The Worshyp

Remember the era of the "Hair Bands", and how any band that played heavy metal was labeled the same way?  It was assumed that all of the musicians were nothing more than neanderthals that could play an instrument and had big, huge Aqua-Net enhanced hair.  Even today metal bands seem pigeon holed and those beliefs seem to still have a white knuckled grip on the genre, but that is simply inaccurate.

You don't believe me, then take the time to listen to "The Worshyp".

Using the power of the internet once again for good, I was very happy when "The Worshyp" found me on that happy little thing called Twitter.  Twitter appears to be a veritable cornucopia of bands that want to be heard, no that DEMAND to be heard.   Its their right to want to be heard, and more importantly we want to hear bands with this much talent, and we should hope that all bands sound this good.

Hailing from Toronto, "The Worshyp" is using every bit of their talent to put out music that is hard, driving and takes no prisoners.  Look, I can drop metaphor upon metaphor but the fact is that they are GREAT. 

The first song I heard was a song called "Spirit Keyz", and from that first song which sounded like an amalgam of bands like Testament, Anthrax and Death Angel.  Melodic metal is common, but what is not common is a band that takes that melodic quality and wraps it together with pure talent.  "Spirit Keyz" is just that, and as for the basis of this review, it was a revelation of what was to come.

In doing this piece, I had to refer to YouTube for the music and before I talk about the song "Left For Dead", I have to tell you that the video is flipping cool and it too, was a tale of what was to come.  "Left For Dead" had a flavor of Megadeth in it (I bet you couldn't get ice cream in the flavor of Megadeth), and what was so nice was that vocally, and lyrically they obviously not trying to be anything other than "The Worshyp".

Next on the YouTube tour of the band was the song "Ganglords", and this too had that great reflective feel of the character of the band and their roots.  Unlike the '80's (in the eyes of the public) this proves one thing about metal, intelligent people write it.  "Ganglords" is well written lyrically, melodically and a favorite of mine.

While I was writing this review, my daughter heard the next song, "Never Afraid" and she made an interesting point, "Never Afraid" feels like a Metallica song and it has qualities of the Metallica classic "One".  That's an interesting observation, it does feel like "One", and although I doubt they were trying to create that similarity, I think that the song is more than worthy of the comparison.  "Never Afraid" is a great song, and it does rest on its own laurels.

I think its great when you can make such a comparison as the previous song but when you can say that a song such as "Under Surveillance" really doesn't seem like anything other than an individual effort (and a great one at that).  The song is Orwellian, and opens the can of what fears society can, may (or may not) actually face.  Its a brilliant song and is the best I have heard within the scope which I have knowledge (or experience with).

The phenomena of crop circles, those mystical rings that dot the fields (90% of which occur near Stonehenge according to the video I watched) is the subject of the song titled "Crop Circles".  This song is a tremendous piece of music.  An instrumental, it shows the depth of their music and it is very capable of making you a fan post haste.

There is nothing but great things I can say about this band, and bands like this are the real foundation of the craft which they practice.  For every Metallica, there are probably 5000 other bands that are just as good, and perhaps better (blaspheme cry out the Metallica fans).  This is not some small time garage band that does incessant covers, this band is proof positive that they should and hopefully WILL be just as important.  Buy their music, see their shows, encourage others to do the same because they are that damned impressive.