Angels On The Battlefield: JD McGibney on New Beginnings, Finding Strength Through Music and the Battles We All Face

Sometimes a single song can change the direction of somebody’s life. For Angels On The Battlefield founder and guitarist JD McGibney, that moment came while sitting in a car with his father, hearing a familiar Black Sabbath song performed in a way he’d never experienced before.

Years later, it would be his own music making that kind of connection with somebody else, and the experience helped him understand just how powerful something he’d created could become.

The Los Angeles instrumental symphonic progressive metallers are preparing to release their debut full length album, New Beginnings, independently on January 15, 2027. Across eleven compositions, the band explores anxiety, grief, personal responsibility, resilience, love and finding the strength to keep moving forward.

Alongside JD are bassist Jason Klein, formerly of Butcher Babies, drummer Eddie Trager, formerly of Nekrogoblikon, and keyboardist Chris Wirsig, whose extensive background in film and television composition brings another dimension to the band’s sound.

When I caught up with JD for Crannk, there was plenty I wanted to explore. The project stretches back more than a decade, several compositions have been reimagined from earlier recordings, and there’s a fascinating relationship between the progressive metal arrangements and the stories JD wants to communicate without relying on lyrics.

But as we worked our way through the music, the conversation became considerably more personal. We found ourselves discussing the importance of music during difficult periods, confronting grief and mortality, and why simply being there for somebody can sometimes mean more than finding the perfect words.

At the centre of it all was a musician who has spent years trying to turn his own experiences into something that might help somebody else.

From Jethro Tull to Black Sabbath: Where It All Began

I always love taking musicians back to their earliest core musical memories. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the first heavy metal album they bought or the band that inspired them to pick up an instrument. Sometimes those earliest memories reveal something far more interesting about their relationship with music.

For JD, the first song that genuinely grabbed his attention was Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath”.

Growing up, his mother generally controlled the radio, with plenty of fifties and sixties bubblegum pop filling the air. Artists such as Lesley Gore and The Beach Boys were part of that soundtrack, although JD admitted they weren’t particularly his thing.

Then, while driving with his father one day, he heard the guitar riff from “Locomotive Breath” and immediately recognised something different.

It wasn’t until high school, though, that another car journey would completely change his musical direction.

JD remembers his father collecting him from school on a rainy autumn afternoon. As they drove home, Primus’ cover of Black Sabbath’s “N.I.B.”, featuring Ozzy Osbourne, came through the radio.

The moment Les Claypool’s bass kicked in, JD was hooked.

He remembered being completely absorbed by the sound, particularly the bass introduction and the way the rest of the band came crashing into the arrangement. Almost perfectly timed, the song finished just as they pulled into the driveway.

His father switched off the car, and JD immediately told him he wanted to learn how to play guitar.

I couldn’t help getting a little sidetracked talking about Primus and just how ridiculous Les Claypool is as a musician. There are players who seem to understand their instruments on an entirely different level, and Claypool has always struck me as somebody operating on another bloody planet.

For JD, though, that moment wasn’t simply about discovering an incredible musician. Hearing the song gave him a kind of clarity he hadn’t experienced before, quietening some of the emotional chaos he’d been struggling with.

Music had given him something he could connect with, even before he properly understood why.

Years later, Angels On The Battlefield would give him the opportunity to create that connection for somebody else.

The Hug That Changed Everything

Angels On The Battlefield originally began as a personal creative outlet, with JD using music to help navigate his experiences with anxiety and other difficulties he was facing.

When he eventually decided to develop the project into a serious band, he already knew he wanted to give something back through music. He understood how important it had been in his own life and hoped his compositions might offer that same sense of connection to others.

“Music is just how I understand the world the best,” JD explained during our conversation.

What he hadn’t fully appreciated was how directly that music could affect somebody.

The turning point came during the band’s first live performance at the This Is My Brave mental health fundraiser in 2022.

The event featured people sharing their experiences with mental illness, the challenges they’d faced and the ways they’d learned to navigate those struggles. Angels On The Battlefield closed the evening, bringing a considerably louder conclusion to an event largely built around personal stories and spoken presentations.

After their performance, audience members began gathering around the musicians to congratulate them and talk about what they’d experienced. JD remembers spending around twenty minutes speaking with people before the crowd gradually began thinning out.

That’s when he noticed a mother standing patiently with her young daughter.

The girl was around twelve or thirteen, visibly excited but also incredibly shy. She had been waiting for an opportunity to approach the band, occasionally hiding behind her mother while watching everybody else have their conversations.

Eventually they came forward, and her mother explained how much the girl had enjoyed JD’s speech and the band’s performance.

JD thanked her, but the young girl initially struggled to find anything to say. He remembers the look in her eyes, as though something about the experience had connected with her in a way she couldn’t quite explain.

