Electric sounds are brought forth by Fracture Lines on their latest single, "Panic and Rage," off of their heavy EP, 'Cyclical.'
Canadian-based Progressive Hard Rock band, Fracture Lines, reigns from Montreal, Quebec. Made up of Julian Myers dominating vocals and guitar, Jorge Olivares Romero shredding the guitar, and Brandon Lee Watt bringing rhythm on the bass, Fracture Lines brings the raw sound of rock with new modern ideas to the genre chalked full of diverse influences.
"Panic and Rage" is the second song that can be found on 'Cyclical.' This track immediately has you headbanging to the slowed-down tempo carried out in the instrumentation. It allows you to get deep into your thoughts while the enticing musical progression delivers sweet sorrows being played in each guitar chord is strummed passionately.
As we approach a more electric and up-tempo cadence in the heavy-hitting drums and rhythmic bassline, we find ourselves anticipating what's next to come in this composition.
Julian Myers displays a longing and despair in the vocalization of each word that is shed in this creation that continues to adapt to each note. "Panic and Rage" shares a profound reflection on the current state of affairs in the world of politics. The expression exuded is meant to be a statement piece and a protest song.
Showing the wide range of artistic versatility that Fracture Lines is capable of, this song has us covered in angst as we pick up the pep in our step and carry out our day to day activities with that much more zest.
All members in the band put through the performance of a lifetime as this collaborative effort makes this record a statement piece that leaves you picking up your jaw. From the alluring introduction, heavy breakdown, triumphant guitar solos, and empowering tom hits, "Panic and Rage" carries out signature trades of a rock hit.
What was the creative process for you when crafting “Panic and Rage”?
Julian: Musically, this song was quite the collaboration. We came up with most of the music from playing the parts over and over again to the point where it became very natural and cohesive. As far as lyrics go, that always usually comes after writing the music which was the case for this song. The inspiration came about after watching too many political debates that got me into a rabbit hole of ideologies and just made me express my anger towards it all.
Brandon: As far as the music is concerned, it was a combination of our different musical backgrounds blended together. We all work well together because if someone has an idea, we listen.
Jorge: We aren't married to any style, so we do what we feel like doing. So people can expect the music to be honest because we didn't force ourselves to write these songs, they came naturally.
What message and theme would you like your listeners to take away from this song?
Julian: I think it's pretty direct in certain parts, but I really came up with the theme from realizing how politics has become so focused on anger to the point where debate is out of the question. We can't have proper political debates without one person insulting another, that's not proactive for a change....
Could you take us into what the studio session was like when you recorded this record? How long did a song of this caliber take to record?
Jorge: Well, given the current situation with covid making it difficult to see each other, we tracked our instruments from home and mixed from here which is super convenient to tweak guitar and bass tones afterward. We then sent the song to be mastered by Acle Kahney from the band TesseracT.
Brandon: Being independent gave us the freedom to do things how we wanted, especially to track all our parts at home.
Julian: I think we must have taken a couple of months to put all 4 songs together, particularly this song. Some of my parts were recorded a while back. The solo was probably the hardest for me to get everything just right and in the pocket. It was a lot of fun though, I think this was the most fun to play and record out of all the songs for me. The vocals were fun to do at home, it gave me time to be creative and really get into it at my own pace.
Where do you find your main sources of inspiration outside of music when you get to create?
Julian: The inspirations are usually all around us. Seeing, hearing, or reading about something can make the lightbulb on the top of my head appear.
Jorge: I try to think of it as a good movie or book, basically storytelling. You can find inspiration in anything, even the phone number of your ex-girlfriend can become your next chord progression haha the important thing is telling the story in an interesting way.
What can fans anticipate next from you?
Julian: For sure the next thing is more music. We're thinking about a single next with some possible collaborations. It would be a song that people who've seen us live a while back would recognize quite easily.