Carl Begai

Your semi-regular update on Maple metal and associated rock continues…

Toronto rocker Danko Jones is gearing up for the release of a new DVD entitled Bring On The Mountain. The package features a documentary on the band spanning the early years all the way up to the present day, 14 live performances, and a whopping 19 (!!) official video clips. This one’s a keeper for the diehard fans, and for the diehard fans that pre-order (shipping date is June 13th) a free 10 minute preview is available online. Go to the band’s official website here for pre-order details and DVD formats. A three-minute documentary trailer can be found here.

French Canadian unsigned progsters Southern Cross are currently one of the featured artists on the BW&BK website, in support of their new album From Tragedy. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with frontman David Lizotte – story can be found here – an assignment I took on because I actually enjoy the new record. Song-oriented prog-metal is hard to come by, and it’s rarer still to find a band of this kind penning songs of the foot-stomping kind (see ‘Tightrope’). Fans of Ayreon, Pain Of Salvation and Parallells-era Fates Warning would do well to check them out.

My review of From Tragedy can be found here. (continue reading…)

Welcome, Canuckleheads! Time for an update…

Folks may remember Dream Theater frontman James LaBrie decapitating diehard prog-metal fans in 2010 with his fourth solo album, Static Impulse. It was anything but a continuation of his better-than-DT Elements Of Persuasion record, smacking people upside the head instead with the most aggressive music of his career, complete with death metal vocals (supplied by Darkane drummer Peter Wildoer). Attention Deficit Delirium’s Bryan Reesman recently caught up with LaBrie, who offered some insight on his next solo album, which is currently in the works:

“Right now, Matt (Guillory / keyboards), I and the other guys are writing. We’re about halfway through. I would say our main focus is that we want to raise the bar as far as the actual song compositions, so with the arrangements we want to see if we can better ourselves first and foremost. As far as the elements that we want to include or implement into the music, a lot of those elements will be familiar because we want to keep it consistent. It has to make sense and have a sense of continuity from where we left off, but there are some things that we’re talking about we want to bring in that will bring in some intriguing kind of sonics to give it its own identity.”

The complete interview can be found here.

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More noise from the Hoser Empire. Read on…

Kittie are gearing up to hit the road in support of their new album, I’ve Failed You. Following what are essentially warm-up shows in London and Toronto, they’ll head down to Australia for a string of dates on the Soundwave Festival tour. Upon their return, the ladies will spend most of April and May on the road in Canada and the US. The tour is an all-Canuck affair, with Blackguard and The Agonist – both out of Montreal – as main support. Putting the “eh!” in metal, indeed Go to this location for the complete schedule.

In addition, Kittie will perform at the Toronto tribute show for Woods Of Ypres founder / frontman David Gold on April 5th at the Wreckroom. In a recent interview with Morgan, she mentioned to me that Kittie might perform a Woods song during their set. Stay tuned for updates, click here for details on David’s tribute show, which also includes Eclipse Eternal and Novembers Doom on the bill. (continue reading…)

Fasten your seatbealts for another year. And with it comes more noise to piss off the neighbours, annoy the kids, and make your significant think very seriously about soundproofing his or her personal space…

As most people know, Woods Of Ypres frontman and founder David Gold was killed in a car accident on December 21st, 2011. It’s a tragic loss for his family, friends, any anyone that was a fan of his music.

I’ve posted a tribute to David, who was a good friend. It can be found here.

David’s family is selling the remaining Woods merchandise on hand, with all proceeds going directly to fund his funeral costs. Items remaining are as follows:

- Woods 1
- Woods 2
- Woods 3
- Independent Nature (Best Of Woods 1-3)
- signed Allure vinyl
- signed Home vinyl
- poster

Send your order along with your shipping address to David’s PayPal address at davidypresgold@gmail.com. Note that his sister Marie is in charge of all orders, so this is 100% legitimate. (continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

When a press person sings the praises of a band or artist in a public forum, it’s a safe bet that swag is involved. Every music journo has done it at some point, thinking “I scratch your back, you give me a free (insert item or sexual favour here)” until he or she realizes / remembers it’s supposed to be about the music first and personal gain last.

With the above in mind, I’ve shamelessly pushed and promoted My Ruin to anybody withing spitting distance for the better part of two years… and believe me, I’m a projectile saliva expert at this point. My efforts haven’t been in the interest of adding wearable aggressive blasphemy to my wardrobe, however. Nope; I just happen to be a My Ruin fanboy, dating back to the late ’90s and vocalist Tairrie B. Murphy’s first real metal edged smackdown, Tura Satana. And oddly enough, after years of silence we reconnected somewhere along the way and became friends. Thus, any stories, reviews, thoughts, musings or dirty jokes based on My Ruin’s brand of noise were spawned by that friendship.

Yeah, tough guy, so what? Big deal.

