Just over a year after the release of their successful debut self-titled album, Canadian true-metal merchants Traveler have returned with the high-voltage long player Termination Shock. The album will be released April 24 on Gates Of Hell Records. The title track is streaming below. Preorders available here.

The buzz on Calgary’s Traveler reverberated throughout the international metal community in 2019. Their self-titled debut album quickly caught fire upon its release, with fans mesmerized by the band’s patented blend of old-school riffing, rafter-reaching vocals and dueling lead guitars. Traveler also proved their worth in the live arena, actively playing dates in their native Canada, the United States and also delivering the goods to rapturous European audiences, in particular, a well-received spot on Germany’s Keep It True festival. Realizing that now was the right time to strike for the ever-important album number two, Traveler has returned in 2020 with Termination Shock. 

Tracked during the latter months of 2019 and early 2020 by producer Jan Loncick, Termination Shock captures Traveler in full stride, their indomitable blend of early speed metal theatrics and classic metal know-how fleshed out even more thanks to the bevy of ideas from founding member and primary songwriter Matt Ries. Ries admits he approached Termination Shock the same way he did for Traveler’s first demo — with no expectations, simply writing for the pure sake of enjoyment. Ries spent the better part of 2019 assembling the tracks for Termination Shock, fine-tuning the songs right up until Traveler hit the studio. However, Ries had some additional help this time — vocalist Jean-Pierre Abboud wrote lyrics to every song but one, bassist Dave Arnold contributed a song from his previous band, Striker, and JP Fortin of Deaf Dealer gifted Traveler with a composition of his own. 

Termination Shock benefits from more variety in Traveler’s arsenal — the album features some of the band’s fastest songs to date, complemented by an array of mid-tempo juggernauts and even some more progressive-leaning arrangements. The album title — provided by Arnold — laid the foundation for Abboud’s elaborate science-fiction storytelling, while cover artist Dylan Barstad once again perfectly illustrated Traveler’s world. 

An album that will meet the demand in every way: more speed, more solos, more harmonies and more blistering vocals, Termination Shock shows that Traveler has no intention of succumbing to the sophomore slump.

Tracklisting:

“Shaded Mirror”
“Termination Shock”
“Foreverman”
“Diary Of A Maiden”
“STK”
“After The Future”
“Deepspace”
“Terra Exodus”

“Termination Shock”: