Paranormal Arson’s Noxious is a blistering outcry against societal decay—raw, unfiltered, and fiercely personal. We spoke with the mind behind the chaos to unpack the fury driving the album.
1.
"Noxious" feels like both a sonic assault and a social reckoning.
What was the spark that ignited this album? Was there a specific moment or
issue that pushed you to make this record now?
The self-titled EP was more storytelling, but I just found myself increasingly
angry with the state of the world, so that anger needed to go somewhere or I
was going to pop like a balloon.
2. The intro “Administrative Message” leads directly into “Hook, Line,
Sinker” with urgency and chaos. How important was the sequencing of the tracks
in shaping the album’s message and flow?
I used those noise interludes to guide the album along. It's not really a
“concept” album, but there are a few interconnecting themes, so those are there
to set the stage for what follows.
3. There’s a visceral anger on this album, especially aimed at political and
corporate structures. How do you channel your own frustrations into music
without it consuming you?
That's why the album turned out as it did, it was consuming me. I realized that
trying to argue with people on social media was as productive as talking to a
brick wall, and it really provided no vent. Channeling it into the album was
the vent I needed.
4. “The Suffocating Doom of Nothingness” is a bleak but accurate portrayal
of modern burnout. How personal is that track for you, and how do you cope with
that weight yourself?
Extremely personal. The reason why it has no lyrics is because no words really
conveyed those feelings properly. Communicating with my friends and girlfriend
helps a lot, as well as physical activity. I'm a competitive powerlifter, so
that's a big release for me, as well as lots of walks/sniff adventures with my
dog.
5. The imagery in “A Bloated Sac of Noxious Gas and Bile” is grotesque—but
effective. How do you balance being metaphorical with being brutally literal in
your lyrics?
Not something I actively think about. The conservative talking head being a
“bloated sac of bile” was just something that kept popping in my head, so I
just kept building on it. Horror movies have always been a big influence on me,
and films like “The Fog” and “The Stuff” influenced this particular track
heavily. The whole “not actively thinking about it” probably helps me straddle
that line as “Hook” and “The Leech” both follow that pattern of part
metaphor/part brutally direct.
6. You don’t shy away from naming names in “The Leech.” Was there any
hesitation in calling out real-life figures in such a direct and aggressive
way?
None. With the massive profits companies like Loblaws take in, there's no
reason why groceries should be priced out of reach of the average person, nor
is there any reason they can't pay their workers a living wage.
7. “Ad majórem Dei glóriam” dives into dark chapters of local and national
history. How do you navigate the line between confronting these issues and
retraumatizing listeners, especially those directly affected?
I don't know if that's possible, unfortunately. I do think it's important to
talk about these things, but that is a risk of doing so. All I can do is try
and do so tactfully.
8. With genre-bending elements—industrial noise, doom, punk—how do you
decide what sonic tools best serve each track? Do you let the lyrics guide the
style, or vice versa?
Neither, really. I just write riffs I think sound cool, then arrange them, then
the lyrics typically come last. No real focus on “blending”, I just tend to
wear my influences on my sleeve. If a track has hints of both Exhumed and Nine
Inch Nails, it's just because I love both. I’m never thinking “I want this
track to be death metal, this one needs to be sludge, etc”, I just want each to
be as brutal as possible while still being coherent songs.
9. “The Echo of Shredded Vestibular Folds” includes guest gang vocals and
even some nu-metal flair. What was the process like collaborating with Andre
and Travis Pettipas on such a different-sounding track?
This might be my favourite track on the album because it shows the sarcastic
and “chirpy” side. The title is sort of a riff on the long song titles from
bands like Nile and Demilich. Not a jab at them, I love both of those bands.
It's basically just a trve metal way of saying “you keep talking but you're
saying nothing”, which is very sarcastic given that the song is basically
beatdown hardcore. The nu metal breakdown into that weird 9/8 tech death
Demilich-worship riff is the cherry on top of the trash talk sundae.
I've known Andre and Travis for ages, Andre in particular since he was a kid playing in his old band Freeway Silence. Their current band, Andre Pettipas and the Giants, is a fantastic alt-rock/power pop unit that absolutely kills live and is one of the hardest working bands in our area (including John MacDonald and Mark Cosh). Mark actually was the one who tracked the vocals for the self-titled EP!
I had the track ready, but I really wanted those punk/hardcore style gang vocals so I reached out to Dre and he was immediately on board. Despite the fact that him and the Giants are getting pretty big and working with huge names like Jeremy Taggart from Our Lady Peace, it's never a second thought for him to help out the little guy and trade some background vocals for a Big Muff pedal (literally the one used on “A Bloated Sac of Noxious Gas and Bile”!).
10. You reimagined Bad Religion’s “You” into a nine-minute funeral dirge—why
that track, and what does it say in the context of Noxious?
It was originally going to be “Linoleum” by NOFX. I don't remember when I
changed my mind, but for some reason it was stuck in my head to do a droning
sludge version of a skate punk song.
This version is just as you said, a funeral dirge. The penultimate song, “Fuck.” starts the whole end-of-the-world vibe. “You” represents the acceptance stage of grief. The anger is gone. That's why I brought Celine Myette in, who is an absolutely phenomenal singer and knocked it out of the park.
11. There's a strong theme of apocalypse—not the fantasy kind, but the real,
slow-creeping social and ecological collapse we’re witnessing. Do you see your
music as a warning, a catharsis, or something else?
Maybe a bit of both. A lot of it was just cathartically blowing off steam, but
I do see things in the world going in a direction that is very dangerous. Not
that I’m some soothsayer or that people will heed a noisy extreme metal album
as a warning, but it’s at least a personal observation.
12. You describe Paranormal Arson as more than willing to “be your
Huckleberry.” What does that phrase mean to you in the context of your music
and your role as an artist in 2025?
For context, the whole line was “Catchy riffs, suffocating heaviness, and
snarling attitude are the name of the game, and Paranormal Arson is
more-than-willing to be your Huckleberry”. It’s a reference to the movie
“Tombstone”. Johnny Ringo is drunk in the streets trying to provoke Wyatt Earp
into a duel, which Wyatt calmly declines. Johnny responds with more drunken
anger and asks “does anyone here have the guts to play for blood?”. Doc
Holliday responds with “I’m your Huckleberry, that’s just my game”. In the
context of that line, “Catchy riffs, suffocating heaviness, and snarling
attitude” is Paranormal Arson’s game.
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