Exclaim! Magazine
Much like the hockey legend for which the album is named, Winnipeg's Electro Quarterstaff bring unbridled skill and undeniable talent to the heavy metal arena. Three cunning axe wielders hold up the lack of low end by manoeuvring through complex and epic melodies, harmonising, duelling, and destroying their respective fret boards faster than the Oilers dynasty came crashing down in the early '90s. With this much going on, there's no need for vocals; they'd just detract from the shrewd songwriting and over the top musicianship. A resounding strength, their ability to piece together songs always maintains a sense of coherence though somewhat elusive and unconventional. Ruminative riffs transition flawlessly while beats are fired off with razor-sharp precision and slapshot ferocity. They're quick to descend into tough, groove laden madness, all the while continuing to challenge their listeners, relentlessly executing savvy plays, their battle tactic best characterised as seek and destroy. Unleashing their instrumental stylings with the force of a thousand Gretzkys, EQ definitely scored with this full-length debut.
First a big screen hunk, now a hockey superstar — why Swayze and Gretzky? Guitarist Drew Johnston: Both words just sound really appealing on a linguistic level, regardless of any connotations they may exude. Obviously we don't have lyrics or any kind of social/political agenda as an instrumental band, so we had to create concepts that would resonate with people. For some inexplicable reason, two-syllable last names containing Y and Z seem to do the trick. It's total nonsense; both titles are basically non-sequiturs and do not relate to anything musically or personally. The enunciation of the last names themselves and the aesthetic value of how they may be perceived are undeniably endearing to us... we didn't want typical or pretentious titles for our releases, so it was important to choose something bold but totally goofballs.
How do you feel the lack of low end contributes to your acoustic aesthetic? We've never really consciously strived to avoid having a bassist — it had more to do with complacency and circumstance than any kind of aesthetic choice... we've adapted our sound naturally over time to be concentrated in the lower registers of the guitar to compensate for the lack of bass. People have told us we sound fine without a bassist, but personally I hear it as a handicap... I came to realise first-hand the density and impact a bass guitar can provide in context, and to extend that "luxury" to EQ would give the guitars more freedom to explore independent phrasings and counterpoint punctuated by a real rhythm section keeping the low-end jet stream intact... we have enough momentum behind us at this point to at least experiment with the idea.
Lambgoat Webzine
Electro Quarterstaff are a technical metal fan's wet dream. Gretzky is fifty minutes of intricate and varied technically adept metal that shreds from front to back without the aid (or hindrance) of vocals. I'm generally not a fan of instrumental metal, but you can definitely tell that much of what Electro Quarterstaff does wouldn't be possible if they had to make room for a vocalist. This streamlined approach lets the music speak for itself and, more often than not, it speaks quite eloquently.
Most of the disc's eight compositions sit at or around the six minute mark. I was a bit skeptical that EQ's brand of high-intensity instrumental prog-thrash could keep such ambitious pieces afloat, but ambition should be this band's middle name. They effortlessly switch gears from song to song, filling songs like "Charmony" with excellent, mid-tempo melodic leads and underline its follow-up "The Right To Arm Bears" with furious grinding before giving way to a sludgy odd-tempo midsection. The band's three guitarists and lone drummer accomplish everything musically that Mastodon wishes they could. By eliminating the vocal aspect, they've also found a way to tie all the album's various concepts together fairly easily.
While the lack of vocals often works to the band's advantage, I did occassionally find myself getting lost in the album or even in a single track. The lack of vocals also often seems to lead to a lack of structure that sometimes hurts what could otherwise be incredible tracks. Honestly, this album has more great riffs than just about anything I've heard in the past year and every lick gets the listener's complete and undivided attention. It's just a little harder for me to keep focused on a metal band without any vocal presence. Listening to Gretzky repeatedly is helping me cope with my deficiency, but it hasn't completely cured my attention deficit issues.
Finally, I'd be remiss not to mention the amazingly bizarre artwork comprised of paintings by Blane Throttle. This is definitely some of the most immediately intriguing stuff I've ever seen on a metal record and probably ever will. The sheer absurdity of all its cartoon-ish glory truly has to be seen to be believed.
Bottom Line: The musicianship on Gretzky should be enough to turn any music fan's head. Thankfully, the songs generally rise far above mere technical wankery and actually form memorable and worthwhile compositions. I highly recommend this disc to anyone with an appreciation for metal, regardless of your penchant for the instrumental side of things. Electro Quarterstaff ain't your hipster douche friend's instrumental metal act.
Everyone knows that instru-metal is the hot shit 2K5-6. That's all well and good, but what about us record reviewers? Lyrics and vocals are easy hooks to hang a review on, and Electro Quarterstaff-Winnipeggers with a three-guitar lineup, more Morbid Angel than Pelican, big on non-Swedish harmonies-ain't got none. So, assuming some common frames of reference among Decibel readers, in lieu of "there's this part to this song, then this other part," I will describe what each of Gretzky's eight tracks sound like to the best of my abilities.
"Neckwrecker": Two tornadoes chase each other through a ruined urban landscape. Eventually, they embrace and make tender love for approximately one minute and forty-five seconds.
"Twisted Squid": "I had this really weird dream that Drive Like Jehu got back together, but Trey Azagthoth was playing guitar for them and they did a cover of the theme from The Beverly Hillbillies. It was fucked up, dude. Can you imagine if that happened for real?"
