Bison B.C. : Bringing on the Eco-Metal Thunder!

Where the buffalo roam

Bison, B.C. 100% metal, with 50% less evil

Published November 20, 2008  by Christine Leonard 

More than just a top-heavy bovine, Bison B.C. is the latest Canadian heavy metal band to be signed to the illustrious Metal Blade Records. From their humble East Vancouver origins, the hard-hitting quartet initially tested broader waters with a limited-release album on Forest Records in 2007. From the self-congratulatory raunchiness of the opening cut “Stokasarus” to the post-grunge fervour of “Cancer Rat,” Earthbound set ears ablaze with its cascading guitar runs and high-hat lightning. To prove that they were more than a one-trick pony, the boys headed to The Hive Studios in Burnaby, B.C. to produce their first full-length for their new California-based label. Quiet Earth was released in September of 2008, winning additional praise for the band, who had already earned a reputation for their intense live performances.

    “I think we were a lot more confident going into the recording process this time around,” says Bison B.C.’s darkly handsome vocalist and guitarist Dan And. “I still can’t believe we added strings into some of our arrangements. We just thought it would be interesting to throw something ridiculous into the middle of things, and we ended up really liking how it came out.”

    Though they were worried the album wouldn’t be “evil enough” to join the elite ranks of hardcore metal, Bison B.C. found solace in the accommodating nature of their record label. “Just give us a heavy metal album,” the folks at Metal Blade had said, and the band delivered. The new album boasts unique instrumental arrangements that coalesce into one glorious Black Sabbath-meets-Melvins cacophony and the result is magnificent.

    “We used cello and violin on two tracks — ‘Wendigo Pt. 1 (Quest for Fire)’ and the last song on the album, ‘Quiet Earth,’” And says. “I’m Metis, and as a child, I heard the story of the Wendigo. It scared the shit out of me! It’s an Algonquin legend about a cannibal spirit that needs to eat flesh. It’s a fuckin’ evil Sasquatch monster that wants to take over your soul. Terrifying! So I decided I needed to write a three-part song about it. Parts one and two made it onto the album, but the third part of the story has yet to be told.”

    As determined as they were to tell their stories, the band actually had second thoughts about launching their musical careers in a genre fraught with negative stereotypes and oversized egos. Some have labeled them an “eco-metal” band, but And considers their approach to a typically machismo-laden genre to be Bison B.C.’s distinctly Canadian way of holding a looking glass up to society.

    “Our music isn’t angry; it’s more about frustration with modern civilization and culture,” the songwriter explains. “Nothing is more brutal than the laws of nature, and that’s where we’re coming from. We grew up listening to punk on the West Coast… but I had to distance myself from the scene because the mosh pits were getting so violent, I couldn’t stand it anymore. For that very reason, we had to seriously ask ourselves if we even wanted to be in a heavy metal band. Wouldn’t it be great if more people just came to shows just to chill out, bang their heads and enjoy the music? I think it’s possible.”