“Life is worth living and you shouldn’t give up just yet, because life is a beautiful thing.”
Kindness and positivity may not be what everyone associates with the genre of metal, however, Charles-David Isautier, 24, begs to differ. He is a York University student in the school’s music program. In his free time, Isautier can be found playing shows and writing music as a member of Resthaven, a local metal band.
“We have an amalgamation of genres that influence our music… it’s refreshing, and it allows us to have new ideas to explore.”
The group recently released their second full-length album, Lunarwave, which features a runtime of roughly 33 minutes, and includes 9 total songs. Isautier was heavily involved in the production for the album, including the creation of “Left in the Gutter”, an emotional and powerful song which currently sits as the top song on the Resthaven Spotify page. The band last performed for the Lunarwave album release show on February 21st, 2025 at Array Music in downtown Toronto, and are set to get back on stage on April 5th at Toronto’s Low Bar.
Isautier, when asked why he chose metal as the genre he wanted to explore musically, explained, “I chose the genre because it spoke to me and allowed me to express myself. I used to be shy and timid, and found that the loudness of metal helped me gain confidence in myself.”
Metal music mainly originates back to the 1960’s. Artists such as Jimi Hendrix and Cream began experimenting with sounds that created a dark and distorted feel to the instrumentals. Overtime, the definition of metal music has often been debated and has been split into subgenres, such as death metal and grindcore.
Metal music also has a place within Toronto’s history, even earning its own publications. Drew Masters distributed Metal Events Around Toronto (M.E.A.T.) from 1991-1995, and copies were readily available and free inside of record stores. While this publication is no longer produced, Facebook and social media groups can be found sporting the same name and promoting local metal and rock artists.
The genre of metal itself, while having a common reputation for being quite angry or dark, is actually often lyrically about self-expression. “The community itself can feel very competitive at times,” says Isautier, “But overall we’re all very supportive amongst one another.”
Being inspired by artists such as Queens of the Stone Age and Napalm Death, Isautier seeks to create a unique sound with the other members of Resthaven, Billie Rogue and Braydan Parsons-Reilly. Self-described on their Spotify page as “melancholic extreme metal”, this band uses drums, bass and guitar to masterfully invoke a variety of emotions within the listeners. Isautier, who mainly plays the drums, is dedicated to his craft, and has some major goals both within the band and on his own. “My goals are to eventually tour outside of Canada and to keep releasing new music… I want to keep making music I’m proud of.”
Isautier stands by his stance that the genre of metal is not inherently negative, and that his music is meant to promote kindness, despite what others may think. “This music is coming from people that want to be heard and have a need to say something to express themselves,” He states, “Our music is still about negative feelings and about sadness, but it’s coming from a place of telling people that they are heard and that there is a way out. You have to acknowledge negativity to embrace positivity.”
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