The Wring – Nemesis (2024) (WormHoleDeath Records) – Out Sept 27th

A friend of mine is a graphic designer and is responsible for all cover art and packaging for Nemesis and for the previous album, Spectra.  Our process is now predictable and somewhat amusing.  I sit down and carefully mock up ideas and concepts complete with artwork and other images.  He then takes my ideas and converts them into proper visualizations but then he will stick a couple of his own ideas on at the end.  We always go with his ideas.  The cover depicts a cool image of a jellyfish.  Oceans are a critical element in our survival and the jellyfish is an interesting allegory; deadly to humans, food for turtles and sensitive to human-caused climate change.  A kind of circle of Nemesis…

Describe the album as a whole (Lyrically and Musically)

A nemesis is defined as a long-standing enemy and/or an inescapable agent of one’s downfall.  Society’s individuals are buffeted constantly on all sides and internally by such forces, sometimes real, sometimes imagined.  It seems that every human interaction now is adversarial.  “Monkey killing monkey over pieces of the ground…They fight till they die” (Tool – ‘Right in Two” – 10,000 Days).  The lyrics reflect my feelings on these things.  Musically, I have no constraint so I write what I like, and I combine seemingly unrelated styles.  Ever since I heard Hocus Pocus by Focus, I have been fascinated and obsessed with playing jazz chords in a hard rock/metal format.  I think it adds so much depth and interest.  I also build parts around jazz progressions which do the same and then intersperse super heavy metal parts to really let the songs bloom!

Track by track (Lyrically and Musically)

Badlands

Bad behaviour of major media outlets has given rise to powerful lower tier/social media that operate without any requirement for truth or decency; conflicting accounts, conspiracy theory, assertions without proof but presented as fact.  It’s everywhere, but most obvious in the USA where almost every issue is dramatically polarized.  Even the average semi-intelligent person doesn’t really know what to believe anymore.  Musically, Badlands starts with a crushing bass riff leading into an angular verse and a very metal pre-chorus.  The chorus is open and singable.  I love the solo.  It’s got some Lydian forms which has a ‘crooked major’ jazzy kind of vibe.  Fun to play.

The Nail

The rise of populism in politics combined with the power of social media has given platform to a wide base of groups with extreme views.  These groups previously operated on the fringes of society but figureheads like Trump have validated their ideas and subsequent actions, giving rise to insurrection and a general disrespect previously unseen.  What they don’t understand is that they are just tools of megalomaniacs – they are the nail, not the hammer.  And we are truly watching the end of all decency.  The music here is all over the place.  Some tried and true metal parts with another somewhat jazzy solo break – more in the chords than the notes.  Another singable chorus but it goes to odd time in second half with Reggie starting on different beats each iteration.  Fun stuff.

The Sword

The most ‘metal’ song and theme.  If you live by the sword, you will die the same…  I played this on a Dave Mustaine old-school Jackson King V for some historical vibe as well as tightness in attack.  I also changed picks for the main riff… I almost exclusively use the Dunlop Malmsteen now (though I modify each one to have a sharper tip) but for this song, I used the Dunlop Jeff Loomis, which is thick, very stiff and has a sharp point.  It was important to get the proper string tone and attack.  Weird how these things make such a difference.

Before I Disappear

At a certain point in everyone’s life, each of us will start to think about mortality and legacy.  I certainly don’t dwell on these things, but I have a son that is now a young adult, and we are very close, so I often think about the overlap of the contexts of our lives.  A proper moral compass is the best I can do, and the song is about that.  The music has a very major feel and is the most ‘pop’ of any Wring song, which I balance out with a very evil sounding pre-chorus.  The solo starts out somewhat Skynyrd-esque but, of course, ends on the dark side of the street.

Welshrats

Weltschmerz (or the Americanized version – Welshrats) is a term from John Steinbeck’s ‘East of Eden’ and is loosely interpreted as a vague sense of sadness that can’t really be traced to a specific event.  The song is about dealing with that – trying to understand it and come out the other side.  I listen to a wide variety of music for inspiration, and I think this one came out of a Steely Dan phase with a Slayer/Lamb of God pre-chorus thrown in, just to scare off the yacht rockers…

Dark Passenger

A simple critique of humanity’s almost complete disregard for our planet and each other.  ‘Dark Passenger’ came from the TV show ‘Dexter’; the title character’s ‘dark passenger’ was the personification of what drives him to kill.  We are the earth’s dark passenger.  We have poisoned our planet and each other and we are all facing existential crisis, though are still, for the most part, oblivious.  Musically, this song drifts among genres with some straight-ahead rock riffs, dreamy arpeggios and odd-time breakdowns.  The solo is short but one of my favourites.  Tricky and fun to play.

Nemesis

Believe it or not, this is a break-up song.  The song tries to examine the physiology and psychology of a tough separation.  We’ve all had at least one nemesis moment.  Like most of the songs on ‘Side 2’, it features a wide palette of musical styles with jazzy progressions mixed with distinctly metal riffing and a dissonant solo section.  I particularly like the chorus, musically as well as lyrically.  A very minor progression that I find heart wrenching with words that complement that, delivered emotionally by Reggie.

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BAND STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS:

1.  As I was scouring SoundBetter for players for Spectra, I kept coming back to Reggie Hache’s profile, and rightfully so.  He ended up playing bass and keys on Spectra and those performances were unreal.  At the time, I also auditioned him for vocals… What he sent back didn’t work, so I got someone else.  For some reason, I asked him to try again for Nemesis with a different approach and it was exactly what I was after!  It was a simple lack of communication/clarity on my part otherwise he would have done Spectra too.  Oh well.

2.  I connected with Carlo Belotti at Wormholedeath Records for the release of the second album, Project Cipher.  He and his colleague were so kind and enthusiastic about my music that it was a no-brainer to return to them for Spectra.  In a world where music is essentially free, an obscure studio project has sketchy prospects for financial success.  I fully planned on releasing Nemesis independently to save WHD the cost and effort.  Carlo was relentless in his objection.  He convinced me to continue with them and offered an amazing marketing package to support the record.  It’s hard to put a value to that kind of kindness, enthusiasm and support.

3.  Project Cipher and Spectra both featured performances from some very prominent musicians including two of the best (known) drummers in the rock world today.  At the time, it was incredibly gratifying to have these guys interested in what I was doing, and in many ways, it still is.  What I’ve learned though is that having more emotionally invested players yields a different kind of energy.  Only the listener will really determine if this is true, but I feel that Nemesis has a more cohesive and vibrant feel because my relationship with the players was more interactive.

4.  I discovered Francis Perron when I was looking for a mixing engineer for Spectra.  He turned out to be an amazing addition to the team!  He has 2 Junos for his work with Voivod (one of my favourite bands!) but is incredibly humble and kind.  Until recently, all of our interactions were by messaging.  Finally, we connected via Zoom and it turns out that he typically avoids that because his first language is French and he is self-conscious about his English.  It was an endearing moment for me, highlighting the humanity of such a great talent.  And… his English is very good!! Way better than my French!!

5.  Two things I’ll always remember about my musical journey:  having an album get a good review in Prog Magazine and having a video posted on the Bravewords website.  Those are two places I’ve been going for many years for music news.  To see my music there is surreal.  These things would not have happened without Jon Asher at Ashermedia.  So… even if you have a record deal, find a great publicist!!

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