LISTEN: Ascendia Keeps Ascending With New Music

The Toronto metal trio continues to drop singles from their forthcoming LP, Parasite

September 11, 2022September 12, 2022 Ron Hart 0 Comments 2022, Ascendia, Billy Love, Canada, John Love, Nick Sakal, Parasite, This War, Toronto

Hailing from Toronto, Ontario comes Ascendia, a three-piece band who lives in the balance between the sounds of American and European metal.

A key figure in their city’s robust hard rock/heavy metal scene, the group’s most recent single “This War” is a telltale taste of what we can expect from the brothers John and Billy Love (yes, the TikTok fitness guru!) on guitar and drums with their childhood friend Nick Sakal on lead vocals as they anticipate the release of their new album Parasite.

Ascendia Parasite, KMG Distribution 2022

“‘This War’ was the last song on the record we wrote, and it came after recording almost all of our album tracks weeks earlier in the studio,” John Love tells Rock & Roll Globe. “We brought the song to our producer Gavin Brown, who instantly loved the track and thought it was our strongest song yet. The lyrics started out more literally about a war veteran and the struggles they face post war, but it eventually turned into a song about internal struggle and the battles each and everyone of us face every day.”

Particularly himself, as he explains, in terms of craving the hope of Ascendia ascending to even greater heights in terms of success.

“The largest battle in my life right now is doing all I can for Ascendia and this dream of mine,” he proclaims. “Ascendia is essentially in a battle to make it to the top of the active rock genre. The success and/or failure lies on my shoulders, which means it’s up to me (and the other members) to write incredible songs that connect with people. It’s a lot of pressure but I love it to death.”

No doubt Billy’s omnipresence on social media must help? Find him at @billylovebaby on TikTok, by the way.

@billylovebaby

It’s time to get yolked with Billy Love Baby #fitness #journey #transformation #bodybuilding #physique

♬ First Step – Hans Zimmer

“Billy has about 210,000 followers (and growing) on his TikTok page which is an incredible success,” says Love about his brother. “That being said, we are very careful on how we utilize Billy’s fans since many of them follow him for different reasons. Some follow him for his fitness tips, food challenges, band lifestyle or his savage response videos to people who chirp him. He is just so funny and people respond really well to his personality.

“As of now they have been a great addition when it comes to pre-saving the singles because they absolutely love Billy and will literally do anything to support him. As we go on tour and his fans become accustomed to the “rockstar” touring life he will introduce them to, I’m sure many will choose to come out to the shows and become Ascendia fans as well.”

As summer comes to an end, expect even more new music from this most talented Canadian power trio.

“We will be releasing multiple singles in the coming months,” Love reveals. “We are in the middle of shooting another music video for our third single, and will likely be back in the studio by the new year to record another 3-5 singles. The train doesn’t stop.”

Cover art for the “Parasite” single (Image: Ascendia)

In fact, at press time the band has just dropped the brand new single in the title track to Parasite.

“We hit a magical moment when writing Parasite,” Love tells Rock & Roll Globe about the song. “As a writer, these moments are rare and seldom stick. We will write a song and enjoy it for a couple of days and then often re-write it altogether. We knew we had something special from the outset with ‘Parasite’ and now we can’t wait to hear what people think of it!”

Pre-save Parasite here.