CD Info
2010
Self Released
Ravenheart Distribution
9 Tracks
English Lyrics

OK, I hear ya, how the hell do you pronounce the name of the band, right. Well, whatsamatta, you don’t speak Welsh? It’s "coon-uh-NOON", think Raccoon at noon according to our friend Dave at Ravenheart Music who helped with that little bit of info. And it means roughly the Hounds of Chaos in Welsh mythology. And, bless ‘em, it’s a concept album, it tells a story, nothing I like better. Especially when the story is delivered by a metal band with a hot Midwestern American blond with a really nice voice. The band is from Minnesota, that’s the western half of the great state of Wisconasota and you gotta figure they know a thing or two about the mythology of Western Europe. This isn’t the band’s first production, but it is the most complete rendering so far and it’s pretty good for the genre it’s intended to work in. For the most part, that’s a heavy metal / prog metal thing with a lot of speed riffs supporting both a stylized female vocal and some dark death metal grunting, in the best tradition of that approach to music. We’ll spend a little time with the story, it’s integral to the production and although there are some alternative musical styles throughout the production, all revolve around telling the tale.

I’ve listened to a couple YouTube clips of the band, none dealing with music from this production unfortunately, but they certainly appear to be a strong live performance, which sometimes means they don’t sound as good in the studio. Well, I didn’t notice a big drop off in that respect, but, I suspect I’d really enjoy seeing them live, especially if it meant a trip back to Minnesota, preferably in the Summer time. You definitely recognize that gut wrenching heavy guitar stuff in this production, and it’s always a little better live than it can ever be in a recording studio. And, it’s integral to this production, especially since there’s two lead guitars. That’s a lot of sound, especially considering how solid and thundering these guys are. They do remind me of Paris Ortiz and the sound from Enemy Star from Milwaukee, both similar Midwestern female fronted metal sounds that utilize solid guitars, pounding drums and a top notch female vocal lead. The lead here is Julie Schultz and, although her voice is different from Enemy Star’s Kassy Gruszkowski, it is interesting nonetheless, if in a less classical way. Julie sings with a more rock oriented direction, which is probably a good thing since much of her vocal work is done in tandem with the death vocals of guitarist Neil James. And that sound works well in this story telling mode, especially with a story like this.

With that thought in mind, let’s take a look at the story, since it is integral to the presentation of the music. It’s a relatively complex tale, one that talks about society, the future and human nature, and doesn’t exactly paint an overly positive picture of those concepts. According to guitarist and lyricist Neil James, "I've really always been fascinated by duality...beginnings as ends, ends as beginnings, polar opposites, things like that. We wanted to take the idea of an Armageddon, a common theme for this music, but write it with the end as the beginning and the beginning as the end. We thought it was really interesting to juxtapose those concepts back and forth." And that can make following the story a little challenging. I had to read through the lyrics a couple times to get a feeling for how things were flowing, but one thing I had to admit, the lyrics were outstanding. And certainly not something you get often in this type of music, especially given the particular nature of the story.

The CD begins with Red Sunrise. We get a howling warning siren that leads to some of those crunching guitars the band is known for. Drums flow overtime, the base gives us a heavy road to ride on and, when we get to the vocals, our lovely blond doesn’t disappoint. There are dark male vocals throughout the song, James use to be the primary vocalist before Schultz came on board, but they are clearly there to support, not to be the primary vocal. And those vocals point to the dark road this music will lead us down:

It’s an up-tempo song, as are most on this work, guitar driven. And, it leads to the second track which begins with the sounds of marching feet. Again, the guitars lead with a blistering riff that returns us to the apocalyptical worlds this music lives in. The story’s a big one; we’re not talking a Soap Opera here that takes place over two weeks in Dumbtown, USA. James went into that expanded perspective saying, "We really wanted to tell a story that was more allegorical or metaphorical. We went so far as to deliberately avoid naming the characters or the societies involved because we felt like that level of focus would ultimately detract from the story. Frankly, it's hard to write a story about the end of the world, billions of years of evolution take place, a new society forms and ends all in a 55-minute time frame without cutting out certain details."

One of the more interesting sounds is purely instrumental. It’s called Gaea’s Rebirth, and, even given the strong vocals utilized throughout the CD, this one really gives the instrumentalists a chance to shine, about 10 minutes of time actually. This is the most pure metal track on the CD, and guitar players will love it. Some really strong stuff.

But, our tale is never far away, and the devastation and hopelessness seem to abound. But, there are uplifting moments, if only briefly. In Prognatus Iterum we hear

As the story continues, we’re taken from limited hope to even greater levels of despair. The title cut, The Alpha and the Omega seem to capture the finality of this eventuality, our final resting place. Schultz sings this one from the deepest levels of pain, and leaves us with little more to look forward to:

Well, I never said it was going to be a Boy Band romp through Happy Land. But it is some really interesting lyrical work, and done with some strong metal and a really strong metal vocal supporting the story. Just don’t listen during suicidal periods in your life, especially when your loaded gun is nearby. Other than that, little to complain about. Metal with a story, doesn’t get much better than that.

9 / 10

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