Saint Asonia’s Debut EP Will Appeal To Most Modern Mainstream Hard Rock Audiences

Courtesy: Spinefarm Records

Hard rock super group Saint Asonia announced this week, it is set to release its new EP, Extrovert Nov. 18 through Spinefarm Records.  In anticipation of the six-song record’s release, the band debuted the video for the EP’s lead single, ‘Wolf’ Thursday.  When it is released just after Thanksgiving, Saint Asonia’s new EP will have come more than four months after the band’s debut EP, Introvert, which was released July 1 (also through Spinefarm Records).  The two EPs are currently expected for joint release Dec. 9 as a complete collection, much like of Mice & Men combined its 2021 EPs, Timeless, Bloom, and Ad Infinitum last year into the album, Echo.  Considering that these two EPs are allegedly going to be released as one joint recording in December, those who might not own either record would be well advised to wait for that planned release.  While audiences await its release, they can take in Introvert now through all digital platforms and on CD.  The record will appeal to the band’s established audiences in part through its musical arrangements, which will be discussed shortly.  The lyrical themes that accompany the EP’s musical arrangements play their own part into that appeal and will be examined a little later.  The sequencing of that collective content rounds out its most important element and will also be discussed later.  Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the record.  All things considered they make Introvert a presentation that gives audiences at least some reason to anticipate its coming companion record.

Introvert, the debut EP from hard rock super group Saint Asonia, is an interesting addition to this year’s field of new hard rock records and EPs in general.  It is a presentation whose six total songs will appeal easily to the band’s established audiences. They are each also an easy fit for any mainstream, active rock radio station’s daily play list.  Their collective musical arrangements prove these statements by themselves.  Each arrangement is easily comparable to works from front man Adam Gontier’s primary project, Three Days Grace.  That is not just because of his vocals, either.  The specific melodic hard rock approach the he and his band mates – Mike Mushok (Staind), Cale Gontier (Art of Dying), and Cody Watkins (Art of Dying) – take in each song is so similar to the works that Three Days Grace have created.  At the same time, audiences could just as easily to more recent works from Atreyu, which makes them even stronger.  Stylistically, the songs are very close to one another.  The thing is that there are some subtleties in the overall sound from one song to the next.  When audiences actively listen to each song, they will immerse themselves in the songs and catch those subtleties, thus appreciating, again, each arrangement.  To that end, it shows the strength of the arrangements in the bigger picture of Introvert.

The lyrical themes that accompany the record’s musical arrangements add to the EP’s interest in their own way both by themselves and paired with that musical content.  The apparent theme of perseverance presented in the EP’s opener, ‘Above It All’ will resonate easily with any listener.  The message is delivered with relative clarity as Gontier sings in the song’s chorus, “It’s time to take a stand and save our lives/Rise before we fall/There’s no more second chance/It’s do or die/Rise above it all.”  This is a clear message of overcoming adversity and pushing through it.  ‘Better Late Than Never,’ which immediately follows, somewhat continues that theme.  In the case of this song, it finds its subject essentially talking about having pushed through that adversity and having come out on the other side stronger.  This is noted as Gontier sings in the song’s chorus, “I know I was meant for something more/More than beaten, bloody, blacked out on the floor/But I’m here and it’s forever/It’s better late than never.”

From here, the record takes a more existential turn in ‘Chew Me Up’ as the song’s subject seems to address becoming his own self despite being told so many lies about certain things as he grew up.  The song doesn’t note specifically the lies that the subject was told, but one can imagine they likely centered on so many aspects.  The overarching theme here is one that is so common with rock and hard rock songs.  It is that semi-angry introspection about the negative role that someone played in the past and how in hindsight, the subject has overcome that impact to be better than that other person.

From here, Gontier turns more introspective alongside his band mates, presenting songs of someone battling those all too familiar inner demons in the next pair of songs.  There is some self-hatred, etc. in the songs, which will serve to help people going through such situations to know they are not alone.  The record’s closer, ‘Blinding Lights’ is another all too familiar topic, thematically speaking.  It focuses on the topic of a broken romantic relationship.  So simply put, what audiences get here and in the rest of the EP’s lyrical content is material that is familiar and accessible in its own right.  When it is all collectively considered alongside the record’s musical arrangements, that collective shows what makes the EP worth hearing even more.

The EP’s production puts the finishing touch to its presentation.  That is because of the fullness that it brings out of each composition.  That fullness is brought out through the balance of the songs’ instrumentations and vocals.  The result of all of this is a general effect that ensures listeners’ maintained engagement and entertainment from beginning to end of the record.  Taking this into account alongside the EP’s overall content, the whole makes Introvert an interesting new presentation from Saint Asonia that gives reason for audiences to anticipate its coming counterpart.

Introvert, Saint Asonioa’s recently released debut EP, is a presentation that the band’s established audiences will find interesting.  It is a record whose six total songs are easy additions to any modern, active rock radio station’s play lists, too.  That is proven in part through its musical arrangements, each of which is its own interesting melodic hard rock composition.  The lyrical themes that accompany that musical content find themselves quite accessible and familiar.  That makes them just as important to the record as their musical counterparts.  The record’s production gives the EP an overall positive general effect, bringing everything full circle and completing the record’s presentation.  Each item examined here is important in its own way to the whole of the EP.  All things considered they make Introvert a presentation that gives the band’s reason to anticipate its coming companion EP, Extrovert.

Introvert is available now through Spinefarm Records.  More information on the EP is available along with all of Saint Asonia’s latest news at:

Website: https://saintasonia.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saintasonia

Twitter: https://twitter.com/saintasonia

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