As soon as you mentioned you were a bass guitarist I knew you'd be lovin' that little bass lick in the main guitars solo hahaha ...To be honest your reactions were pretty much the same as mine 😁
The bass player seen here is Nikko Whitworth, and sorry, he left the band in 2018. Nick Miller is the current bassist. After your opening comments on Nikko's playing, I was thinking , wait until you see the bass run after the guitar solos. 🤣 Lead singer Brittney Slayes (Hayes) and her partner , drummer Scott Buchanan formed the band in 2007. Grant Truesdell on guitar and harsh vocals. Andrew Kingsley on guitar, and does some clean vocals on other songs. Yes, they are considered power metal. Opening song on the 4th album, Apex. A concept album with the story continuing on the 5th album Abyss. The 6th album, Phantoma, released yesterday (May 10).
Well I guess Nikko wont have to worry about fending me off then haha. I'll try to get a few more of their songs in before they are here on the 5th of June
Nick Miller has been an awesome addition to the band. Straight up great dude with some incredible stage energy. (I just saw them at Legions of Metal in Chicago.)
There is a video here on YT from Brittney (the female singer) singing Karaoke it's definitly a must watch. She sings Queenrych after the last concert of their tournee slightly drunk and filmed with a mobile phone and she still kills it. Very fun watch. :D
@@oldmanmetaldude I'm super jealous you are going to see them. I live in Canada and haven't had the chance yet to see them live yet. Q: Have you done any Orbit Culture? Put them on your list if you haven't checked them out yet. Their bassist plays a custom Dingwall 5 string multi-scale.
Another band I discovered a few years ago during the pandemic shortly after discovering Nightwish. Britney the lead vocalist writes all of the songs. They do concept albums telling a whole story. Power metal beasts. Another band I’d recommend is Epica. Found them during this same time period. Floor Jansen and the Epica singer are good friends.
I jumped out of my seat when you said that it sounded like Helloween there, because that's EXACTLY what I think every single time I hear it, and no one has mentioned it in the 100 reaction videos I've seen. Cheers!
Ayreon, The Day That The World Breaks Down. But also Star One, Fate Of Man (Britney is a guest singer on it, and the dude behind Ayreon wrote it about a certain 80's movie we all love).
Thanks so much for the shout out mate, and yes, you're right, I don't take any money for what I do (it's not worth paying for, ha ha). I'm starting to get a good collection of band t-shirts though. 😄 Like you, I've been unfamiliar with UTA up until now, but it's extremely tempting to grab a ticket to their Baso gig, especially with Temtris supporting them now. Would be a great one to record too, if I had the hide to ask (not sure I do). The Canadians are definitely blazing in Oz at the moment, first Riot City, now UTA! It can't be cheap for the Northerners to tour Oz and NZ, so I hope they're at least breaking even.
Thank you for that reaction. I always like learning while I'm listening and you made me aware of quite a few things I didn't know about, even though I have heard this song quite a few times.
If you're trying to do more UTA reactions before seeing them, definitely check out their songs "the wind that shapes the land", "the matriarch", "cleanse the bloodlines", "northwest passage", and "faster than light". And as a bonus, look up Britney Slayes opera battle over Skype with lords of the trident
Was kind of hoping to get one of the support slots, but happy that Our friends in Thraxis! and Temptris are playing the Sydney show and Canberra shows respectively
On your own time (no reaction), the singer, Britney Slays, did an online interview with "The Charismatic Voice" some months ago. They go in depth about her technique.
That doubling is what they call the "Brittney Choir". Brittney is the driving force behind their writing, with each member contributing their components. She writes the storyline for the concept album and details each track as to how it is to sound, produces the lyrics and the guys toss in the riffage. No worries about watching them in concert as they have a very interesting catalogue. What you see in the video, they deliver live. If you want to hear Brittney's range, try "Test Your Metal" or "Tonight We Ride". Her high belts are the best in the business and in a recent interview she said that her recent pregnancy had extended her belt range even higher! Nick Miller is their new bassist and he won't disappoint you. Oh ya, forgot - Iron Maiden had a strong influence on them. She has been called the female Bruce Dickinson.
@@Brendo2386 A lot us fans, myself included, didn't realize just how much classical training she has had, since we never hear her use it in UTA. Her opera 'battle' with Fang singing Brindisi and her stepping in for Floor at the Ayreon show, just gave us a hint of her actual range. She mentioned in an interview that she started her classical voice training at the age of 8. During her university time, she sang with an award winning choir, so she's had more onstage classical experience than Floor and may well have more than Tarja!
@@billattercliffe8655 Knew of her history but she was greater than I expected. Hot take but can't stand Floor era Nightwish. I loved After Forever and Floor in Ayreon, but I havn't liked a Nightwish album since Tarja was kicked out. Never liked the Anette stuff either, though her solo stuff is super good. Brittney's just so cool
Hi from the UK, have you ever heard of or reacted to Arch Enemy, a Swedish melodic death metal band with an amazing female lead singer, take a look at their song Handshake With Hell, I think you’ll definitely enjoy that one indeed 👍🤘
@Old Man Metal Dude: G'day from the States, sir! I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction. And, I hope to add some knowledge about the band for you. First, the people: Brittney Slayes on vocals. Grant Truesdell on harsh vocals and rhythm guitar. Andy Kingsley on lead guitar. Scott Buchanan on drums. Note: Scott and Brittney originally founded the band back in 2007, and have one child together. Niko Whitworth is on bass here, in Awakening. Note: Niko left the band in 2018, after the band toured for Apex. Between 2018 and Nick Miller joining the band in 2023, Unleash the Archers suffered from "The Curse of the Missing Bassist," and for parts of Abyss in 2020/2021, the tracks in the album have no bass guitar present. Nick Miller joined the band as the touring bassist, which was made permanent in 2023. Next, the gear: As you showed your knowledge of music gear, I had an idea: You collabing with Tank the Tech, when he isn't managing the tour for Electric Callboy, given he has been an instrument and sound tech in the past. He also knows gear. That said, you're right about Andy's guitar being a Jackson, and Grant Truesdell playing an Ibanez (I believe it's an Ibanez 7-string). As for Scott's kit, or Niko's bass, I'm not sure, and you probably know more about that than I do. Next, technique: Up first, Niko on the bass. From what I've read and seen, Niko's right hand is a hybrid bass slap/plucking combo. From my eyes, it looks almost like the kind of technique you see with a traditional banjo, as he uses the fingers to strum or pluck the strings, while he uses the thumb to pluck or slap the strings. As for Scott and his bass pedal technique, he uses a right-left, right-left heel-toe, heel-toe pattern to essentially be very fast, yet has the most economy of motion for a drummer. As for Brittney, she hits an A5 on Tonight We Ride, and may hit as high as an F5 on Time Stands Still. The vocal "doubling" is actually a vocal tripling, and is completely Brittney alone. It's her idea, and she calls it the "Brittney Choir." Brittney also has the longest sustains and musical phrases in one breath in the world, singing both a 30-second phrase, and a 28-second phrase, back-to-back on a song called Frozen Steel. However, since the birth of her Baby Archer, Brittney recently revealed that her prior range limits, and vocal air capacity limits, were no longer the limits she thought they were, and attributed the changes to her pregnancy. Thus, she may be able to go much higher and for much longer than previously known, but given that Phantoma is the first album that the band has published after her pregnancy, we'll have to see if her technical skills and natural characteristics are increased. Next: The music itself. Brittney has a varied style, singing everything from a sea-shanty (Northwest Passage) to punk rock (Going Down Fighting) to opera (Brindisi with Fang from Lords of the Trident) to wailing (Queen of the Reich, Queensryche; Tonight We Ride; Abyss; Test Your Metal). The band takes heavy influences from all types of bands, notably Iron Maiden and Visions of Atlantis. Brittney also has the nickname of "The Female Bruce Dickinson." The band also won a Juno Award, essentially a Canadian Grammy Award, for the album Abyss when it won 2020 Metal Album of the Year. Lastly, the albums: Most of Unleash the Archers' albums are concept albums. Most notably, because Brittney is a huge sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she is the one who writes the story and lyrics. She also has sung Fate of Man from Star-One, an Arjen Lucassen album, a song based on the Terminator universe, as well as cosplaying the planeswalker Nissa Revane for the Magic: the Gathering-based band Gatewatch. Apex and Abyss tell the story of the Immortal, a being who, if he is awakened by a specific ritual, must do as the one who awakens him demands. In the two-album story, a woman known as the Matriarch wakes him up and orders him to bring her sons to her, so she can kill them and use their blood for a blood ritual. This ritual, based on a planetary alignment, would allow her to essentially ascend to godhood. Awakening, the song you just heard, is "Chapter One" of the Immortal saga, which is the totality of the Apex-Abyss albums. Hope to see you react to more Unleash the Archers in the future, and enjoy hanging out with one of the best down-to-earth bands on the planet, when you see them in Australia on June 5th!
