“I always try to sneak in little things. There was some Super Mario and Inspector Gadget on the last album”: Forget six-string superheroes like Yngwie et al – Joe Cocchi is repping the X-Men for Within the Ruins’ comic book-inspired sequel
Metal's comic book guys return with Phenomena II, as Cocchi draws on Ron Wasserman’s '90s era X-Men soundtracks for inspiration, and his pedalboard for color
(Image credit: Zachary Yachera)
For Within The Ruins’ new comic book-themed Phenomena II album, vocalist Steve Tinnon obsessively thumbed through back issues of Blade and Superman to craft his lyrical character studies.
As for founding guitarist Joe Cocchi, he ended up analyzing a different kind of superhero: himself. 10 years on from the metal bruisers’ initial aural ComiCon, Cocchi wanted the sequel to both honor and expand upon his virtuosic canon.
“It was fun to be like, ‘Let’s look back to where we were and where we were coming from,’” the guitarist says of revisiting the tone palette and techniques of their first Phenomena. “It was almost like ghostwriting, in a way. You listen to a band, and then you go, ‘Yeah, that’s up my alley… maybe I can pick some highlights and try to nod to the old albums.’”
Most specifically, that meant dialing back into the hyper-glitchy tremolo harmony sections Cocchi had developed through the making of 2014’s Phenomena, a busy texturing that come across like a symphony of Morse code messages, or a metalcore interpretation of house musician Darude’s frantically syncopated Sandstorm.
II conjures that hard-gated, square wave choppiness across its venomous Demon Killer and the ruthlessly chugged, yet dementedly dancy Level 12 instrumental.
And yet, there are key ways in which the sequel stands apart from the first edition. Cocchi once used an old Boss tremolo pedal to yield his tremorous harmonies, but now works in-the-box via ProTools.
Within The Ruins - Castle in the Sky (Official Music Video) - YouTube
While a personnel snafu led Within the Ruins to program the low-end on the first Phenomena, current bassist Paolo Galang is delivering IRL heaviness. Cocchi also notes that he was chunking out rhythms on a new sub-C-tuned Caparison Dellinger II seven-string, and got wetter than ever before with his delay-drenched soloing.
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“I never bothered with using delay pedals because it was another pain in the ass to use live… but there’s a ton of delay on these solos; it makes them more metal and spacey.”
While Cocchi admits he’s not as well-versed in comic lore as Tinnon, he did his best to emulate Marvel vigilante the Punisher on Castle in the Sky, a melodeath mash-out of armor-piercing precision trilling, wham-wonky guitar dynamics and hand-on-the-pump shotgun effects.
He more specifically alludes to composer Ron Wasserman’s ’90s-era X-Men cartoon theme for Phenomena II’s closer, Enigma II.
Within The Ruins - Demon Killer (Official Music Video) - YouTube
“Hopefully he’s cool with that,” Cocchi says of paying homage to the super-shreddy soundtrack, which also reentered the zeitgeist this year through another sequel: Disney’s X-Men ’97 series.
“I always try to sneak in little things. There was some Super Mario and Inspector Gadget in the original Enigma, and kids picked up on that,” Cocchi says of slipping sonic Easter eggs into his music. “I think when people find those little things, it’s fun for them, too.”
Gregory Adams is a Vancouver-based arts reporter. From metal legends to emerging pop icons to the best of the basement circuit, he’s interviewed musicians across countless genres for nearly two decades, most recently with Guitar World, Bass Player, Revolver, and more – as well as through his independent newsletter, Gut Feeling. This all still blows his mind. He’s a guitar player, generally bouncing hardcore riffs off his ’52 Tele reissue and a dinged-up SG.
