The early weeks of 2003 found Justin and Steve exiting the band Next Realm with a desire to continue their musical partnership. And while the specifics were undetermined at that point, it was agreed that the project would consist of focus and truth. Within a handful of days, Justin and Dale bumped into each other, resulting in an invitation to meet at Steve's house and compare ideas. Within a month's period, the music was tighter than any of them could imagine after such a short period of time. After filling the bass and vocal position, 2004 found the band playing regularly and paying their dues in the clubs around Phoenix. Over the next several months, as is the norm with many bands, personnel changed, and the threesome again found themselves needing to rely on faith to bring the appropriate personnel forward. That faith was not in vain, for God had already had His plan in place. Through a chance meeting on a Christian metal website, Justin and Randy became fast friends. Not only was Randy a vocalist, but also had vast experience within the metal scene from earlier bands on the East Coast, and was a venerable encyclopedia of musical knowledge. After several weeks of careful, prayerful consideration, Randy was invited to join the band full time and fill the lead vocalist position, propelling Tykküs to the next level. The latter part of 2004 found the band performing with a number of different bassists, however none seemed to be a good fit with the rest of the band. Early in 2005, the band was contacted by a guy who had seen their first ever live show nearly a year previously, and had heard the call sent out for a bassist. Enter Brian Weldin, who has chops, passion and a knack for Monty Python and Cheech & Chong dialogues. Brian was invited to join Tykküs in March, thus completing the line up.

Sadly this band broke up in 2007.

ÜMLAUT (2005) INDEPENDENT (EP)

I feel like I've followed this band from it's birth. In some ways that is true, but in all honestly, it was not until Randy Michaud joined their ranks that my interest for them was really triggered. Now many of the members of this band are like internet buddies of mine, posting on various message boards I frequent daily. But despite my "ties" to this band, I promised myself to be as neutral towards their music as I possibly could. I tried to put my bias aside, and let the music do the talking. So, much to my delight, I really liked the music of Tykküs (must remember to ask them what the name means one of these days...)! As a fan of old school Christian metal bands, like Saint, Bride and Messiah Prophet, the songs on 'Ümlaut' really appealed to my metal senses. This is classic heavy metal, with lots of groove and melody. It is really easy to hear that all of the musicians here are good at what they do, and that they love what they are doing. From the riffs and hooks, to the stellar rhythm section, and not to forget Randy's voice, this is pure heavy metal, through and through. And the bands uplifting lyrics are yet another feature that makes me love this band. Faith based, bold and proud, these guys want to share with everyone who wants to listen who the Master of their lives is. Can I get an AMEN to that? All 4 tracks are great, but my favorites are "Born To Die" and "With His Love". It is also cool to hear a demo version of "Born To Die", with an older line-up. Man, I'm not able to hear the difference in the vocals, even though there are 2 completely different singers on them. Do yourself a favor, and check out Tykküs at www.tykkus.com.

Tÿkkus also appear on:  

V/A - 'The Narrow Path: The CMR Compilation - Volume II'

Related artists:

Troglodyte Dawn, D.T. Seizure, Ultimatum, Letter 7