Rising Sun is a 3-piece Canadian progressive thrash metal band from Edmonton, Alberta. Thus far, they have released a demo, an EP and will present their first full-length “Quest for Absolution” in 2023. Originally, they were an old-school style thrash metal band, but with time have started experimenting with different sounds and progressions. It’s an amalgamation of the different influences that each band member has picked up over the years allowing them to start fusing genres such as thrash, technical death, a hint of jazz, and progressive metal together. These varied influences can be heard in the single “Archons of Death”, which they comment on:
“This was the fifth song we wrote for the album and it ended up being the opener as we feel it gets straight to the point and was a great way to introduce our listeners to the new sound. It took a while to write, as originally we had planned for it to be much longer and much more intricate, but we decided to cut those parts to keep it simple and memorable. “Archons,” tells the story of these godlike beings of another dimension, who come to “sterilize humankind” as it is their belief that humans are a corrupt and inferior species. Therefore, they wish to “cleanse their souls” by extermination in hopes that they will be reborn as a better and more complete species.”
“Archons of Death” is essentially the prequel to the title track, telling the story from their perspective while “Quest for Absolution,” tells the same story from the human’s perspective and how they deal with facing death from these omnipotent beings. The album is a journey through space, touching on subjects such as alien invasion and escaping earth for survival. Other songs also talk about the demise of humanity, war, drug addiction, and mental/physical struggles.
Dynamic, aggressive, and technical, the goal for Rising Sun is to take the listeners on a journey; a rollercoaster of melodic, yet intense riffage! The band enjoys exploring intriguing and often dark topics such as the ones present in the album.
About: Rising Sun is a 3-piece Canadian progressive thrash metal band from Edmonton, Alberta. The band was formed in 2018 from a collection of ambitious and talented kids with a shared interest in interesting music. Their unique brand of entertainment fuses speed and precision with energetic and interactive performances that make you realize there are still many innovative and interesting bands in modern-day metal. Rising Sun had the pleasure of opening for iconic bands such as Warbringer and Enforcer, and was set to open for Flotsam & Jetsam in 2020, however, it was canceled due to COVID -19.
Rising Sun’s EP “Language of the Warrior” was well received and charted at number 1 on the CJSR 88.5 FM charts in Edmonton for multiple weeks. Currently, the band is working on their debut full-length album, titled “Quest for Absolution”, which features a change in the band’s style, as the music is much more technical and progressive than the last effort. The album is set for release in early 2023, with a Canadian tour to follow in support of it.