Some of the Bestest Alberta Releases of 2019

Gone Cosmic
Sideways in Time
Kozmik Artifactz 

A supernova of a musical experiment, Gone Cosmic warps time and space around mindblowing guitar riffs, tetragonal rhythms and the air-raid warning vocals of an onyx-tressed siren, Abbie Thurgood.

A basement-jam brainchild conceptualized by stringslingers Devin “Darty” Purdy and Brett Whittingham (of Calgary’s stoner rock mainstay, Chron Goblin), this intrepid crew blasts through alien landscapes navigating dire turns, deep pockets and soaring incantations that put the legions of Mars on high alert.

Interstellar jazz meets terrestrial grit as Gone Cosmic takes their audience on an acid-fuelled rocket ride around the sun before splashing down in a sea of psych-rock tranquility.

• Christine Leonard 

Sunglaciers
Foreign Bodies
Independent 

A sweat-slicked fever dream of an album, Sunglaciers’ first full-length release reverberates with an electric intellect that shimmers like a sunset reflecting off a skyscraper.

Afloat in an emotionally clouded atmosphere, Sunglaciers melt away artifice and presumption with an earnest appeal for the freedom and room to spread their wings.

Echoing the smooth transitions and pensive introspection of indie wavers The Psychedelic Furs and The Jesus and Mary Chain, singer-guitarist Evan Resnik feels his way through a forest of fuzzy memories while Mathieu Blanchard (drums), Kyle Crough (bass) and Helen Young (synths) seal the melodic mood rock envelope with a probing kiss and a subconscious prayer.

• Christine Leonard 

 nipiy
Arts & Crafts 

Drawing on their Indigenous roots, this amiskwaciy (Edmonton, Treaty 6) phenom takes their attention-grabbing name from their Plains Cree heritage.

The cooly contemporary, culturally significant, band’s debut on the Arts & Crafts label finds vocalist/guitarist/storyweaver Kris Harper, (cedar log) drummer Marek Tyler and synth player/bassist Matthew Cardinal carving out a perch for “those who don’t seem to fit in for myriads of reasons,” while creating a modern, atmospheric album that speaks to all quarters.

Sticking out their necks and letting down their hair, the neo-trad trio traces a path that runs to the heart of Canada’s musical past, present and future.

• Christine Leonard

HELLYEAH Wreck the Halls in Tribute to Heavy Metal Legend Vinnie Paul - INTERVIEW FEATURE

Auld Lang Syne of the Times

HELLYEAH Wreck the Halls in Tribute to Heavy Metal Legend Vinnie Paul 

As 2020 rolls around, we pause to mark the end of a decade and celebrate the arrival of a new one. Lest an old acquaintance "be forgot" in the melee of merry-making, hard rock icons Hellyeah will be hosting a series of seasonally apropos events with a dual purpose.

Not only is the supergroup sharing material from their latest album, Welcome Home, which was released this past September, but they are commemorating the passing of metal god Vinnie Paul, who died of natural causes including heart disease in June of 2018. 

“It’s been cathartic it’s definitely helped us get through everything but it’s also difficult cuz there’s a lot of emotions,” explains guitarist Christian Brady, who was one of the last people to see Vinnie alive, and is still processing the shock of his friend’s sudden death.

As founding members of Pantera, Texas’ claim to thrash metal fame, Vinnie and his brother “Dimebag” Darrell achieved the status of living legends. Dimebag’s notoriety for partying harder than any other player on the scene left a gaping hole that Vinnie dutifully filled following the tragedy of Dimebag’s on-stage assassination in December of 2004.

Similarly charged with the daunting task of carrying on after the loss of a band member and mentor they had in Vinnie, Brady and the remaining members of Hellyeah — vocalist Chad Gray, guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Kyle Sanders — agreed they had to complete Vinnie’s final masterpiece and share it with his followers around the globe.

“THE SUPPORT IS MASSIVE AND RIGHT NOW WE’RE FOCUSED ON ‘THE CELEBRATION’ AND HONOURING OUR BROTHER.”

 “I know for a fact, if Vinnie’s drum parts hadn’t already been finished it would have been a very different story for the future of Hellyeah, but because those tracks were done we felt an obligation to finish the record. It’s his last piece of work, you know. It’s the last piece of his legacy and he put so much effort and care into what he did on the record to that point and the fans deserved to hear it.”

Ready to wreck the halls, with the support of incoming drummer and longtime friend Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour), Hellyeah will be crisscrossing Canada and the U.S. on their “A Celebration of Life Celebrating Vinnie Paul” tour. According to Brady seeing Welcome Home’s musical theatrics performed live is the perfect pitchfork to pry your brain out of its mid-winter slumber. So, get off the couch, put on a black T-shirt and ‘respect walk’ yourself down to the nearest Hellyeah show to tip a few in honour of mosh pits past. 

