Review: Tiktaalika – Gods of Pangaea

Style: Progressive metal, heavy metal, thrash metal (mixed vocals, mostly clean)
Recommended for fans of: Megadeth, Metallica, Testament, Haken, Between the Buried and Me
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: 14 March 2025

When prog metal nerds gather and chat about music, an inevitable topic is how each got into the genre. Two particular paths seem to be the most common: from the prog rock side, beginning with Rush, Pink Floyd, Yes, et al. (thank your parents for that); or from the metal side, beginning with Maiden, Priest, Metallica, Megadeth, and all the usual suspects. Dream Theater tend to be the point at which the two paths intersect—and, these days, perhaps Haken too. 

My path to progressive metal follows the latter group. At age twelve, Rust in Peace and The Number of the Beast pulled me away from mainstream alternative rock and set me on the course that eventually led here, writing about obscure prog albums that a relative few will ever hear. I have a tremendous amount of reverence for the metal classics, and twenty-one years later there’s still a big spot in my rotation for the old school. So, I was more than a little excited when Charlie Griffiths, guitarist of Haken fame, announced that his sophomore solo album, Gods of Pangaea, would be a love letter to the classic metal bands responsible for my plunge into heavier music.  

Let’s get a bit of housekeeping out of the way—Griffiths’ first solo album, Tiktaalika, was released under the moniker Charlie Griffiths. This time, Gods of Pangaea is released under the moniker Tiktaalika. (Thanks, Charlie, for choosing the most confusing possible way to release this one.) Tiktaalika, the album, featured a roster of vocalists who traded duties depending on the track. If Haken plays progressive metal, Griffiths’ solo debut was progressive metal—heavier, but not eschewing progressive songwriting or moving away completely from Haken’s wackiness.¹ Now, Griffiths has stripped things back another layer with Gods of Pangaea, releasing an album that pays tribute to late ‘80s and early ‘90s metal and the art of the riff. The vocals are again split among a few powerhouses, most of whom also appeared on the debut:

• Daniël de Jongh (Textures): “Tyrannicide,” “Gods of Pangaea,” “Give up the Ghost”
• Rody Walker (Protest the Hero): “Fault Lines”
• Tommy Rogers (Between the Buried and Me): “Lost Continent”
• Vladimir Lalić (Organised Chaos, David Maxim Micic): “Mesozoic Mantras”
• Vladimir Lalić and Neil Purdy (Luna’s Call): “The Forbidden Zone”

On bass is Conner Green (Haken), and Darby Todd (currently touring with Devin Townsend) is behind the kit. On paper, this all adds up to a dream album for me. But in practice, could this all-star roster capture the magic of heavy metal’s golden era?

Gods of Pangaea may be influenced by a dozen metal bands, ranging from Metallica to Mercyful Fate, but Megadeth are the most noticeable—the riffing is tight, sharp, and often more technical than you’d expect from the old school. Opener “Tyrannicide” has a verse that bites and a ripping instrumental bridge and solo, channeling the energy and instrumental prowess that catapulted Megadeth into the Big Four. Indeed, the track’s intro might well have come directly from Rust in Peace. The choruses in “Fault Lines” and the title track, meanwhile, bring the more melodic parts of Countdown to Extinction to mind. Slowing things down slightly, “The Forbidden Zone” leans further into groove with its chugging verse and stomping chorus, and opts for a modern feel as Lalić trades his cleans with Purdy’s harshes. Although a common, overtly “metal” thread connects the songs, they’re all different in feel, helped along by the rotating vocal cast. And each track has at least a few components that any fan of traditional metal will have fun attributing back to one of the classic bands.

In his respective tracks, Daniël de Jongh’s versatile vocals extend from Mustaine-esque cleans to ballsier harshes. Lalić’s vocals, on the other hand, have a power-metal feel, with an expressive tone and operatic flourishes that sit pleasantly on top of both the heavier riffs in “The Forbidden Zone” and the melodic, proggier ones in “Mesozoic Mantras.” Really harkening back to the early days of metal, Lalić’s twenty-second wail at the end of the latter track is something to behold. Rody Walker may turn in the most enjoyable performance of all with “Fault Lines,” adding his own melodic take on thrashy vocals resembling those of Joey Belladonna (Anthrax) and then capping off the track with some climactic, throaty yelling. And, of course, Tommy Rogers sounds as good as we’ve come to expect, his trademark vocals putting an exclamation point on closing track “Lost Continent.” Gods of Pangaea does have some vocal stumbling points: most obvious is the repetitive, mundane chorus of “Give up the Ghost” that cements it as the album’s weakest track, and a close second is the verse of “The Forbidden Zone” that plods vocally and lyrically without much inspiration.² But on the whole, Griffiths’ roster of vocalists keeps the album fresh and dynamic without losing a cohesive flow from track to track. 

Despite Gods of Pangaea being a tribute to the classic metal sound, Griffiths couldn’t help but indulge his progressive background—Tiktaalika are a bunch of prog musicians, after all. “Mesozoic Mantras” begins with a winding two minutes of primarily acoustic guitars, some complex drum chops and rhythmic variance, a bit of play with the meter, and even short, soft vocal accents in the Haken style—reminiscent of “Earthlings” or any Haken track in that vein. “Lost Continent” loses the classic metal plot completely and is straight-up modern progressive metal, sounding quite a lot like Between the Buried and Me, and not just because Tommy Rogers is providing the vocals. As one of the album’s best tracks, I can’t complain. Less successfully, the title track spans nearly nine minutes due to a collection of middle passages that wander longer than they hold interest. In general, all the songs are a little more complicated in structure, and the riffs and drumming are a little more technical, than you’d get from late ‘80s and early ‘90s metal. The progressive elements peppered—or at times dumped—into the album are well done, and the result is an album for prog metal fans who appreciate the old school more than one for classic metal fans who appreciate prog.

Paying tribute to the past is tough work: it requires capturing a resonant aura of authenticity while also injecting enough originality to avoid the label “rip off.” And, transparently, describing why something does or doesn’t feel authentic is also tough and often overly subjective. Nevertheless, to me, Gods of Pangaea succeeds in the “originality” part of the balance but not in its authenticity—even despite its sick, Ed Repka-inspired cover art.³ Griffiths’ ideas are carried out and connected with surgical precision. The riffs throw a barrage of notes at you, and the drums seem to follow each one until a spotless transition takes you into the next section. The album lacks those huge, sustained chords that give so many classic tracks character (pick any prime-era Metallica song); there’s very little of the simple drumming and totally stripped-back rhythms that let riffs and vocals shine and provide older metal its loose, flowing feel (think Anthrax’s Among the Living); and the album’s pristine production is devoid of the old school grit crucial to the era’s aesthetic. These things are hardly criticisms of a prog album. In fact, they’re things prog albums actively seek to avoid. But having approached Gods of Pangaea with its context in mind, I felt some slight disappointment in terms of authenticity—and then I remembered that, whatever his intent, Griffiths still delivered a solid record.

Ultimately, Gods of Pangaea is modern progressive metal that gives a nod to the classics. The album has no shortage of strong riffs, catchy choruses, or impressive performances—vocally and from each instrumentalist. The tracks are dynamic enough to remain engaging, and the energy stays high throughout. Maybe Gods of Pangaea doesn’t capture the magic of heavy metal’s golden era—it doesn’t bring me back to high school, blasting Screaming for Vengeance while driving my beat-up pickup truck through the hills of Los Angeles—but we can still chalk it up as another win for Griffiths.

Recommended tracks: Tyrannicide, Fault Lines, Lost Continent
You may also like: Paradox, Crimson Glory, and Wolf (Swe) if you’re a fan of this album’s classic influences
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Inside Out Music – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Tiktaalika is:
– Charlie Griffiths (guitars)
– Darby Todd (drums)
– Conner Green (bass)

1. Here at The Subway, Tiktaalika garnered a double review, scoring a rare 9/10 in both. I didn’t quite share the same level of enthusiasm, but I’ll say it was undeniably a very strong album. ↩︎
2. “I am Triassic, I’m Jurassic. Always adapting and counterattacking. I am voracious, I am Cretaceous…” doesn’t quite do it for me. But hey, repetitive choruses and bumbling verses are practically staples of classic metal. ↩︎
3. The album artwork, done by Dan Goldsworthy, is directly inspired by Ed Repka—the artist responsible for the covers of Death’s early work, Peace Sells, Rust in Peace, and so many other iconic albums of the era. Goldsworthy and Griffiths share a love for Repka’s work, and they felt his style captured what Gods of Pangaea aimed to be. ↩︎