Cheers for the info! I'll be trying to do a few more reacts for their stuff in the next 2 weeks then binging the rest in time for their show. I had not even considered that Niko's technique was a banjo technique but after it was mentioned, it makes perfect sense! And I mainly know about his bass due to wanting one of them myself haha
@@oldmanmetaldude : As you have heard Awakening, and you want to binge UtA's music before June 5th, I would recommend doing a listen-through, in order, from Awakening on Apex to Afterlife on Abyss. If you read the lyrics of each song, then you'll know what is happening in the story, when. It would also give you content and draw more subs to your channel, as many channels never do a listen-through of Apex & Abyss, in order, even after viewers suggest it.
I definitely hear the Helloween influences in some of their songs, there's a section of their track Cleanse the Bloodlines that always transport me back to the Keeper of the Seven Keys era of Helloween. By the way, you might enjoy Tommy Johansson's recent cover of Future World.
![OhGeesy x Lefty Gunplay - What It Iz [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/L0yzW9t2ixk/mqdefault.jpg)
As soon as you mentioned you were a bass guitarist I knew you'd be lovin' that little bass lick in the main guitars solo hahaha ...To be honest your reactions were pretty much the same as mine 😁
UTA is modern power metal, that's how I've always described them. My favorite song of theirs is their cover of Northwest Passage.
Easily one of my favorite power metal songs for sure
The bass player seen here is Nikko Whitworth, and sorry, he left the band in 2018. Nick Miller is the current bassist. After your opening comments on Nikko's playing, I was thinking , wait until you see the bass run after the guitar solos. 🤣
Lead singer Brittney Slayes (Hayes) and her partner , drummer Scott Buchanan formed the band in 2007. Grant Truesdell on guitar and harsh vocals. Andrew Kingsley on guitar, and does some clean vocals on other songs. Yes, they are considered power metal.
Opening song on the 4th album, Apex. A concept album with the story continuing on the 5th album Abyss.
The 6th album, Phantoma, released yesterday (May 10).
Well I guess Nikko wont have to worry about fending me off then haha. I'll try to get a few more of their songs in before they are here on the 5th of June
@@oldmanmetaldudeif I’m not mistaken, Nikko tunes his bass in 5ths like a cello.
He does have some playthrough vids on youtube of both UtA songs and some classical cello arrangements too. Well worth checking out.
Nick Miller has been an awesome addition to the band. Straight up great dude with some incredible stage energy. (I just saw them at Legions of Metal in Chicago.)
@@Kruudelisyup! You can see his jazz and classical work!
There is a video here on YT from Brittney (the female singer) singing Karaoke it's definitly a must watch. She sings Queenrych after the last concert of their tournee slightly drunk and filmed with a mobile phone and she still kills it. Very fun watch. :D
As someone who has performed a Queensryche tribute show on a few occasions, I'd love to see that video haha
@@oldmanmetaldude The title of the video : "Brittney Slayes - Queen of the Reich Karaoke - Edinburgh" 🤘
Awesome reaction. Really liked your analysis. Please do some more from them!
will do. I have until june 5th to learn more of their stuff before they play here
@@oldmanmetaldude I'm super jealous you are going to see them. I live in Canada and haven't had the chance yet to see them live yet.
Q: Have you done any Orbit Culture? Put them on your list if you haven't checked them out yet. Their bassist plays a custom Dingwall 5 string multi-scale.
Another band I discovered a few years ago during the pandemic shortly after discovering Nightwish. Britney the lead vocalist writes all of the songs. They do concept albums telling a whole story. Power metal beasts.
Another band I’d recommend is Epica. Found them during this same time period. Floor Jansen and the Epica singer are good friends.
I jumped out of my seat when you said that it sounded like Helloween there, because that's EXACTLY what I think every single time I hear it, and no one has mentioned it in the 100 reaction videos I've seen. Cheers!
The part where you mentioned Helloween reminds me a lot of Accept - Fast as a Shark and Pretty Maids - Back to Back. Love it.
I'm never not excited to see new people discovering UTA! You're in for quite the treat!
Ayreon, The Day That The World Breaks Down. But also Star One, Fate Of Man (Britney is a guest singer on it, and the dude behind Ayreon wrote it about a certain 80's movie we all love).
Thanks so much for the shout out mate, and yes, you're right, I don't take any money for what I do (it's not worth paying for, ha ha). I'm starting to get a good collection of band t-shirts though. 😄
Like you, I've been unfamiliar with UTA up until now, but it's extremely tempting to grab a ticket to their Baso gig, especially with Temtris supporting them now. Would be a great one to record too, if I had the hide to ask (not sure I do). The Canadians are definitely blazing in Oz at the moment, first Riot City, now UTA! It can't be cheap for the Northerners to tour Oz and NZ, so I hope they're at least breaking even.
