Never Wanna Die

Disclaimer For The Masses

In this first installment of “The Albums” series, what better way than to start with one of the hardest working bands on the Canadian circuit right now, Diemonds, and their baby, Never Wanna Die. Don’t expect me to tell you which songs rock, or talk about how others may suck. That’s not the point of this blog, people! Never Wanna Die (NWD for short) kicks all of your “derrières” so hard that you’re gonna hurt for days, okay? And the band is pure awesomeness. PERIOD. Being a big fan of the band, this first article is going to be a monster. Longer than the other ones, but full of information bits that you won’t find anywhere else! I got you covered. Now that we got that out of the way, Lead Generation is all about personal insight and experiences. It’s about what makes a particular record so important to us, its impact on our lives and the personal stories attached to it. Bottom line, it’s music viewed through the eyes of a Canadian. All this garnished with insider or exclusive information when available. This is what I’m putting on the table. Let’s feast!

Becoming a Die-hard

I started following Toronto hard rockers Diemonds in 2009, after I saw their video for “Highway” on MuchMusic and MuchLoud. They had an organic energy that I really liked. An independent female-fronted Canadian rock band, now that’s cool! I was living in Sherbrooke QC at the time and unfortunately, when you’re living in a small town, following an independent band is difficult. It wasn’t until they released their first LP The Bad Pack in 2012 that I got to see them for the first time in Montreal. I also got to meet them then. That year, they had also played on the main stage at Heavy MTL (now known as Heavy Montreal). I gotta tell you, they’re the coolest cats around. Every time I go to their shows, they remember us, always take time to talk to us and fill us in on what’s going on with the band. Shine on, Diemonds!

The Road To NWD

It wasn’t until the summer of 2013, at the defunct Cafe Chaos, that I heard the first “new songs” that were going to appear on NWD. That same year, they embarked on the Skeletour of which I’ve seen two shows. Man, that was a cool tour! I remember them having those big skeleton panels in front of their gear and even a smoke machine. I also remember them playing songs like “Meet Your Maker” and another one that went (I think) something like “L-O-V-E…” although that one didn’t make it on the album. If it did, it sounds completely different. I saw them again in 2014 in Ottawa, where they played a couple more new ones. That year, they even played on the Kiss Kruise, and judging by the internet footage, most of the songs were already completed at that point. Through updates on social media, it was clear that they were writing and recording the album in full throttle mode by the end of 2014. And for the first time, they were recording with a producer: JUNO Award winner Eric Ratz. From what I understand, the band spent a lot of time recording, changing songs, making sure everything sounded perfect. I was excited to hear the final product and see how an outside producer would make them sound. This album was going to be a big one for Diemonds! At the end of spring 2015, it became official: the album was going to be released WORLDWIDE in August via Underground Operations with license and distribution by eOne Music. Big big news! NWD was going to be available everywhere in the world, finally! A pledge campaign took place, with album pre-orders on CD and (green!) vinyl, limited edition shirts and patches and crazy crazy items like the skeleton panels from Skeletour. The artwork I thought looked very Maiden-esque, and the colour pattern (bright green logo and purple theme) was in line with the colour theme of the band’s shirts since Skeletour. Although he isn’t the one credited for the artwork, it’s safe to say that guitarist C.C. Diemond had something to do with the choice of colours at least, as he’s the main designer behind the band’s shirts. He has a printing company, Paranoid Print Co., which produces original designs and prints them on shirts. Quality stuff, highly recommend checking out his page! Back to the album now. The only thing that came to me as a bit of a surprise was the fact that they were replacing Tommy Cee with a new bassist, Adam Z. I never went trying to find out exactly why they were doing that. The fans just welcomed Adam to the band with cheers. Interesting to note, Tommy plays bass on most (if not all) tracks on NWD, and honestly, this is how it should be. He even gets a thank you in the album sleeve. Tommy man, best of luck with your new projects and thank you for everything you did for Diemonds! A class act.

