HALCYON WAY – Indoctrination

Halcyon Way has released IndoctriNation, the sequel to their 2010 release Building The Towers. This is a powerful “mini album” with eight tracks total, five of them new. It picks up right where Building The Towers left off, featuring extremely heavy Prog Metal riffs, spotless vocals, and grinding rhythms. According to guitarist Jon Bodan, when Building The Towers was originally recorded they had “too much strong material for one disc.” So the band made the decision to either release a double CD, or two seperate albums. Choosing the latter, IndoctriNation is clearly the closure which fans wanted.

The first five tracks on IndoctriNation are original tracks, and contain a very similar sound and lyrical content as featured on Building The Towers. There may be slightly more intensity in this group of songs, however, they are essentially the same formula. Led by the classically trained vocalist Steve Braun, he once again proves to be a reckoning force among his contemporaries. Braun produces the standard Prog Metal high tenor style of vocals, but he is able to give a unique Grunge flavor as well. The sound is more or less a fusion of Dream Theater’s James LaBrie and Alice In Chains’ Layne Staley.

A powerful Halcyon Way song would not be complete without the signature Death Metal background vocals from bassist Kris Maltenieks. Generally, incorporating Death vocals into Prog Metal is a risky venture. However, given the force and concentrated power of their music, it actually works quite well.

Topically, IndoctriNation once again features lyrics with a heavy dose of political messages. Bodan has identified Building The Towers and IndoctriNation as the band’s “political” albums. This is also hazardous for any Metal band. Larger acts such as W.A.S.P. and Megadeth have lost many loyal fans while attempting to push a political agenda. Halcyon Way claims to tackle the subjects from a “non-preachy, non-partisan standpoint”, which they do to a certain extent. However, it is clear there is some persuasion which might cause some fans to turn the other way.

The remaining three tracks on IndoctriNation feature two remixed songs from Building The Towers. Including an Industrial/Electronica mix of “The System” from Bodan’s side project called KarbonBlack. The other track is a cover of Steel Dragon’s “Stand Up” featured in the movie Rock Star. Braun really lights up his vocals with this song, and shows off his range quite a bit. The track ends up being a fun and amusing effort amongst the serious themes featured throughout the album.

Overall, this is really just an extension of an already great album with Building The Towers, so there isn’t anything new or head-turning presented here. It’s almost in the category of a filler album in anticipation of their next full length release. That being said, if you loved Building The Towers, you will also love IndoctriNation … or vice versa.