Ominous Eclipse – Sinister
With a name inspired by the film Pitch Black, Ominous Eclipse tick off all the correct death metal boxes. However, the more one listens to…
Ottawa
Psychostick live in Ottawa, 31 July 2018
The Very Serious Business Tour w/ Urizen, July 31 – Ottawa, ON – Maverick When you go past a venue and see a marquee or…
The Visit – Through Darkness Into Light
Shiver-inducing. If that isn’t a qualifier of “metal” status then what is? Through Darkness Into Light is a release of goosebumpy highs and deep…
AC/DC from the front row…and the not-so-cheap seats
Hard to tell from watching these guys that AC/DC is in their sixties. Seeing em live in 2015 wasn’t all that different from watching em 7, 15 or 19 years ago. But you sorta get the feeling it’s their last tour, and they saved their best for the occasion. Not just the obvious cuts like Back in Black and Thunderstruck…but the mid-set sequence of Sin City, Shot Down in Flames and Have a Drink on Me.
Musk Ox – Woodfall
I’ve long been struck by the emotional heaviness that Nathanaël Larochette is able to wring from a single acoustic guitar. While Musk Ox’s genre…
Norilsk – Japetus
Although they’re actually from Ottawa, this doom duo is named after a former Siberian slave-labour camp now known as one of the most polluted…
The Night Watch – s/t
Hellbound Metal: “The Night Watch have released a challenging debut, one which initially did not work for me. Though not all the tracks stand out, it’s with repeated listens that it becomes apparent to me that the album is an exciting piece of avant-garde metal/post-rock/insert label here.”
Iron Maple Vol 1: Abriosis, Anciients, Chariots Of The Gods and Adrenechrome
Jason Wellwood kicks off his new Iron Maple column, focusing on Canadian independent metal bands, with reviews of new releases by Abriosis, Anciients and Chariots Of The Gods, plus an audio interview with Chris Friesen of Adrenechrome
All That is Heavy II: Ottawa is Doomed!
When they did the first edition of this event, a fundraiser for local college radio station CKCU, I remember thinking, “Damn, that’s a great lineup!” Featuring four of Southern Ontario’s finest–Electric Magma, Gypsy Chief Goliath, Blood Ceremony and Sons of OTIS–there was really no reason that show couldn’t have happened in Toronto, cept nobody had the initiative to book it. But when I saw the bill for the sequel this year… Well, let’s just say the organizers are kicking it up a notch, and I definitely plan on heading up to the nation’s capital for this one.