Former Cathedral members from The Ethereal Mirror era Adam Lehan (guitarist) and drummer Mark Wharton have remerged and united as Workshed. The band can best described in the vein of a ‘classic metal vibe’ for fans of Celtic Frost and Entombed all while soaked in that classic Cathedral doom metal sound.
Of course, besides the Cathedral connection between Lehan and Wharton, there’s also the Cathedral connection with Rise Above Records which is owned and operated by founding Cathedral member and vocalist Lee Dorrian.
The union of the two musicians is not new though. They have been collaborating since 2014 but now have taken the next step and will be releasing their debut album simply, and self-titled, Workshed on Friday, September 13, 2019 through Rise Above Records.
The nine-track debut possesses an onslaught of crushing and ferocious riffs resulting in an angry slab of vinyl even in the slower doomier passages. With the previous history of Lehan and Wharton, the chemistry flows and each feeds off the other.
Lyrical content of Workshed stems from Lehan’s personal battles with anxiety and depression unveiling much honesty and truth with a dash of that punk rock defiance. The theme of these battles runs its course through the nine tracks.
The opening track, “The Windowpanes at the Lexington” viciously sets the tone for the remaining eight tracks but yet there will be encounters of slower and heavier passages such as the midpoint of the following cut “If This Is How It Is” and others.
Maybe the most real of the nine, lyrically, could be track two, “Nowhere to Go.” With lyrics such as:
The anger inside
It’s got Nowhere to Go
Rage is in your face
It’s killing you but
It’s got nowhere to go
These lyrics only add to the brutal heaviness that plows ahead along with a great lead by Lehan.
For listeners to obtain a good idea of what’s hidden in Workshed prior to the release date, track five, “Of Sticks On Wood” has already been made public as the first single with “Safety Behaviours” as the second single. Both are great samplings to seek out.
As an added bonus, those who preorder the Clear vinyl Diehard edition that is limited to 100 copies will receive a bonus 7 inch single with two additional songs, “Feel Like Raising The Dead” and “Every F****ing Day.”
As an added bonus, those who preorder the Clear vinyl Diehard edition that is limited to 100 copies will receive a bonus 7 inch single with two additional songs, “Feel Like Raising The Dead” and “Every F****ing Day.”
Originally the collaboration was only a project for Lehan and Wharton to toss around and enjoy making noise together, but as time passed, the two begin to discover there was something festering music-wise. This is will be obvious when spinning Workshed for the first time.
Lehan and Wharton have made a statement with the release of Workshed. It’s a crushingly heavy record that has those slower and doomier elements. Nowhere in the release is there any doubt about the seriousness of the Workshed. This album will have a definite appeal to all who invest time to take Workshed for a spin.