Tiktaalika (Haken’s Charlie Griffiths), returns with new album ‘Gods Of Pangaea’, launches title track
Haken guitarist Charlie Griffiths returns
with a follow-up to his 2022 solo album. This time Charlie assumes the
moniker ‘Tiktaalika’ and presents ‘Gods of Pangaea’ – set for release on
14th March 2025 (InsideOutMusic). The album picks up where
the last left off, and continues with an exploration into an ancient
forgotten world, colliding with the human centric planet we inhabit
today.
To coincide with today’s announcement, the title track from the album has been launched, featuring vocals from Texture’s Daniël de Jongh. The video sees Charlie colouring in the striking cover art, once again created by Dan Goldsworthy (Sepultura, Body Count, Aborted).
Musically
the album pays tribute to the art of the guitar riff, with its DNA
strands reaching back to the golden era of metal with flavours of
Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Metallica. Of the creative
process Charlie explains, “This time around I wanted to be more song
oriented, rather than having an overarching concept. Although I had a
rough blueprint for the shape of the album in my head and was always
conscious of the balance and flow of the album experience; starting with
a fast thrasher, following up with a longer progressive track, then a
slower sludgy song, followed by a softer track and so on. I finished all
the music first and really focused on each section be there for a good
reason, with a guitar riff that propels the song.”
The
album sees Charlie joined by drummer Darby Todd (Devin Townsend) and
bassist Conner Green (Haken). He is also helped by a collection of some
of the best vocalists in the business, with Tommy Rogers (Between The
Buried & Me), Rody Walker (Protest The Hero), Vladimir Lalić
(Organised Chaos) all joining the aforementioned de Jongh. “I had all
the music written for a good while”, comments Charlie, “I was able to
allow them to really percolate in my mind before moving on to the lyrics
and vocal line demos. I’m very specific with melodies and word
placement so the singers can focus on just delivering it 100% without
having to figure too much out. Of course, every single track came out a
thousand times better than I’d hoped; everyone did an incredible job!”
The full tracklisting is as follows:
1. Tyrannicide feat. Daniël de Jongh 3:54
2. Gods of Pangaea feat. Daniël de Jongh 8:36
3. The Forbidden Zone feat. Vladimir Lalić 5:52
4. Mesozoic Mantras feat. Vladimir Lalić 6:32
5. Fault Lines feat. Rody Walker 6:30
6. Give Up The Ghost feat. Daniël de Jongh 5:15
7. Lost Continent feat. Tommy Rogers 9:12
8. Chicxulub 7:31 (Bonus Track on CD & Digital)
The
album was mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood and mastered by Tony Lindgren
at Fascination Street studios. The album will be available as a Limited
CD Edition (incl. 1 bonus track), Gatefold LP & as Digital Album.
Pre-order now here: https://tiktaalika.lnk.to/GodsOfPangaea
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
INSIDEOUTMUSIC online:
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