Tykkus

Anyone heard these "sold out for Christ" rockers ? Not sure where I got this album, but I'm really liking it.
I'd classify them as hard rock with a very clear evangelical angle. The album "Umlaut" is low production which is a shame since they're so talented.

Anyone else have any tidbits of info about these guys ? Love to learn more about them.

Found this at NoLifeTillMetal:

Tykküs are pure heavy metal in the tradition of bands like Leatherwolf, Saint, Sword, and even a bit of early Dokken. Musically the band combines heavy 1980's style guitar riffs, with melodic guitar solos, some dual leads, thumpin' bass and Randy Michaud's (Troglodyte Dawn/ex-D.T. Seizure) clean metal howl. Together they create four songs each as good as the next. All four tracks have a memorable chorus, that will have you singing along within a listen or two. Waaaarfare! Waaaarfare! The battle is done. Waaaarfare! Waaaarfare! By God's only Son. I suppose that some will find the lyrics a bit too simplistic, but those of us who remember the glory days of bands like Saint, Messiah Prophet, Whitecross and Bloodgood will appreciate the approach. Tykküs are as unashamed of being a traditional metal band as they are about their straight forward evangelistic lyrics. Man, it's so good to hear some quality, traditional heavy metal. I must have played this song CD fifteen times in the week I have owned it so far. Check 'em out at: www.tykkus.com.

Fantastic band, just love their EP
The band went their sepearate ways a while back. Randy (vocals) decided to focus more on his Troglodyte Dawn project, and they replaced him with someone else (can't remember who). But shortly there after they seemed to kind of fall apart (as a band). Not sure what happened with the drummer and bass player, but both of the guitarists where quite active posting at the CMR for a while. One of them went to play with Letter 7 for a time, and the other was playing some live shows with Ultimatum. About a year (or two, or three) ago the two guitarists got back together and were working on writing some new tunes....but at the time they didn't have a vocalist.

There are two songs on their myspace site that are not on the EP (Save Me, and Chasing the Wind). Both songs have a different singer (other than Randy) but I don't know if it was the guy who joined after Randy left or if it is an incarnation of the band before Randy joined.

Sure would love to see another release from these guys.

Actually the "King Among Thieves" wasn't on their EP either, so most of the songs on the myspace site are either "newer" or really old.

Gotta get ahold of those songs !

I got to go hang out with them and roadie for them when they opened for Dokken in Phoenix. I still have a flier from that show, and a few short video clips. I also have an "unofficial" live recording from before Randy joined the band.

Hello Tykkus fans!

I got wind of this topic through my friend Steve Slack who was our drummer. He was doing a Google on Tykkus and was amazed at how many pages turned up. He saw this link and sent it to me.

It's really cool that there are those out there still asking about the band. Thank you so much. I wish we could have been around longer, but a five year run was pretty good. God really opened doors for the band and the fruit was there. Tykkus started it's first gig at a church function in 2004, and quickly went to bars, clubs, and larger events. We were playing out almost every weekend, and then went on to Bless Fest, the first Up From the Ashes fest in California, and winding up opening for Dokken in December of 2005. The band Ultimatum was a big blessing as we had played five shows with them.



Tykkus continued on through 2007 with a different vocalist as Randy had stepped down in 2006. Our last gig was with Ultimatum here in Phoenix in 2007. Shortly after that, I moved on to Letter 7, and our other guitarist, Justin Freer helped out Ultimatum and then hooked up with Phoenix metal band Blind Seven. I joined Letter 7 after "Salt of the Earth" was completed. I then learned all of the "Follow the Light" playlist and managed to get into the sudio to do some recording for that release. My humble contributions got me a mention on that CD. After a year of Letter 7, it was time for me to leave as the Lord was moving. I'm still great friends with JD Evans and I've heard good things about the third Letter 7 recordings! Stay tuned!



So what am I doing now you ask? I'm still writing music and keeping Tykkus alive. It's my babay since the Lord gave "her" to me. I'm also a hired gun of sorts. I've been keeping my chops up and helping out a local 1980's metal cover band here in Phoenix. It's strange re-learning Judas Priest, Saxon, Scorpions, Ozzy, and so on...lol! I used to teach guitar students this stuff when it was "popular" and current! So I have two gigs lined up with this band. One is opening for metal legends SAXON at Club Red in Tempe Arizona in October. I'm keeping the band name under wraps for right now.



But here's the bottom line. I am going to share Christ with Biff and the boys! While I'm a Saxon die hard fan, I also know that God wants His time, and so I shall rock hard, shred, and share the Gospel with Saxon! Pray for them!



On a tougher note friends, Christian rock/metal bands in the Phoenix area are...zero! The musicianship is poor as it cannot compete with seasoned hard rock/metal secular bands period! I am sick and tired of these match stick Christian bands who whine and moan about not getting paid, or not getting gigs. Sad truth...the current crop are shallow in their walk with Christ, and the talent pool is not there. I believe that God isn't blessing a mess. There was one local Christian band who got fed up with "no gigs and no pay"! Frankly they got angry at God. They even boasted about "we used to be a christian band but we got no where". Now they have a different name, and post the same garbage the world offers! In short, they told the Lord to get lost and they'll have fun doing it there way. I fear for those who denounce Christianity in favor of the world. I even offered to share my heart with them...not interested. As to their style, they claim to play metal and hard rock. As a well rounded music critic myself, they are musically bad! I won't mention their band name either. Payday is coming though and they will give an account!



As for Tykkus, I do have a bass player and drummer on board. I have also come across another guitarist and killer vocalist...both are back slidden but as I have shared my faith, they are searching their hearts. It's the Lord's band and will remain so.



I hope to bring you more Tykkus news. Thanks again for being great fans and keeping the faith.



God bless and keep it metal!

Dale

Dale (great to see the Pointyguitarz name again )

Welcome brother! Thanks so much for coming here and giving us the scoop on the Tykkus history, and also your recent musical endevors. Also cool to hear you have a chance to share the gospel with Biff and the guys from Saxon (will be praying the Word is well recieved).

Sorry to hear about the sad state of Christian music in the Phoenix area. Maybe if it just wasn't so darn hot people wouldn't feel like they were already living right next door to hell (sorry bad joke I know, but one of our regular posters lives in Phoenix and I tease him endlessly about living on the "surface of the sun"). Praying God will lead you to good things, and definately keep us up to date with Tykkus, or anything else you feel like sharing.

Keep us posted, Dale! Welcome to CHM!

Welcome to CHM! And thanks for the update about Tykkus.

Quote :

Sorry to hear about the sad state of Christian music in the Phoenix
area. Maybe if it just wasn't so darn hot people wouldn't feel like
they were already living right next door to hell (sorry bad joke I know,
but one of our regular posters lives in Phoenix and I tease him
endlessly about living on the "surface of the sun"). Praying God will
lead you to good things, and definately keep us up to date with Tykkus,
or anything else you feel like sharing.

And yes- I am that one regular here at CHM that Staybrite was referring to who lives in Phoenix. But he has a point in that it is around 115 right now in the Phoenix area. So I guess you could say that Dale and myself - both Arizona natives - are in the "same boat" when it comes to the weather (or perhaps I should say "same oven"). In all seriousness, we'll talk again in January when it is 70 in Arizona and freezing in your area!

I did get to see Tykkus once in September of 2006 when they played a small club club in the South Central Phoenix area. This was with their new vocalist, whose name I cannot recall. They did a killer cover of an old Saint song (I believe it was "In The Night").

Also, for those interested here is the review I wrote of the Tykkus EP for Angelic Warlord: http://www.angelicwarlord.com/reviews/t/tykkus05.html

Wow ! Good to have you posting here ! Welcome to our little family. Thanks for all the info and updates.
AND KEEP ROCKIN FOR JESUS !!!!

Thanks for the kind words friends! Yeah we're baking in Phoenix this week for sure!

Hey Dynamis, the vocalist you saw performing with us was Bill, aka Will V. He was with us at UFTA II, many club dates, and a road trip to Albuquerque to play with Ultimatum at the old Golden West Saloon...it burned to the ground later that year I believe. That was a cool show plus hanging with Ultimatum was always fun. Thanks again for the kind review!



When we broke up in late summer 2007, we were in the process of doing our first full length CD. It got as far as rough mixed demos and some of them were released online at the now closed Myspace account. I still have a Myspace account but hardly go there. I'll provide a link to the site so that anybody can check out the other Tykkus songs. There are some Letter 7 samples on there as well since I was playing with them at the time. From what I've read here, it looks like I have to wait seven days before I can post the links to the myspace and youtube accounts that I have.



On a funny note, I located this picture online and for the life of me, I don't know who took it. It was from the first UFTA show in California. I figured I'd share it with you. If anybody who went knows or if somebody took the picture and is a member here, thanks! It's just really nice to find stuff like this.





Thanks again,

Dale

Pointyguitarz wrote:

...When we broke up in late summer 2007, we were in the process of doing our first full length CD. It got as far as rough mixed demos and some of them were released online at the now closed Myspace account. I still have a Myspace account but hardly go there. I'll provide a link to the site so that anybody can check out the other Tykkus songs. There are some Letter 7 samples on there as well since I was playing with them at the time. From what I've read here, it looks like I have to wait seven days before I can post the links to the myspace and youtube accounts that I have.

That is mostly just in an effort to stop spammers (we have deleted many, many spammers). But you didn't start this thread and it is about your band. So I don't think the "intent" of the rule applies in this case.

For those interested here is Dale's myspace (it even has some live video footage of Tykuss)

http://www.myspace.com/34234979

[quote="Staybrite"]

Pointyguitarz wrote:

...When we broke up in late summer 2007, we were in the process of doing our first full length CD. It got as far as rough mixed demos and some of them were released online at the now closed Myspace account. I still have a Myspace account but hardly go there. I'll provide a link to the site so that anybody can check out the other Tykkus songs. There are some Letter 7 samples on there as well since I was playing with them at the time. From what I've read here, it looks like I have to wait seven days before I can post the links to the myspace and youtube accounts that I have.

That is mostly just in an effort to stop spammers (we have deleted many, many spammers). But you didn't start this thread and it is about your band. So I don't think the "intent" of the rule applies in this case.

For those interested here is Dale's myspace (it even has some live video footage of Tykuss)]



Thanks Staybrite! I was willing to wait it out and "pay my dues"! I wanted to let the readers know that more Tykkus songs have been uploaded to youtube. Just type in Tykkus and enjoy! The songs on the Myspace page have Will V. on vocals so you'll hear a difference. Some of them are a bit rough as far as production goes but at least it's something! On a musical note, the song "Chasing the Wind" was written by Justin Freer. I did the first solo and Justin did the second solo. I had one of those moments in that I did my solo in one take, and after playing it back I said to leave it alone...it had a cool vibe about it and it was done on the fly! I tend to like "Elmer Fudd" solos in metal! Dump the clutch and go for it! Hope you like!



Thanks again friends!

Hey Dale! Great to see you around, bro! I'm looking forward to more Tykkus as soon as it comes together!

Hey all...been a LONG time since I've been in these halls!  I was doing a Google search for all things Tykküs related so I could update the ReverbNation page for the band:
https://www.reverbnation.com/tykkus

...when I happened upon this post   

To all who may still be interested, the entire Tykküs catalogue has been re-issued digitally via my label, Stone Groove Records:
http://bandcamp.com/stonegrooverecords

...on Bandcamp:
http://tykkus.bandcamp.com/music

Currently available:
1. Tykküs
(original 1995 3-song demo)
2. Ümlaut
(5 song EP including the "Convince You Too" single with Will V. on vox)
3. Hystorykküs Maximüs: 1985-2007
(complete anthology which includes the above two releases, 1985 demos by Dale's pre-Tykküs band RIZER, the Live: Clams & All show and the 4 tracks recorded with Will V. on vocals after I left the band)


I still cherish the memories of my time in the band and I feel privileged to be able to keep the legacy alive!

- Trog   

I would love to see you get together with the rest of the guys from Tykkus and make some more music. Will need to head over to Stone Groove and see what else you have brewing.

I shall be adding that anthology to my collection  

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

I shall be adding that anthology to my collection  

 

I need to get that anthology as well.  I just need to wait until the finances are better for new music.

I would like to do a review of the new Tykkus anthology compilation sometime in the near future.  Have you considered working with Roxx Records for a possible hard copy CD release?  In the coming weeks I plan to have a press release style write up online as well.

Also, was the Troglodyte Dawn re-issue re-mastered or include any bonus tracks?