The Album

The story goes, I pre-order the album from the band, but it’s not coming yet. The record pressing plant is overwhelmed with orders for other albums and NWD has to wait its turn. So I head straight to HMV on release day and guess what, THEY HAVE IT! I shouldn’t have been surprised, as they also carry The Bad Pack. So I buy a bunch of copies for me, my friends, my family, grandma, the neighbours, their dog… no, really, I get a few copies to give out to my two best buddies who always come with me to see the band. I also make it clear to the cashier at HMV that he should listen to the album and order a few more for the store. Somebody has to teach him about good music.

I get home after work that day and give NWD a spin. At that point, I’d only heard “Over It” when the lyric video was released two months before. Right off the bat, the album sounds HUGE. Guitars, bass and drums right up front. This is present day Diemonds. Priya in top form, big fat riffs, loud guitar solos and that punk attitude. Backing vocals right from the first riff of the title track… awesome. Always been cool but even more now. Aiden’s killing it on the drums, making that bass drum beg for mercy on the first two tracks. Working with Ratz proved to have been a good decision.

The Jabs

The title track marks the new sound direction of the album. Finger-tapping on the solo, nice! Backing vocals on point. I like it when they go “My enemy!” I wonder why they don’t shout it anymore live. “Hell Is Full” is the heaviest track in my opinion. Heavy main riff, Priya’s raspier vocals, darker lyrics, the perfect recipe. “Over It,” the lead single: very cool, a more commercial sound, a cross between the title track and “Hell Is Full.” It got a bit of radio airplay throughout Canada, for example in Alberta and Ontario. No airplay in Montreal though. The main rock radio station here isn’t interested in playing them. I won’t get into details here. “Ain’t That Kinda Girl” is the groovy song. The vibe of it is so cool, and it’s very radio-friendly. It’s also a song that has gone through a lot of changes since its inception. The Kiss Kruise version is pretty different from the finished album track. “Secret” is the ballad. It’s the band’s first attempt at a ballad and it’s a successful one. It starts out with Priya singing alone, then the band kicks in, and from there it’s a steady crescendo. A most unpredictable song with the familiar Diemonds flavour. “Better Off Dead” is angrier, lyrically-speaking. I like it! The last line of the chorus is particularly fun to shout out loud. The last four tracks are also great rockers, but “Meet Your Maker” stands out to me for various reasons. First of all, it takes me back a few years as it’s one of the first songs to have been written for NWD. I always relive in my head those shows from a while back, when they started playing it, and it’s very cool to be able to do that. I also like the vibe of the song. It reminds me a bit of the 2008 In The Rough EP. What a cool EP that is! Totally independent release, now out of print. Lastly, “Meet Your Maker” has angry lyrics, just the way I like ‘em!

The Tour

The band toured with the album on Canada’s East and West coasts in the fall of 2015. One of the reasons I like this band is that they give all they got during live performances, even on the club circuit. I got to see them again in Montreal in September 2015 and they were tight! They played most of the songs off NWD. Dekay’s definitely taking his lead guitar role seriously. He’s acing his solos like never before. Very nicely done! The band introduced the title track as their “next single,” but it’s “Ain’t That Kinda Girl” that got released later on, with its own music video filmed in and around Las Vegas. It’s a better choice for a single in my opinion. Interesting fact: some East Coast dates, including Montreal, ended up on the “Infest The West” West Coast tour due to a booking conflict. Regarding the vinyl, I got told its release date was postponed as there’s only one record pressing plant in Canada, and it’s overbooked with orders. Oh well… I eventually received it in my mailbox in a Paranoid Print Co. envelope a few months later, signed.

After The Album

NWD eventually got nominated for the Heavy Metal Album of the Year at the 2016 JUNOs. I followed the band on social media to find out what was going on, and if they won. Unfortunately, they didn’t. But it’s safe to say that this nomination means they are doing something right. To me, just seeing the band’s name on there is a triumph in itself. They always seem to be touring, just recently opening up for Steel Panther on their Canadian dates. I’ve seen them again at the end of July. Once more, most of NWD was played. And we got to see their new bassist, Tyrone Buccione. He’s an old friend of Dekay’s and a really cool guy. His playing and backing vocals bring even more energy to the band’s performance. He also appears in the band’s newest music video for “Secret,” which premiered on MuchMusic and is still on rotation.

Support artists. Give Never Wanna Die a spin and rock out. Until next time, like us on Facebook HERE and follow us on Twitter HERE to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the Lead Generation world. LG