Just to fill you in on a little background, Bahamut is made up of Terry Peake, Matthew Clark, Matt Moy, and Evan Mattson. Some of you may already be thinking that I am very biased when it comes to these guys. Although I do love all 4 of them dearly (Sorry dudes, I just totally killed your metal persona), that's not the reason why I felt compelled to write this article.
Recently, Bahamut released their first full length album, "The Process". Before it was even released, this album had a big reputation to live up to. Terry Peake has been well known throughout Detroit's Music community for past projects such as Nipon and Junecast. Those that know Terry, know he will not release anything until he is sure it's ready. His diligence, paired with the talent and drive for perfection from the entire band, guaranteed that this would be a great album.
"The Process" has been available for a couple of months on Bandcamp. If you haven't checked it out yet, it's time that you do. First off, Bahamut is definitely a Metal band, yet there are breakdowns and lyrics within many of their songs that are more characteristic of a Hardcore band. You can definitely picture a pile-up of fans yelling out a line together, or dudes hardcore dancing (if anyone even does that anymore). Other than that, this album is unlike anything I have heard before.
Their unique sound is heard throughout all 14 tracks that flow into one another flawlessly. Many of the songs are bridged together by eerie quotes and samples from films from the 1960's, which is one trait on this album that is reminiscent of Nipon - "The Judgement".
Vocalist, Matthew Clark, has developed a bad ass metal voice, for lack of better terminology. He isn't too growly and demonic sounding, and isn't straight up screaming like some newer metal bands. He does a great job of sounding dark enough yet still delivering the lyrics so the audience can understand the message in the songs.
The lyrics of each song on this album paints a picture and more or less tells a story to the listener. The songs aren't made up of non-sense lyrics thrown together, but they aren't a bunch of sappy "you broke my heart" songs either. In addition to each song having it's own tale to tell, the band pointed out on their Facebook page, that many of the songs are purposely paired together. Terry does a great job of letting their fans know exactly what his intent was and the thought process that went into each piece of this album through their Facebook page and also through his real-time comments, when listening to the album on Soundcloud. (As a side note, the fully mastered version of "The Process" is currently only available on Bandcamp. All of their other pages have a slightly different version of the album, but all of them are great.)
Now, although the vocals and lyrics on this album are great, the music truly holds it all together. (I know there are many of you out there that hate to admit it, but you can't understand a damn word Metal vocalists are singing half of the time anyways.) The composition and execution of the music on this album is amazing. Their drummer, Matt Moy, is possibly one of the most precise drummers I have ever heard. Terry and Evan do an amazing job of bringing it all together with insanely intricate guitar riffs followed up by chugs that instantly make your head nod.
Although the addition of Clark on vocals has brought this band to new levels, Bahamut surprisingly played numerous shows without a vocalist. Their instrumental performances were nearly as intense and entertaining as their current shows. That alone, shows the pure talent of the guys in this band. Once they were lucky enough to have Clark join as the lead singer, it truly completed the entire sound and added a whole other level of energy to the band.
I'm sure my description of Bahamut and "The Process" doesn't do either one complete justice. Hopefully, you will just take the time to head over to their Bandcamp page and listen to the album in it's entirety. While you are there, you can purchase a digital download of "The Process" for $10. Or, if you would rather wait for a hard copy, the band plans to have their CD release show on March 24th at The Berkley Front. So make sure to mark your calendars!
While you're at it, make sure to head out to The Pike Room on February 16th to see Matt Clark play guitar with Maylene and the Sons of Disaster! And, to hear more music from Terry Peake, check out some of his other compositions on Robot Academy Music, including soundtracks for films!
So until March 24th, make sure to listen to "The Process" over and over and learn all of the lyrics so you can sing along and get pissed at the show!
We can't wait for the official release party! Congratulations on an amazing CD, guys!
~C
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