“As far as the future of Hellyeah, we’re just taking it day by day. The support is massive and right now we’re focused on ‘The Celebration’ and honouring our brother. It’s so super important that we do that the right way and make sure it’s all about him. We want it to be done tastefully, we want it to be respectful and we want everybody to get a chance to show their love for Vinnie. He was a larger-than-life character and he loved to have a good time. He carried that flag after he lost his brother; he wanted everyone to have a great time. He valued all the fans so much and we knew we had to come out and celebrate, cuz that’s what he would want. So, that’s our mission. That’s all we're trying to do – make our brother proud.”

By Christine Leonard

Hellyeah perform Thursday, Dec. 5 at the Palace Theatre (Calgary, AB), Friday, Dec. 6 at Union Hall (Edmonton, AB) and Sunday, Dec. 8 at The Imperial (Vancouver, BC) // TIX

Dennis and Lois: The Untold Story of Rock and Roll’s Legendary Superfans - Film Review

Chris Cassidy’s award-winning documentary about a couple who have been going to shows for more than 40 years gives the term “all ages” new meaning.

BY CHRISTINE LEONARD

Lifelong music lovers Dennis Anderson and Lois Kahlert are perhaps the most widely recognized pair of superfans in the world. With a history of attending concerts that spans more than 40 years, the eccentric but unpretentious couple from New York City has endeared themselves to bands from around the globe, and have become more famous than some of their celebrity acquaintances in the process.

Spotlighted by director Chris Cassidy, Dennis and Lois are now the subjects of their own eponymous biographical documentary, which examines how and why they developed and fed their voracious appetite for live music performances. The film is studded with dynamic concert footage and candid interviews with dozens of performers who have come to know and love Dennis and Lois over the years. Members of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Mekons, New Order, Doves, The Smiths, Budgie, The Fall, Elbow, The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays (who immortalized them in a song), and more, all queue up to pay tribute.

Regular pilgrims to the streets of Manchester, England, the unmarried but deeply bonded couple have accumulated a mountain of tour t-shirts and ticket stubs. This conspicuous consumption is echoed in their jammed-to-the-rafters personal residence. A shrine to pop culture, each room in the home is dedicated to a different franchise. Entire bedrooms have been claimed by Spiderman, Batman, The Simpsons – earning Dennis and Lois the nickname “The Toy People.” The basement, of course, is reserved for vinyl.

The Ramones get an entire hallway, featuring one of Dee Dee’s leather jackets and a pair of Joey’s shredded jeans. In fact, The Ramones were one of the first groups to bring Dennis and Lois into their extended family. As original patrons of CBGB’s, the enthusiastic youngsters volunteered to help work the band’s merchandise table and quickly became indispensable assistants. Whether they were scoring good weed for recording artists or giving a traveling troupe a place to crash, Dennis and Lois always found a way to connect with people in a manner that made them feel seen yet utterly at ease.

There’s a powerful lesson to be gleaned from how remarkably forward-thinking and open-minded these two septuagenarians are in their approach to absorbing new sources of inspiration and obsession. Despite the limitations imposed on their three-gig-a-day habit by increasing physical frailty, Dennis and Lois persist in their determination to expose themselves to live music. This is evident in their ongoing support of up-and-coming artists like John Grant and The Vaccines.

As audience members, punk-rock roadies and Godparents to the scene, they’re not content to simply reminisce about the good old times of yore when legends roamed the Earth. Recently stage-side as A Place to Bury Strangers stirred the room into a calamitous frenzy, an MS-afflicted Lois (the unjaded veteran of 10,000 concerts) raised her hands in ecstatic reverie.

“Smoke started coming up. Everybody was doing this mosh pit, slam dancing, and body surfing. All this stuff going on and I’m there sitting in the chair… They’re passing the guitars over. They’re passing guys over. And, it was like the most incredible show I ever saw,” she says.

Dennis and Lois is available to stream now via AMAZON or iTunes

Cannabis Corpse "Nug So Vile" - Album Review

Cannabis Corpse
Nug So Vile

Devised back in 2006 by Phil “Landphil” Hall (Municipal Waste, Iron Reagan) and Josh “Hallhammer” Hall, Cannabis Corpse is a virulent strain of “marijuana death metal” that pays homage to the heavy hitters the brothers grew up listening to.

Recently reduced to a svelte trio, the Virginia-based weedcentric band drew deeply on a green sense of humour and horror metal roots to generate their latest ripper, Nug So Vile.
Ripe with that familiar icky sticky Garbage Pail Kids stench, tracks like “Cylinders of Madness” and “Nug So Vile” ooze with layers of bludgeoning percussion and wailing guitar sirens.

The alluring “Blasphemy Made Hash” leans into storytelling sorcery, while dire prospects “Conquerors of Chonageddon” and “Cheeba Jigsore Quandry” thrash about like a man on fire. A pummelling rocket ride through Adrenaline Canyon, “Edibles Autopsy” will have you examining yourself for absent extremities.
Dignity is restored with the demonic war march “Dawn of Weed Possession,” propelled in menacing surges by junkyard dog barks and a tempestuous cadence.

The final drag, “The Ultimate Indicantation” stirs the pot one last time — sending up cinders, spiraling riffs and growling vocals that wreak devastation upon an already smouldering landscape.

