Category: Features
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A Metal Day in Portland
May 16th 2014 Wandering contentedly, feeling like the proverbial kid in a candy store in downtown Portland on a gorgeous spring afternoon, I strolled straight into the enticing entrance of 2nd Avenue Records. Overflowing from floor to ceiling with goodies of every genre from rock to reggae and everything in between, I knew I was…
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Full Metal Parenting #3: Image
The birth of this Full Metal Parenting series is all thanks to one offended parent. Let me explain. Last year, as I waited to pick my son up from school one day, a parent told me that my tee shirt, which happened to feature a picture of a church in flames on the front, was…
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Wacken Metal Battle Canada 2014: who are the final combatants?
This coming Saturday five bands will step up to compete in Wacken Metal Battle Canada 2014 one last time, each striving to represent their home and native land in the international metal battle competition at Germany’s Wacken Open Air festival. If you can make it out to the show, don’t hesitate – it looks to be…
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Social Code – Words From Se7eN Goza of Social 66
In conversation with Se7eN Goza, it’s easy to see that the guitarist is willing to do whatever he needs to do in order to help his band break through and achieve the next level of exposure. He’s ready to get on the road and tour as long as he, bassist Eric Seevers, drummer Joe Bailey…
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Staff playlists: the May two-four edition (2014)
Whatever monarchistic or memorial functions are attached to the first long weekend in May in North America, it’s also (and for many people, it’s predominantly) the first party weekend of the year. Americans have to wait another week, but here in Canada we’re just about ready for the party to start. And, behold, we have…
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The Julie Ruin: personal and artistic fulfillment
When you realize you can’t fake it At a certain point in their careers, many musicians discover that something about their art has to be a reflection of themselves, if they want to continue on. It might sound trite or self-absorbed, but taking over the world has to come second to personal and artistic fulfillment;…
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AGALLOCH US/CANADIAN tour announced
New album The Serpent & The Sphere out from Profound Lore May 13th: http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/agalloch-complete-work-on-new-album/ New track “Celestial Effigy” streaming link: http://agalloch.bandcamp.com/album/the-serpent-the-sphere Soaring and epically beautiful, what longtime fans know as the standard from Portland, Oregon’s AGALLOCH. From 1999’s Pale Folklore their sound has often invoked the atmosphere of a dark forest; this track follows that path…
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The Roadburn Diaries: Roadburn 2014
Prolific metal writer Adrien Begrand reports on Roadburn 2014, “Europe’s leading underground festival for psychedelic, avant-garde, doom or any other variation of leftfield sonic pleasures that push the boundaries of music” (www.roadburn.com). All photos by Paul Verhagen (www.AchromeMoments.nl). Day One: Thursday, April 10 After a crazy, hurry-up-and-wait 24-hour travel day which included stops in Toronto, Paris, and Rotterdam,…
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Full Metal Parenting #2: interview with Beth Winegarner
A lot of metal fans will tell you that the genre has taken them on journeys to dark, unexpected, and wholly beautiful places, leading them to question nature, reality, and the meaning of existence. Well, welcome to parenthood! It’s pretty much the same, and often twice as loud. Parenting is livin’ after midnight by default…
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Wacken Metal Battle Canada continues – semi-finals updates
With each live event Wacken Metal Battle Canada draws closer to the final rounds of the competition — choosing a band to represent Canada at Wacken Metal Battle in Germany this summer. The most recent Wacken Metal Battle contest (April 23) sends Death Toll Rising to join Quietus, Samandriel, and Eye of Horus in the Edmonton semi-final round, scheduled for May 7.…