Then she asked him a simple question.

“Can I give you a hug?”

JD agreed, and she gave him what he described as the biggest hug he’d ever received from somebody he didn’t know.

That experience has stayed with him ever since.

When he first heard Primus and Black Sabbath as a teenager, music had helped him make sense of something happening within himself. Now he was experiencing that connection from the other side, with something he’d written reaching another person.

It was the moment he truly began understanding the wider impact his music could have.

I’ve always believed those connections are one of the most important things about music. Whether you’re standing in front of a stage, listening to an album at home or finding a song that helps you through an incredibly difficult period, sometimes the person creating that music will never fully understand what it means to somebody else.

For JD, that young girl’s reaction gave him a glimpse of exactly why Angels On The Battlefield mattered.

Rebuilding More Than A Decade Of Music

One of the things that fascinated me while researching New Beginnings was just how far back some of these compositions go.

“On the Wings of Dragons” has roots stretching back to the project’s earliest years, while material from the 2018 EP and Over Darkened Skies in 2019 has been brought into the new record.

These aren’t simply old recordings being repackaged. JD explained that the original material had been created across a considerable period, often without any real intention beyond the satisfaction of writing and releasing something of his own.

Many of those early compositions were also structured as though they would eventually feature vocals. Despite being instrumental recordings, they followed familiar verse and chorus arrangements, with repeated sections that didn’t necessarily serve the music once JD began looking at them differently.

When Angels On The Battlefield developed into a full band, he decided to revisit those foundations.

Some sections were shortened, others rearranged, and the compositions were given more room to develop naturally rather than following structures originally intended for a vocalist.

Then came another important change.

JD had initially written the bass and drum parts from a guitarist’s perspective. He understood what he wanted the compositions to do, but bringing Jason Klein and Eddie Trager into the process allowed both instruments to develop beyond those original ideas.

Rather than insisting that everybody recreate exactly what he’d written, JD gave the musicians the foundation and encouraged them to bring their own personalities into the arrangements.

It’s an important distinction because the members of Angels On The Battlefield come from remarkably different musical backgrounds.

Jason spent years playing with Butcher Babies, while Eddie’s history includes Nekrogoblikon and his progressive metal project Take & Take. I actually had the opportunity to interview Eddie for Crannk back in March 2024 about his Take & Take work, so it was pretty bloody cool coming back around to another part of his musical world through this conversation with JD.

Chris Wirsig brings yet another perspective, drawing on his professional experience composing for film and television.

JD laughed while describing Chris as the band’s secret sauce.

Once the guitars, bass and drums had been developed, Chris would receive the compositions alongside the narratives JD had created for them. From there, he could introduce orchestral arrangements, develop melodies and explore sounds that JD wouldn’t necessarily have considered when originally writing the music.

That approach has become a defining part of Angels On The Battlefield. Rather than having a guitarist write everything while the other musicians simply fill in the spaces, each instrument now has an opportunity to contribute something meaningful.

And with Chris involved, those possibilities have expanded considerably.

Creating Entire Worlds Without A Single Word

One of my favourite things about instrumental music is how much freedom it gives both the musician and the listener.

You can hear a particular melody and connect with it through one experience, while somebody else might hear exactly the same passage and imagine something completely different. There’s no vocalist explaining the story or telling you what you’re supposed to feel. The instruments have to communicate those emotions themselves.

For Angels On The Battlefield, that’s central to the way the music works.

JD explained that most of the compositions on New Beginnings began with him simply sitting down with his guitar and experimenting.

Sometimes he’d explore a particular scale, try an unfamiliar chord or follow a melody without having any predetermined destination in mind. Rather than starting with a detailed narrative, he allowed the music to develop and then began recognising the emotions connected to what he’d created.

From there, the stories took shape.

Some became literal interpretations of particular experiences, while others developed into metaphors for the feelings behind the music.

JD also revealed that two compositions originated in an older Long Island band, where they had originally featured lyrics and carried different meanings. Reworking those pieces into instrumental music allowed them to take on new emotional identities.

What interested me was how comfortable JD is with listeners interpreting his music differently from the way he originally intended.

He understands the emotional context behind each composition because he lived through the experiences that inspired it, but he doesn’t believe somebody needs to understand that original story to connect with the finished piece.

For him, the important thing is the relationship the listener develops with the music.

That philosophy extends into the arrangements themselves.

JD was adamant that Angels On The Battlefield shouldn’t become another instrumental project where one musician dominates everything while everybody else provides the backing for an endless collection of solos.

Sometimes the guitar takes centre stage, but there are also moments where the bass, drums or keyboards carry the music. Chris can introduce an orchestral melody, change the atmosphere or bring in an instrument that completely alters the character of a composition.

