The metal world was thrown for a loop last year when Megadeth’s guitarist, Chris Broderick and drummer, Shawn Drover, abruptly left the band. It was then revealed that the two would be joining former Scar the Martyr singer Henry Derek and Shadows Fall bassist Matt Bachand for a new band Act of Defiance. With the band’s debut album, Birth and the Burial, coming via August 21 on Metal Blader, today via Rock Hard, the band has unveiled a new song, “Refrain and Re-Fracture.” Here’s the Drover and Broderick said about the song:
Shawn Drover (drums) states: “‘Refrain and Re-Fracture’ is a great example of using musical dynamics in a Heavy Metal song. All of us in ACT OF DEFIANCE have always been fans of cool Acoustic/Classical song intro’s before the metal assault kick’s in, so when Chris presented this song to me I immediately loved the tune.
“Henry Derek really did a great job here as well by using his range a bit more as a singer, going from brutal singing to injecting some more melodic phrasing within the song as well, but still sounding very powerful. ‘Refrain and Re-Fracture’ is just another great example of showing that Birth and The Burial is certainly not a one dimensional Heavy Metal record.”Broderick further adds: “Refrain and Re-fracture’s creation started off with the classical guitar of all instruments Hahaha. I wanted a moody beginning into a heavy verse with each instrument entering and slowly building the tension until the transition to the verse. At this point a tempo change was needed for something more fast paced and aggressive with heavy vocals (Henry definitely delivered on that!!!).
“For the chorus I definitely was looking for as much melody as possible but still heavy in nature. The bridge to the solo and the solo has a much more modern feel to them utilizing polyrhythms to create groove and an open canvas for my solo. As for the solo, hell I just hope people like what I did Hahahha. Overall I feel this song does a great job of showing how diverse Act Of Defiance can be while still staying firmly rooted in Metal!”
Birth and the Burial will be released on August 21 on Metal Blade.
