Comments Off on UNLEASH THE ARCHERS To Release ‘Explorers’ EP; Includes 2 Cover Songs! [Teaser Video]
Unleash The Archers return with their new EP ‘Explorers,’ to be released on October 11, 2019 via Napalm Records, only two years after having released their smashing album ‘Apex.’ The EP will feature two cover songs. The first single to be released on August 30, 2019 is called “Northwest Passage”, originally written and performed by Stan Rogers. For those unfamiliar with Stan Rogers he was a baritone Canadian folk singer who released 10 albums and 2 greatest hits releases. Rogers was killed alongside 22 other passengers most likely of smoke inhalation on June 2, 1983, while traveling on Air Canada Flight 797 from Dallas, Texas to Toronto. Unleash The Archers have chosen to cover the song “Northwest Passage” which is the title track from Roger’s 1981 release. The second track on the EP is a cover of the Teaze song “Heartless World.” Teaze was a Canadian hard rock band that was active from 1975-1981. The band released four studio albums and a live album recorded in Japan. “Heartless World” comes from the bands 1979 album ‘One Night Stands.’ Both tracks on the ‘Explorers’ EP are meant to pay homage to Canadian artists. Continue reading →
Comments Off on Louder Than Life Festival Spotlight: CROWN LANDS [Videos]
Welcome back to our ongoing series of LOUDER THAN LIFE 2019 artist profiles, our weekly guide through the lineup of acts who’ll take the stage at Louisville, Kentucky’s Highland Festival Grounds at Kentucky Expo Center September 27-29 in what’s sure to be one of the biggest concert events of the year. This week, we’re taking a closer look at Canadian psych-blues outfit CROWN LANDS.
One of the bands jump-starting LOUDER THAN LIFE on Friday is CROWN LANDS, a duo hailing from Oshawa, Ontario. For the past four years, Cody Bowles (drums/vocals) and Kevin Comeau (guitars/keyboards/pedals) have been expertly crafting hard-stomping rock that finds the sweet spot between WOLFMOTHER, THE WHITE STRIPES, and RUSH while belying the seeming limitations of their streamlined blueprint. Songs like “Being Right” and “Mountain” retain a touch of garage rawness while still sounding like widescreen epics, and hepped-up jumpers like “Misery” and “Mantra” have a fair bit of glitter encrusted on their shitkicker boots. Continue reading →
Comments Off on Monster Outbreak Tour Feat. Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, The Beaches Announces Dates!
Launched in 2011, the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour showcases the biggest new names in music each year amidst their culture-impacting, breakthrough moment. The Monster Energy Outbreak Tour is the largest national touring in the club & theater space, recognized as the ultimate tastemaker in the live arena, and currently consists of five annual music tours (Hip Hop, EDM, Rock, Country, College) and one annual comedy tour. The tour finds bands on the verge of becoming headlining breakthrough artists and gives them that extra push. Notable alumni of the Outbreak tour have been Post Malone, 21 Savage, Kane Brown, Mike Shinoda, and Asking Alexandria. Continue reading →
Comments Off on The Bucketlist With IRON AGE MYSTICS!
