Classic metal sound, with a modern sensibility. That’s the best way to describe the bold and badass new 10-song release from Pennsylvania-based metal quintet Canedy.
The album was released digitally on May 8, with physical copies available in August through Sleaszy Rider Records. It is a project assembled by well-known drummer, songwriter and producer Carl Canedy, as way for him to express a different aspect of his creativity, and also to work with an inspiring group of musicians who are passionate about creating compelling, vibrant and relevant metal music that connects with a wide audience.
“When I put this band together, I wanted guys who were not only talented, but committed to doing something special, to write original music that they could put their heart and soul into and stand behind with pride. And I got that with these guys, because sometimes being a heavy metal band is not easy. If you are not all in for the music, you can’t be in it for very long, because there’s not a huge financial gain,” said Canedy from his home in Carbondale, which is near Scranton in northeast Pennsylvania.
“There’s a lot of blood, sweat and tears involved for it, and they were excited to get involved and were in it for the right reasons. That they were local was a bonus, but it was more important that they were the real deal, musically and as people, and they were 100 per cent. Whether they had come from Europe or right next door, they had to have that mindset, which they did, and it ensured that we all blended really well.”
For many hard rock and metal fans, Canedy is best known for being a founding member and integral creative contributor to the veteran, underground metal band The Rods, alongside fellow co-founder David Feinstein (a cousin of Ronnie James Dio). As well as commemorating the released of the new Canedy album Warrior, it is also, coincidentally, 2020 is also the 40th anniversary of the foundation and debut album of The Rods, truly an occasion worth documenting.
“I never would have thought that we’d be here talking about this band after 40 years. And thank God for those guys that I am as much of a saint as I am because it would have been hard to get along. It’s been hell for me dealing with those guys for 40 years, but at least for them it was an easy ride with my sweet and tender nature,” he said, definitely tongue-in-cheek and with a sly chuckle.
“No, it’s hard to believe when we got together that we would still be out on the road and putting out new music all these years later. We never really disbanded either, but we did have a lot of intense times on the road and some great times on the road. It kind of wound down for the Rods once we hit the 1990s, but we got back together about 15 years ago and the chemistry was just the same as it had always been, which was surprising, because I didn’t want us to become a caricature. But we weren’t. When we did get back together more permanently, there were a lot of emails going back and forth where we kind of discussed some of the things that we had thought about in the time off and what we’d like to not see happen again. We kind of cleared the air on a lot of that and from that point on its been smooth sailing. Part of that is because we’re taking it year by year.
“If you ask me today about The Rods, which you kind of have, The Rods have always been my musical life, despite the million other things that I’ve done. That’s been my band the David and I started. On the other hand when you look at it as 40 years, and you look at it from today to when we started 40 years ago, it’s unbelievable when you consider that I think we are writing better songs and are at a higher level of performance now than we were then. That amazes me more than anything else. So, I can’t sum it up any more than saying other that I no longer have those 40 years in front of me, with the exception of that, it’s been a great thing to look back at. And the fact that last year’s album Brotherhood of Metal was maybe our best, well I would say we’re getting better with age.”
Canedy released a solo album, Headbanger, a number of years ago, but wanted this new project to truly be a band experiences, so he created a band, bringing in veteran, but unheralded players Mike Santarsiero on lead vocals, guitarist Charlie Russello and bassist Tony Garuba.
“After Headbanger, I never wanted to do another one again. And you have to remember that I have produced more than 40 albums for other people [Overkill, Anthrax, Blue Cheer, Possessed and more] as well as for The Rods, but I did that one completely on my own and I did not find it an enjoyable experience. I wanted to have a place for some of my heavier songwriting. I wanted it to showcase my songwriting, lyrically and musically, because most people think just being a drummer you don’t play guitar, you’re not good at arranging, this and that. So, Headbanger was a one off,” he explained.
“I wanted a band, and I looked for a long time to find local musicians that were great and who wanted to work on some original material. Just by chance, there were these guys who were former members of the band Totally Lost Cause [TLC] who are re-releasing their albums, and they asked me to fill in for some TV show appearances because their drummer had bailed. I rehearsed a few songs and we did the TV shows and we started talking about recording together in the studio. It turned out that they were great writers and it was a great experience for me, with the culmination of that who process being Warrior – and I couldn’t be happier.
“It’s a band, not a solo effort. In fact, I contributed a small amount to the songwriting, whereas the other guys contributed the lion’s share. I would just chip in with ‘hey, let’s make a stop there, let’s drop a beat there, let’s try a different approach there,’ mostly with the arranging. It was a minor role by comparison to Headbanger. I really like working with these guys, they’re very talented.”
Canedy gave a great deal of credit for the sonic cohesion of Warrior, as well as to the truly epic nature of many of the tracks thematically and lyrically, to Santarsiero and Garuba.
“We’ve actually got two singers in the band. Tony sings a couple of parts in Attia, but he also sings lead vocal on Hellride. I did a one-off song with Tony as lead vocalist for a tribute album once and realized that he had a great voice. But Michael is the singer on all the other songs, and he is a great singer, and honestly, he should be bigger and more famous than he is. But the music business is a crapshoot; it is the luck of the draw; I am surprised that he wasn’t tapped by somebody big years ago,” adding that Russello brings a technical virtuosity and extensive training to the band’s music.
“Charlie has written a couple of guitar books and is incredibly well schooled. He studied at GIT {Guitar Institute of Technology, now known as The Musicians Institute] and studied with Paul Gilbert [Mr. Big]. He is an amazing player, but he is also an amazing orchestrator. Tony is a great writer as well and they all just come up with some great ideas. They’re very modern and they listen to every new band that comes out, so I think that’s why we sound like traditional metal, but with a very modern twist. Mike also has a great philosophical view of things. He is also very well educated and well read and brings a depth to his lyrics.
“And one other thing that I love about this band is we’re able to play and duplicate the record in a live setting, and that’s great for me. I love that. Mike is perfect vocally, Charlie nails it on his guitar parts, Tony is crushing it on bass. So, everybody is able to duplicate the album live.”
The title track is a sort of throwback to the epic, empowering anthems of metal, particularly the likes of Manowar and other European bands of the 1980s who composed songs that talking about metal music, metal fans, and the strength in numbers of the metal community.
“I always liken metal fans today to country and western people when I was growing up. They weren’t on to the next big thing, if they liked an artist, they followed that artist as long as the artist stayed true to the music that they initially liked. It’s like that with metal fans. If they like you, they are with you as long as you don’t take a big left or right turn.”
Canedy said he, like pretty much everyone else, hopes the pandemic and the restrictions that go with it, are relaxed so to allow live music to return to people’s lives. He said he would love to bring the Canedy project to Canada, where he has both personal and professional connections.
“I have spent a lot of time in Canada because my relatives live in Buffalo and have been going to Canada since I was very, very young. So, I would love to come back and play there and hopefully with Canedy. Maybe we can play with Anvil,” he opined, as he discussed his friendship with the legendary classic Canadian metal band.
“The last time I was there, Robb Reiner, Anvil’s drummer and I walked all over Toronto one day. We were in music stores and parks, we were just walking and talking the whole day. I love Toronto, back in The Rods’ early days we played The Gasworks and we played there quite often.”
For more information on Canedy, or Warrior and possible post-Covid-19 tour dates, visit www.canedyband.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for 30 years. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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