Charlie Griffiths, guitarist with British progressive metal heavyweights Haken, is set
to release his debut solo album ‘Tiktaalika’ on the 17th June 2022
via InsideOutMusic. With musical roots still firmly in the progressive realm,
Charlie draws from his love of old-school 80s thrash, 90s tech-metal and
alternative rock. Running the gamut from melodic to avant-garde to straight-up
heavy, you might say Tiktaalika bridges the gap between King Crimson and King
Diamond!
Today sees the launch of the third single from the album, ‘Luminous Beings’, featuring ex-Textures vocalist Danïel De Jongh. Watch the video here:
Charlie comments: “The most proggy track on the
album; I think of it as Gentle Giant meets Cynic, with a blend of big odd time
riffs and technical, detailed guitar parts and jazz harmony. Lyrically this is
a love letter to the amazing planet and natural world we find ourselves in and
also reflects on that intangible ‘force’ which drives us and inspires us to
keep moving forward, despite the many obstacles we’re all dealt. But as someone
once said, ‘life finds a way!’. I’d long been a fan of Danïel De Jongh’s vocal
work with Textures and I was incredibly lucky to have him lend his awesome,
soulful voice to this track and bringing it to life. Underpinning it all is
Drummer Darby Todd (Martin Barre, Devin Townsend), who delivered the perfect
blend of power, world class groove and fusion chops to the track.”
The albums first single ‘Arctic Cemetery’ includes guest vocals from Tommy Rogers of Between the Buried & Me. Watch the video now here:
Check out the video for the instrumental title track
here: https://youtu.be/Sr7X2RNc4DA
The album includes stunning artwork from Dan
Goldsworthy, and will be available as a Ltd CD Edition, Gatefold 180g 2LP+CD
& as Digital Album. Pre-order now here: https://charliegriffiths.lnk.to/Tiktaalika
The full track-listing is as follows:
1. Prehistoric Prelude
2.
Arctic Cemetery
3.
Luminous Beings
4.
In Alluvium
5.
Dead in the Water
6.
Digging Deeper
7.
Tiktaalika
8. Crawl Walk Run
9. Under Polaris
This concept album was 375 million years in the
making, with the 9 tracks drawing inspiration from themes of geological time,
fossilisation, transformation and humanity’s connections with each other and
the planet we inhabit. The Griffiths-penned lyrics are given voice by some of
the best vocalists in the business: Tommy Rogers (Between the Buried And Me),
Danïel De Jongh (Textures), Vladimir Lalić (Organised Chaos) and Neil Purdy
(Luna’s Call).
As well as handling guitar duties, Charlie also takes
care of bass, keyboards and on one track, makes his debut lead vocal
performance. Of the creative process Charlie explains, “I picked up the 6
string guitar again, which ironically has become the more unusual option for
me, after 10 or so years writing with an 8-string guitar for Haken. It
definitely sent me into a different creative headspace, with riff after riff
seemingly falling out of the guitar. I naturally began forming those riffs into
song structures, while simultaneously writing vocal melodies and building the
lyrical concept. It was a great form of escapism from my usual environment and
I had a lot of fun doing it”.
The album also features a host of guest musicians:
Drummer Darby Todd (Martin Barre, Frost, Devin Townsend), Keyboard wizard
Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) and Saxophonist Rob Townsend (Steve Hackett).
“All of the guest musicians took the songs to another level” Charlie explains,
“I had everything written and demoed, so the guys could quickly learn the
parts, but I gave free rein for them to bring their personality to the party.
Darby’s drumming style, is so beautifully improvised and more jazz-fusion
influenced, when paired with my riffs, it resulted in something unexpected. It blows
my mind that the synth solo Jordan played was the very first take! Capturing
that spirit of spontaneity within a structured piece is always very
special”.
The album was mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood and
mastered by Ermin Hamidovic.
CHARLIE GRIFFITHS online:
https://www.instagram.com/charliegriffithsguitar/
https://www.youtube.com/c/CharlieGriffiths
https://www.facebook.com/charlie.griffiths.guitarist
https://twitter.com/c_griffiths
https://linktr.ee/charliegriffiths
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