*In this series we pose the age old questions to a wide array of music lovers. As fans of music most of us keep a mental list of active bands we want to see live that we haven’t yet seen. The Bucketlist brings to you those lists of your favorite artists and why those bands mean so much to them*
Iron Age Mystics was formed in 2010, but their members are music veterans who have the battle scars to prove it. The politically charged rock band from Toronto is turning heads with their new music. Formed of not only veteran musicians but also extremely talented individuals. Those individuals quickly became one, and what they have produces is a musical blend of dissonant yet melody driven rock beneath passionately intelligent lyrics. Their sound has a cornucopia of styles. Within their songs you will hear influence from rock, punk, grunge, metal, and funk. It’s not often a band can meld all these styles into one band and create a cohesive album. However, Iron Age Mystics has done just that. Their new self released album ‘Pride Before The Fall.’ The band is currently not signed to a label, but we are certain labels will be beating on their doors soon enough. Continue reading →
Comments Off on Red Sun Rising, Spirit Animal, & Dubé Rock Tennessee Crowd [Review & Photo Gallery]
Red Sun Rising
It was a great night, a great Sunday night for rock and roll in Johnson City, Tennessee at Capone’s. Red Sun Rising brought along Spirit Animal and dubé for their east Tennessee stop at one of the best venues in the Tri-Cities on the “Together We Are Thread” tour. Continue reading →
Comments Off on Review: SUNDECAY – ‘Gale’ [Track Stream]
Sundecay is a progressive doom band based in Toronto, Canada. While rooted in the classic sounds of proto-doomsters like Pentagram, St. Vitus and of course Black Sabbath there are hints of proto-metal influencers like Dust and High Tide. The band is preparing to self-release their 4 track EP ‘Gale’ on November 30th. The Canadian quartet is made up of Mark Chandler and Brian Scott on guitar. Brian also is the artist behind the cover art for ‘Gale’. Derek Hoffman on bass, engineer and mixer, Julian Vardy on drums and Rich Pauptit on providing the vocals. The band has a DIY approach that keeps everything in house and thus keeps their vision for ‘Gale’ streamlined, and I believe that has a great deal to do with the success of this EP. Sundecay’s heaviest moments often shift away from genre conventions, much like Pallbearer, Monolord, and many “post-metal” offerings in recent years. Though the band is in the realm of proto-doom and doom they aren’t really bound by any genre and often straddle the lines on various other genres. Continue reading →
Comments Off on An Interview With The Viral Sensation DUBÉ [Video]
Founded in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 2006 the three brothers known by their surname Dubé have found themselves the center of a wide spread and viral meme throughout Canada. There was an article about them within the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test which was given to 10th grade students in Ontario. The article was essentially a reading comprehension test and they had to answer questions about the article and band afterwards. Memes of the band then went viral causing the band to become drastically more popular within their home country, with many students saying it was their favorite part of the test. Dubé once also opened for The Beach Boys as they previously has a very clean image. Dubé’s sudden change from opening for The Beach Boys to smoking up in their video for “Alien” caught the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) off guard. The EQAO oversees the OSSLT and said the reading selection went through a three-year vetting process, but after the article was last vetted in September 2017, the band radically changed its image. In their video for “Alien” it depicts the band smoking a joint rolled up with a page from the bible. Not only their image but their music has also changed drastically, and for the better I might add. The brothers now have a much more heavy and faster paced alternative punk rock sound that is also sure to become a viral sensation for fans. Don’t think for a minute that these guys are selfish and that their rock and roll ambitions are for themselves alone. Their mother passed away after a battle with cancer and the brothers took to the streets busking as well as recording covers to raise money for charity. They subsequently raised mega-bucks for charity on the streets of Ottawa – they staged a drive that sent a whopping $150,000 to Haitian orphans after the 2010 earthquake. The band deserves a tremendous amount of respect for the work they have put in as well as for the risk they took in changing their image. The band has been on tour with English punk rockers Counterfeit here in the U.S. doing a cost to cost stage takeover. Continue reading →
Comments Off on Women’s Month: Mercedes Lander of KITTIE / WHITE SWAN
March is National Women’s Month, and we have decided to celebrate some our favorite women in metal. Every Saturday during March we will honor some of the most respected women in the metal and hard rock world.
