WoodHawk - Love Finds A Way (Album Review)

Release Date: June 06th 2025. Record Label: Grand Hand Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Love Finds A Way - Tracklisting

1.Grave Shaker

2.Strangers Ever After 04:24

3.Truth Be Told

4.White Crosses

5.The Unholy Hand

6.No Place For Hate

7.Love Finds a Way

8.Relapser

9.Killing Time

Members

Kevin Nelson (Drums)

Turner Midzain (Vocals/ Guitar)

Mike Badmington (Bass/ Vocals)

Review

One of Canada’s best Stoner Rock bands WoodHawk make a welcome return with Love Finds A Way where the band play a more amplified style of Heavy Rock music with focus primarily on melody and aggression. Taking up the LOUD RAWK mantle of bands such as THIN LIZZY, THE SWORD, BLACK SABBATH and LED ZEPP. WoodHawk bring a soulful and highly energetic style of Classic Blues Rock into the mix.

The record relies heavily on old-school 1970’s Blues Rock and Hard Rock dynamics when bringing a catchier and aggressive style of Stoner Rock/Metal which allows WoodHawk to put fresh spin on the classic THIN LIZZY blazing solos. The vocals from Turner Midzain and Mike Badmington compliment each other superbly well with the music being quite DOOMED OUT and HEAVY METAL focused within the first opening exchanges of the album on tracks such as: Grave Shaker, Strangers Ever After and Truth Be Told.

WoodHawk allow themselves to play a few subtle Classic Hard Rock passages where the aggressive Stoner Rock/Metal energy is swapped for a good old fashioned Blues Rock sound. However, for the most part, Love Finds A Way is all about the mighty “GROOVE” and dominates the musical landscape with frenzied guitars and an intense rhythm section from Mike on Bass and Kevin Nelson on Drums. 

Love Finds A Way maybe a bit too long in some places but WoodHawk ultimately rules on the album and releases their most impressive album to date. The lyrics have a certain Classic Rock vibe to them which is given a modern Stoner Rock makeover when the distorted passages thrusts the whole album into Doom Rock/Metal territory especially on the following tracks:  White Crosses, The Unholy Kind, Relapser and Killing Time.

The surroundings of Proto-Metal and Blues Rock adds an eerie touch with WoodHawk unashamedly creating a superb RETRO atmosphere which ultimately becomes thoroughly modern when a Sludge Rock element appears out of nowhere. Throw in a fine amount of NWOBHM energy on the heavier parts of the record and WoodHawk are on absolute FIRE with their intense sound being delivered with an ice-cold technical proficiency.

Love Finds A Way sees WoodHawk deliver their most mature creative and mature effort to date with the band moving away from the FANTASTICAL setting of their earlier albums and settle upon a more warm-hearted and emotionally charged record. 

WoodHawk impresses on every level with Love Finds A Way which allows this record to be their best album yet which you will be listening to for a very long time to come. Add this record to your collection and if you’re a fan of Old School Heavy Rock then this is the place to be.

Outstanding. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Asher Media PR for the promo.

Love Finds A Way is available to buy now on DD/Vinyl via Grand Hand Records

Links

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https://www.woodhawkriffs.com​
​https://www.instagram.com/woodhawkriffs​
​https://www.facebook.com/woodhawkriffs

​

An Interview With Turner Midzain From Psych Stoner Rockers WOODHAWK

Psychedelic Stoner Rockers WOODHAWK return from a six year slumber with their upcoming and absolutely stunning new album Love Finds A Way. With swirling Psychedelic melodies married with Grunge, Doom and heavy groovy soundscapes, this sees the band in inspired form.

I loved their previous two albums - Beyond The Sun (2017) and Violent Nature (2019), though the band have really found their definite sound on Love Finds A Way.

I caught up with Turner Midzain (Guitars/Vocals) from WOODHAWK to discuss the making of the album and the history of the band. 

Read on for a great interview

Hi Turner. Thanks for doing this interview. How are things with you today?

Doing great! The weather here in Calgary is picking up, so it’s been a great spring here. Thanks for chatting.

For folks not in the know can you give a brief history of how the band came together and where it is today?

We’ve been around for just over 10 years now. Mike and I started jamming some ‘stoner rock’ type songs after the end of one of our punk bands. We just liked the heavier direction. We had a few drummers start out with us that were friends to get us up and going. But at the first few shows we played, we met Kevin, and he joined shortly after. We’re still here, through the pandemic and all. Still best friends ripping tunes.

How did you describe your own sound?

I like to think of us as a rock band. That’s quite an open term these days, but we have kind of drifted between stoner rock, metal, and hard rock for a while. We’re not slow enough to be stoner, fast enough to be metal. So.. rock.

Congrats on your upcoming excellent new album Love Finds A Way. Great album and a very psychedelic experience. What can people expect to hear from this album?

Thanks so much! We’re really proud of this album. We took a long time to craft it and really do what we wanted. More demoing and bouncing of ideas back and forth than in our previous records. I think this record is the most ‘Woodhawk’ sounding record. To us, it feels mature and like we have captured who we are now, and exactly what we wanted. It’s got riffs, but also honesty and triumph. It was a therapeutic experience for us.

This is a quite different record compared to your previous albums. Was that your plan to create something different to your previous albums?

We never really set out with a sound or direction for any songs or albums. Just what comes together naturally. With this one, we really wanted it to be a journey. It’s been a long time since we put out music, and it was really important for this one to capture all that time and what we felt like we went through in this period. We never want to make the same thing over and over again.

Where did the name for the album come from and what does this mean to the band?

When we started, none of us were stoners. So we were huge craft beer fans. Mike and I loved Wychwood out of the U.K. We toyed with the idea of calling the band Witchwood or something like that. But ultimately just fell on Woodhawk and loved it. So, instead of being stoner-related, it’s beer-related, haha. But most of us don’t really drink these days anymore.

What bands and albums influenced you when recording this album?

I don’t know if there were any specific bands that we were stuck on. But I think we always listen to our friend's bands and classic rock that we love. So just a big collection of what we listen to. We listen to a lot more music outside of the stoner rock genre.

What formats is the album being released on and which record label is releasing the album.

The album will come out on vinyl and digital. We’ll probably do CDs down the line, but there wasn’t much interest in it this go around. The record is coming out on Grand Hand records. It’s a small label here in Canada that has some of our pals like Gone Cosmic, Black Mastiff, and Chron Goblin on it. So we’re stoked to be working with buds.

Have you had any offers from the well known underground record labels to release your music.

Ya we had a couple. We had few on the first album, Beyond The Sun, but didn’t want to give up anything yet. Then, with each record, we have shopped it to labels to see who is interested. With Violent Nature, we again opted to do it ourselves because what we were being offered, we felt like we were giving up too much. Same with this album. But Grand Hand is so DIY as it’s all run by our friends and bands, it was a no-brainer.

What is the creative process or setup within the band? Do you write the music together or do certain people within the band do that?

I always bring a skeleton or an idea to the band. We all seem to like a bit of structure to get us going. Develop a bit of a groove and idea, and then change it from there for what’s working and what isn’t. This time was a bit different as Mike lives a few hours from Kevin and I, so we did a lot more demoing where Kevin and I would make a structure it, record it, then send it to Mike. He could then add his bass and ideas and send it back. So it was different for us to create songs a bit more separately but then come together, already knowing it all, and being able to have a different perspective on it. I think this back and forth led us to think about the songs more and make sure everything made sense and was supposed to be there.

How did you get involved with music? Was it a particular group or artist that made you want to write and play your own music?

I started playing guitar was I was 12. Mike taught me how to play! He had only been playing a year or 2 earlier. From there, we actually made most of our bands together. Starting at age 14 and onwards. We just loved classic rock and thought playing electric guitar was so cool. And here we still are!

Who designed the excellent album cover. Really brings to light what the whole album is about.

