TIKTAALIKA: Gods Of Pangaea (PROGRESSIVE METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Charlie Griffiths is the guitarist of British prog metal band Haken. After releasing his first solo album in 2022, he followed this up in 2025 by naming his new project after the title of his first album, “Tiktaalika”, a sort of giant prehistoric fish, the missing link between fish and aquatic vertebrates. This species became extinct once its mission was accomplished, and the artist, passionate about this subject, tried to extrapolate to our lives as replaceable, ephemeral humans. Or perhaps it's simply a phonetic reminder of his youthful love, Metallica.

As with the first opus, those hoping to listen to Haken are likely to be disappointed, as the idea behind this solo project was precisely to do something different, far removed from progressive metal. Charlie Griffiths brings the thrash metal of the 1980s up to date, surrounding himself with top names such as the brilliant Daniël de Jongh from Dutch band Textures. Vladimir Lalic (Draconic), Rody Walker (Protest The Hero) and Thomas Giles (Between the buried and me) also lend their voices to highlight his work.

As mentioned, the spectre of Metallica is never far away throughout the album, but it's not the only reference to be found in “Gods Of Pangaea”. The riff on 'The Forbidden Zone' is reminiscent of Gojira, the phrasing on 'Gods of Pangaea' of Iron Maiden, the intro to 'Lost Continent' reminds Korn or even Sepultura, while the arpeggios on 'Mesozoic' place us in an atmosphere somewhere between Pain of Salvation and Opeth. And speaking of Opeth, in the middle of 'Lost Continent' you'd swear you could hear a melodic guitar line from Mikael Akerfeldt. The riffs on 'Fault Lines' are well thought-out, energetic and catchy. The song's structure makes it one of the most enjoyable tracks on the album, along with 'Tyrannicide', which is highly conducive to air guitar.

The quality of Charlie Griffiths' playing is no longer in question, given his technical and melodic prowess with Haken, but his work with Tiktaalika is all the more remarkable in that it has no connection whatsoever with what we hear from his original band. The riffs, phrasing and solos are all original. In some respects, the whole thing could have been composed 20 or 30 years ago, except that the sound is very contemporary and nods to what's being done today are frequent. In short, this album is a tribute to the genre that forged Charlie Griffiths' style, a deep dive into the making process of one of the key men behind one of the most avant-garde bands on the progressive metal scene today.

“Gods of Pangaea” is therefore the perfect opportunity for Charlie Griffith to pay an elegant tribute to his idols, an exercise that doesn't really lend itself to Haken. Tiktaalika thus offers an inspired return to basics in a world where the plethora of genres and sub-genres sometimes makes listeners lose their bearings.
- Official website

TIKTAALIKA

GODS OF PANGAEA

INSIDEOUT MUSIC

PROGRESSIVE METAL