay with you, but the musical theme of Afterlife (used in the intro, the bridges, and in the chorus vocal melody) has got to be one of the most immediate earworms on offer, sounding like the fanfare that it no doubt is meant to be. The song has a triumphant feel, sounds huge, and is a very satisfying punctuation emotionally to a very intense and diverse album.
This song describes the new life of the Immortal. The curse has been broken, he is reborn, and in control of his own path. The song leaves him pondering what to do and where to go. The harsh voice reappears as his subconscious, telling him to be the all-powerful tyrant that he has the power to be. He is determined to keep his promise to the Grandson and be a good person, but the song leaves him with the dark voice still there in the back of his mind – it may always be a part of him, because that was his life up to that point.
The theme of the story is about choices, and about how we don’t have to do what everybody expects of us. We don’t have to live a life that doesn’t feel comfortable if that’s not who we are inside. The album encourages us to find the strength to become the person that we were meant to be. It’s scary and can be hard to do, but choosing to love who we are and embracing out strengths and weaknesses will ultimately make us happier. It can help us find success and fulfilment in life instead of constantly looking outside ourselves for that. It’s always about searching within. The strength is always inside of you, just like it was inside of the Immortal all along.
If you are interested in going a little deeper into the story, Brittney Slayes has done a series of videos on Youtube where she covers the full story track by track in significantly deeper detail than I could do here. If you should find yourself exploring the album deeper, those are well worth checking out – and I won’t pretend I did not get a lot of help from them in putting together the significantly shorter story overviews here! Thanks, Brittney!
Abyss is a remarkably solid offering, and perhaps the most overarchingly ambitious of all their albums. This is furious adventure, filled with sweeping lead guitars, face-melting solos, pummelling bass lines and of course the thrilling mix of banshee screams and thrilling hooks of Brittney Slayes’ king-size voice. There are also synths, choirs and orchestrations taking the music to places you may not expect it to go. Primarily, there is immense beauty on Abyss, and it clutches you with a fervour that lingers well beyond the last cymbal decay. While the peaks of Time Stands Still may still be closer to my heart, there is no doubt in my mind that overall, Abyss is my new favourite Unleash The Archers album. This is a highly ambitious and very impressive effort of which the band can be proud.
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