Best Track: Blunt Force Domain

By Christine Leonard

Album Review: Little Lamb – Elephant Shoe Two

Little Lamb
Elephant Shoe Two
Independent

Blaze up in the saddle for a ride through a bygone era as singer/songwriter/guitarist Tad Hynes traces the bloodlines of American folk-rock and psychedelic pop through the hazy hills of yore.

As he explains, “Around the time I released the first Little Lamb album I had fallen head over heels for Buffalo Springfield, which lead my attention to bands like Poco, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers and many more. This late 60s surf/country/western/psych/rock sound had a great influence on the way I wanted the new album to sound.” 

The sauntering Morricone-tinged opener “Sun Dance Kid” lays the scene with a sultry Stratocaster strut. All the good vibes continue to shine down on “Mr. Squito” and “Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel” with their weightless falsetto vocals and rippling strings. 

Fleshed out by the presence of singer/guitarist Sunny Dhak (Pride Tiger, Three Inches of Blood), who appears on the title track and a couple more, Elephant Shoe Two bounds through a Woodstockian meadow of honeyed harmonies and subversive lyrics. Bravely capricious explorations such as the rocky “Tiger Lily” and “Cool Autumn Breeze” find their counterpoint in melodies as delicate as spider webs on “Carnation” and “Needles of Green.” 

Reposed yet acutely observant of its environment, Little Lamb’s bespoke second release recalls the efforts of genre-kaleidoscoping bands like The 13th Floor Elevators and Ween while remaining entirely laced up in thread-puller Hynes’ daisy chain of thought.

Best Track: Needles of Green

Friday 18th, October 2019 

By Christine Leonard

https://littlelamb1.bandcamp.com/album/elephant-shoe-two

Black Mastiff - Interview with Clay and Bob

Black Mastiff Seize Control
with Loser Delusions

by Christine Leonard

“All of the songs in my head are Black Mastiff!”

It’s a common condition among those who have been exposed to the Edmonton rock band’s wide-bottomed grooves and soulful vocals. Renowned for their thick curves and intuitive rhythms, the heavy blues-metal trio has eclipsed their local scene and grown in stature and repute on a diet of beefy riffs and Alberta rye.

Far from the desert canyons and rocky peaks pursued by their headbanging brethren, Black Mastiff is most at home prowling the urban landscape and exploring Edmonton’s dark underbelly. It’s where they found the inspiration for their latest album, Loser Delusions; its name a cheeky tip of the bandana to Axl Rose, reflecting Black Mastiff’s state of mind.

“It was first thrown out as a bit of a joke,” explains bassist Clay Shea. “We had a giggle and then we thought about it for a bit and it just kind of made sense to us, with the way the writing process had been going and our dedication to the process of getting together. Our drummer, Allan (Harding), had been living in Vancouver and we were just trying to stay motivated and were a bit delusional about the future.”

It was a trial and a test for the sludgy outfit, who’s self-titled debut appeared in 2011. Working on Loser Delusions, Shea and guitarist/vocalist Bob Yiannakoulias knew they had reached a crucial stage in the band’s development, a high watermark that would see the fuzzy entity sink or swim for its melodic life.

“We’re always going for it, but we had to work hard to make this one happen,” says Yiannakoulias of working long-distance. “It took a lot of motivation because that cathartic thing you get from going to practice, turning up the amps, cranking up, blowing through your songs and having those rewarding jams wasn’t there. Sometimes it was less fun, but we had to stay really focused, and keep our shit together, and put in that time. Everybody had to pretty much step up the level of dedication.”

And step up they did, creating their own record label Grand Hand, in cahoots with tourmates Chron Goblin, along the way. It was a decision that put them in charge of their destiny and once Black Mastiff had the leash in their jaws there was no restraining their artistic impulses.

“We never really lost control,” says Shea, “but I feel like this was all just about regaining control and knowing we can keep doing this. We’ve got the chops to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Black Mastiff perform Fri, Oct. 11 at The Palomino Smokehouse (Calgary), Fri, Oct. 18 at Hard Luck (Toronto) and Fri, Oct. 25 at Temple (Edmonton).

Tuesday 08th, October 2019 / 07:00 

in • Alberta, • Rockpile

BreakOut West Fest Heads Up North

BreakOut West Fest Takes Off To
The Great White North
For Annual Music Summit

By Christine Leonard

The call of the Great White North will be heard loud and clear as Western Canada’s annual music celebration, BreakOut West Fest, turns its eyes and ears to the wild frontier of Whitehorse, Yukon.

“It’s a showcase festival,” says BoW’s interim executive director Nat Kleinschmit. “We bring in 60 artists to play 120 shows over three days. And then we bring in delegates from all over Canada and even all over the world, to come and listen to those artists playing in front of an audience in a natural environment. It’s a real celebration of Canadian music.”

A movable feast of music, art, awards and information, BreakOut West takes place in a new location every year. According to Kleinschmit, the decision to hold the 2019 gathering in the Yukon will bring fresh and exciting energy to this year’s programming.

