Axxion have been flying the Canadian heavy metal flag since 2011, delivering high-energy riffs, power-driven performances, and a style that draws from the roots of traditional metal while forging its own path. After a period of silence following their 2016 album Back in Time, the band are back with fresh determination and a renewed fire. We caught up with Emily, Devon, and Shred to talk about their history, their influences, the evolution of their sound, and what fans can expect from Axxion as they return to the stage.

Interview

TheNwothm: Hey there can you start by introducing the current lineup and where you are from?

Emily: We started the band in Toronto, Canada and I suppose that is still our home-base even though we all live a few hours away from the big city. We are currently Devon Kerr on vocals, Shred on guitars, Jason Decay on bass and Emily Merrick on drums.

TheNwothm: From what I understand you formed all the way back In 2011? Can you tell our readers more about that? What do you remember from that period of the band?

Emily: Yes, you got it right. At the time, both Devon and I had left our previous bands and were looking to create something new. Dev and I have known each other since 2005/2006 so it was really a no-brainer to get something started. The hardest part was trying to pick a band name! From there we reached out to some other local guys and made the first line-up.

I have really good memories from those days, a lot of jam and writing sessions that were work, but felt a lot more like hanging out with your friends and just having a good time. After leaving my last band I was really determined to get a band going with people who were good musicians, that liked what we were doing, but also good people. No jerks allowed! It’s worked out well for us.

TheNwothm: TheNwothm: It’s been a while since those early days. What’s changed for you as a band since then? Are you still based in the same area or have you spread out a bit over time?

Devon: We all stayed together for the most part, but I ended up moving a few hours away a couple of years back. That being said, I have a pretty open schedule, and we get together quite often! Now, besides the ol’ bass player switch-a-roo… things haven’t changed at all since the early days.

TheNwothm: You’ve all been involved in bands like Cauldron, Skull Fist and Lockhart, with some of you still active in those projects. Each band has its own distinct sound and identity. How would you say Axxion stands apart creatively, and what does it allow you to explore as musicians that might not fit within those other frameworks, especially given your wider range of influences?

Devon: Each band you mentioned is distinctly different from one another, and I think as creative people, we get to channel different parts of ourselves to each band. Music from one band may not work in another. Axxion is typically lightning fast, with intricate and tight guitar work. It really gets that heavy metal energy going for me personally. Shreds writing style never fails to take me out of my comfort zone as a musician and I love that.

TheNwothm:  We all know that Canada kicks ass for heavy metal, so what’s the scene currently like there and would you say there are any bands to look out for?

Emily: I’m always on the hunt for my next music addiction, but living out in the middle of the woods has it limits to getting out to live shows. However, there are some Canadian bands worth mentioning here. Calgary’s Traveler have made a name for themselves here in Canada in the metal scene, especially in the NWOTHM realm; powerful riffs, wicked vocals lines, definitely worth checking out.

Iron Kingdom, from Vancouver is also carving their path in the genre, they tour a lot and put on an amazing live show- I would know, my sister is one of the guitar players!  In the same vein we have Striker and Riot City. One band I’ve personally had on repeat has been Vancouver’s Unleash the Archers. They’ve been in the game for a long time and it’s been very cool to watch them mature as songwriters/musicians/performers. Their vocalist writes awesome, intricate stories that often span an entire album; its like listening to a power metal audiobook!

TheNwothm: Let us dig into the music! “Axxion” was your debut EP and for those of you who were in the band at the time what do you remember about putting it together ? Did the music come together quite quickly or was it a slow process?

Shred: So I was recording the EP for these guys. I didn’t think they were very good but whatever, I had the stuff and time to do it. They record some bed tracks then the bass player quits so they get a new bass player Chris Riley. Then we carry on recording then the guitar player quits so they ask me to play guitar. Like I said I didn’t think they were very good so I said no! Then they asked again and probably again so I said sure but only if we change out 2 songs. So we start over with bed tracks for those 2 songs and eventually get it done. It probably took a year to finish that ep.

TheNwothm: And do you feel like you found your sound early on in the process, or was it something that came together more gradually over time?

Emily: I think, for many bands, you start out with a sound and develop it over time. Without that constant push for progress you become stagnant and repetitive. When I listen back to some of the earlier stuff it sounds “younger” to me; of course that’s coming from my perspective of it being more than a decade ago. I listen back to the drum parts and think how differently I’d probably write them today. But that’s just the process of evolution, even if you’re not necessarily paying attention, if you’re working at your craft, you’re going to change.

As a band, we’ve probably gotten our sound the most established it’ll be, we’ve had a relatively stable line up for the most part of the band -with Kenny and Devon being the minds behind the music. And of course, playing with the same guys, you become tighter musically and getting the ball rolling, finding the feel of a song, becomes a lot easier.

TheNwothm: So a year on you put out your first album “Wild Racer” which also featured some of your demo tracks. Did you have a clear idea of what direction you wanted to take the album and did you rework any of the tracks from the demo for the record?

Devon: By that time Shred was full force in the band, we had his input. His input was a huge sound direction change. We re-recorded stallion for wild racer. I think we changed the key too…

TheNwothm: Interestingly enough you have a Thor cover on the album which is awesome! Who is the Thor fan and what made you decide that that is the song/band that should be covered!

Shred: Who isn’t a Thor fan? I don’t remember how it came to be and totally forgot we did it until I was recently relearning the songs on that album.

