Viathyn - nicely done power metal from Canada

[TychoCelchu]

Their full debut album is streaming at www.myspace.com/viathyn

I read about them at random and checked it out. It's pleasantly listenable power metal with good, tight musicianship, thoughtful song arrangements, and shredding guitar solos. Not original or experimental, but they "carry the torch" quite well so if you like power metal you may want to listen here. For a young band's first album it's pretty impressive.

The lush keyboard pads along with the arrangements give it a bit of a "soundtrack" type feel. Sometimes it reminds me of Thy Majestie, other times of While Heaven Wept. The album was just released two weeks ago. (The intro to the album is actually last on the Myspace tracks - you may want to click down and hear it first because it's a really cool opener)

 

[dcowboys311]

This is really cool.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Gave it three songs. My conclusion is that this would be a pretty solid band if they got a new singer as he's rather mediocre to bad at times. Interesting that this is coming from Canada as it's very much a European sound.

 

[zinescene]

I like this. Nice find!

 

[AngraRULES]

Solid stuff. Not groundbreaking or wonderful, but not bad. Vocals aren't as bad as Simon said.

 

[TychoCelchu]

The singer was actually a draw point for me. He's not a "power" singer like some, but I do like his voice tone and there many nice vocal harmonies here too. Another comparison point I would make is Tony's voice on Twisted Tower Dire - the Isle of Hydra. Not super-different in voice tones, although somewhat different in musical style.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Solid stuff. Not groundbreaking or wonderful, but not bad. Vocals aren't as bad as Simon said.

I'm very picky when it comes to singers. You probably knew that by now though.

 

[jtwright]

Hi all!
I registered here to give a little more information on this disc; I'm the lead guitar player in Viathyn.

First off, thanks for posting this TychoCelchu! We really appreciate the feedback (both good and bad, both are required so we can keep doing what we've done right already and improve on the aspects that need it).

The entire album was recorded and produced by us in our basement studio. Myspace doesn't really do the production job justice (all mp3 is a tough format for that!), but there are less compressed versions at our reverbnation page: http://www.reverbnation.com/viathyn
Most of the songs on the album fall between 2 and 4 years old. We actually commenced recording before we even had a singer locked down. Tomislav, our other guitar player, stepped up to the plate just 1 year ago after we were unable to find one for several years. Here in western Canada.. power metal isn't very popular, so there aren't hordes of people willing to sing it! Nevertheless, with no prior singing experience, he's done a pretty good job. There is always room for improvement though.

We just recently started to write new material again, and it has taken a rather progressive turn. I expect it will still have the symphonic and folky tendencies of this release, as well as the upbeat mood of power metal.

Anyways, I want to thank all of you for listening! Feel free to further comment on the music, and please keep the ciriticism constructive; we want to grow from our mistakes!

 

[jtwright]

Oh and I should add, if anyone wishes to purchase the album, it is available for digital download on CDbaby, itunes, amazon etc.

We will also ship a physical disc to you for $15.





... there are also a whole crapload of torrents.

 

[Fire breath]

I like the songs and music a fair bit too but the singer is not doing it for me either.

 

[Element_man]

These guys are good friends of mine! My band Samandriel is having Viathyn over to our city (Edmonton) to open for us in October when we release our debut EP. These guys worked their asses off and produced a really enjoyable album, so they deserve all the recognition they get! This style of music is a extremely tough sell in Canada let alone the western sector of Alberta so they've done an absolutely stellar job!

Kudos for this topic!

 

[TychoCelchu]

\m/
With the sea of music and bands trying to be heard today, it's going to take some luck for a band with Viathyn's promise to shine through. I hope the best for them. I'm not familiar with Samandriel but I'll also investigate them (you) too.

 

[johnfrank1970]

I am not much of a power metal fan, but I like what I am hearing on the myspace page.

To jtwright - In case I decide to pull the trigger, please provide more information regarding selling the physical CD for $15 (PayPal, I assume)? I did not see a link on your myspace page for the CD, just the mp3s.

 

[jtwright]

Hi John.

Sorry for the late reply, work has been a little busy over the last few days!

We're in the process of getting our new myspace layout coded. When that is finished, it will have a 'buy now' link through to our paypal account. At least that is something relatively secure and official. Following that, we would send the disc to the address provided with the order. There would be no additional shipping or handling fees, we would cover everything for the $15.

Cheers.

 

[Fire breath]

A Resurrection for this thread from 2010. The band is back with a new album. It sounds really good. I don't recall how the first album but I guess it never made too many waves but the new one is great and I now like the vocals on top of that. I am not sure if it's the same guy though. The whole album is on youtube. The album will grab you from the beginning especially the slightly unique vocal delivery. It has a very slight Lost Horizon epic vibe going on as well.

 

[modernwizardry]

My friend just showed me this band yesterday. The new album is awesome.

 

[KingsGene]

VIATHYN POST GUITAR PLAYTHROUGH VIDEO FOR "EDWARD MORDRAKE"

Calgary, Alberta's progressive power metal quartet, Viathyn, have released a guitar play-through video for the track "Edward Mordrake", featured on the band's new album, Cynosure (out now).

""Edward Mordrake" is a song inspired by the presumably true tale about the English nobleman suffering from of Diprosopus; he had a second face on the back of his head, which could neither speak nor eat but reportedly whispered to him in his head and could express emotion. This song is a first-person account from both the perspective of Edward and his second face in the moments leading up to his suicide. The character has recently been popularized on the TV show American Horror Story. In this video, Tomislav and I show you what notes we are playing on lead and rhythm guitar when this song is performed live. It has been a staple in our live set-list since 2011!", comments guitarist Jacob Wright.

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https://www.facebook.com/VIATHYN
viathyn.bandcamp.com/
http://www.viathyn.com/