Halifax’s Rock Band CHESTER DOOM Gives Depression A Voice With “Pull The Trigger”
One of the most painful things about depression or any other mental health issue is how it makes your brain lie to you. Depression tries to convince the person dealing with it that there is no reason for them to keep living. In their newest single, “Pull The Trigger”, Halifax Nova Scotia-based rock band Chester Doom gives those with depression a voice.
The song opens with a heavy metal riff from Patrick Blackie that barrels toward the listener and encourages the most devoted metalhead to headbang. These riffs are accompanied by a steady drumbeat from Peter Arseneau. Then singer Josh Best comes in with gruff, angry vocals that make the song’s first verse and chorus hit the listener hard.
To an outsider, the song might seem to encourage self-destructive thoughts, but this isn’t the case at all. The song not only confronts the darkness of depression head-on, but also discusses suicidal ideation in a way that is honest. The next verse after the first chorus demonstrates that a person doesn’t necessarily want to die, they just desperately want their pain to go away.
“Need a rest
The system failure has begun
Hazard to guess
And it’s so damn scary
In distress
A body full of foreign fun
Pound on your chest
screaming
Can you hear me!?”
In fact, the band confirms that the song is about mental health, with Best stating,
“When we were working on ‘Crows Go Home,’ we wanted to delve into the core struggles that so many people face in their daily lives. Each song on the EP represents a different battle, whether it’s anxiety, depression, hopelessness, or addiction.”
Originally starting in 2009 with members and college friends Patrick Blackie and Glenn Arseneau writing songs together, the band Chester Doom would fully form in 2020 when Glenn’s longtime friend Josh Best jammed with them.
In the fall of 2022, Best wrote what would become the band’s first single, “Not Far Behind.” The song takes inspiration from Best’s recovery from COVID and the resiliency of the Ukrainian people.
Upon its release in May 2023, “Not Far Behind” would earn them comparisons to Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden.
Rock Cabeca states,
“Just like Page and Plant on “The Immigrant Song”, you guys kicked the f***ing door right in. The riffs are powerful and the vocalist sings like Plant in the good old days.”
“Pull The Trigger” is a new addition to the EP, Crows Go Home, which also includes the tracks “Not Far Behind”, and “Anxiety”, and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows”.
Watch the video for “Pull the Trigger” below and learn more via our mini-interview.
You’ve been in this space before, and good to see you again! What’s been going on since your last single?
We released our second EP “Crows Go Home” on June 23 and have been back in the studio recording another batch of songs that will eventually be next year’s releases. We also have a busy summer of shows and festivals lined up so we’re certainly not bored.
Tell us about the process of writing and recording “Pull The Trigger?”
“Pull the Trigger” is one where we had the music (composed by rhythm guitarist Patrick) for years but had never found the right vocals for it. Once we started working with Josh (vocals), it was one of the earlier ones that came together. The rest of the band found their parts really easily and it just kind of all fell into place. It’s one we really enjoy playing live and always gets a good crowd reaction.
Other than yourselves, who should more people listen to from Halifax, NS?
There are so many great bands here! An extremely non-exhaustive list of some of our favorites includes Shadow of Everest, Where Giants Once Stood, Dali Van Gogh, Diamond City, Skunk Motel, and the Royal Volts.
For people who are music fans going to Halifax for the first time, what’s a must-see or do?
There’s always live music going on somewhere and pretty much any genre you like is represented. There are so many bars and clubs within a relatively short distance that it’s easy to catch a folk group, rock band, and hip-hop show within a few doors of each other on any given night. There’s no one particular venue that’s THE place to go, it’s literally anywhere in downtown Halifax. Stop into any given spot and if the scene or music aren’t to your tastes, just head next door and it will be something completely different.
What’s the one song by a Canadian you wished you wrote?
Wow, great question and that’s a really tough one. For us, it would have to be “Everybody Knows” by Leonard Cohen. We recorded and released a cover of the song earlier this year as a single (and also on our recent EP), so it certainly holds a special place for us. One surprising thing has been the number of people who think we wrote it and comment on the quality of the writing…we always immediately point out that, while flattered people would think we had the ability to write like that, we know we don’t and he’s the master for good reason 