One of the most painful things about depression or any other mental health issue is how it makes your brain lie to you. Depression tries to convince the person dealing with it that there is no reason for them to keep living. In their newest single, “Pull The Trigger”, Halifax Nova Scotia-based rock band Chester Doom gives those with depression a voice.
The song opens with a heavy metal riff from Patrick Blackie that barrels towards the listener and encourages the most devoted metalhead to headbang. These riffs are accompanied by a steady drumbeat from Peter Arseneau. Then singer Josh Best comes in with gruff, angry vocals that make the song’s first verse and chorus hit the listener hard.
To an outsider, the song might seem to encourage self-destructive thoughts, but this isn’t the case at all. The song not only confronts the darkness of depression head on, but also discusses suicidal ideation in a way that is honest. The next verse after the first chorus demonstrates that a person doesn’t necessarily want to die, they just desperately want their pain to go away.
“Need a rest
The system failure has begun
Hazard to guess
And it’s so damn scary
In distress
A body full of foreign fun
Pound on your chest
screaming
Can you hear me!?”
In fact, the band confirms that the song is about mental health, with Best stating, “When we were working on ‘Crows Go Home,’ we wanted to delve into the core struggles that so many people face in their daily lives. Each song on the EP represents a different battle, whether it’s anxiety, depression, hopelessness, or addiction.”
Originally starting in 2009 with members college friends Patrick Blackie and Glenn Arseneau writing songs together, the band Chester Doom would fully form in 2020 when Glenn’s longtime friend Josh Best jammed with them.
In the fall of 2022, Best wrote what would become the band’s first single, “Not Far Behind’. The song takes inspiration from Best’s recovery from COVID and the resiliency of the Ukrainian people.
Upon its release in May 2023, “Not Far Behind” would earn them comparisons to Led Zeppelin and Soundgarden. Rock Cabeca states, “Just like Page and Plant on “The Immigrant Song”, you guys kicked the f***ing door right in. The riffs are powerful and the vocalist sings like Plant in the good old days.”
“Pull The Trigger” is a new addition to the upcoming album “Crows Go Home”, which also includes the tracks “Not Far Behind”, “Anxiety”, and a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows”.