It’s been twenty years since Mercedes Lander started the Canadian metal band Kittie (with sister Morgan and original bandmates Fallon Bowman and Tanya Candler) in London, Ontario. They brought one of the heaviest and most fierce acts we had seen to date, and this is for all bands not just girl bands. There was a thing or two the guys could have learned from the harsh anguish they brought to their music, and I’m sure plenty of their male counterparts took notes and learned from Kittie’s quick rise to stardom in the metal world. Their debut album ‘Spit’ was what got everything started in 2000. The album still to this day is highly regarded as one of the best metal albums of that era. ‘Spit’ was was certified gold by the RIAA and sold at least 600,000 copies in the United States. Keep in mind when ‘Spit’ was recorded the members of the band were only 15-18 years of age. Kittie went on to release their sophomore record ‘Oracle’ in 2001. It was also in 2001 that guitarist and backing vocalist Fallon Bowman left the band. Her infamous growls on the song “Brackish” instantly made her a fan favorite. They followed ‘Oracle’ with the release of ‘Until the End’ in 2004. Continue reading →
Comments Off on ANVIL: ‘Pounding the Pavement’ – New Album & Tour Details!
Since 1978 Anvil have plied their trade, churning out slab after slab of solid metal firepower and blowing out the eardrums of concertgoers worldwide. This tradition will continue on January 19, when the Canadian veterans release Pounding the Pavement worldwide via SPV/Steamhammer Records, then hit the road for a European tour that will carry them through until early spring.
Comments Off on Review: WOODHAWK – ‘Beyond The Sun’
Artwork by Mark Kowalchuk
Just this Friday, Calgary, Alberta band Woodhawk released ‘Beyond the Sun’ independently. They dropped their first EP in 2014 and are now here with their first album. With slamming, groovy riffs, the band’s first full length record brings you back to the early 70s rock n roll sound with several different lyrical themes to keep it interesting. The trio recorded this album at Rain City Recorders in Vancouver BC. It was mixed by Jesse Gander, mastered by Brad Boatright, and produced by Gander and the band. The album artwork was created by Mark Kowalchuk. You can purchase ‘Beyond the Sun’ on Bandcamp or stream it below.
‘Beyond the Sun’ leads us in with a relaxed intro from the title track before taking off into a space-like dimension of riffs to prepare us for what is in store for the rest of the record. “The High Priest” (music video below) is a hard rock anthem filled with remarkable instrumentals and catchy choruses from Turner Midzain. Woodhawk continues to pack a huge punch in their sound with the thunderous “Living in the Sand”. This track features guest vocals from Kevin Keegan (Dead Quiet, ex-Mountain Dust, ex-Barn Burner). It’s a six minute epic with a full dose of 70s hard rock storming into your door with power and emotion overflooding your stereo. “Magnetic North” is a slow tempo, bluesy with booming bass from Mike Badmington and is plentiful of riffs that will put the listener into a trance. The album picks its pace back up with “Lawless” shredding through with that classic rock sound with a psychedelic edge. “Quest For Clarity” has an marvelous bass intro before exploding into another musical adventure with splendid work behind the drum kit from Kevin Nelson. The more relaxed guitar solo near the end is a beautiful work of art and builds tension before roaring back into the chorus. “A New Hope” has a neat guitar echo effect and obviously rotates around the theme of Star Wars. It doesn’t get much better than rock’n’roll about Star Wars! “Foresee the Future” is a slick two-minute instrumental with a desert-like tone to set the mood for the final song on the record. “Chrononaut” is definitely the most rifftastic song on the album with these huge sounds rushing to you at the speed of light. It takes a more mid-tempo turn towards the middle before closing out in dramatic fashion. Woodhawk has released a killer 9-track debut record not to be forgotten soon by fans of stoner rock. Make sure to follow Woodhawk on Facebook at the link below.
‘Beyond the Sun’ Tracklist
1. Beyond The Sun (3:57)
2. The High Priest (4:46)
3. Living In The Sand (6:03)
4. Magnetic North (4:13)
5. Lawless (3:06)
6. Quest For Clarity (4:14)
7. A New Hope (4:49)
8. Foresee The Future (2:12)
9. Chrononaut (5:19)
Woodhawk is:
Turner Midzain – Vocals/Guitar
Mike Badmington – Bass/Vocals
Kevin Nelson – Drums
