If you hear a distant rumbling coming from the west coast of Canada, fret not, it’s not the ‘Big One’ earthquake, so long predicted by scientists, but rather the thunderous musical hoofbeats of a new melodic metal band, based out of Vancouver, but with a mandate to conquer metal fans from coast to coast and beyond.
Originally concocted by two former long-time members of the legendary Devin Townsend Project, Imonolith is a masterfully virtuosic group of musicians and songwriters who have launched themselves into the hard rock/metal stratosphere with the release of their intense and insanely memorable debut independent album, State of Being.
The band begin with some conversations between Townsend’s drummer Ryan ‘RVP’ Van Poederooyen and guitarist/bassist Brian Wadell, and eventually incorporated Threat Signal singer Jon Howard, veteran guitarist Kai Huppunen (Mothers of Mayhem, Noise Therapy), and former Econoline Crush member Scott Whalen on bass. And the rest, as the cliché goes, is history.
“In 2015, Brian, who had been playing bass with Devin Townsend and I, who played drums in the same band, decided to start writing music together. We did that because we knew that Devin, he likes to do projects for a certain amount of time and then he will just stop and then he will want to start something fresh. We knew that was going to be coming because the Devin Townsend Project was already the longest thing he had ever done in his career,” RVP said.
“We thought we needed to be prepared, and to start writing together because we liked the same style of music. Fast forward to 2018 and Devin disbanded the Devin Townsend Project and Brian and I knew it was time to take the music that we had written over the previous three years and get a band together. Brian and I both new Kai Huppunen from the music scene in Vancouver. He is just a super creative songwriter and guitar player, and a great guy. So, we got him in the band. A mutual friend in the music industry recommended Jon Howard. Nobody knew Jon ahead of time, but when we heard him sing it was like, ‘oh yeah, this is the guy, this guy is incredible.’ I had heard Threat Signal before, so I knew he had great pipes. We gave him the demos and he loved them. He was like, ‘yeah, I want to do this, this is something totally different than what I am doing with Threat Signal. I want to be involved.’
“Scott Whalen was the last guy to join the band. He is just a phenomenal bass player and a great singer, which complements Jon when Jon needs background vocals or harmonies or any of that stuff. So, Scott steps up and does that. It’s a very well-rounded band with a bunch of musicians who have a ton of experience, not only in making music, but touring and everything else. We all get along very well. We are very supportive of each other. We have a common goal, we’re all on the same page and we’re striving towards that goal. For this first album it was primarily Brian and I who wrote it, just because it was based on the demos we made for the years leading up to 2018. This will be our base sound and it’s what the band is going to be grounded on, but it will be exciting to see how the band evolves. Regardless, the team of people that we have set up for this band is just awesome. It feels like a real band. We feel like a family; we’ve got each other’s backs. It’s an exciting time for us.”
State of Being was recorded primarily in Vancouver, under the supervision of L.A.-based producer Jay Van Poederooyen – Ryan’s brother. But this was not a case of nepotism, but that Jay was the best person to do the job.
“He has worked with some of the biggest rock bands out there, including Nickelback and Airbourne and a ton of other bands. Right now he is producing the new Simple Plan record. He flew up to Vancouver and we recorded the drums at The Armoury Studio here in Vancouver and then we did the rest of it at The Beat Lab in Langley. For the single Hollow, Jay had us go down to L.A. So, there was some travelling, especially for Jon, who lives in Hamilton, Ontario,” said RVP.
“But Jay is just so knowledgeable and such an incredible engineer and incredible producer. We didn’t get him just because he’s my brother, we got him because he has the credentials and because of how talented he it. And it made all the difference for how big the record sounds and how he changed the songs to make them just that little bit better than what they were. It was a really good combination.”
The songs that ended up making the cut for State of Being were composed over the last three years of RVP and Wadell’s involvement in the Devin Townsend Project, and writing ramped up when that came to an end.
“Ever single song that Brian and I wrote together was done when we were in the same room. I was on an electronic drum kit; he had his guitar and would just power out these riffs on the spot. We would jam these ideas out and record them right then and there. Some songs just wrote themselves; there were songs that started off in a jam session and they would be completely written by the end of the day. And not much changed when we finally went into the studio. Obviously, we did some overdubs and stuff, but the structure, the basic arrangement and chords were all written with he and I together,” said RVP.