TheNwothm: “Back in Time” was your second full-length album, released in 2016. Looking back now, how do you feel it fits within your discography, and what does it mean to each of you on a personal level?

Shred: I think the album Back in Time kind of defines Axxion. The songs mean different things to me, I still remember writing Sinner when I was 15 or 16 and just never did anything with it. Headbangers was written on the plane flying back from headbangers open air. And Back in Time I wrote at work when I was thinking about how much work sucks.

TheNwothm: Do you have a go-to rig for Axxion that sets it apart from the other bands you play with? And when it comes to your releases, did your setup evolve over time or stay mostly consistent?

Shred: For live I’m gonna say power suits set us apart from other bands. It seems bands take themselves too seriously sometimes so I think it’s cool to fuck all that right off. I don’t think we’ve changed a thing with releases, they’ve been pretty consistent.

TheNwothm: Dev do you find it quite easy to switch your mindset between the AOR sounds of Lockhart and the heavy metal madness of Axxion? Especially when writing and singing?

Devon: Well, I think so. I started Lockhart after our last Axxion album, I changed vocal styles completely, had vocal coaching and freedom to write music exactly how I hear it. So now I’m curious to see how things go moving forward. I know it will only be good.  Especially from a singers standpoint.

TheNwothm: Considering a lot of time has passed since your last album and you have all grown as musicians would you go back and change anything if you could?

Emily: That is the bane of any musician isn’t it? We all look back at things we’ve done and think “ why did I do that, why didn’t I do this? Etc.” I was recently listening  to some of our stuff and I was thinking about how I would play it now and it’s sort of funny to think that I would likely play it differently now. I’m excited for the chance to work on some new material and bring out everything I’ve learned since the last release.

TheNwothm: So you must all have some favourite tracks from what you have put out? What are some of your favourite songs especially to play live?

Emily: Personally, I love playing Sinner. It’s one of those songs that starts out fast and heavy and is always a challenge for me, then has this big bombastic ending with a three part vocal harmony that I love to sing. I secretly wish I had the talent to be a singer, but it was not meant to be- back of the stage for me! I do, however, love to sing backups whenever I get the chance and Sinner is great for that.

TheNwothm: For our readers can you tell us one fact about each of you that no one knows? It could be a hidden talent or bad habit!

Emily: I am a major bookword/ nerd. I love all things fantasy/sci-fi and history so if I don’t have my nose in a book I’ll be watching something like Lord of the Rings or Guardians of the Galaxy. I also have a knack for zoning out on people mid conversation…not sure if that’s a bad habit or a skill! I often joke that my body stayed here but my brain went to space.

Devon: Hmm, I guess that I’m a professional firefighter “on the side” ha ha! To all those wondering, that explains the short hairdo I had to rock for a bunch of years. It’s always fun meeting other metal guys on the job. Or other firefighters in the metal scene.

Shred: I used to work as Ron Jeremy’s stunt man. He was booked solid so sometimes I would have to step in for the feature presentations. Now I build shit factories for a living.

TheNwothm: So here’s the big question. What made you decide to bring Axxion back after such a long period of silence? Was it simply a matter of having other priorities at the time, or was it the call from fans that really pushed things forward?

Emily: Not long after the last release we all had some major life changes, three of our members had kids within a 6 month span and though we didn’t want to, the band- and all the major work that comes with it- got put on hold. It’s hard to try and write/record and tour (!) while also raising children, unless you have a really great support system in place. So, things have been happening behind the scenes more slowly, even though I personally have been very antsy to get things going. We still don’t have a ton of things announced and we are going to be taking small steps going forward, but collectively I do believe we have some mutual goals that we want to achieve. We aren’t laying down just yet!

TheNwothm: You are kicking things off with a gig on October 3rd with Ammo & Wanted in Toronto! Are you looking forward to bringing Axxion back to the stage? What can fans old and new expect? Any surprises?

Emily: Personally I am so, so excited to be back on the stage, it has been far too long to be away from it! Also really looking forward to seeing Wanted and Ammo play as well; the venue is a great set up for live music, we’ve played it many times it’ll be great to go back to our old hunting grounds. I think fans can expect the classic stuff, loud, fast, heavy music. I don’t have a hard and fast answer on whether the powersuits will make a comeback for this show…might have to leave that as a surprise for the big day.

TheNwothm: So now the band is back in someway are you taking small steps to see how things go or do you have bigger plans already in place such as new music in the works?

Devon: There are definitely plans. Let’s keep pushing on and see. I have a creative outlet, but I’ve heard what has been cooking in Shred’s brain, for years, and it would be an absolute shame for it to never reach anyone’s ears.

TheNwothm:Beyond your show in Toronto. Do you have more gigs planned?

Shred: Let’s see how this one goes first but maybe we’ll check out Europe again.

TheNwothm: For fans wanting Axxion (and of course Cauldron, Lockhart etc) merch and music how can they get hold of it? And where can fans follow you online?

Emily: We are on the classic socials, Facebook and Instagram and sell our merch through Bigcartel
Shred: You can find me on my youtube comment but I don’t know how to check it.

TheNwothm: Do you have any closing thoughts you would like to mention?

Emily: We wanted to say a big thanks to you guys for reaching out for the interview, and just for fans to keep their eyes and ears peeled for future offerings.