JD even laughed about including an anvil in “On the Wings of Dragons”.

Because why the hell not?

That willingness to experiment is part of what gives the band its identity. The arrangements can be technically intricate and incredibly heavy, but there’s also an understanding that the composition itself has to come first.

Sometimes the strongest musical decision isn’t adding another layer. It’s knowing when to take something away.

Beauty In A Body Bag: When The Unexpected Works

“Beauty in a Body Bag” provided one of my favourite examples of that approach.

The composition explores emotional struggles associated with Borderline Personality Disorder, using contrasting melodies, heavier instrumentation and changes in atmosphere to communicate a difficult subject without relying on lyrics.

While JD and Chris were working on the production, JD came up with an idea for the final chorus.

He wanted to strip the arrangement back to acoustic instrumentation for just two measures.

Chris wasn’t convinced it would work, but JD insisted they give it a shot anyway. Once the change had been recorded and mixed, Chris heard exactly what he’d been imagining.

The brief acoustic interruption worked because it arrived at a moment when the listener was expecting the heavier arrangement to continue. Rather than breaking the song apart, it introduced an unexpected contrast that made the surrounding music feel different.

I love those kinds of decisions because they demonstrate how progressive music doesn’t necessarily have to become more complicated to achieve something interesting.

Sometimes removing almost everything for a couple of measures can be far more effective than throwing another solo or elaborate arrangement into the mix.

It also says something about the creative relationship JD and Chris have developed.

There’s enough trust there to entertain an idea that might initially sound ridiculous, experiment with it and discover whether it serves the composition.

In this case, it bloody well did.

A Dance With Angels: Grief, Acceptance And Having Difficult Conversations

Our conversation took a considerably more personal direction when we reached “A Dance With Angels”.

The composition explores grief, loss and the process of learning to move forward after somebody close to us has died. Musically, the band takes a different approach here, moving away from the heavier elements and allowing acoustic guitar and orchestration to carry much of the emotional weight.

What interested me was the balance between sadness and hope.

Grief isn’t necessarily one continuous emotion. There can be anger, confusion, regret, happiness when remembering somebody and moments where we begin to feel comfortable moving forward, sometimes before we even realise it’s happening.

JD explained that the hopeful element within the song wasn’t necessarily something he’d deliberately planned.

He wrote the composition many years ago while contemplating loss and the difficult process of learning how to continue after somebody has died. Looking back, he believes his own tendency to approach life positively naturally found its way into the music.

The intention was to create something that might offer comfort.

That opened the door to a much wider conversation about death and why we often struggle to discuss it.

JD believes society has gradually become more willing to talk about grief and loss, but confronting somebody else’s mortality can also force us to think about our own. It’s a frightening subject, particularly when somebody is already experiencing the pain of losing someone close.

I understand that more than I would ever have wanted to.

During our conversation, I spoke with JD about losing my brother when I was younger and how music became such an important part of helping me through that experience.

We also ended up discussing my own battle with stage four cancer, and something that really stood out during that period was how difficult it could be for people to have conversations about serious illness and the possibility of death.

Sometimes people don’t know what to say. They’re frightened of upsetting somebody, asking the wrong question or making an already difficult situation worse, so they avoid the conversation altogether.

JD shared an experience of supporting somebody who had been dealing with kidney cancer.

Rather than changing the way he treated that person, he made a point of checking in, offering support and allowing him to decide whether he wanted to discuss what was happening.

What really connected with me was JD’s observation that we’re not necessarily taught how to approach these situations.

We aren’t always taught how to sit with somebody else’s pain or how to support a friend or loved one who has received devastating news. Because everybody handles those experiences differently, there isn’t some universal set of words that will suddenly make everything better.

Some people want to talk. Others don’t. Sometimes somebody simply wants to laugh, make terrible jokes or have a normal conversation without everything revolving around what they’re going through.

For JD, the important thing is being willing to have that conversation while respecting what the other person actually needs.

It brought us straight back to the purpose behind “A Dance With Angels”.

The composition doesn’t suggest that grief can be neatly resolved or that everybody eventually reaches some predetermined point where everything suddenly becomes easier.

Instead, it offers a sense of comfort and acknowledges that loss is something we all navigate differently.

Sometimes music can communicate that understanding in ways words struggle to reach.

A Walking Plague: How Far Would You Go To Survive?

From the quieter atmosphere of “A Dance With Angels”, our conversation headed into considerably darker territory with “A Walking Plague”.

One of the heaviest compositions on New Beginnings, the song explores a question that has fascinated storytellers for generations.

When somebody is pushed into an impossible situation, at what point does their determination to survive begin compromising the values that make them who they are?

The inspiration came from somewhere JD and I could both appreciate.

