Tiktaalika (Haken’s Charlie Griffiths) – launches new single ‘Fault Lines’; featuring vocals from Protest The Hero’s Rody Walker

Haken guitarist Charlie Griffiths returns with a follow-up to his 2022 solo album. This time Charlie assumes the moniker ‘Tiktaalika’ and presents ‘Gods of Pangaea’ – set for release on 14^th March 2025. Today he launches the track ‘Fault Lines’, featuring guest vocals from Rody Walker of Protest The Hero.

Charlie comments: 

“I was incredibly lucky to have Rody Walker from Protest the Hero as the featured singer on Fault Lines. In the video, not only do we get to see Rody delivering the lines, but also Darby Todd and Conner Green in their natural habitats, totally owning the rhythm sections department. Lyrically you can take the song literally from the POV of the Earth’s surface fracturing beneath your clawed, scaly feet and burying you alive. Or you can read it as a kind of bitter break up track and I had some fun with some word play connecting those two themes. Rody sings this one in a really fun way and he hits a couple of notes that’ll hit you right in the feels!”

Musically the album pays tribute to the art of the guitar riff, with its DNA strands reaching back to the golden era of metal with flavours of Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Megadeth and Metallica. Of the creative process Charlie explains, “This time around I wanted to be more song oriented, rather than having an overarching concept. Although I had a rough blueprint for the shape of the album in my head and was always conscious of the balance and flow of the album experience; starting with a fast thrasher, following up with a longer progressive track, then a slower sludgy song, followed by a softer track and so on. I finished all the music first and really focused on each section be there for a good reason, with a guitar riff that propels the song.”

The album sees Charlie joined by drummer Darby Todd (Devin Townsend) and bassist Conner Green (Haken). He is also helped by a collection of some of the best vocalists in the business, with Tommy Rogers (Between The Buried & Me), Rody Walker (Protest The Hero), Vladimir Lalić (Organised Chaos) all joining the aforementioned de Jongh. “I had all the music written for a good while”, comments Charlie, “I was able to allow them to really percolate in my mind before moving on to the lyrics and vocal line demos. I’m very specific with melodies and word placement so the singers can focus on just delivering it 100% without having to figure too much out. Of course every single track came out a thousand times better than I’d hoped; everyone did an incredible job!”

The full track-listing is as follows:
1.     Tyrannicide feat. Daniël de Jongh 3:54
2.     Gods of Pangaea feat. Daniël de Jongh 8:36
3.     The Forbidden Zone feat. Vladimir Lalić 5:52
4.     Mesozoic Mantras feat. Vladimir Lalić 6:32
5.     Fault Lines feat. Rody Walker 6:30
6.     Give Up The Ghost feat. Daniël de Jongh 5:15
7.     Lost Continent feat. Tommy Rogers 9:12
8.     Chicxulub 7:31 (Bonus Track on CD & Digital)

The album will be available as a Limited CD Edition (incl. 1 bonus track), Gatefold LP & as Digital Album. Pre-order now here: https://tiktaalika.lnk.to/GodsOfPangaea