Walken – S/T (Self-Release)
By Jay Snyder
November 23, 2009

Any band who calls themselves Walken and dubs their website www.walkenroll.com, well they get a point for pure wittiness in my book! When I got this disc in the mail I was immediately interested as it featured Max Doyle on guitar and Zack Farwell on drums, both members of fellow San Francisco act Grayceon, who I enjoy heartily on disc as well as live. Although it should be known that Walken bare basically no semblance to Grayceon’s surging, prog-minded gracefulness and batten down the hatches with a mixture of charging, D-beat punk squalor, lavishly metallic guitar heroics and some fiercely addictive, groove-laden rock n’ roll.

The guitar duo of Max Doyle and Sean Kohler are a tightly knit unit that knows how to pour on the rock, but also never limit themselves to one style. One minute they’ll be plowing out a heaving, rock n’ roll riff, the next a deadly punk attack or they’ll drop the gloves altogether and work within the metal forum of raging solos and kingly harmonies; so variety is always a huge factor within the frame of the axe work. This all puts a heavy weight on drummer Zack Farwell, but he’s got an incredible set of chops and manages to dazzle when the occasion calls for it, matching up against the riffs with steady, in the pocket beats, or levying on the speed and eight armed, octopus antics when metal and crust become the focus. Vocals are split between soaring cleans and a blood in the lung scream, with Sean and bassist Shane even “harmonizing” the two whenever the fuck they feel like it. Not sure who has got the clean or the growl, but they are both masters of their craft and add even more life to the band’s powerful, audio carnage!

A brief metallic gallop of hefty riffs and battle-hardened drums, and we’re off to the crusty punk races on the lead-in shellacking of “Watch it Burn”. Paces are changed at the drop of a hat as the entrance of dueling vocals and dueling guitar melodies, changes the speed blaze to a nice mid-tempo thickness; with several thrash-y runs of double bass drumming and climbing, glory stealing metal riffs leading the charge. The picking style of certain riffs and harmonies reminds me of Iron Maiden more than once, and there’s even some crazed, tremolo picking akin to black metal that hits you hard and fast, before you even have a chance to realize what’s going on. The regal guitar harmonies get even stronger as the track dissipates and their grandiose entrance makes second track “Nadir” an immediate force to reckon with, furthering my feelings of Maiden, Lizzy, Trouble and classic metal in general. This blissfully soaring guitar work is buttressed perfectly by pristine bass lines that you can actually hear, before a balls out drum roll signifies a headlong dive into Kill ‘em All era Metallica. Harmonies re-enter and battle for equal ground with the classy thrash riffing, as nasty screams and striking cleans ride hot on their trail weaving in and out of each other seamlessly. Harnessing a nice, mid-tempo churn the band musters up a steady rhythmic groove that makes it pie, for Max and Sean to put front n’ center another rising tide of masterful, dual harmonic grandiosity. Climaxing with a barrage of throttling riffs and some nice lead work, the raging screams go full bore until we are treated to one last stand of vintage thrash heroics, the likes of which are far removed from the trendier, bandwagon jumping retro stuff these days. This is the real fucking deal right here!

At this point in the record, I started scratching my head. Not because I wasn’t enjoying what I was hearing… No way, that was a big fucking on the contrary, because I was, but the almighty press machine made mention of a blues influence I had yet to hear a lick of! Well, “Running Out of Time” answered all my questions with a smack in the face that sounds like His Hero is Gone’s burly crust (especially with the anthem worthy simplicity of the growling chorus line of “Running out of time!”), Motorhead’s full-throttle metal groove and Soundgarden’s gargantuan, Kim Thayil riff n’ rock. To make sure they cover all of their vast influences, the gnarly Madien-esque harmonies come bulldozing down your front door during the finale. So for once the press didn’t lie and color me goddamn glad, because Walken knows their way around a punk heavy, rock n’ roll stomp just as well as they do their metal!

Bolstering the mid-tempo foundation of instrumental “Thunder Paws” is a rich, mid-paced rhythmic forcefulness that gets snazzy on occasion but holds in high regard the pacing of classic doom and metal, giving the guitars a chance to wrap gorgeous melodies around every steady roll and heady fill that erupts from Farwell’s kit. It reminds me of some of The Fucking Champs’ and even Le Force’s adherence to DIY, from the gut instru-metal. There’s especially lucid lead guitar work all over this track, and around the 2:30 mark it really reaches some astounding heights, setting things up for some murky low-end groove, tribal beats and sturdy bridging riffs.

Smashing away some of the mid-tempo churn of the former instrumental, “Bitter Red” lives up to its title with an emphasis on METAL all across the board, from the precision guitar figures to the harmonizing scream/sing vocal delivery, all a fine garnish for the hyperactive drum rush. There’s still some very nicely executed, slower riffs and leads that just glimmer with the spark of metal greats gone by, so as always variety is one of the band’s sharpest calling cards, as they are never content to mire in the same pace for too long. Never too fast and never too slow, is the way these boys like to shake things up and they are consistent about making each section a quality piece.

An extended, moody intro of clean guitars set the mood for “In the City of No Seasons”; the album’s lofty center piece. The soothing wash of un-electrified guitar is smashed by a rousing double bass pound, fervent yet beautiful thrash cadences and vile, vocal rasps. Even a scaled down, blast beat proves a pivotal addition to the track, opening up to some gorgeous guitar harmonies thereafter. As starkly brutal as much of this track is, it is truly breathtaking to watch it unfold, and the band’s choice of following it up with a mellow instrumental in the form of “Dylan’s Song” pays off with great dividends. This brooding piece actually pays homage to Grayceon and even their peers Giant Squid, due to the nature of the guitar melodies that slowly coil and wraparound the aquatic bass lines and deft stick work. Sheer volume adulation is not added till much ladder in the track until epic harmonies ride a peaking riff upwards to the heavens, making the track the perfect link between the moody ambiences of Grayceon/Giant Squid and the tense instrumental crunch of The Fucking Champs, Le Force and Hematovore.

Leading us into the final stretch, Walken throws down on the highly melodic soaring metal of “Right at Home”, the staggering thrash of “1/21/07”, the nearly Entombed like chug n’ roll of “Beast Toker” and one last, instrumental epic in the form of slow burning dirge “The Bridge”; all worthy tracks in their own right, each offering something different for the listener to sink his or her teeth into.

I’m always happy to get a surprise in the mail. Never new this band existed, nor that it featured members of a band I dig heartily; this time they are indulging their blatantly metallic sides. Walken are skillful in their execution of songs, crafting and building each tune into something instantly memorable, packing each one with great vocal change-ups, vintage and authentic metal guitar playing, rock solid rhythms and a great set of dynamics that actually makes you feel the mood they are trying to convey.

This has been a great year for our beloved metal and rock n’ roll genres…there’s been more releases than one can even try and keep track of this year, but for all of you metal nuts out there looking for something shred worthy, please leave some room on the shelf for Walken. I’m thoroughly impressed with this material and it has been managing to find some extended play time amongst all of my other favorites of this year, and those gone by. Punk, thrash, rock and epic metal have never rested side by side so gloriously to these ears, making Walken a recommended check for all of those who went, “hmmm” as they thumbed through this review!


Visit the Walken website at www.walkenroll.com