Acts including Astral Swans, Miesha & The Spanks, Crystal Eyes, HellnBack, The Won’ts, Ponteix, Rare Americans, The Sweeties and many more will filter through stages with fitting monikers like Dirty Northern, Miners Daughter, The Old Fire Hall and Gold Pan Saloon. As if that wasn’t enough, BoW will also play host to the Western Canadian Music Awards. This year’s Artists Awards Reception will pay special tribute to singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark who will be inducted into the WCMA Hall of Fame.

“Sometimes we forget that there is strong activity in our Northern Territories—whether it’s the Northwest Territories, Nunavut or the Yukon Territory,” Kleinschmit says. “Holding this year’s event in Whitehorse is an exciting choice. It demonstrates that there’s a lot going on away from our big cities. There’s a ‘Northern Rush!’ We’re going to have a record number of artists from the Northern Territories. Some of the artists bring a particular viewpoint of the world and what it means to be Canadian. They have very different approaches in their songwriting and songs.”

In a land where musicians sometimes drive for hours just to jam, BreakOut West Fest will be an event to remember, for both artists and attendees alike.

BreakOut West Fest takes place from October 2 to 6, 2019 in Whitehorse, Yukon. For more information visit https://breakoutwest.ca

Tuesday 01st, October 2019

WAND "Laughing Matter" - Album Review

Wand
Laughing Matter

Los Angeles art-rock band Wand have outdone themselves with a new double LP that connects the dots of their discography like a trail of harmonic breadcrumbs.

Tracing the pathways worn through the tall grass by their EP, Perfume, and previous full-length release Plum, which both appeared on the Drag City record label in 2017, the aptly named Laughing Matter unpacks a bushel of happy lawn-dancing creatures.

Chuckling up his sleeve, frontman and master media manipulator Cory Hanson ushers his fuzzy navel-gazing quintet through fifteen equally imaginative and emotive pop-rock ditties. Painting pastel sunsets across a synthetic horizon, tracks such as the capricious “xoxo” and the atmospheric “Bubble” offer up easy-to-get-along-with melodies adorned with breezy instrumental and vocal outbursts.

Elsewhere, the aerodynamically acoustic “High Planes Drifter” breaks like a prairie dawn, drawing up to the warm and sketchy sand patterns of “Rio Grande,” as the beat-hurried “Scarecrow” thumbs a ride down the winding coastal highway.  Toeing the line between electronic pop and organic improv, “Hare” captures the buzz of a noisy mountain meadow, easily toppling the plodding piano of the lop-sided “Tortoise.”

Perhaps the brightest orb in the entire constellation, the reluctant “Evening Star” unveils itself slowly before leaping into your arms with a rose clenched in its teeth.

By Christine Leonard

Déjà View : Chron Goblin Interview

Chron Goblin Dismantles the Past
on New Album, Here Before

by Christine Leonard

Photo by Sebastian Buzzalino

Good fences make good neighbours, but if you’ve walked down the rambling alleys of Brentwood, Calgary in the past two decades, you might have caught drift of a hidden skateboard ramp and the band that dwells nearby like an ear-blasting company of trolls.

So the story goes, but no one knows the legend of this secret suburban shred-spot better than Devin “Darty” Purdy, aka lead guitarist to Calgary’s preeminent psych-metal outfit, Chron Goblin.

“The Brentwood Ramp, which has consumed the souls of many missed tricks, was built in 1997 by the City of Calgary and acquired by the Goblins in 2006,” says Purdy. “It was the main feature for many parties and band photoshoots and provided a great mental break from jamming. Unfortunately, termites got the best of it and we had to take it down this year, but its memory lives on!”

Purdy’s generosity in sharing his good fortune and square footage made the ramp a destination for members of Calgary’s skateboarding and indie music scene, just as his basement became the rehearsal room of choice for bandmates vocalist Josh Sandulak, drummer Brett Whittingham and bassist Richard Hepp. 

“It formed a hub for weekly backyard skate sessions, barbecues and basement jamming. So many memories of watching some of Calgary’s finest skating the hell out of the ramp well past dark, wheels clacking and trucks grinding, people hollering and dropping off the garage roof into the ramp,” Whittingham says reminiscing. “The band photo in our album Life for the Living is an awesome shot of us sprawled out on a couch in the middle of the ramp with a million beer cans strewn everywhere. Also, those nasty maggots growing in the recycling!”

It’s enough to bring tears to your eyes. Listening to the group’s brand new release, Here Before, it’s hard to believe that six years have passed since that sofa-king-cool snap was taken of the ambitious young punks with their desert-rock-meets-thrash dreams. Having furthered the arc of their ascent with 2015’s Backwater, Chron Goblin are accustomed to challenging themselves to master new techniques, but it’s their interpersonal skills that have truly elevated their game.

“I think the only way we’ve gotten to that 10-year mark is by evolving our relationship as friends and as bandmates in terms of our communication and being crazy honest with each other. Probably more honest than we are with anyone else in our lives. That in itself has caused us all to reflect more deeply on who we are as people and what’s led to a maturing of our band,” says Sandulak. 

