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.
The Agonist guitarist Pascal “Paco” Jobin has officially launched a new band on the side called Leading The Betrayed. The line-up also featured bassist Kevin Boucher and drummer Steve Lajeunesse, and they are currently searching for a singer. Demo tracks are available for streaming on the band’s official Facebook page. Anyone interested in contacting the band regarding the open singer slot should contact the band via Facebook. Serious inquiries only.
Studio footage of Jobin laying down the solo for the track ‘In The Dark’ can be found here.
Kicking around since 2007, prog-edged bashers Nail have been making more noise of late. Led by guitarist/producer Rainer “Rhino” Wiechmann and vocalist Cindy Wiechmann, both of whom spent some time in the Helix camp, the band has two albums under their belt thus far, their most recent being Power And Greed from 2010. Their official website (found here) boasts an audio player featuring most of the band’s material, and a truckload of nifty merch on top of the albums themselves. Video clips for the songs ‘Power And Greed’, ‘Fuck Off And Die’, and ‘Right Now’ can be viewed here.
A collection links to Nail album reviews is available at this location.
. Catharines-based Fraze Gang, featuring Brighton Rock members Greg Fraser (guitar, vocals) and Stevie Skreebs (bass), drummer Phil Epp, and new guitarist Derek McGowan, have been holed up in the studio over the last few months writing songs for their new album, entitled Fraze Gang 2. The album features previously released tracks ‘Juggernaut’, ‘Rampage’ and ‘Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You’ alongside new tracks ‘Saint Or Sinner’, ‘White Lightning’ and ‘In Your Face’. Still a traditional rock outfit, the Gang has taken a slightly heavier approach with the new material, with McGowan’s shred adding an extra set of balls to the music.
Fraze Gang 2 was mixed by legendary hair metal knob-twister Beau Hill, known for his work with Ratt, Alice Cooper and Warrant. It is due to be released in the spring via Bongo Beat Records. Stay tuned for release details.
As an aside, Brighton Rock have been confirmed to play the Firefest in Nottingham, England, which runs from October 19th – 21st. The line-up will be the band’s original five-piece line-up of Fraser, Skreebs, vocalist Gerry McGhee, keyboardist/guitarist Johnny Rogers, and drummer Mark Cavarzan. Go to this location for event information.
Finally, Annihilator guitarist / founder Jeff Waters recently announced that the band will visit Brazil for the first time this April. The first show will take place at the Metal Open Air festival at Parque da Independencia in Sao Luis, Maranhao, Brazil on Friday, April 20th, with Megadeth headlining the event. The second show will be a headline gig in Terca, Brazil at the Carioca Club on April 24th with Otep supporting. Shows in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires are due to be confirmed soon.
And Waters, being the good-natured court jester that he is, took a stab at metal karaoke with Children Of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho on the recent 70000 Tons Of Metal Cruise. Check out footage of the dynamic duo “performing” Judas Priest’s ‘Turbo Lover’ here.
