Track By Tracks: METALADIAN - Deaditation (2026)

About the album as a whole (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):

The album is a story arc featuring a journey of pain, retribution, and redemption. The lyrics are introspective and personal, but still have the ability to connect with their audience through more abstract imagery based on violent fantasy. The vocals are rhythmically punctuated with quick call and response between all the members, with the lead vocals being more melodic and the backing vocals more akin to a kind of thrashy punctuation. The lyrics were set up in a way that Dustin, Dan, and Ruth are extensions of me. Musically, they cover the range and dynamics that I cannot do. Dustin is on the lower end of the scale. With a lot of range in his style. Low bellowing or a Guttural feral Ogre. Dan is more like a vicious, rabid dog, or riot vocals. Ruth gets the ripping, high, screeching screams that slice through your soul. I sing all the long-held-out harmonies as well. The music is both chromatic and harmonically lush, with a dense layer of multiple parts that weave around one another, connected with catchy hooks and bone-crushing riffs. The overall feel of the album is drenched in violence and darkness, but with a hint of light that can be achieved that begins to show itself as the album progresses. The album is crafted to allow the listener to become fully sucked in and able to follow the journey as a kind of sound journey.

Track by Track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY):

1. Left Hand Path:

Left Hand Path is part one of two songs. The lyrics introduce the dark and serious landscape of what the listener can expect through the rest of the album. These lyrics show how we are living in a difficult, dark and violent era that seems inescapable. Shattered innocence of youth we all once were, and growing up with the haunting memories of the sadistic brutality of human nature, taking pleasure in the pain of the vulnerable. Leaving the victim with immense psychological pain and emotional torture, and an unrelenting anger directed towards the abuser. Musically, the bass and rhythm guitar play twisted, chromatic lines while the other guitar outlines lush harmonies. It's one of the longer tracks with multiple sections. Opening with sound effects of cold wintery winds with wolves howling in the distance, representing the brutality of nature. We move into the introduction with a high lead guitar, falling into a devastating riff in unison. The verses are made up of slowly climbing chromatic guitar riffs with vocals passed between members with blistering leads at their apex. The middle section is a hypnotic drone section with erratic screams and wild guitar noise. Closer to the end of the song, we move in with a slower, more introspective, hypnotic section Chanting we will curse you 100 000 fold. We end with more melodic vocals and triumphant chord changes that prepare us for Deaditation

2. Deaditation:

Deaditation is part two of Left Hand Path and is the featured single off the album. Lyrically, it paints a picture of a blackened world with the band calling its fans to arm themselves against the forces of evil that attempt to push us down. Giving the emotional devastation back to the abusers through a Deaditation. A meditated psychic attack that forces the predator to feel the pain they left on the victim 100,000-fold. The track opens up with a massive crowd of rioters hunting down their victim. Dustin starts us off on the bass with a constant chromatic line as Ruth fades in with the contagious droning harmonies while Dan's guitar is ripping with feedback. I enter with a tribal drum solo that takes us into the first verse. The interplay between vocalists is quick and dizzying. The drum parts were written to match the rhythm of the vocals. The vocals dictated the cymbal hits for the most part, which just happened naturally from singing and playing drums. The music itself comprises three different sections - a plateau, an ascension, and a descent - each of which is permeated by chromatic runs, with the lead guitar playing lightning-fast licks to punctuate the sections. Each time the three sections restart, the tempo is increased. In this way, the music is incrementally and constantly gaining momentum, driving the music to a spiralling frenzy by the final descent. We end with the crowd of rioters celebrating.

3. No Worse Death Than The Loss Of All Hope:

No Worse Death Than the Loss of All Hope (NWDTTLOAH) is the third track and is part one of two songs. NWDTTLOAH performs a 180-degree change from what the listener has heard so far. It is a slow and sludgy song - dark and depressing that feels as though one is wallowing in a pit of despair from which they can never leave. The lyrics bring this feeling across with giant harmonies and long-held notes punctuated by the backing vocals. The music is through-composed with nearly no repetition, but as a stream of consciousness with small fragments of repeated figures that tie it together. The song ends with long-held chords and the vocalists screaming “no” in unison. On the final instrumental hit is a church bell that feels like death has taken hold, with a sample of a grief-stricken soul crying, wallowing in self-pity. Beneath the tolling of the bell, a dark, chromatic-sounding classical guitar piece I composed is performed by my brother Dan, which meanders until it comes to its conclusion.

4. Confrontation with God:

Is part two of No Worse Death. Confrontation is the transition between pain and retribution. The lyrics are a questioning of why? Why does life have to work this way? Why would God allow this to happen? It is the final straw, and I have it out with God. Falling deeper into mental and emotional anguish, then into panic and maniacal hysterics, pushed past the point of no return. The end is the attempted suicide, begging for forgiveness, then death. The music is one of the more complex arrangements of the entire album. There is an elongated introduction with a prayer recited with a march-like snare and bass drone, sirens, arpeggiated guitar chords, and a melodic guitar floating on top. The band enters together triumphantly with unison chords and dives straight into the heaviness. The song ends with a crushing two-note riff that slows to nearly a halt, following suit with the lyrics and the slowing down of the music to recreate the slowing down of the heart into the last breath, then flatlines. Leaving the listener exhausted by the end.

5. Cure for Judgement:

Cure for Judgement is the other single from the album. It is part one of two songs (Holy Hell being part two). The lyrics for this song deal with the evils that come with judgment and how those who push their views on others are ignorant of personal truth and sovereignty. It is also ironic as it would naturally humble me on the views and judgments of others, and seeing everything and everyone as a reflection of myself. The music is a medium tempo, beginning with some noise that sounds as though the guitar is on fire. The musical structure is complex, beginning with Ruth arpeggiating chords at an alarming speed. Directly after the bass, drums, and other guitars are layered over top in unison with the words “burn” and “fire” being passed around by the members. Following the introduction are several verses and bridges that expand and diminish in length, interspersed by blazing, quick, and snake-like melodic solos. These are broken up with several choruses in which my voice rings over the top, and the music is heightened to be almost ecstatic. The song ends with chaos - drums, bass, and guitar are playing an almost marching beat with the lead guitar performing an array of arpeggio sweeps.

6. Welcome to Your Holy Hell:

Holy Hell is one of the heavier songs on the album with an upbeat tempo that makes the listener want to thrash everything in sight! The lyrics dwell on revenge and payback - a chance to finally let the person in mind know what you think of them. Furiously mocking and berating them, which is backed up by the musical intensity. The song opens with an ascent that accelerates until it feels inescapable, then suddenly falls away. This breaks away into a groovy, angry riff with ranting and raving from me and some thrash-like backing vocals. Soon after, the anger melts away into a doom-like groove that slows into a sludge. The music again ascends until we are back into an even quicker tempo with more insane and angry-sounding rants, insults, and a punchy, groovy riff that carries the music into an almost fight-like sound. The end completely breaks away with soaring melodic vocals, triumphant chord changes, and a virtuosic solo. Then the music comes to an end with a sample of my pet dog Adian before he passed away, barking and playing for the last time before I had to put him down. There are sounds of a beautiful sunny day at the waterfront with a soft breeze in the trees. Adian represents the final part of the arc - redemption.

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