The Heroes of Ottawa – CeVILAIN
CKDJ prides itself on being the ONLY radio station in Ottawa that plays 100% local music and promoting local artists. CeVILAIN, a local titan in the Ottawa hard rock/metal scene, have been a staple band in our setlist since their 2020 album “On Death and Dying”. They very recently released two new singles, Penrose and Therapy. The album, (On Death and Dying), provides the listener with a visceral feeling of inner turmoil and sadness while pumping your ears full of spicy guitar licks, ambient leads, and angsty screams.
The first song on the album, “How It Ends”, was released as a single in 2019 and is one of their top 2 songs played on the station. It begins with a clock ticking sound that alternates in the left and right channels and ends up being a motif at the end of the album, but also signifies that time keeps moving forward regardless of how hard you try to slow it down. The lyrical content deals with a relationship that’s starting to go downhill, presumably internal thoughts about a potential upcoming fight or noticing that things just aren’t the same anymore. Feelings are fading and anxiety is rising as the guitars and drums slowly begin to ramp in volume, further enforcing that chaos is growing ever closer and something is imminent.
“How It Ends” is followed by “Crisis”, CeVILAIN’s most frequently played song on the station. A lo-fi drum opening starts the song off, complete with the quality rising to high-fidelity and a syncopated drum fill before the rhythm guitar section slams you in the face with a chunky riff backed up by an ambient 16th note lead progression. After the opening, the overall volume drops, accentuating the drum pattern, and the lead guitar occasionally plays on the open strings in the rhythm section. The lyrics continue the theme of a failing love, this time skipping to a confrontation indicated by the lyrics that begins with “Naked and blameless, you live in your disguise” implying one of them has been caught cheating and has no remorse for the pain caused. The pre-chorus kicks the drums up a notch and the guitars become much more prominently articulated in the mix, driving the song’s tension up gradually. The hard-hitting lines “You’re lying, denying, no honesty, no faith” and “Ever always for you, leaving nothing for us” solidify that this is the beginning of the end for the two, and the listeners’ point of view is that of calling out the other person on their deception and toxic behaviour.The rest of the song follows the motif of anger and a person’s patience being blown past their limit.
CeVILAIN is an incredibly talented band lyrically, mechanically, and musically, with everything carrying so much meaning and weight the deeper you listen. You can always count on the music portion giving you the perfectly placed scream attached to a prominent lyric or the depth of the words and thoughts associated with pain of that scale. Feel free to come listen to both on CKDJ 107.9 from your car, your phone, or anywhere you have an internet connection.
Link to the station’s website here: https://www.ckdj.net/
Listen to CeVILAIN on:
- Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/cevilain/1318514178
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6XWwKgs6eaq7yZjhCELSvj
- Youtube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC_aQYIayv83iyZsCB93kx-g
or any other available streaming service.
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