(continue reading…)

By Carl Begai

On November 25th and 26th, Hamburg-based AFM Records celebrated 15 years in the trenches. It was a remarkably well-organized weekend of work and play, featuring fine dining, an open bar (or two), great people, an early morning label showcase to introduce new AFM signings (that not everybody attended due to the late late late night), a hotel bar that never closed (and was abused accordingly.. all hail Motel One), culminating with a festival at the Markthalle in the heart of downtown. Rather than the usual cattle call of press hacks, the vast majority of folks invited to attend were in fact AFM business partners, responsible for keep the label in people’s faces over the last several years. Being one of the aforementioned journalists, it was an honour to be asked to come out on behalf of BW&BK for the whole knock-down-drag-out event, and it was certainly worth the time spent.

On the work end of things, the label presented priority releases for early 2012, including German glamsters Kissin’ Dynamite, Orden Ogan, Lyriel, Solution .45, Fear Factory, Buck Satan And The 666 Shooters (industrial country… really) and of particular note, Ministry’s comeback record, Relapse. This included a special video message from frontman / mastermind Al Jourgensen, and two tracks that are the closest Ministry will (n)ever get to a ballad.

As for the play side – other than the carrying on like kids in a candy store backstage – the Markthalle hosted 15 AFM bands on two stages, including U.D.O., The New Black, Voodoo Circle, Mob Rules, A Life Divided, Dark Age and Lake Of Tears. Doro Pesch, a former member of the label’s roster, attended in a strictly non-performance capacity but took plenty of time out for her fans backstage. As did Piet Sielck of Iron Savior fame, who soaked up U.D.O.’s show with us normal folk. And staff members from some of AFM’s international partners – INgrooves.com, Soundforge Music Group, Scream Magazine, Tangra Mega Rock Radio to name a few – kept the good vibes up in the rafters from the first glass of champagne. (continue reading…)

While you recover from those idiotic Christmas carols that did your head in the last time you were out shopping, some info on new quality Canadian noise guaranteed to give Santa a reason to skip your house this year…

Ultimate garage rocker Danko Jones, who just happens to have a huge metal-loving fanbase in Europe, has issued a new five-song EP entitled Mouth To Mouth as a digital-only release. Three of the tracks – ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Proletariat’, ‘The Kids Don’t Want To Rock’, ‘Guest List Blues’ – have surfaced over the last couple years as b-sides, while ‘She’s Too Pretty’ and ‘Mouth To Mouth’ are previously unreleased must-have songs if you’re a diehard fanboy/girl. An audio player featuring the latter two tracks is available at the bottom of this update.

In addition, Danko will hit the stage for a spoken word set at the Wacken Open Air 2012, which is set to take place August 2nd – 4th in Wacken, Germany. As of today the festival was officially sold out, so anyone who doesn’t have tickets will have to content with watching his performance during the online simulcast. (continue reading…)

Yeah, about a week early, but I’m planning on going out as Silent Bob for Halloween and have to practice not talking shit. So, before I take my vow of quietude…

Eclipse Eternal – home town T.O. black metal skull crushers and a favourite of Swedish producer-to-the-gods Fredrik Nordstrom – have signed with Archaic North Records and will release their new album, The Essence of Hopelessness, on January 14th, 2012 (cover art can be viewed on the left). The band returned to ex-Megadeth guitarist Glen Drover’s Eclipse Studio for the recordings, and according to the pre-release hype sheet it’s going to be the sort of chaos-driven smackdown fans are expecting:

“They have delved into their innermost suffering and wrenched forth an album that is both poignant and memorable. From cold atmospheres to absolute chaos, from acoustic and spoken word interludes to ripping shredding, this album is as brutal as it is stirring.”

So, take that as you will, but past experience has taught me that anything Eclipse Eternal releases rips metal trendies like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle Of Filth to shreds. (continue reading…)

For you Hoser-loving heathens…

First off, unless you’ve been living under the weight of a large rock and your own self-importance, you’re aware that former Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach has released his new album, Kicking & Screaming. (Yes, yes, I know he lives in the U.S., but Doodness grew up in Peterborough, Ontario and cut his teeth in Toronto). As I mentioned in my review (found here), the record didn’t do anything for me during the first spin, but it won me over and has since become a regular listen in the hallowed halls of BW&BK’s European crash pad. Apologies to Baz for my initial misgivings, but the album is a brilliant piece of work. If you were ever a fan of the Skid Row debut and Slave To The Grind, pick it up.

Check out my illustrious BW&BK colleague Aaron Small’s recent interview with Bach here. (continue reading…)

Back in February, folks with discerning taste in Canadian rock had lots to talk about. Hands down one of our country’s best kept and severely underrated secrets – kept in the limelight thanks to frontman Hugh Dillon’s successful acting career – the Headstones reunited for a number of select shows, putting an end to eight years of silence. The band’s hometown show in Toronto at the Sound Academy is one of those gigs that anyone who claims to be a diehard fan will swear to having been in the audience. I will gladly lie to your face and say I was in the front row.

Sadly, I couldn’t be there as I was out of the country, which sucks beyond words.

It was a momentous occasion because the Headstones were easily (and remain) one of the most original acts to come out of the Canadian music scene. The reunion shows went over a storm and then some, to the point that, all these months later, they’ve committed themselves to a project that lifers like myself have been clamouring for:

“Make no mistake, you’ve kickstarted the machine. The next record is a direct result of that wave of interaction. You made us remember what the fuck it is we do.” (continue reading…)