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Aim for Mars, hit the Moon
Kootenay Prog-Metal upstarts Phaeton kick off 2024 with debut Fernie performance
“We’re so excited to be performing Fernie for the first time,” said Ferdy Belland, bassist for the Kootenay prog-metal act Phaeton. “I mean, this was where Alex Lifeson was born, so for us, being huge Rush fans, this has all sorts of exciting significance – Fernie’s a prog-metal Mecca, don’t you know? A roots-quest, if you will. And besides, Fernie’s the coolest place in all of the East Kootenay region, so it’s high time we brought our A-game to town!”
Phaeton takes the stage at the Fernie Elks Hall (491 1st Ave.) on Friday, March 29 as opening support for Vancouver’s black-metal stalwarts SVNEATR, who are undertaking their Kings of Northern Darkness tour along with special guests Weald And Woe (all the way from Boise, Idaho). This event is promoted by local cultural engineer Stephanie Fleming, she of Infinitea Events, and is sure to light up the fading winter night with high energy and even higher decibel readings.
“Stephanie’s awesome,” says Belland. “She does so much for the Fernie community, and she’s a true friend and ally of all Kootenay musicians.”
Formed in March 2017 in Kimberley by drummer Colin Righton (ex-Xanimus, ex-Chaos Logic) and guitarist-producer-composer-whizkid Kevin Thiessen (ex-AsZension, ex-Datura), the band’s lineup is rounded out by guitarist Daniel Airth (ex-Chaos Logic) and bassist Ferdy Belland (ex-Bif Naked), combining one of the strongest instrumental powerhouses found in the bustling musical communities of southeastern British Columbia.
Influenced by artists such as Dream Theatre, Devin Townsend, Mastodon, Symphony X, Opeth, Gojira, King Crimson, and the aforementioned Rush, the band’s sound stands alone and unique, either in the Kootenays or elsewhere.
Following their upcoming Fernie appearance (their first live performance since October 2019), the band is scheduled to debut at Dickens Pub in Calgary as part of the regional Wacken Battle, as well as later shows at Cranbrook’s Key City Theatre and at the Loud As Hell Festival in Drumheller.
A third album is scheduled for release later in 2024, with material for a fourth album already in the compositional works.
“There wasn’t any predetermined vow for us to craft a prefabricated identity an all-instrumental band,” explained Belland. “It just happened that way. By the time we all mashed together our various styles, we were crafting up all these guitar harmonies and drum fills and bass breaks and whatever, and we were four or five songs in before we remembered that nobody had written any lyrics! So we just shrugged our shoulders and kept at it. Which was fine with everybody, since we found our solidified sound and realized there was nothing broken that needed fixing.”
The band is named after the theoretical proto-planet which supposedly collided with the primordial Earth billions of years ago; the resulting fragments coalesced into the Moon we know today, and the titanic shock of the impact triggered off the amino-acid reactions which began life as we know it. And that cosmological concept echoes through the band’s striking album artwork and astronomical song titles.
“Some people find it odd since there’s no singing involved, or vocal storylines to follow,” says Belland. “But we let the guitar melodies do all the singing, and we let the listener decide what the song title means to them emotionally. It’s the same approach that all instrumental rock has followed since the early days of rock music, whether you’re talking about old school artists like Link Wray or Duane Eddy or the Ventures, or whether you’re talking about more contemporary artists like Steve Vai or Don Caballero or Animals As Leaders. Sure, we’re twice as loud and twice as fast as the Ventures, but there is a very real historical connection there.
“For the unfamiliar and the uninitiated, one needs to listen to Phaeton the way you would listen to a jazz-fusion artist. Nobody’s barking obnoxiously into the microphone about sophomoric sociopolitical complaints, or screaming in some guttural horror in an attempt to summon Baphomet. It’s just riff after riff, blastbeat after blastbeat. And don’t forget to rock out on the dance floor in front of the stage – we don’t muck about! You will be able to groove physically in 5/4 time, trust me.”
Phaeton’s second album Between Two Worlds (recorded in the band’s private studio by the deft hands and ears of guitarist Thiessen) was released independently in April 2023 and received much national attention and critical acclaim, with positive reviews appearing as far afield as the UK’s Prog Magazine, sharing pages with renowned prog acts such as Marillion.
“We got a better review than the new Jethro Tull album!” said Belland. “Which tickled me. I remember way back when Metallica lost out to Jethro Tull for Best Metal Performance at the 1988 Grammy Awards – so here we are getting Metallica’s revenge for them!”
PHAETON perform live at the Fernie Elks Hall (491 1st Ave.) on Friday, March 29 as part of the Kings of Northern Darkness tour (also featuring Vancouver’s SVNEATR and Boise ID’s WEALD AND WOE) presented by Stephanie Fleming’s Infinitea Events. Admission: $15 at the door, showtime 9 p.m.
Lead image: Phaeton (L-R): bassist Ferdy Belland, lead guitarist Daniel Airth, lead guitarist Kevin Thiessen, drummer Colin Righton. Julian Bueckert photo
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