“We write very well together. We have a lot of the same influences, so it just came easy. And like I said, we always did it in the same room. At the end of the writing period when we were getting the demos together, Jon would send us stuff online because he was so far away. There’s a song called We Never Forget where John had written a couple of the main riffs and it was really cool. And as for lyrics, I did all of them on this album except for the song Instinct, which Jon did the lyrics for.
“I have always been into lyricism, and I have also always been into writing melodies. With my brother being in the industry as an engineer and producer, I learned a lot about vocal melodies and writing them. He and I always discussed that kind of stuff. Even though I am not a singer, I have always had melody and vocal ideas for songs. And for a second opinion on the lyrics for this album we filtered it through my brother, and he is a hard judge. Again, just because we’re brothers doesn’t mean he is going to love all my ideas. He shot down quite a few, but whenever there was something he loved, we may tweak a couple of things, but then we would hammer it out.”
State of Being ended up being a thematic element running through the entirety of the album, and not just a catchy title. RVP explained that this was not intentional, but a serendipitous outcropping of the creative process.
“The album title was the last thing we came up with once all the songs were written, and what it’s about is just the average person’s state of being in their lives – the different states of being that we all go through. It wasn’t designed to be a concept record or have a theme or anything, that was just the mood I was in when I was writing lyrics, and that was the mood Jon was in when he wrote the lyrics for Instinct,” he said.
“When we sat down and collectively looked at everything, we realized they all had a common thread and it’s how people go through various states of being and that’s what these songs all have in common. It wasn’t designed that way, it just happened to come across that way. For me, with lyrics, I don’t always tend to write about the same things, for this album I just happened to be writing about stuff that had that common tone. This album came together that way naturally; it wasn’t forced, it wasn’t predetermined or anything like that.”
The hauntingly powerful single Hollow is indicative, not only of the band’s musical and compositional prowess, but also highlights the them of the record, as discussed above.
“That’s an interesting song. We flew to L.A. to do that one with my brother and another big producer Brian Howes, they’re a team. And it was a really cool experience, all of us loved the memory of that time. The song itself is more about finding yourself, and not feeling hollow inside with all the things that can drag you down in our lives. Again, it’s about finding the positive in the middle of the negative,” RVP explained.
“It’s about not allowing yourself to break down to the point where you are sabotaging your own life, your own happiness. So, that’s what the song is about, not having that hollow feeling and fighting through all the crap that we can face in life.”
As stated previously, Instinct was the only song where RVP didn’t write the lyrics, yet he is amazing how Howard’s words fit so perfectly with those he penned for all the other songs.
“Jon said that song is specifically about finding yourself. Again, it’s about going through very dark times, but to fight through it and find yourself and truly connect with who are you are and realizing there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that often you have to fight through some tough stuff to get there,” he explained.
“Look at what we’re all going through right now. People are losing their jobs and getting sick and losing friends and family members, and it can be a very depressing time for people. There are a lot of people who are getting down and depressed because of all these crazy things that are happening to everyone. But this song is about staying true to yourself as an individual to make your life better. It’s been talked about a lot in interviews where people are pointing to the timing of the record, and how the fact that there is an underlying positive message through all the songs couldn’t have been timed any better, even though the vast majority of the music was finished way before this Covid-19 thing.
“The bottom line is, no matter what is going on in the world, even if Covid-19 wasn’t happening in the world, the songs still apply, you can always take something positive from this record. The Reign, which features Jens Kidman of Meshuggah on it, is a heavy song. It’s the heaviest song on the record and it sounds brutal. But there is an underlying message and that message is that a lot of times, society and our culture lead you to believe that your life has to go a certain way. You have to go to school and then go off to college or university, then you work until you are 65 when you can retire and then you can go on vacation and do cool stuff.
“The Reign is about breaking that cycle. Life is not about that. You know what life’s about? Do what you love and love what you do as much as your possibly can. Find a way to do a job that you actually enjoy, so that when you do get to 65 you realize, ‘man, my whole life has been awesome.’ You may read the lyrics to The Reign and think, ‘wow, this is pretty heavy,’ but we are a metal band after all, and sometimes you’ve got to have that, but the underlying message is still a positive and encouraging one. I think the fact that this album State of Being is coming out during this crazy and very tough time for people, it could be an album that a lot of people relate to in a very good and uplifting way. That’s what I really hope happens.”
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, all gigs and media appearances have been cancelled, although RVP said the band is continuing to connect with fans as best as they can through various social media platforms.
For more information, visit www.imonolithband.com, www.facebook.com/imonolithband or www.instagram.com/imonolithband.
- 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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