FOR THE LOVE OF METAL
Doom metal, in general, is not summertime music. When the sun’s out, the temperature’s rising and yer sweatin’ balls, you wanna cruise down the blacktop blasting some Kyuss or Fu Manchu, not some slow, melancholic, depressing tunes. Not that I have anything against slow and depressing, mind you–I just don’t have it pumping on the patio.
While I initially joked that the price of the Kyuss Lives New Year’s Eve gig was a joke, I eventually gave in and bought myself a 200-dollar ticket. I don’t normally go out for NYE–frankly, I think it’s a rather pointless holiday–but I figured that for the founding fathers of stoner rock, I could make an exception. And I certainly don’t regret it, especially since a couple months later, Kyuss would live no more…
For the past few years, White Cowbell Oklahoma’s Christmas show has always been an event I’ve marked on my calendar. Toronto’s most outrageous, over-the-top live band usually has something special up their sleeves around this time of year, and this year is no exception. Mind you, they’ve scheduled things a week later this time to coincide with… the end of the world!
Now, I won’t say I’m a die-hard Gwar fan, but I’ve certainly seen them live a few times over the years. Their tongue-in-cheek, politically-incorrect lyrics are matched only by their over-the-top stage show, featuring plenty of blood, guts, and mutilation of popular political figures. But of course, you probably knew that already… unless your name’s Heino Døssing.
In this entry of Blasphemous Meals, reader discretion is advised to those of you who are vegetarian, vegan and on and on and on. You’ll find six saucy, savoury, satanically delicious dishes that are from three different carnivorous groups: beef, fish, poultry and pork. They are warm and welcoming as you retreat from the frostbitten woodlands in the coming months – at least for our Canadian Hellbound readers.
I’ve been living and attending concerts in Toronto for over seven years now, so it’s safe to say I’ve seen a few local bands who got big well before they were known commodities. But now, I can even say I’ve seen a band from Hamilton go from the Toronto scene to the national stage. That band just happens to be called Monster Truck.
If stoner doom legends Sleep have never played Toronto, it’s not due to any sort of security issues. In fact, two-thirds of the original Sonic Titans will be in town within the next eight days…
You gotta give it up for Small Stone, one of the few labels out there still specializing in stoner rock on these shores. Tonite, some of their finest wares are on display at the Radio club in Somerville, MA, with names like Gozu, Lo-Pan, Roadsaw and Freedom Hawk on the bill. Mind you, a last-minute flight from Toronto to Boston will set ya back about $620…
Earlier this year I was contacted by Scion AV to see if I would be interested in doing an interview for them with a Canadian label. The label in question, Moshpit Tragedy Records, is a Windsor, Ontario based label that works almost entirely on a “pay what you want” business plan.
Here is what became of my day interviewing Rayny Forster down in Windsor, ON
When Witch Mountain first came to town in June, playing on a killer bill with Castle and Blood Ceremony, it went down as one of, if not the best gig I’ve seen in Toronto this year. At the time, Rob Wrong had said something about them coming back in the fall, and thus I was pleased, if not entirely surprised, when I found out they’d be making a return trip in October. But, truth be told, the excitement of seeing them the first time wasn’t equaled by the return visit–and neither was the turnout at the second gig, for that matter.