Billy Talent have always occupied a very unique niche in music, combining elements of punk and alternative rock to create a sound unlike any other band in Canada.
In June of 2006 the group were faced with the challenge of living up to their enormously successful self-titled debut from 2003, and due to that exact unique sound of theirs they managed to clear that challenge handily.
The aptly named Billy Talent II was the best kind of sophomore record, building upon their established sound with a more confident and mature approach to songwriting. Singer Ben Kowalewicz continued to add socially conscious messages to his lyrics and guitarist Ian D’Sa returned with his frenetic, angular guitar riffs and cyclical arpeggios alongside bassist Jonathan Gallant’s nimble fretwork and Aaron Solowoniuk’s precise drums.
The Juno Award winning album spawned five hit singles: “Devil in a Midnight Mass”, “Red Flag”, “Fallen Leaves”, “Surrender”, and “This Suffering”.
Twenty years later, the band were once again honoured at the Juno Awards when they received the Humanitarian Award for their decades of philanthropy and support of various charities such as War Child and the MS Society.
The band has now embarked on a tour to celebrate the anniversary of this record, and once again part of the ticket sales will go to EB Research Partnership & War Child Canada.
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