Thanks! That would be Mark Kowalchuk. He is our go-to main guy and has been since the first album. He just gets our visions and really gels with us. We have a hard time imagining anyone else doing the artwork for our albums. He has done work for Metallica, In Flames, and some amazing snowboard companies.

Can you advise if you played or currently playing in other bands so folks can check your other musical projects.

Mike and I are 1 trick ponies. Woodhawk is all we do. Kevin plays in another band called GEOFF occasionally. A bit of noise rock side-project here in Calgary.

What is the current state of the Calgary, Alberta, Rock/Metal scene? Do you perform gigs on a regular basis and do you have a local scene that you are actively involved with?

The scene is good here. But as we get older, there is an amazing new generation of musicians coming up and playing gigs. I’m less in touch with the scene than I was when we started out. It’s great to see that the kids still want to play music. We try to play in Calgary only 1-2 times a year. Treat it like a touring city where we can do bigger, better shows and make it more special. Don’t overplay your own city.

Will you be performing any gigs to promote this album locally or further afield?

We’ll be playing 2 album release shows here in Alberta. We’ll do the first one in Edmonton on June 13th and then in Calgary on June 14th. Later in the year, we will be touring Canada extensively. We have a full tour booked for late summer/early fall. We’ll be getting back into the van and cruising the trans Canada highway!

Before you go, do you have any words of wisdom for your new and potential fans out there.

Be nice to each other. There’s enough hate and anger in the world already. Just be nice. Tell your loved ones you love them.

Words by Steve Howe and Turner Midzain

Thanks to Turner for doing the interview and Asher Media PR for arranging the interview.

Love Finds A Way will be released on Digital/Vinyl formats via Grand Hard Records from Friday June 06th 2025. Album pre-order: https://woodhawk.bandcamp.com

More info:​
​

https://www.woodhawkriffs.com​
​https://www.instagram.com/woodhawkriffs​
​https://www.facebook.com/woodhawkriffs

​

Canada's Psych Stoner Rockers WOODHAWK Reveals First Single “Strangers Ever After” From New Album “Love Finds A Way”

L to R: Kevin Nelson (Drums), Turner Midzain (Vocals/ Guitar), Mike Badmington (Bass/ Vocals)

Portrait by Mark Kowalchuk

Canadian stoner rock powerhouse Woodhawk returns with the announcement of their highly anticipated third studio album, “Love Finds A Way,” set for release on June 6, 2025, via Grand Hand Records. The Calgary trio of Turner Midzain (guitar/vocals), Mike Badmington (bass), and Kevin Nelson (drums) are also dropping the record's first single, “Strangers Ever After,” toda,y giving fans their first taste of new Woodhawk material since 2019's acclaimed “Violent Nature”. The band comments on the new single:

“This was the first song we wrote for this album. And I think we reworked it more than any song. It started out with a completely different feel and timing than what we ended up with. It was way darker. But we kept coming back to it and really loved the result. Strangers Ever After is a kind of demise of a relationship. The farewell to someone that maybe…you were better off never knowing. This is dark and honest.”

“Love Finds A Way” marks an evolution in the band's creative journey. Their earlier work was very much influenced by bands like The Sword and Black Sabbath, with lyrics about wizards and goblins, but they've worked hard on bringing more emotion to their writing. The nine-track album promises to deliver the dynamic range fans have come to expect from Woodhawk, featuring what Midzain describes as ‘some really riff-rocking songs, but also a lot of hardship and honesty'.

“Strangers Ever After” showcases the band's signature blend of classic hard rock sensibilities and modern stoner metal influences, delivering the infectious grooves and memorable hooks that have earned Woodhawk a devoted following since their formation in 2014. They are recommended for fans of The Sword, Red Fang, and Thin Lizzy.