Wild at heart, but growing wiser by the minute, Here Before delivers exhilarating maneuvers that come close to the thrill of pulling off rad stunts on the old Brentwood Ramp, but this round comes without the consequence of bruised up shins and beer can maggots.

Friday 20th, September 2019

FME-AT Quebec's Hidden Musical Gem

Festival de Musique Émergente Celebrates Quebec’s Divergent Sounds While Saying
Goodbye to Summer

by Christine Leonard

An otherworldly affair that will have you speaking in tongues, Festival de musique émergente (FME) in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec entered its 17th year with a flurry of feathers, flying objects and intermittent rain showers. 

Running August 29 to September 3, the annual celebration of up-and-coming Canadian musicians literally chases summer as it heads deep into the woods of northern Quebec each Labour Day. 

Set against the smokestacks and evergreens of the unassuming village of Rouyn-Noranda, the festival takes full advantage of the many small and medium-scale venues that play host to the throngs of curious and dedicated sound-seekers who cross their thresholds over the long weekend.

Thursday, August 29

KID KOALA | Photo by Christian Leduc

Storm clouds and crowds gathered on FME’s opening night, packing the main thoroughfare that leads to the towering scène extérieure Desjardins in anticipation of the evening’s entrée – a trip through veteran disc hustler Kid Koala’s “Vinyl Vaudeville” experience. Hyping the huddled masses with an aerobic 80s-inspired work-out, opening act Adira Amram and the Experience electrified the crowd with a jazz-handful of neon dance numbers before swapping out their Hammer-Time look for burlesque costumes complete with ostrich plume fans. Titillating the audience with saucy breakbeats and scratchy loops, Kid Koala pulled out all the family-friendly material he could muster. 

The rain and wind proved no deterrent as hands reached for the hundreds of paper airplanes hurled from the stage and circle pits stampeded under the legs of a giant spider marionette that stalked through the crowd. Drying off at Cabaret de la Dernière Chance afterwards, the Pink Floyd-esque sounds of “Nunu metal” duo Ellemetue painted a strange and sweat-stained picture of wailing synths and fallen guitar gods. 

Up next, Red Mass took over the podium clad in red and black. Stomping out demons and strumming with a biblical fervor the punk provocateur cast out any doubt that this sepulcher alone was the final refuge of the damned. 

The Young Gods would challenge that statement. Stirring the old deities of Switzerland like a techno-fluent Dr. Frankenstein, the scientific trio illuminated the Petit Théâtre du Vieux-Noranda with laser precision before burying the congregation in an avalanche of angular gestures and dancefloor dominanting synths.  

Friday, August 30 

David Marin | Photo by Christine Leonard

Copper. That’s pretty much the big employer hereabouts, so if you’re interested in what makes this town tick you should take advantage of any opportunity to tour the massive Fonderie Horne to see where the magic happens. Speaking of magicians, blues chanteur David Marin made the transition from afternoon pool party to evening showcase disappear into thin air with his smooth keyboarding and Jimmy Buffett of the Canadian Riviera swing. 

Outside the walls of the Salle-des-Chevaliers-de-Colomb, the streets overflowed with rainbow lights and hip-hop vibes as locals and visitors alike swarmed towards the open-air spectacle featuring rappers Sarahmée, KT Gorique and an encore appearance by Drake-like crowd-pleaser Loud. 

Back at the Cabaret, 20-year-old booking agency Preste treated attendees to a BBQ complete with musical accompaniment by singer-songwriter Elliot Maginot, while around the corner at Diable Rond the vintage vibes of The Televisionaries and The 5,6,7,8s packed the room with ‘50s licks and surfy hooks. Bumped-up hairdos and fantastic fashion ruled as the two retro-fixated bands put on a hot and shaky show that was easier heard than seen. Vertical challenges aside, there’s no greater equalizer amongst festival-goers than the hunt for some soul-satisfying late night eats. And in Rouyn-Noranda that can only mean one thing: a trip to the legendary 24-hour poutinerie Chez Morasse. Maybe you’ll feel remorse the next day. But for now — nous allons manger! 

Saturday, August 31

The Flamingos Pink | Photo by McGraw

You’ve made it this far, so why not unwind with a detour into the deep dark woods to meet some of the (other) resident wildlife? Wolves and lynxes and bears, mon dieu! The Refuge Pageau rehabilitates over 150 creatures a year and gives visitors the opportunity to stroll through their sprawling forest facility while catching glimpses of some of the current patients. Pink flamingos are not to be found here, but The Flamingos Pink of Montreal were certainly on the menu back at Bar Le Groove later that day. 

Hot to trot drummer/vocalist Julien Corrado and singer/guitarist Sacha Gubany striped down to their denim in order to make better contact with the people. Pushing up the thermostat with thick rock ‘n’ roll riffs and door-booting percussion, the twosome squeezed every drop of juice from the afternoon’s atomic orange afterglow. 

LA Julia Smith | Photo by Christian Leduc

Banishing the inclement weather with a flick of their supple wrists, hard rock outfit LA Julia Smith demonstrated why three guys from Chile are allowed to call their band whatever the hell they want. Burning a hole through the ceiling of Bar Le Groove’s spartan cement basement, the position-swapping trio belted out a tightly wound set of heartburning tempo tantrums. 