Well I am pretty sure you have lifetime entry to Tali show haha
A Talie son for life, hallelujah!
Psssh Temtris... who would go see them losers ;) lol I'm joking. Huge fan, even seen them in Belgium on their last tour hahaha
Good call, right call! 🙂
Thank you for that reaction. I always like learning while I'm listening and you made me aware of quite a few things I didn't know about, even though I have heard this song quite a few times.
This video is 3 weeks old when I'm watching it. What i want to know is how long it took you to pick up your bass and just give that technique a try? 😂
About 2 minutes after the video was uploaded
Definitely go see them live! You won't regret it!
If you're trying to do more UTA reactions before seeing them, definitely check out their songs "the wind that shapes the land", "the matriarch", "cleanse the bloodlines", "northwest passage", and "faster than light". And as a bonus, look up Britney Slayes opera battle over Skype with lords of the trident
Nice reaction to this speed song🤘
And enjoy the concert🙃
June 5th huh? Hope you were able to make it to the show. I'm going to go see them and Powerwolf in Sep.
I have tickets to their Sydney show next month, and I can't wait! So glad they are playing Canberra for ya
Was kind of hoping to get one of the support slots, but happy that Our friends in Thraxis! and Temptris are playing the Sydney show and Canberra shows respectively
On your own time (no reaction), the singer, Britney Slays, did an online interview with "The Charismatic Voice" some months ago. They go in depth about her technique.
the bass technique is clawhammer, common for banjo
Ahh yes! I can see that now! Thank you!
Dude! you gotta react to their cover of Northwest Passage!~ This band is amazing!
I'm planning on filming a video on it tomorrow
My favorite female vocalist.. I would buy a ticket in a second if they came anywhere near me!
That doubling is what they call the "Brittney Choir". Brittney is the driving force behind their writing, with each member contributing their components. She writes the storyline for the concept album and details each track as to how it is to sound, produces the lyrics and the guys toss in the riffage.
No worries about watching them in concert as they have a very interesting catalogue. What you see in the video, they deliver live.
If you want to hear Brittney's range, try "Test Your Metal" or "Tonight We Ride". Her high belts are the best in the business and in a recent interview she said that her recent pregnancy had extended her belt range even higher!
Nick Miller is their new bassist and he won't disappoint you.
Oh ya, forgot - Iron Maiden had a strong influence on them. She has been called the female Bruce Dickinson.
She was unbelievable at the Ayreon gigs. Surpassed my very high standards for her
@@Brendo2386 A lot us fans, myself included, didn't realize just how much classical training she has had, since we never hear her use it in UTA.
Her opera 'battle' with Fang singing Brindisi and her stepping in for Floor at the Ayreon show, just gave us a hint of her actual range. She mentioned in an interview that she started her classical voice training at the age of 8.
During her university time, she sang with an award winning choir, so she's had more onstage classical experience than Floor and may well have more than Tarja!
@@billattercliffe8655 Knew of her history but she was greater than I expected.
Hot take but can't stand Floor era Nightwish. I loved After Forever and Floor in Ayreon, but I havn't liked a Nightwish album since Tarja was kicked out. Never liked the Anette stuff either, though her solo stuff is super good.
Brittney's just so cool
Hi from the UK, have you ever heard of or reacted to Arch Enemy, a Swedish melodic death metal band with an amazing female lead singer, take a look at their song Handshake With Hell, I think you’ll definitely enjoy that one indeed 👍🤘
I do know Arch Enemy, but am only familiar with the stuff from Wages of Sin
@Old Man Metal Dude: G'day from the States, sir! I thoroughly enjoyed your reaction. And, I hope to add some knowledge about the band for you.
First, the people: Brittney Slayes on vocals. Grant Truesdell on harsh vocals and rhythm guitar. Andy Kingsley on lead guitar. Scott Buchanan on drums. Note: Scott and Brittney originally founded the band back in 2007, and have one child together. Niko Whitworth is on bass here, in Awakening. Note: Niko left the band in 2018, after the band toured for Apex. Between 2018 and Nick Miller joining the band in 2023, Unleash the Archers suffered from "The Curse of the Missing Bassist," and for parts of Abyss in 2020/2021, the tracks in the album have no bass guitar present. Nick Miller joined the band as the touring bassist, which was made permanent in 2023.
Next, the gear: As you showed your knowledge of music gear, I had an idea: You collabing with Tank the Tech, when he isn't managing the tour for Electric Callboy, given he has been an instrument and sound tech in the past. He also knows gear. That said, you're right about Andy's guitar being a Jackson, and Grant Truesdell playing an Ibanez (I believe it's an Ibanez 7-string). As for Scott's kit, or Niko's bass, I'm not sure, and you probably know more about that than I do.