Listen to “Strangers Ever After”:

YouTube - https://youtu.be/zCYCia-rPFo​

Spotify - https://spoti.fi/4jmbEkW​

Album pre-order: https://woodhawk.bandcamp.com

Track Listing

1. Grave Shaker – 4:41
2. Strangers Ever After – 4:24
3. Truth Be Told – 7:21
4. White Crosses – 6:10
5. The Unholy Hand – 5:21
6. No Place For Hate – 5:18
7. Love Finds a Way – 6:16
8. Relapser – 4:52
9. Killing Time – 8:37

Woodhawk is:

Turner Midzain – Guitar & Vocals
Mike Badmington – Bass & Vocals
Kevin Nelson - Drums

More info:​
​

https://www.woodhawkriffs.com​
​https://www.instagram.com/woodhawkriffs​
​https://www.facebook.com/woodhawkriffs

​

Thanks to Asher Media PR for all of the details.

Woodhawk - Beyond The Sun (Album Review)

Release date: April 7^th 2017. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Beyond The Sun – Tracklisting

1.Beyond The Sun

2.The High Priest 04:46

3.Living In The Sand

4.Magnetic North

5.Lawless

6.Quest For Clarity

7.A New Hope

8.Foresee The Future

9.Chrononaut

Members:

Turner Midzain - Vocals/Guitar

Mike Badmington - Bass/Vocals

Kevin Nelson - Drums

Review

I'm new to the world of Woodhawk as I missed their debut album released a few years ago. My good pal Bucky Brown told me to check these guys out. As Bucky knew I would go crazy over this band. I was luckily sent a promo to review and here's my review for Beyond The Sun.

Woodhawk have a new album - Beyond The Sun - and it's one that ticks all right boxes if you're a serious fan of Stoner Rock. Taking influence from bands such as Kyuss, The Sword and Truckfighters. Woodhawk offer a refreshing style of Psych Stoner Metal with moments of Fuzz and Desert Rock that add extra grit to their music.

Opening track - Beyond The Sun - is a highly confident number with the band playing a heavy thunderous stoner metal roar. The lyrics are inspired by a mixture of classic Kyuss desert rock beginnings and the later progressive stylings of Truckfighters world weary tales. It's a captivating style of music Woodhawk cater for both the casual and dedicated Stoner Rock/Metal fan. The vocals from Turner are impressive from the start especially when set against the heavy musical background. Woodhawk even find time to play a thrashier sound of Stoner Metal towards the end of the song.

Second track - The High Priest - sees Woodhawk opt for a more Doom Rock driven sound as they channel the very early sound of The Sword but still creating their own original addictive sound. The lyrics build upto a rousing chorus especially when the band starts singing over the title lyrics over and over again. The riffs drift from heavy psych stoner to a heavier style of doom rock that leaves you wanting more. The guitar solos are impressive with members – Turner and Mike - showing what they can do by creating epic riffs that have a twinge of classic Thin Lizzy about them.

Third track - Living In The Sand - continues with the heavy style of Doom, Psych and Stoner Rock with lead vocalist - Turner - singing with a more laid-back style before he returns to the familiar style he sung on the opening two tracks. The back-up vocals add a more menacing touch as they have quite a duelling effect. The music is perhaps what will hold people's attention the most as Woodhawk merge the different sounds at their disposal with supreme confidence.

It's pointless for myself to describe what to expect on the remaining six tracks on the album as Woodhawk wisely keep to the same winning template throughout. Though they do change the mood at different parts of the album especially on Magnetic North and A New Hope and the standout final track - Chrononaut. Beyond The Sun is a hard-rocking masterclass that's a winning album on all levels. It's great to hear an album that has much attention to the lyrics as well as the music.

Fans of Star Wars will get much enjoyment of A New Hope as Woodhawk have created a spaced out stoner prog rock odyssey based on that legendary movie. One of the most exciting moments of album as Woodhawk prove how creative they are by blending popular movie culture and modern Desert/Stoner Rock sounds.

The production is another highlight as the album is crystal clear and very loud from the start. What's more to be said about this album apart from this is a must have album for all you serious Stoner Rock/Metal fans out there. Woodhawk have delivered the goods with this album. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Jon at Asher Media for the promo. Beyond The Sun will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from April 7^th 2017.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp | Twitter