Akron, Ohio’s Radian are using their third album, Subterfuge, to imagine a different future—a very different one, in fact. Subterfuge is set in a reimagined Ancient Egypt, one that never fell to the Romans in 30 BC. From the press release, it is the “story of a man willing to do whatever it takes to protect his home, his people, and his culture from a cabal of overlords bent on erasure for personal gain.”
“Toothless Wolf,” the track we’re premiering today, is the first song on Subterfuge, so it’s a good jumping off point for the album, both conceptually and in its sludgy, chugging musical style.
“‘Toothless Wolf’ marks the opening of our story and lends development to the characters of William and his wife, both of whom are central figures to the revolution stirring beneath the underbelly of a society collapsing under the weight of tyranny and destruction,” vocalist Corey Staley says. “Initially, taking hold from the perspective of the wife, and later from William, ‘Toothless Wolf’ barrels quickly forward to the events of track two, ‘Spiraling Ash.’”
You can listen to “Toothless Wolf” below; Subterfuge is out on March 27 and you can purchase it here.
The story for this album is based on a reimagined history where Egypt never fell to Rome. “Toothless Wolf” is the first song and beginning of the story, which takes place in a reimagined Ancient Egypt where the country never fell to Rome. Can you explain the background of your album and what led to the tyranny that moves the main characters?
Corey Staley: In my mind’s eye, I imagined a tale of two cities (no pun intended): Cairo, the land of the noble and wealthy, and Heliopolis; housing the poor, unrefined, and exiled. The two cities coexist for a millenia until Cairo’s stake in the natural resources of the area are polluted and/or dried up from the allocation of industry to the general excess-based lifestyle of its citizens. To combat such deficiencies, they collaborate on a treatise for a share of the abundant and unadulterated resources within and throughout the territories of Heliopolis.
Cairo, of course, doesn’t hold up their end of the deal and has all but enslaved the people of its peaceful neighbor. Employing them in their procurement facilities but not paying a living wage and literally working them to death—or worse. Meanwhile, polluting their lands and water sources to funnel everything back to Cairo.
There have been some lineup changes in the band since your last album, Discordian. Who joined the band and how did it affect the writing process for Radian?
Derek Vaive: Derek Vaive joined on drums shortly after the release of Discordian, Corey Staley took over vocals two years ago, and Carly Allman came in on bass last year. Each addition had a noticeable impact on how our sound has evolved.
Corey’s versatility — moving naturally between singing and screaming — opened up a lot of dynamic space in the writing, allowing the songs to develop in ways we hadn’t explored before. Carly added a thundering precision to the low end, which helped solidify the overall weight and drive of the material. Derek’s smooth delivery and heavy pocket gave the rhythms a more grounded, deliberate feel. Together, these changes pushed the writing process in a more fluid and collaborative direction. Subterfuge feels heavier and more textured as a result.
Subterfuge covers a pretty wide sonic range while remaining within the boundaries of sludge—some of it is more upbeat and punk influenced, while other tracks stray more into doom or border on death metal. Did you feel any musical constraints when writing this album?
Derek Vaive: We didn’t feel any real constraints while writing this album. Instead, we focused on letting our individual influences come through naturally and allowing the songs to grow into what they wanted to be. The compositions were developed slowly and layered over a long period of time, leaning heavily into themes of suffocation and pressure. This allowed the blend of sludge and doom to feel almost trapped inside itself. That intention led us to restrict resolution within the songs, forcing the heaviness to sit inside its own weight. A large part of the process was finding how much we could let the songs breathe without losing any ground. We wanted moments that felt both beautiful and unsettling — even disgusting at times — to create a persistent sense of unease across the record. Ultimately, the challenge wasn’t limitation, but balance — shaping each song’s elements and bringing everything together into a cohesive whole.
Your protagonists’ story as we hear it begins on “Toothless Wolf,” with two people who become major players in the revolution. Do you see and did you write parallels to the government in the United States or abroad when writing Subterfuge?
Corey Staley: I did not. I am a huge believer that art imitates life, but I think it’s more of a generalization of how vicious and cruel humanity can be as a whole. There is a vast history of civil unrest and crimes against humanity from every empire, government, and society in history. There may be parallels of our current worldview that I drew inspiration from loosely, but at the end of the day, it is just a story. To be honest, I started working on conceptual lyrics because I’ve written so many songs about real life that I’m just tapped out on all of that. Working with fiction gave me a new lease on my creativity and a boundless source of imagery.
The post Track Premiere: Radian – ‘Toothless Wolf’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.