What better way to cool your heels than with a dip in the bottomless sea of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead? Swamping the Petit Théâtre in swirling string crescendos and romantically tortured vocals, they carved a trench through dark and emotive sonic waves as a thirsty audience surged and heaved at their feet.

Sunday, September 1 

Matt Vezio | Photo by Christine Leonard

And just like that, you wake up and it’s September. Disillusion aside it was a beautiful day to explore the lush Parc Botanique À Fleur d’eau. Strolling along pathways and boardwalks the sounds of pop-folk siren Salome Leclerc followed at every turn as she entertained residents and wristbanders who gathered around the central gazebo stage.

Next door at the public library Matt Vezio set up shop in an outdoor plaza as people spread out picnic blankets to soak up some sunny rays and funny lines from the guitar-strumming folk pop troubadour. Famous for their velvety stouts the diminutive watering hole Le Trèfle Noir Brasserie Artisanale is the perfect place to chill out, recharge and survey the influx of black T-shirts into Rouyn-Noranda as FME’s notorious metal night festivities approach. A sold-out attraction that could easily be extended in size and scope, the heaviest show on the docket brought Quebecois headbangers and intrigued onlookers from out of the woodwork. Local stand-outs Archons impressed with an evocative thrash stance that left plenty of room to jump on their momentum machine.

Necrotic Mutation | Photo by Christian Leduc

Oxygen levels dropped suddenly as Necrotic Mutation seized the stage. Lead singer Daniel Jalbert had his work cut out for him as he struggled against the confines of a straitjacket while snarling his visceral vocals into the microphone. Closing out the evening and the entire festival with a crack of lightning and roll of thunder, Despised Icon divided, conquered and then reunited the crowd at will. Dual deathcore vocalists Steve Marois and Alex Erian vacillated between furious howls and caustic commands as easily as they switched between speaking French, English and what I can only assume is some regional dialect of Tolkien’s Black Speech. Oh, man. A third language to brush up on before returning for FME 2020!

  16th, September 2019 

in • Live Reviews, FEATURED, MUSIC

Black Mountain Break Barriers - Interview

Black Mountain Burns Rubber On High Octane Space Age Highway

by Christine Leonard

Hovering over your metropolis like a sleek black leviathan, Destroyer is but the latest vehicle of deliverance for Vancouver space rockers Black Mountain. Armed with digitized pop tentacles and pulsating with vintage video game vibes, the time-travelling album harvests riffs and rhythms from across decades and devices. Customarily nonchalant about their earth-quaking creations, founding guitarist/lead vocalist Stephen McBean and lynchpin/keyboardist Jeremy Schmidt, have always gravitated towards generating deadly sonic vortexes that defy chronological classification.

“We’re definitely in tune with our aesthetic pasts. I guess that’s pretty evident, just from what our preoccupations are,” says Schmidt of the new album’s retro-tronic soundscape. “I feel like the past is something that’s always revealing itself. Even though it seems like it’s all behind us, variations of it seem to be revealing themselves in the present and continuing to do so in the future all the time. So, to me, it’s like the past is an ongoing project.”

Crashing into mid-life with phasing synths set to stun, Schmidt and McBean hit the virtual reset button following the appearance of the band’s previous full-length release, IV (2016), leaving them alone in the cockpit for the first time in years. Approaching an age when a man’s thoughts might run to HRT and hot rods, the duo fixed upon the title Destroyer, a nod to the discontinued single-run 1985 Dodge testosterone factory on wheels.

“Steve is actually a new driver. He recently learned how to drive, so that kind of informed a couple of the ideas in an off-handed, casual way.”

The “Boogie Lover” persona that flows from McBean’s newfound sense of freedom comes through loud and clear on new tracks such as the easy ridin’ “Future Shade,” the power-mongering “Horns Arising” and the Manson-child recruitment anthem “Pretty Little Lazies.” Pieced together between their coastal outposts in LA and Vancouver, the resulting production carries the weight of Black Mountain’s ample experience and a burning thirst for untested waters.

“To me, the results sound like a progression,” Schmidt says. “The record fits well within the canon of everything else we’ve done. It seems similar enough to what we’ve done in the past to sound like a Black Mountain record and different enough that it sounds new.”

Determined to repopulate their psychedelic utopia with a fresh crew of supporting players, the long-time friends opened the studio pod bay doors to a brave new world of artistic possibilities on Destroyer.

“We’ve always liked the balance of female and male vocals. It adds a different kind of narrative and it creates a dynamic which I think is very appealing and very much a part of the band,” he continues. “One could say our ‘happy place’ is where the organic meets the electronic. It’s kind of like this yin and yang thing where the two sort of egg each other on. Blending artifice and things that people regard as being more organic has always been something of interest to me and the band. In a lot of ways, it’s the nucleus of our sound.”

Atomic poet/vocalist/keyboardist Rachel Fannan (Only You, Sleepy Sun), alt-metal drummer Adam Bulgasem (Almost is Nothing, Dommengang, Soft Kill) and bassist Arjan Miranda complete Black Mountain’s live invasion force. After a decade and a half as an insular entity, the influx of new contributors to their recording sessions has brought vital energy to Black Mountain’s monolithic stage presence.