Next, technique: Up first, Niko on the bass. From what I've read and seen, Niko's right hand is a hybrid bass slap/plucking combo. From my eyes, it looks almost like the kind of technique you see with a traditional banjo, as he uses the fingers to strum or pluck the strings, while he uses the thumb to pluck or slap the strings.
As for Scott and his bass pedal technique, he uses a right-left, right-left heel-toe, heel-toe pattern to essentially be very fast, yet has the most economy of motion for a drummer.
As for Brittney, she hits an A5 on Tonight We Ride, and may hit as high as an F5 on Time Stands Still. The vocal "doubling" is actually a vocal tripling, and is completely Brittney alone. It's her idea, and she calls it the "Brittney Choir." Brittney also has the longest sustains and musical phrases in one breath in the world, singing both a 30-second phrase, and a 28-second phrase, back-to-back on a song called Frozen Steel. However, since the birth of her Baby Archer, Brittney recently revealed that her prior range limits, and vocal air capacity limits, were no longer the limits she thought they were, and attributed the changes to her pregnancy. Thus, she may be able to go much higher and for much longer than previously known, but given that Phantoma is the first album that the band has published after her pregnancy, we'll have to see if her technical skills and natural characteristics are increased.
Next: The music itself. Brittney has a varied style, singing everything from a sea-shanty (Northwest Passage) to punk rock (Going Down Fighting) to opera (Brindisi with Fang from Lords of the Trident) to wailing (Queen of the Reich, Queensryche; Tonight We Ride; Abyss; Test Your Metal). The band takes heavy influences from all types of bands, notably Iron Maiden and Visions of Atlantis. Brittney also has the nickname of "The Female Bruce Dickinson." The band also won a Juno Award, essentially a Canadian Grammy Award, for the album Abyss when it won 2020 Metal Album of the Year.
Lastly, the albums: Most of Unleash the Archers' albums are concept albums. Most notably, because Brittney is a huge sci-fi and fantasy nerd, she is the one who writes the story and lyrics. She also has sung Fate of Man from Star-One, an Arjen Lucassen album, a song based on the Terminator universe, as well as cosplaying the planeswalker Nissa Revane for the Magic: the Gathering-based band Gatewatch.
Apex and Abyss tell the story of the Immortal, a being who, if he is awakened by a specific ritual, must do as the one who awakens him demands. In the two-album story, a woman known as the Matriarch wakes him up and orders him to bring her sons to her, so she can kill them and use their blood for a blood ritual. This ritual, based on a planetary alignment, would allow her to essentially ascend to godhood. Awakening, the song you just heard, is "Chapter One" of the Immortal saga, which is the totality of the Apex-Abyss albums.
Hope to see you react to more Unleash the Archers in the future, and enjoy hanging out with one of the best down-to-earth bands on the planet, when you see them in Australia on June 5th!
Cheers for the info!
I'll be trying to do a few more reacts for their stuff in the next 2 weeks then binging the rest in time for their show.
I had not even considered that Niko's technique was a banjo technique but after it was mentioned, it makes perfect sense! And I mainly know about his bass due to wanting one of them myself haha
@@oldmanmetaldude : As you have heard Awakening, and you want to binge UtA's music before June 5th, I would recommend doing a listen-through, in order, from Awakening on Apex to Afterlife on Abyss.
If you read the lyrics of each song, then you'll know what is happening in the story, when.
It would also give you content and draw more subs to your channel, as many channels never do a listen-through of Apex & Abyss, in order, even after viewers suggest it.
I definitely hear the Helloween influences in some of their songs, there's a section of their track Cleanse the Bloodlines that always transport me back to the Keeper of the Seven Keys era of Helloween. By the way, you might enjoy Tommy Johansson's recent cover of Future World.
will do for sure, I love the original
If you like this, you'll also like the band Lovebites. Recommend song Shadowmaker (music video)
Lovebites is a phenomenon. They are god-tier metal angels. You couldn't make it up. Please consider reacting to them.
Their cover of Queen of the Reich is sick......
I have a Vader 5 string. Not multi scale but man it's sweet.
What woods and finish do you have on it?
One day I'll get one, just need to save the cash for it haha
Dude made the bass lick look easy, UTA has no business being as good as they are
I prefer Tonight We Ride. The singer Brittney Hayes get more time on that one.
Bass player? check out "Beyond Creation - Earthborn Evolution" official video.
Sell a guitar and buy a ticket !! 😊😊