Music

Metalhead Gone Solo

ex-Megalodon guitarist softens it up on new EP

Andrew Patrie |

TWO HEADS: BETTER THAN ONE. Corey Glanville’s first solo CD release is an EP called All On My Own.
TWO HEADS: BETTER THAN ONE. Corey Glanville’s first solo CD release is
an EP called All On My Own.

Eight years ago, Corey Glanville wasn’t even out of puberty. I’m looking now at the article, which appeared in the March 27, 2007, issue of Volume One, on his short-lived, yet hugely influential (at least by Eau Claire metal-core standards) band Megalodon, and remarking on the five youthful faces gazing into the camera’s eye, angular in the way those years suffixed with “–teen” tend to be.

That’s not to say Glanville has graduated to decrepitude (the dude turns 27 this November), but there’s an aura of days endured in the sawdust-y facial hair and cool razor-blade blue of his eyes in the photo accompanying his first solo CD release, the All On My Own EP.

Fans expecting Glanville’s signature shred, a la Megalodon classic “Shark Week,” may soon find themselves stranded in unfamiliar waters, shooting an S.O.S. into the stars.

The EP’s first posted track, “Sunshine,” is a cleanly strummed, emotively rendered alt-rock number replete with layered vocal harmonies. And “Nordics” is an ambient track, simultaneously weighty and mercurial, composed in collaboration with Megalodon alum (former vocalist) Justin Andersen.

However, upon careful (and closer) listen, perhaps the perception of this performer’s past versus present is hardly as incongruous as it appears. After all, beneath every breathing carapace, especially one forged in the molten rivers of adolescent angst, there lies something soft, sensitive.

“After Megalodon,” Glanville recounts, “I toured with the [hardcore] band Solidarity for a few years. And after that, I pursued, and focused on learning, the drums. I listened to artists like Mae, Adam Thoms, and Early November. Instead of playing fast, hardcore, metal, it was kind of nice to focus on a sound that was a little less harsh.”

Glanville is one of those freakishly wired folks who can pick up and play any instrument given time, and that suits him just fine: “I recorded all the instruments (bass, drums, guitar, vocals) live over the course of seven months. It started as a one off, recording the song which became ‘Sunshine’ for Justin’s class, which turned into four and so we have the forthcoming EP release.”

Andersen, now a student at the Institute of Production and Recording in the Twin Cities, recorded, engineered, and mastered the EP.

It’s fitting that Glanville, who also resides in Minneapolis these days, has chosen Eau Claire, specifically the Mousetrap, to unveil his most recent musical invention: “I wrote these songs years ago, when I still lived in EC, so it feels right to first get them out there.”

Flanking Glanville on stage, and further amplifying the homecoming vibe, will be such personalities as local musician (and one of Glanville’s inspirations) Adam Thoms and former Megalodon guitarist Andrew Jarvis. Noting the latter’s participation, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask: What’s the likelihood of “Shark Week” breaking, like a dorsal fin, out of the set list? “Hahaha, that’s awesome! I highly doubt we will play ‘Shark Week,’ but maybe I’ll run it by the guys…”

Glanville will celebrate the release of his All On My Own EP on May 16 at The Mousetrap with Hollow Point 9, Charlie Siren, and Fight Songs.