“Stepping back and looking at the album, it’s obviously different than you imagined it might have been from the beginning,” Schmidt says. “Live we’re pretty true to the album, but we leave room in the recording, so we have the freedom to change things up. There’s always some headroom to interpret things as they start to take on a different life on stage. When we approach performing stuff it’s almost like we just listened to the record and thought ‘Okay, let’s be the best Black Mountain cover band we can be!’ Just kidding.”

The refuelled Black Mountain will cut a modest swath of destruction through Canada and the US this September. Keep your eyes on the skies as they make contact with Black Mountain Army converts at sightings scheduled to touchdown from British Columbia to Manitoba.

Black Mountain performs Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Vogue Theatre (Vancouver), Sunday, Sept. 15 at Distrikt (Victoria), Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the Starlite Room (Edmonton) and Wednesday, Sept. 18 at Commonwealth (Calgary)

12th, September 2019 

in • Alberta, • Rockpile, FEATURED, MUSIC

Album Review: Chron Goblin – Here Before

Chron GoblinHere BeforeGrand Hand Records

Ascending from their role as local skatepark punks to that of Canadian psych-rock tastemakers, Calgary’s legendary curb-grinding garage band Chron Goblin isn’t the same old thrash ‘n’ grab outfit they once were.

Here Before, marks a deliberate recalibration from the hard-rolling crew as they crank the production values to eleven on volatile numbers like “Giving in to Fun,” “Slipping Under,” and “Out of My Mind.”

Singer Josh Sandulak’s raucous vocals and poetic lyrics are thrust into the spotlight as never before and his confident, yet bitter, mouthfuls come washed down with an unerring supply of acidic guitar riffs and dexterous rhythms. Haunted by a shared history and infectious back catalogue, the group navigates a jagged path through the dank underbrush on “Oblivion” before diving into the lazy river of the lumbering “Giant.”

Intricate, intentional and gritty to the bone, Here Before challenges the maturing quartet to supersede their former selves with dangerously divergent compositions; including eerie banshee ballad “Ghost” and pugnacious ripper “War.” The defining wallet-chain swagger, bluesy breakdowns and ballsy bravado that set them apart from day one may remain the same, but Chron Goblin’s best just got a whole lot better.

Best Track – Giant

by Christine Leonard

12th, September 2019 in • Record Reviews, MUSIC

Festival de Musique Emergente 2019 Preview

Festival de Musique Emergente 2019 Transforms Sleepy Quebec Town into a Partygoers Paradise

By Christine Leonard

Your last chance to soak up the sights, sounds and “je ne sais quoi” of summer, Festival de Musique Emergente (FME) is a music and arts festival that is as famous for its idyllic lakeside location as it is for the wide range of breakout and established artists it has been platforming over its 17-year history.

Mushrooming in scope and impact, the envelope-pushing event has grown from presenting a dozen artists in its first year to welcoming over 70 artists to the 2019 installment. While FME has evolved with the times, co-founder and programmer Pierre Thibault firmly believes that the vision and values behind the multilingual music showcase have remained unaltered.

“The original mission of the FME was to make room for marginal projects shunned by commercial radio in Quebec,” says Thibault. “We wanted to focus on this counterculture. We also wanted to invite alternative projects from all over the world to reach an audience that now knows that the independent music here is of the same calibre as the one found abroad.”

The 8-hour Cannonball Run North from Montreal to the festival’s verdant Abitibi Témiscamingue region will see some 20,000 festivalgoers head deep into the province’s heavily forested backyard. There they will take in four days of open-air and indoor performances by the likes of DJ Kid Koala, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Daniel Romano, Material Girls, Atsuko Chiba, The Sadies, Half Moon Run, The Young Gods (Switzerland), and The 5, 6, 7, 8s (Japan) to name a few.

“It’s good to go out on the road with friends in Quebec, and to discuss culture, politics, love, and many other relevant things while going on a weekend of crazy concerts,” says Thibault. “It is unifying to make the way from Montreal to Rouyn. We meet in convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, SAQ on the road and we take off, ready for another dimension — the FME!”

And if you find yourself torn between what shows to attend — that’s all part of the plan.

“We really like the small and medium format rooms that leave you with multiple decisions to make during your weekend,” says Thibault of the schedule. “I think that missing a good concert to see another one that was chosen at the same time is the true definition of a good music festival.” To make matters even trickier, Thibault shares that there’s some geographic sleight of hand at play: “We changed all the street names of Rouyn for the event so that the festivalgoers trust their ears to find the concert halls!”

Discovery is indeed the name of the game when it comes to navigating the unique musical experience that is FME.

FME takes place August 29 to September 1, 2019 in Ville de Rouyn-Noranda (Québec).

29th, August 2019in FEATURED, MUSIC

Album Review: Torche – Admission

Torche

Admission

[Relapse Records]

Miami sludge-slingers Torche open the floodgates to a tide of bludgeoning downstrokes and impenetrable riffage with Admission.

