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All Bands At 11? Brilliant!

While it obviously wasn’t some Spinal Tap tribute show, I was nonetheless intrigued by this poster for a gig called Four Corners II. At first, I wasn’t sure how you could have four bands all play at 11, unless it was one of those “every band is awesome, so we won’t tell you who’s on first” type of deals. As it turns out, this concert was the second installment of a series conceived last summer, in which four bands each set up in one corner of a room, and take turns playing tunes…

Wolves in the Throne Room / Ahna / Gyibaaw / Sick @ Rickshaw Theatre, Vancouver BC, January 6, 2011

“Nathan Weaver began by briefly thanking the crowd for coming and admonishing them to please refrain from flash photography, and also from moshing – something the majority in attendance seemed to appreciate. This band and all their trappings are an experience in the live setting, and the mood the stage sets seems as important and intricate as the music – taking your eyes off of them to smash into each other seems to miss the point – or maybe they just think moshing is stupid.”

Kyle Harcott caught the recent performance from Wolves in the Throne Room at their Vancouver, BC stop.

Evergrey – Glorious Collision

Glorious Collision is a beautiful record and with the embracing of some more mellow and melodic sounds, they’ll not only please long time fans but may find some new fans from the hard rock world coming out to shows as well.

Blue Aside – The Orange Tree

Whereas other sludge bands who deal in cosmic themes, like Zoroaster and The Atlas Moth, use harsh black-metal vocals to get their message across, Abrams’ warm, clean tones give Blue Aside a big boost. Their deftly executed blending of sludgy doom grooves with spacy guitar (and occasional synth) passages provides the missing link between Sleep and Hawkwind, YOB and Captain Beyond, Sons of OTIS and Secret Saucer… You get the idea.

Avantasia – Angel of Babylon

Angel of Babylon is exactly what you’d expect from Avantasia, world class songs, performances and production. If you’ve been on board so far, you’ll love this final installment in Sammet’s Scarecrow Saga. This is a must have.

There goes the neighbourhood–metal/punk record store moves to Queen St W!

A couple months back, on what woulda been my third-latest trip to Rotate This, I noticed a sign in the empty storefront next door: “NEW PUNK/METAL RECORD STORE OPENING SOON.” I had to admire the audacity of opening a record store right next to NOW Magazine’s runner-up for Record Store of the Year (which I’m sure they’ve won in the past), and made a mental note to check this place out once they opened.
Well, it turns out that Hits ‘n Misses isn’t that new, having moved SXSE from the Bloor and Ossignton area…They moved into the new space in November, and I haven’t bought anything but tickets at Rotate This since.