This Is a Metalcore Band to Remember

Talons only went public last month, making a short social media announcement sharing its name and teasing an upcoming announcement.

“We’re happy you’re here,” it stated.

Now the new Denver metalcore crew is readying to drop a more proper introduction with its debut EP, Shadow Work, which releases independently on Friday, October 17. The six-song collection follows September’s single, “No Gods//No Kings.” But while Talons is out for all to hear, the band and music have been in the works for over a year.

“We’re more worried about making sure everything that comes out is of a certain quality and standard that we want to hit,” says guitarist Brandon Morris, who produced Shadow Work from his Commerce City abode, Watchtower Studio.

Fellow riff-dealer Addison Guidichessi initially recruited Morris after leaving his former band, Under Auburn Skies, and was looking to start another project. “It was really just trying to find a sound that we both worked well together with,” Guidichessi says. “Both of our playing styles were similar enough, and all of our influences were similar enough, but we both had different ideas.”

The two quickly recruited vocalist Cody Martinez, drummer Mike Nolan from local outfit Hated and bassist Travis Sholder, also formerly of Under Auburn Skies. With most of the music in tow, Martinez quickly got to work putting words to it.

“I spent a lot of time crafting those,” he says of the lyrics that ended up on Shadow Work, including the title itself.

“There are themes of dealing with abandonment, depression and feeling like your drowning, feelings of helplessness, feelings of frustration. This EP is more of a catharsis for me,” he continues. “It’s called Shadow Work, so it’s about looking inside and working with the darker parts of yourself and things that you’re struggling with so you can ultimately find more peace and come out stronger as an individual.”

“No Gods//No Kings,” for example, is by far the heaviest on the EP, all the members agree, and Martinez didn’t hold back.

“It’s very angry. It’s very specific. The writing is potent, and I’m not afraid to say things like, ‘There are no gods or kings after the guillotine,’ and it’s true,” he says. “We live in very potent times. But there are also themes of not wanting to let things go, fear of abandonment.”

Opener “Mannequin” leans into struggles with self-esteem and acceptance. “It deals with self-image issues and feeling like you’re not good enough for yourself even,” Martinez explains.

The lines throughout Shadow Work spoke to his bandmates, too.

“It was figuring out how we want to portray ourselves as,” Guidichessi says. “When Cody came in with his lyrics it really summed up a lot of everything that we worked on without him. He just matched the tone so well with his personal writing.”

“A lot of it started from a raw, emotional kind of place. That’s how I approach it,” Morris adds. “It was interesting to see how Cody heard that emotiveness in what we [had] written raw and was able to put a more concrete explanation to it for everybody.”

Overall, Talons pulls from modern metalcore and new nu-metal — think Sleep Token, Spiritbox, Loathe — in crafting an emotive heaviness that has the ability to resonate with any type of metalhead.

“It was things that were natural tendencies for us rather than trying to force some sort of weird concept into the music for a flex essentially,” Morris says. “I want to do something that has an impact and makes people feel something before all of the rest. If there’s gravy and some saucy guitar riffs that’s bonus points.”

Oh, there’s some tasty riffs on Shadow Work, for sure. The magnum opus is closer “Next Time,” which hits hard in employing a surprising tenderness throughout.

“It’s kind of like the stages of grief throughout the EP,” Guidichessi explains. “You have sadness you have anger, you have some more recognition, then acceptance at the end.”

The next step is playing out. The group’s first-ever show is set for Thursday, November 6, opening for Soulfly at the Federal Theatre. Denver djent giants Voidatlas is also on the bill.

“It’s a nice breakout,” Martinez says of the opportunity to share the stage with Max Cavalera of Sepultura fame.

There are no other gigs planned at the moment, but Talons is already writing its follow-up.

“I think everything we want to do is making it full and letting people have that cathartic space as much as possible,” Morris concludes, “whether that’s listening to it in your bedroom or coming out to the show.”

Shadow Work is available on all streaming platforms.