A prelude to fear, the first cut, “From Here,” surveys an urban wasteland through eerie melting harmonies before the divine onslaught of “Submission” strikes an authoritative stance that strains and heaves over what it has conquered.

The uphill battle continues as Torche dives into the deep end of the groove mine, demonstrating what 15 years of grinding down their rough edges sounds like. Wall-high guitar surges and stealthy percussion reflect the punishing summer heat, while oiled up “Slide” and pyroclastic “Time Missing” model their muscular mortal physiques.

Power and restraint collide as “What Was,” “Extremes of Consciousness” and “Infierno” wrestle against internal strife and social self-immolation. Even still the cascading crescendos and cool fluidity of “Reminder,” “On the Wire,” and “Changes” prove hardy enough to bear the weight of Torche’s soft underbelly.

One of the bright spots that parts the album’s apocalyptic clouds, the beautifully intricate title track pierces polluted heavens and heart with brilliant streaks of inspiration. A pensive but passionate album, Admission radiates an ominous sadness that descends directly from the seasoned band’s realization and appreciation of life’s impermanence.

By Christine Leonard

Best Track: Submission

Torche perform in Vancouver at Venue Nightclub on Saturday, Sept. 14

 01st, August 2019  

in • Record Reviews, MUSIC, REVIEWS

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - Dirt - Interview

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan:
An Explosive Force Of Nature

by Christine Leonard

Photo by Richmond Lam

Like the sound of the sky rending open, Toronto-based progressive art-rock collective Yamantaka // Sonic Titan enters the summer festival season. They are a musical meteorite streaking towards the planet’s surface and an explosive force of nature. The genre-bending experimentalists will be staging their psychedelic space-metal operas at Canadian dates including Yellowknife’s Folk on the Rocks, the River & Sky camp-out in Field, ON and Victoria’s Phillips Backyard Weekender.

Holding a mirror up to the status quo, Yamantaka // Sonic Titan appropriates elements of pop, rock and heavy metal and blends them through influences gleaned from Buddhist, Haudenosaunee and First Nations traditions, along with their own mixed Asian-European heritages. Embedded in manga art, video games and science fiction themes, their enthralling tracks are ablaze with socio-political commentary.

DIRT, their latest album released in 2018, is no exception. The album revolves around the story of abandoned turtle starship, Anowara, and the heroine Aentsik’s quest to collect the final remnant of arable soil. It’s the same edict the ecologically-minded band has espoused since the beginning: “If the trees die, we die,” says founding member and percussionist, Alaska B.

“I think we are concerned about the same things any reasonable person should be concerned with: anthropogenic climate change, plastic pollution, overuse of antibiotics, animal extinction, unsustainable agriculture, pollution, corporate and government surveillance Indigenous rights, human rights, transphobia, sexism, racism, homophobia,” continues Alaska.

“Our music is often interpreted to focus entirely around the cultural identity politics, but the lyrical content and themes in our art all deal with the suffering of living beings, environmentalism and the inevitability of death.”

It’s a tall order for humanity, let alone a fringe-dwelling Canadian rock band, but if anyone’s up to the challenge, it’s the self-defining, fire-spitting, world-shaking, dirt-venerating music collective and theatre company who has earned the surname Sonic Titan.

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan perform Thursday, July 11  at 9910 (Edmonton), Saturday, July 13  at The Palomino (Calgary) and  Sunday, July 28 at the Phillips Backyard Weekender (Victoria)

08th, July 2019 

in • Alberta, FEATURED, MUSIC

Album Review: Abbath – Outstrider

Abbath
Outstrider
[Season of Mist]

Abbath Doom Occulta is the corpse-painted face and venomous voice of black metal in his Norweigan homeland. Born Olve Eikemo, the 45-year-old multi-instrumentalist has famously served as Immortal’s lead vocalist, lyricist, guitarist, bassist, guitarist, keyboardist and drummer.

An extreme and extremely versatile artist, his eponymous offshoot metal project, Abbath, recently reformed with a fresh lineup and a renewed sense of purpose.

The aggressive quartet’s current incarnation attacks Abbath’s sophomore effort with rapid-fire percussion, caustic vocals and power guitar onslaughts. Plunging headlong into the heat of an epic fantasy battle, the album fuses the new wave of heavy metal with rhapsodic melodies and Abbath’s own dark philosophies.

Delivered with face-flaying ferocity, white-knucklers like “Harvest Pyre,” the wily “Scythewinder” and wildly imaginative “The Artifex” prove as intricate as they are intense. Occulta growls like a lion, pacing between the bars of solid steel and shadowy malice on “Bridge of Spasms,” cheering on the band’s hellish machinations.

Ominous and oozing with goblinesque screams, “Pace Till Death” hails the flames and traps the audience between inferno and abyss. Wrapping up their harrowing eight-song saga with a pang of nostalgia, Outstrider makes a grand exit with an amped-up cover of Bathory’s “Hecate.”

By Christine Leonard

 03rd, July 2019 / 11:13 

in • Record Reviews, REVIEWS