Girl at the Rock Shows

My eyes lit up when I saw an email come through from a familiar name. There’s just something so awesome about seeing a name from your past pop back up and realizing that that human is still doing what they love– music. Although I love all of my friends, I feel like a lot of them dipped their toes into the music world but then quickly jumped back out because of how unpredictable and unrelenting it can be so, truly, seeing Matt McDonnell’s (formerly with Mithya) name in my inbox made my day. Beyond that, seeing that he was putting out some new music as the solo project Matyrker made my day even more and I was stoked to check out his sophomore record ‘Momentum’.

‘Momentum’ opens up with “Silencer”. This song has an eerie intro that really does a great job of drawing you into Matyrker’s world. There’s something dark and ominous about it yet super intriguing when the almost twangy guitar work comes in. The intensity that takes over after just a couple of seconds is insane and seems to come out of nowhere. When this song hits, it his hard and in a truly intense way. Shouted vocals solidify the intensity of the slamming drums and djent styled guitars throughout this epic five and a half minute long song. Knowing what I know of Matt and his past projects, I knew going into this album that power would be the name of the game but I was still absolutely floored with just how hard this opening song hit. Even when the song slows down and gives way to cleaner vocals that soar over everything else, there’s this undeniable intensity and aggression behind it all.

“Intertia” changes the vibe completely. There’s almost a rap-metal or nu-metal influence in the vocals of this track that I absolutely loved. It’s not cheesy like a lot of rap-metal is, instead, the vocals tell a story here and, no surprise, come with an intense feeling of emotion and angst. The movement in this track is insane. Overall, it’s a fast moving song but there were moments where I felt that somehow Matyrker was able to give the illusion of slowing things down without actually slowing anything tempo-wise.

The title track of this album is the third song. This track starts off with an almost folk-metal inspired intro before moving into Matyrker’s signature power sound. At eight and a half minutes long, this is definitely a lengthy piece but the composition behind it makes it feel like it flies by. There are so many different parts and modes throughout this song that, at times, I felt that I had missed the album moving onto the next track. The vocals in this song in particular seem to be a bit hot compared to the rest of the instrumentation and the rest of the album. There are moments where some of the vocals feel a bit flat which irked me ever so slightly but, when you think about it, this whole album was done by just one human and that in itself is absolutely amazing so I was able to look past those minor flaws.

“Waypoint” wastes no timing plunging you back in the dark world of Matyrker. Out of all of the track thus far, this is the one that hit me the hardest. The vocals feel almost Slipknot-esque work a bass and guitar sound that instantly reminded me of Korn. Although I was left in a bit of a haze of nostalgia throughout this song, there were other moments that caught me off guard with clean vocals coming in and out throughout this track giving this song a truly unique twist that I didn’t see coming.

Another thing I didn’t see coming in this album was the groove that comes with the fifth track, “The Colour of Hate”. Although this track quickly falls back into Matyrker’s signature style, the beginning of this song really has a cool effect when it comes to how it twists this song and the album in general. I also felt like the chorus of this song had me stuck. It’s not really catchy in the normal sense of the word but there was something infectious about it that instantly got stuck in my head. I honestly had to listen to this track a second time before moving onto “White Tulip” because of this odd infectious energy I got from the chorus.

I feel like Matyrker knew that a break was necessary in the highly intense album that is ‘Momentum’ and that’s what makes the placement of “White Tulip” so perfect. This song is almost ballad-like compared to the previous tracks showing a more sensitive side of this musician. Part of me kept waiting for the signature power sound to come in and take this song over so I was pleasantly surprised when the four and a half minute track seemed to stay chill and calm. Don’t get me wrong, there is a true rise and climax throughout this track but even as the song ramps up to said climax, there’s something so beautiful and calming about it. I love when musicians know just the right place to put a more tender track on a very intense album and to see Matyrker nailed that would be an understatement.

The beauty and tenderness felt in “White Tulip” only lasts for the one track and is completely forgotten about as the album moves onto “Desolation”. You can feel tension in the beginning of this track which perfectly gives way to the insane wall of sound that hits just about thirty seconds in. Back to his normal game, this song showcases the djent-styled guitarwork that Matyrker has truly mastered while also giving you an almost Born of Osiris vibe with some of the accessory instrumentation happening throughout the song. One of my favorite Born of Osiris songs is “Abstract Art” due to the cool key part that happens here and there throughout the track. That’s an element that, like in that song, seems to pop in and out throughout ‘Momentum’. I know this is the first time I’m mentioning it but it’s something that has been there throughout this album that I absolutely adore.

Just when I had settled back into Matyrker’s world of intensity, he hits back with “Composure”. This is another tender track but with a bit more of a heartbreaking tone to it. There’s power behind this track that I don’t think my words will ever do justice for. The vocals tell a story but, even if you aren’t paying attention to the words, you can understand the story purely based on the inflection of each word and the way certain words seem to hit a bit harder than others. I know that Matyrker is a very instrumental heavy solo project but this song really shines a light on the vocal power and beautiful lyricism that Matt has.

“Guardian” seems to take the emotion from “Composure” and expand on it. This is another absolutely stunning track that I felt I instantly got lost in. This song comes with a side plate of atmospheric rock. I feel like, whereas some of the other tracks seemed to be the kind of song where each beat comes with more notes than I can count, Matyrker takes his time with this one making sure that each note, chord, word, and hit is perfectly placed and well thought out.

There’s a long break as the album moves from “Guardian” to “Onward” but that break adds to the anticipation. I had a feeling that we were going to go back to Matyrkr’s insane power for the last two tracks of ‘Momentum’ so the first two minutes of “Onward” had me sitting on pins and needles. You definitely get that power as the song moves on but it seems as if that emotion in the previous two songs has drenched into “Onward” but, again, expanded. Instead of being almost full of heartbroken emotion, this song seems to come to you with a sharp tongue and an undeniable sense of angst. I love that that angst comes through so clear in the vocals but also in the deep guitar tones that highlight said vocals.

Closing out the true work of art that is ‘Momentum’ is the final track, “Valhalla”. I was hoping that this final song would really wrap up Matyrker’s sound in a perfect way and that’s exactly what it does. You get his signature power, you get that strong bass sound, you get epic guitar solos and wicked drums fills but, most importantly, I feel like you get to see the multiple sides of his vocals throughout this epic eight and a half minute long song. Although this track brilliantly closes out ‘Momentum’ it will surely leave you wanting more. If I know one thing about Matt, it’s that he won’t stop and, after hearing this album, I can positively say that he should not stop. I can’t wait to see what else Matyrker has up his sleeves but, in the meantime, I will definitely be playing this album over, and over, and over, and over, and over (you get it) again.

Matyrker on Facebook

Matyrker on Instagram

Matyrker on YouTube

Shameless Self Promotion:

Join My Patreon Here!

Buy Me a Coffee (Seriously!)

Check out my playlist with this track and a bunch of other amazing tracks HERE!