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 March 14th, 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 the new single “Lost Continent”, featuring Between The Buried and Me’s Tommy Rogers on vocals. You can watch the clip below.
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 deathly 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 recognize. 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 flavors 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 being 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), and 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!”
