Indie rock anthems and classic rock passion and power hit the scene with this refreshingly organic, nostalgic take on surf-rock for the contemporary music fan.
Featuring swirling guitar patterns, lashings of reverb, and a fine use of contrast between mellow reflective moments and those designed to energize and inspire, Demonology is a stand-out collection of originals, from an artist with a clear creative intention and style.
Montreal’s Fraser Wayne is the man behind the music, and his background as front-man for a garage rock band has fused with his clearly engaging manner of sound design and performance throughout this eclectic and interesting new collection.
From Be Good through Doing Our Best and Summer In Montreal, the playlist quickly sets the mood, offering a united hit of escapism in its entirety, yet also a series of individually addictive indie-rock alternative hits.
Then we get the subtle swagger and juxtaposed distortion of a seductively interesting Legend Of Gunheart, and suddenly the lyrics and the rhythm take the reigns, prompting a deeper look at the work, the album’s concept in full, and indeed the mind of the artist.
The raw presentation of this album is superb – it creates as close to the live rock experience as possible for many of us right now, and furthermore; it injects that carefree, confident and uninhibited sense of artistry into the modern scene – something we’d all but forgotten about in recent years.
We then get a touch of dark, operatic back and forth between our lead singer and a featured Teenage Witch for Black Petunia Moon – another riff-heavy, recognisable anthem ready to be turned up loud.
Afterwards, The Sun & The Storm proves a cinematic and melodic highlight – potentially fresh from the latest take on Red Dead Redemption or the newest Tarantino flick. Another favourite – listen through headphones and let the journey really take over.
During the album’s latter half, Fraser showcases a further few sides to his creatively free approach to making music. The delicately thoughtful If I Were A Flower is a fine example, as is a Stone Roses-esque Holes In The Sky.
Wasting Away proves intimate and reflective again, touching on the opposite end of the spectrum with reference to winter in Montreal. The near-acoustic swagger and vocal tiredness prove quite hypnotic, the solo acts like something of an unconcerned free-style.
With the heavy effects vocally on this album’s production, it effectively makes the lyrics take something of a backseat occasionally. However, the more closely you listen, through high quality speakers or headphones, and indeed with each revisit, the more clearly these stories and ideas about life begin to stand out and connect. Death Song makes for a bold example of this in action, it builds up with subtle power and poignancy.
Then just to re-inject a punk-rock-inspired level of freedom and optimism once again, Love Will Keep You Alive brings things to an energetic, immersive finish with yet another rock anthem designed to draw a crowd. The perfect way to close down the collection.
This is easily an album worth revisiting for the classic rock fans out there – even those new to the sound, who are perhaps tired of the pristine and clean nature of contemporary pop and even rock. Hopefully Fraser Wayne is a name we can catch on the live scenes as and when the time returns.
Check out the album via Bandcamp.
