THE EVAN WILLIAMS PROJECT: METAMORTALITY
Metamortality – The Evan Williams Project Release Date: December 4th, 2020
Track Listing:
1. Discovery 2. Metamortality 3. Anabasis 4. Tear Down 5. Hatemachine 6. Blood for Blood 7. Crush Depth 8. Baptism 9. Neophyte 10. Mindbreak
Sculpt yourself from the past and go beyond death with Metamortality, the latest album from The Evan Williams Project.
Told in a sequence with immersive interludes, the collection of songs tells the story of a person who undergoes self-hypnosis to release themself from painful, intrusive memories. It’s hard rock chiseled into sharp curves, and this time, clearly influenced by religion.
The mind behind the music, Scott McGowan, works as an audio broadcast technician for his church. It’s compelling to hear how he brings his faith into the lyrics and melodies of the tracks. The album cover depicting crying stone angels is gorgeous.
The Evan Williams Project has improved sound quality and production with Metamortality, compared to previous album HATEMACHINE (check out our review of the latter here). This makes sense since the project started as a way to create backing tracks for live performances from previous songs.
Title track “Metamortality” aggressively demands answers to escape a cage of emotions. The drums and guitars are heavy, galloping along charismatic vocals reminiscent of a preacher. Layered background vocals add determination and desperation – softening white hot rage.
“Anabasis” throws you into the deep end. It’s dreary but hopeful. Slow plucks of guitar accompany piano, as lyrics lament about a metaphorical self-death that leads the way for a transformative rebirth.
“The pain turns to ache, and the next thing you realize / The wound isn’t healing, you’ve been desensitized.”
The next songs – “Tear Down,” “Hatemachine,” “Blood for Blood” and “Crush Depth” – are all remakes of songs from his previous album HATEMACHINE. “Baptism” and “Neophyte” are also remakes, coming from Take Two, the first full demo The Evan Williams Project created.
McGowan is a firm believer in failing miserably to learn how to succeed and has more plans to remake songs to improve them.
A 32-voice choir and full orchestra congregate in “Mindbreak,” the last track on the album. It’s an epic, cinematic finale as the protagonist decides how to deal with the thoughts that torture them. Starting off slow in pace, the song builds up mystery and suspense.
“May be time to let go / What the hell do I know? / I came from Zero.”
The callback vocals are crystal clear and remind me of sea shanties. This is my favourite song off the album; it’s catchy and strangely uplifting.
Metamortality is about molding your memories to self-actualize. It encourages listeners to dig into darker aspects of their psyche and create motivation from within. Inspiration is around us all the time, even in the darkest of moments, and McGowan argues the secret to closure is nestled in there as well.
To live is to learn.
I’m excited to hear what The Evan Williams Project learns next.
Written by: Jenna Keeble
METAMORTALITY by The Evan Williams Project