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HALCYON WAY
Bloody But Unbowed

Agonia (2018)
Rating: 8.5/10

Steve Braun (vocals), Jon Bodan (lead guitars, backing vocals and programming), Max Eve (rhythm guitars), Skyler Moore (bass and backing vocals) and Aaron Baumoel (drums) are the unit behind the name Halcyon Way; an Atlanta, Georgia-based band that has toiled since the early 2000s, releasing a brace of EPs and prior to this full-length a trio of albums.

Halcyon Way is thinking man’s metal. Progressive, melodic, technical, and yet accessible by design, all is delivered with clean-cut precision as Braun’s effortless vocal soars spiral above what is essentially a dark-edged, crisp sound which remains hard to pigeon-hole.

Yep, it’s very much steely metal; but I could easily imagine this sort of expression emerging in the late 80s or early 90s, a time when metalheads were suddenly appreciating Megadeth, Metal Church etc., as much as, say, King’s X or Skid Row. Strong flecks of variety leak into an often pummelling vibe built upon Bodan’s leads and those effective skin slaps from Baumoel.

The title track, which surges after a short introduction, epitomises the spirit and style of this grandiose band. “We will never give up… we will never give in” barks Braun, the whole anthemic gloss dripping with a swagger and steel. It’s neither thrash, power metal or straight up metal; great booming, guttural chants emerge over a fast-paced delivery, but there’s a nifty, almost sweet, er… Michael Sweet (Stryper) smoothness.

Then ‘Blame’ comes hammering with such intensity and density. Oddly, I hear comparisons with Stryper at their heaviest, the band creating such complex structures without befuddling. At times, it’s like throwing Vince Neil (Mötley Crüe) circa 1993 in with Dream Theater, and yet the weight remains throughout. There’s something contemporary about the affair, too; the band’s sudden shift to a lower paced cackle leans towards Faith No More with its innovation, and then we’re off on a silky prog metal streak of ascending leads and strong drum work.

‘Slaves To Silicon’ marries cold steel progression again with that very metallic trudge complete with deathlier vocal churns. ‘Superpredator’ is drenched in metallic embellishments, meanwhile, the sneaking guitar work dragging into a moody thrash trudge. There’s flickers of Voivod in the angular moments maybe, or is that a pounding Skid Row with the menace?

The snappy ‘Primal Scream’ ups the ante as a super-charged hammer to the skull, while ‘Ten Thousand Ways’ builds on a molten metal gallop. Damn, I’m again transported back to the mid-90s when some seriously cool bands existed, but didn’t get a look due to the grunge invasion. Everything about this album smokes; the vocal power, the rhythmic precision, the jarring yet easily accessible riffs and a drum that kicks harder than a steel mule.

Sure, there’s a grey haze over proceedings. Halcyon Way are somewhat humourless, and yet widely appealing; not vastly complex, and yet producing vast soundscapes of heavyweight juxtapositions that fit in nowhere just because of their coolness. ‘The Church Of Me’ features another devilish riff and classy, infectious chorus, while ‘Cast Another Stone’ is even heavier – leaning towards Nevermore with that polished yet dark and dynamic pulverisation, but in Braun I hear Sebastian Bach at times. ‘Crowned In Violence’ brings those deathlier aesthetics to the fore again, however.

“I am master of shadows… you bow down to me” moans Braun before another percussive hammer attack comes like a freezing wave, the rising melodies breaking and bursting out of the dense metallic layers. ‘Burning The Summit’ provides similar dismal trudges before its bony gallop, prior to the slow build of ‘Desolate’ coming with clattering pistons. The whole machine snarls with a polished Megadeth sort of technicality mixed with a Symphony X sort of drive.

Bloody But Unbowed leaves me bloody and bowing to its aloof and swaggering nature; being a metal record that at times may appear just too confident and clattering to appeal to the masses, this is why I’m reminiscing about the joys of early to mid-90s metal creations that were just too good to be widely lauded. Halcyon Way has always been a force and will remain so, however, whatever grey planet it inhabits and conquers.

Neil Arnold

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