Haken guitarist Charlie Griffiths returns with a follow-up to his 2022 solo album. This time Charlie assumes the moniker ‘Tiktaalika’ and presents ‘Gods of Pangaea’ – set for release on 14th March 2025. The album picks up where the last left off, and continues with an exploration into an ancient forgotten world, colliding with the human centric planet we inhabit today. Today he is pleased to launch the animated video for new single ‘Lost Continent’, featuring Between The Buried and Me’s Tommy Rogers on vocals.
You can watch the clip here:
Charlie comments: “Lost Continent is the longest track and signifies the end of the era and the hope of a new world. I’m beyond thrilled with the vocals BTBAM’s Tommy Roger’s delivered on this one. He can do the deathy growls vocals and the melodic choruses in such a unique fashion and nailed the vibe of the song perfectly.
Art genius extraordinaire Dan Goldsworthy and I worked very closely on the animated video in which you’ll see the paleo preacher from the Gods of Pangaea artwork in action. We have him visit a few locations thrash and death metal fans will recognise. There’s also the return of an old Tiktaalika friend, albeit in an evolved form!”
Musically the album pays tribute to the art of the guitar riff, with its DNA strands reaching back to the golden era of metal with flavours of Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Metallica. Of the creative process Charlie explains, “This time around I wanted to be more song oriented, rather than having an overarching concept. Although I had a rough blueprint for the shape of the album in my head and was always conscious of the balance and flow of the album experience; starting with a fast thrasher, following up with a longer progressive track, then a slower sludgy song, followed by a softer track and so on. I finished all the music first and really focused on each section be there for a good reason, with a guitar riff that propels the song.”
The album sees Charlie joined by drummer Darby Todd (Devin Townsend) and basis Conner Green (Haken). He is also helped by a collection of some of the best vocalists in the business, with Tommy Rogers (Between The Buried & Me), Rody Walker (Protest The Hero), Vladimir Lalić (Organised Chaos) all joining the aforementioned de Jongh. “I had all the music written for a good while”, comments Charlie, “I was able to allow them to really percolate in my mind before moving on to the lyrics and vocal line demos. I’m very specific with melodies and word placement so the singers can focus on just delivering it 100% without having to figure too much out. Of course every single track came out a thousand times better than I’d hoped; everyone did an incredible job!”
The full tracklisting is as follows:
1.Tyrannicide feat. Daniël de Jongh 3:54
2.Gods of Pangaea feat. Daniël de Jongh 8:36
3.The Forbidden Zone feat. Vladimir Lalić 5:52
4.Mesozoic Mantras feat. Vladimir Lalić 6:32
5.Fault Lines feat. Rody Walker 6:30
6.Give Up The Ghost feat. Daniël de Jongh 5:15
7.Lost Continent feat. Tommy Rogers 9:12
8.Chicxulub 7:31 (Bonus Track on CD & Digital)
The album was mixed by Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood and mastered by Tony Lindgren at Fascination Street studios. The album will be available as a Limited CD Edition (incl. 1 bonus track), Gatefold LP & as Digital Album.
Pre-order now here: https://tiktaalika.lnk.to/GodsOfPangaea
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