Album Review: Prequel to Madness by Traveler (No Remorse Records)

Canadian heavy metal band Traveler are back with their 3rd album titled Prequel to Madness and set for release on the 23rd of February via No Remorse Records.

Formed in 2017, Traveler released their self titled debut full-length in 2019 and it was very well received by both the fans and media. Around a year later, the sophomore album, Termination Shock was released, and within a very short time, Traveler have established themselves as a powerful live act, storming the stages and festivals of Canada, the United States and Europe. This new album, Prequel of Madness, doesn’t stray from their successful and energetic formula  including anthemic hits, speed metal dynamites and pure heavy metal passion.

Firmly in the traditional heavy metal camp, Traveler have really found their path- ad purpose and appear to still be on a massive upward trajectory. That is helped by having a hugely talented collection of musicians in their ranks including vocalist JP Abboud (Borrowed Time and Gatekeeper).  Everything screams passion but also attention to detail and dedication to their heavy metal vision. Prequel to Madness was written and recorded by Traveler. It was mixed by Daniel Tsourounis and mastered by Dajaun Martineau with cover art by Dylan Barstad.

Traveler are JP Abboud on vocals, Matt Ries and Toryin Schadlich on guitars, Jake Wendt on bass and Nolan Benedetti on drums.

Prequel to Madness brings us 9 new tracks to get stuck in to starting with an introductory blast of metal called Mayday. A 70 second long assault of riffs and lead guitars, just to get you in the mood, before the first song proper, Take the Wheel, starts. It’s a high octane start, with fast and loose drums, a catchy melodic guitar hook and strong vocals with plenty of power and range. The lead guitars are massively important to this traditonal sound and Traveler have serious talent in that department. The melodic hooks, and the solo, are pure fire. Chuck in a banging chorus and you have an instant favourite.

Stylistically, you kind of know what to expect. Plus I have been a fan of Traveler for a bit now too, so that helps, but it still always blows me away just how much fun I have listening to these guys. It’s also nice to see how they stick to their traditional heavy metal style but manage to pack in plenty of variety and creativity. Songs like Dark Skull bring a slightly deeper tone to precedings and the slightly off kilter drum pattern is brilliantly maddening. The thrashier The Law is an adrenaline filled beast of a track with some of the most impressive vocals on the whole album, both in tone, power and the speed of delivery. I like the pace change that comes with Rebels of Earth too, with it’s slower thump and big drum hits and higher pitched backing vocals.

Heavy Hearts brings the pace and energy back in a big way with super impressive rhythm and fiery riffing. The drums are insanely good, the vocals powerful and moving through different pitches with ease. The chorus is simple, but effective with some nice backing vocals and of course there is a huge solo that kills it. Traveler bring it down into a bass led instrumental with plenty of killer drum fills before the lead guitars take over and extend the solo. It’s really cool, really fun and empowering to listen to and I can’t help but be impressed as there is so much to be impressed by. Killer rhythms, great strong song structures and flows, brillaint vocals, and then there are the guitars…….

You can’t really play this genre without having some meaty lead guitar work and the dual guitarists compliment each other so well as we get treated to just immense solo after immense solo. Stand out ones for me would be the solo on Dark Skull, the winding and meandering melody on The Law, as it nears it’s end and the solo in Rebels of Earth is wicked, played at a lower tone but moving through multiple phases and just perfectly suiting the track. No Fate has one of the longest, and best, solos on the whole of Prequel to Madness.

I love the flow to many of the songs but No Fate really works for me. I love it’s tempo, it just seems to flow perfectly in sync with what my mind is looking for and slots into place there perfectly. So we approach the ending starting with penultimate track, Vagrants of Time and Traveler refuse to let the quality drop even for a second. Vagrants of Time uses a deeper tone on the vocals through the catchy and quick verses building up with backing vocals through a prechorus before then hitting higher pitches for the catchy chorus. It really works and of course brings yet another absolute masterclass in soloing, but also just in writing really catchy songs that have power and presence, but are also fun and exciting to listen to.

We close with the title track, Prequel to Madness, and at over 7 minutes long, it’s the longest track on the album. You know when you have been listening to a really good album when you reach the final track, it’s the longest and you are dead excited to get in to it. Traveler don’t disappoint, using the additional time to just do everything they have already done on this album, but bigger and bolder. Catchy guitars lead us in before we move to ridiculous speeds for the verses. The riffs are fire, the drums, insane and even the pace of vocal delivery joins in with upping the ante – it’s brilliant. It also packs a big and memorable chorus with impressive backing vocals, a nice melodic slowdown and of course, a huge solo.

It ends the album in the same way it started, and in the same way it played throughout – music of the utmost quality. Prequel to Madness is really just a collection of absolute heavy metal bangers. It’s full of energy and excitement and just damn good fun to listen to.

You can grab your copy of Prequel to Madness from Traveler on Bandcamp, here.

Traveler Links

Facebook – Instagram – Bandcamp – YouTube – No Remorse Website – No Remorse Facebook