ALBUM REVIEW ~ SAINT ASONIA ~ 'INTROVERT'

The beast Saint Asonia is about to unleash with Introvert is the singularly most powerful body of music I’ve heard since Tremonti’s album Marching In Time. I had to listen to this EP the first time curled up in bed with my tears, sorrows and embers of hope clutched close. Every song is the swell of a tsunami and the crash of its mighty waves carrying insurmountable riffs, slamming drums and echoing bass with screaming vocals of passion and pain like a mythological Siren courtesy of the one and only musical genius, Adam Gontier.

With Mike Mushok destroying what your life experience believed a guitarist is capable of with his phenomenal skills, Cale Gontier rocking a haunting bass, and Cody Watkins instilling the best kind of mind slam on drums, Introvert may not be long with its seven song track, but it is mighty; proving that quality comes over quantity. I had to listen to this album the second time in the sun; relentlessly typing my emotions into my phone like an electronic therapy session.

It wasn’t until the third run-through that I realized this is an album that provokes fierce, deep and wild emotion, and there’s nothing to be done but ride the wave of it. Just as the sun and water draws forth life within a seed, I grow along with the stretching vines of my feelings as they intertwine with the music. To put it simply: Introvert rocks and not only touches on deep emotion, but is genuinely fun to rock out to. The new Saint Asonia EP is so good, I listened to it eight times in a row before I made myself take an emotional break and put on Snow Patrol.

Formed in Toronto, Canada in 2015, Saint Asonia was originally a supergroup composed of Gontier, his cousin, Cale, Rich Beddoe on guitar and Corey Lowery on bass and backing vocals. Beddoe exited the band in 2017 and was replaced by Staind’s Sal Giancarelli until 2020 when Cody Watkins joined. In 2018, Corey Lowery joined Seether, leaving his spot to be filled by Adam Gontier’s cousin, Cale, and thus we have the current line up for the band.

Introvert opens with “Above It All;” a charged and galvanic song that will lift you to your feet. The song opens with an electronica vocal from Adam wailing, “It’s time to take a stand and save our lives!” before diving in a driving riff that bleeds into influential lyrics among dynamic rockin instrumentals. As I sit here typing this, we are four days past the second worst school shooting in U.S. history in Uvalde, Texas. An attack that was so heinous, the husband of one of the teachers died of a broken heart the next day. An attack so heartbreaking, it has shattered the hearts of countless people. “Above It All” may not be about a mass shooting, but something in it cries to my current emotions and state of mind that we all need to find the inner strength to keep moving forward with all the light we can possibly muster. “Above It All” is an anthemic call to action that we should all heed loud and clear.

“Better Late Than Never” opens with a rousing chorus of emphatic “Ooh ooh oh!”s before gently easing into lighter vocals ripe with emotion and sentiment. I feel like this song could be speaking to the frailties of the human spirit, and having to overcome something dark, tragic and twisted; something you could easily drown in. The world is spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically and psychologically exhausted, and “Better Late Than Never“ calls to that exhaustion with exquisitely painful precision. It’s a song that could be speaking to the fight against addiction and the strength to get back up and find your sobriety. It could be a song speaking of getting back up from mental illness, or from an abusive relationship, or anything that has held you down. This song speaks to our demons, whether they be abuse or grief or rage or addiction. This song tells us we can not be beaten.

“Chew Me Up” rumbles open like thunder; a song of regret and introspection, with a changeup in vocals that fits the crash of the impressive arrangement. This song addresses the loneliness of the human spirit within its struggle. Raw, real and unflinchingly revealing, “Chew Me Up” lays bare the truth of human flaws and the pain born of deceit. “So What” is a song of confusion and existentialism. A song that looks at suffering the way one does stare at the wall while locked up in an asylum, “So What” is powerfully hyper focused on the topic at hand. Revealing the pain away with lyrical onion layers, this song leads to the surrendered loss of motivation and strength found in finally reaching that point where you say to yourself, “So What”. It’s also an infectious song to get up and sing and dance to.

An eruption of emotion explodes in your facebook with the next track, and one of the best on the EP, “Left Behind.” Gontier wails like he’s at the bottom of a well in the middle of desert screaming for his very life. This is an incredibly vibrant and full song, with a glorious guitar solo that will send chills blooming up and down your arms and legs. “Bite The Bullet” is a monolith of strength. Gontier draws his vocals out from within the folds of the instrumentals and lyrics with soaring angst. At first blindsided by loss, the song delves into the acceptance that reality is what it is, and there’s simply no other solution but to “Bite The Bullet.” This monolith of strength is also expressingly of the weakness and frailty that comes with a broken heart and shattered soul. The EP wraps up with a highly enjoyable rock rendition of The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights.” An energetic, light cover of the song that is simply delightful to listen to and superbly well done.

I can definitely hear the influences that Adam and Cale carried over from Three Days Grace, but I would say they found their own sound while still having enough of what fans loved from Three Days Grace to portray a dash of nostalgia in the new; a contradictory paradox that Saint Asonia pulls off with seeming ease. This band is not Three Days Grace, but the fandom should be very excited about Introvert. This EP is an ocean. This album opens you from within and cleanses the soul. Let it carry you and swallow you whole.

I’m Music Magazine Writer Breezy Blake