Zombie fiction.

JD explained that the composition was inspired by Max Brooks’ novel World War Z, particularly the Battle of Yonkers, where the military finds itself confronting an enormous zombie horde despite possessing advanced weapons and technology.

As the battle unfolds, the soldiers discover that their equipment and conventional tactics aren’t enough to stop what is coming towards them. The situation becomes increasingly desperate, and the consequences are devastating.

JD also drew inspiration from The Walking Dead, both the graphic novels and the television series, which had become another major part of his interest in apocalyptic storytelling.

But underneath all the zombies and violence is a much more interesting philosophical question.

How far would somebody go to survive, and what would they be willing to sacrifice along the way?

Would they abandon beliefs they’d spent their entire lives following? Would they justify actions they previously considered unacceptable? And at what point would those choices begin changing the person they believed themselves to be?

JD explained that exploring those scenarios through fiction and music gives people an opportunity to examine their own moral boundaries from a position of safety.

We can imagine ourselves in terrible situations, consider what choices we might make and question which values we would want to preserve without actually facing those circumstances.

That’s what makes “A Walking Plague” considerably more interesting than simply being the heaviest track on the album.

The aggressive instrumentation, tension and chaotic arrangements become another way of exploring the pressure behind those decisions.

While the inspiration might come from a world overrun by zombies, the underlying questions are rooted in something much more human.

What happens when everything we believe about ourselves is challenged by circumstances we never imagined facing?

The Albums That Shaped JD’s Musical World

After spending much of our conversation exploring some pretty heavy subjects, I decided to throw a few quickfire questions JD’s way and lighten things up.

The first album he remembers buying with his own money was Ozzy Osbourne’s Diary Of A Madman, which seems particularly fitting considering how important Ozzy and Black Sabbath were to his early musical development.

But when I asked which album he’d love to experience again for the very first time, he had another answer ready.

Killswitch Engage’s Alive Or Just Breathing.

For JD, that record was the one that made him realise he wanted to keep playing music for the rest of his life.

We also had a good laugh when I asked which album his parents regularly played while he was growing up that he still listens to today.

His answer was simple enough.

“None.”

Apparently those childhood years surrounded by bubblegum pop didn’t quite leave the lasting impression his mother might have hoped for.

And when I put him on the spot to name his favourite album of 2026, JD admitted he couldn’t immediately remember everything that had been released.

He laughed about needing to study before the interview and asked whether there was a multiple choice option.

Some questions are apparently considerably harder than writing progressive metal.

Finding The Strength To Conquer Your Battlefield

Looking back over my conversation with JD, what really stands out is how closely the evolution of Angels On The Battlefield connects with the reasons he started creating music in the first place.

The project began with a guitarist trying to make sense of his own experiences, using music as somewhere to channel emotions he couldn’t always explain.

Those early compositions gradually developed into something much bigger. Bringing Jason, Eddie and Chris into the band allowed the songs to grow beyond their original arrangements, with each musician contributing their own personality and creative experience.

Now those years of writing, experimenting and developing the music have come together on New Beginnings.

But for all the intricate guitar work, progressive arrangements, heavy riffs and enormous orchestration, the heart of Angels On The Battlefield still seems to come back to something remarkably simple.

The ability of music to connect people.

Sometimes that happens when you’re a teenager sitting in a car with your father, hearing a bass line that makes you want to pick up an instrument for the first time. Sometimes it’s an album that helps you through a difficult period, giving you somewhere to put emotions you don’t know how to explain.

And sometimes it’s a shy young girl approaching you after a performance, asking for a hug because something about the music you’ve created has reached her.

I think that’s what makes the story behind this band particularly meaningful. JD hasn’t forgotten what music did for him when he needed it, and he’s spent years trying to create something that might offer that same connection to somebody else.

After everything we’d discussed, I gave him my usual opportunity for any final words, shoutouts or anything else he wanted to leave with everybody listening.

He brought the conversation right back to the purpose behind Angels On The Battlefield.

“No matter what anyone is going through, remember that you always have the strength to conquer your battlefield.”

It’s a fitting message for a band whose music has grown from one person’s personal outlet into something designed to help others navigate their own struggles.

New Beginnings brings more than a decade of those experiences together, but it also represents what JD and his bandmates have been building towards.

The compositions might have been years in the making, but for Angels On The Battlefield, there’s still a hell of a lot of music and storytelling ahead.

And perhaps that’s what makes the album title so appropriate.

Angels On The Battlefield release New Beginnings independently on January 15, 2027.

The eleven track album was produced by the band and recorded at Counter Communications, with Chris Wirsig handling engineering, mixing and mastering.

Cover artwork was created by Kiren In Digital (Kiren Bagchee).