"Charmony": Someone's going to get sacrificed to a snake-god… but not before a slow dance and a jet-fighter training montage! (May not all be happening to the same people.)
"The Right to Arm Bears": Contains the only words on the album (sampled): "Who the fuck are you?" and "That's who the fuck I am!" Then those two guys fight for, like, a really long time. Like They Live long.
"Get Sick": The Federation (Starship Troopers) recruiting ad music.
"Titanium Overlords": In the closest title/music match on the album, sounds like a thing that could be an even match for the thing on the cover of Voivod's Rrröööaaarrr.
"Eyepatch Romance": Theme to a somber ceremony in which Metallica humbly renounce everything post-...And Justice for All, and are officially forgiven and welcomed back to the fold by an international council of metalheads.
"Something's Awry in the Hetfield of Dreams": A Guitar Center location grows gigantic robot legs and stomps its way through downtown with all of the customers still testing guitars and amps inside, possibly creating the ruined cityscape of "Neckwrecker." Full circle!
It's a pretty good record.
87 years from now, some wise sage just may point out that, "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth onto all continents shredding instrumental metal, conceived in three-guitar harmony, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are
not created equal..." Because, you see, Electro Quarterstaff is a special breed of band. A breed of band whose shredding instrumental metal demands the creation of catchphrases such as "I see your Gretzky is as big as mine." (which, unsurprisingly, works just as well, if not
better, with their self-released "Swayze" EP) as much as it demands respect, admiration, and the proverbial "throwing of the horns".
Yes, the time of "Gretzky", the all-too-long-awaited Willowtip-released debut full-length from Electro Quarterstaff, is finally upon us - bringing with it eight tracks and more than 50 minutes of unrepentantly sweaty and vocal-free heavy metal. As stated in the booklet: "This is an uncircumcised recording." As stated by the label: "One of the greatest instrumental metal albums of all time." As stated by me: "An album so man-esque, even your lady-friends will grow a pair upon experiencing the brute man-ishness of its testosterone-fueled manhood." For with "Gretzky", Electro Quarterstaff proves that all you need are three guitars, drums, and approximately six hundred and sixty-six riffs per track - only a scarce few of which are appropriated from 1986 - 1988 era Metallica or prime Thin Lizzy. Sure, an insanely impeccable recording meatier than the rack of ribs that tips over the car during "The Flintstones" intro doesn't hurt. Nor does the bizarre yet awesome artwork. And Canadian bloodlines may or may not be mandatory for the equation to complete itself, I'm not sure...
But whatever the case, it's true: This
is one of the greatest instrumental metal albums of all time. Therefore, I refuse to further dishonor their supremacy with such pedestrian gibberish. It's time to rock:
Electro Quarterstaff - NeckwreckerSome bands call themselves "thinking man's metal". Well, sorry ladies, but this is "manly man's metal". This is "Chuck Norris' beard metal". And I fucking love it. You know what I'm sayin'? These dudes are supreme badasses of the highest order, and any self-respecting disciple of the riff owes it to themselves, and to the sheer might of the band, to purchase this record.
Winnipeg, Manitoba has certainly spawned some notable music artists -- Bachman Turner Overdrive, the Weakerthans, Neil Young, and uh, Burton Cummings. Now firing up their own prairie block heater are Canadian metallers Electro Quarterstaff. Yes, let's repeat that... all hail, sheer instrumental heavy metal wizardry from Winnipeg, Canada: Electro Quarterstaff! That band name alone would pique our interest here at AQ. But actually we've been waiting for this release for AGES, as one of the EQ boys is an AQ fan and was cool enough to send us down some of their cd-r demos a while back, thinking we just might like his band's brand of mega-mathy, tech-metal madness. And he was right!! So, now suitably signed to the Willowtip label, here's the thus (to us) long-awaited Electro Quarterstaff debut! And it's a doozy. These blasting, bombastic songs practically turn themselves inside out with all the insane drumming, dual guitar shredding, and chunky chops crammed into 'em. Hectic heaviness overload!! We're happily dizzy after just a couple tracks. And the Zakk Wylde fans here appreciate all the pinch harmonics one of the guitarists flings like picks...
No surprise their thanks list includes members of Gorguts, Voivod, and Breadwinner! Basically, if you'd like The Fucking Champs to sound even more like Carcass, on crack, this is for you. Or, it's like a haywire super computer programmed to defeat Zebulon Pike at their own game. Damn. Some cuts, like, "Charmony" slow down a bit for some classic, majestic rifferama, giving more reason to make Champs comparisons... Oh yeah and like the Champs they've got that half-ironic, smart-ass post rock song titling thing down, getting the biggest groan from us with "Something's Awry In The Hetfield Of Dreams" (an eleven-minute epic by the way). Thank God they're an instrumental band! They're a bit more straight-forward with other titles like "Neckwrecker" (so true!) and "Twisted Squid" (sounds like it, if anything does). They've also got some really sweet artwork adorning this disc, not your usual metal stuff (though there's skulls) but way cool. Not sure what more to say to recommend this to the right folks, we just don't want any fans of the Champs, ZP, Girth, Loincloth, Hematovore, Suzukitron, etc. to miss this!
You can check out some other reviews on the Willowtip website
here. Enjoy!
-Andrew