BeatRoute Magazine AB print e-edition - March 2017

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WOODHAWK soaring beyond the sun by Christine Leonard If Woodhawk was the boy next door, they’d be that denim-clad rogue who revved his motorbike in the driveway on Sunday mornings and dumped you on the eve of your Junior Prom. Or, at least that’s how you’d imagine the events leading up to bassist Mike Badmington and guitarist Turner Midzain’s first time on stage together in Grade 9. Fast-forward to Halloween of 2014 and they’re showing off a tight-butcurvy six-track debut album with a title to match their band’s smokin’ new moniker, Woodhawk. Breaking hearts and throwing sparks, the freewheeling trio may have experimented with different percussionists, but it was the heavy ‘n’ steady Kevin Nelson (Nosis, Doberman) who rose above the throng. “We kind of pretended that the part before Kevin never happened,” says Midzain. “There’s no bad blood, or anything. I just think we didn’t figure out which direction we were going until Kevin joined the band. Honestly, since he started with us in September of 2015 we’ve got more momentum and found what we wanted to do.” So… it was you and not them after all. Not surprising really, given Midzain and Badmington’s playful approach to laying down stony causeways and volleying big, bold riffs back and forth between them, it was only a matter of time before someone snapped them up. “Kevin had been to a bunch of our shows and knocked at our door asking to join the band after hearing about us through the grapevine at our mutual barbershop,” recalls a well coiffed Badmington. “He came in, and had a bit of catching up to learn some of the previous stuff, but we pretty much started writing right away. And the rest is… Woodhawk!” Anchored by Nelson’s technical prowess and capacity for effortlessly shifting from ‘70s grooves to punked-up blues, the collaborative three-piece has already been trying out material from their upcoming full-length album, Beyond the Sun, in live performance. Staying close to the realms of fantasy and science fiction, the much-anticipated album appropriately features the cosmic designs of artist Mark Kowalchuk. “This album represents a year’s worth of our writing and pushes into a more evolved sound,” articulates Badmington. “I think it was more about trying to avoid restricting ourselves and seeing what we could do.” Trusting their instincts, Woodhawk travelled to Vancouver to recording their forthcoming LP with producer Jesse Gander, who graciously received the band at his Rain City Recorders facility. “The quality that he can produce instantly was amazing! I’ve never seen someone work a studio so quickly,” Midzain recalls. “So, it was exciting from day one, because we knew it was going to be a big sounding album. Every day we woke up ready to record and we actually ended up finishing a couple of days ahead of time.” By his account, one good thing about having Woodhawk release their full length in April. time to burn was that it gave Woodhawk the opportunity to explore the hospitality of the abundant breweries that surrounded Gander’s studio. The other benefit was that it freed the energetic threesome up to accept the gig of a lifetime. So far. “Jesse stopped me mid-take while we were recording and said ‘Hold on, you’ve got to check your phone. They’re calling you to open for Airbourne at The Commodore Ballroom tomorrow!’” photo: Mario Montes The memory is clearly sweet. “Trying to focus after that was kind of hard; we tried not to shit our pants and managed to finished the recording.” Woodhawk release Beyond the Sun in Edmonton on Friday, April 7th at the Sewing Machine Factory in Edmonton with Mothercraft and Iron Eyes. They perform at the Palomino Smokehouse and Social Club on Saturday, April 8th in Calgary album release with Chron Goblin and Mothercraft. HAMMERDRONE releasing the seeds of destruction Hammerdrone’s newest recalls a historic act eco-terrorism for Gruinard Island. It’s the kind of thing you’d read about in a spy novel, or at least that’s how Hammerdrone’s lead vocalist Graham Harris (Reverend Kill, Genepool, Rotschreck) first stumbled upon the clandestine tendrils of Operation Dark Harvest. Spurred on by the enigmatic trail, Harris would uncover a grassroots rebellion that had some serious dirt under its fingernails. “I read a fair amount of crime fiction and Scottish author Ian Rankin makes a passing reference to the Dark Harvest Commandos (a proto-SNLA faction) in one of his novels. And I thought, ’Who the hell are they?’ I looked them up and came across an obscure and interesting piece of history that I’d never heard photo: Stephen Hillier of,” says Harris of inspiration behind the title track of the melodic death metal group’s forthcoming LP. Sources reveal that in 1981, a group of microbiologists from Scottish universities visited the condemned isle and removed 300 pounds of soil contaminated with anthrax spores. Infected by the British Government during World War II, the deadly toxification wrought upon Gruinard proved that Churchill could decimate German city in the same fashion. The radical scientists threatened to distribute their dark harvest “at appropriate points that will ensure the rapid loss of indifference of the government and the equally rapid education of the general public,” according to letters the group sent to local newspapers. The threat was not carried out, and the soil was decontaminated soon after. Drawing its defiant name from that little-known act of civil disobedience, Dark Harvest is but the latest in a litany of hackle-raising releases from the Calgary-based Hammerdrone. “When the guys wrote the music for Dark Harvest, it just came together really nicely and tied together a lot of the political themes on the album. ‘Join the Resistance!’ That’s our tag line for playing-up on the idea of ecologically minded terrorists. We wanted to make a political statement. I’m quite in favour of holding the government to account for its promises and actions, so I think there’s something to be said for that!” Originally forged back in 2010, the intimidatingly intense outfit’s exploratory EPs A Demon Rising (2012) and Wraiths On the Horizon (2013) laid the groundwork for the Promethean ambition of their first full-length release, Clone of Europa, which materialized in 2014. Unfortunately, that victory was clouded by hardship, as the disruptive forces of the mass Calgary flood of 2013 besieged the band. Stepping away from the musical canvas, Harris was left to wonder if Hammerdrone would survive the turbulence that had heaved their world upside-down. “My wife got transferred to Brisbane, Australia with her work in 2014 and I went too,” explains Harris, who welcomed a baby daughter while living abroad. “It was kind of a two-year period of globetrotting for me and so from a band perspective we didn’t know if we were going to continue to be. But we pretty much had the second album all written and by Christine Leonard we were determined that we were going to record it.” Proving that long-distance relationships can yield tangible results, Harris found new ways to collaborate on the calamitous Dark Harvest with Hammerdrone bandmates, lead guitarist/songwriter Rick Cardellini, drummer Vinnie Cardellini (Reverend Kill) and guitarist/vocalist Curtis Beardy (Krepitus), while living overseas. Although, frequently compared to the likes of Amon Amarth and Behemoth, Harris and company believe in clearing their own footpath when it comes to defining Hammerdrone’s apocalyptic tone and temperament. “That’s the beautiful side of introducing technology into your music; you’re able to cross 12,500 miles and continue to record together,” Harris confirms. The most recent addition to Hammerdrone’s arsenal, bassist Teran Wyer (Krepitus, Numenorean) was recruited to the fold for his winning persona and aptitude for anchoring the most aggressive of combos. According to Harris, Wyer’s weighty presence on Dark Harvest heaps another layer of anthemic heaviness upon Hammerdrone’s soylent machinations. “After we recorded Clones of Europa we really need to find someone solid. Vinnie and I used to play with Teran in Reverend Kill, we knew his style, and what a great guy he is. Once we realized how much he was enjoying playing bass it was an easy choice to slot our good friend in.” He confirms, “We have a very permanent lineup now.” Hammerdrone release Dark Harvest on March 24th at Vern’s in Calgary with Votov, Concrete Funeral, and 40 | MARCH 2017 • BEATROUTE SHRAPNEL
This Month In METAL There is no shortage of Calgary bands releasing albums this month. With so many on the horizon, we are going to hunker down and mostly focus on locals for the column this month. To kick off the proceedings: Burning Effigy and Train Bigger Monkeys are both releasing new records on Saturday, March 4th at Distortion in Calgary. The bands will be performing with Krepitus and Sonder; tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. We chatted with Burning Effigy for more information. Together since 2008, Burning Effigy released their debut Salem in 2014, and is now on the cusp of releasing their newest EP Lost Serenity. Comprised of vocalist Colin Allan-Fitterer, guitarists Brent Matusik and Brendon Langlois, bassist Jorge Mares, and drummer Mike Bolduc, the band has progressed significantly with time. “Our songs have become a lot more aggressive and technical, leaving behind some of the thrash elements and incorporating a lot more of a death metal/progressive approach to our new material,” explains bassist Mares. The lyrical approach will be similar to previous material, however. “The songs in Lost Serenity still focus on historical events and personal struggles, much like Salem. We always feel that we can connect to our audience by expressing ourselves from what we have learned from our own past experiences and relating it to a historical event in a metaphorical way,” he says. Available on CD at the show, the EP will also be for sale through their online store and on streaming sites iTunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, Google Play, and Apple Music. Lock Up will be releasing their newest offering Demonization via Listenable Records on March 10th. The fourth full-length offering by the death/ grind super group features newly minted vocalist Kevin Sharp (formerly of Brutal Truth) now providing unrelenting barks alongside bassist Shane Embury, who formed the project in 1998 as a side-project of Napalm Death. On Saturday, March 11th, Siksika rock band Iron Tusk will be releasing their newest cassette alongside sludge act Oxeneer and metallic hardcore band Empty Visionaires at the Nite Owl in Calgary. Head downstairs to the Library for the gig, tickets are $10 at the door. You dig Black Sabbath, or else you wouldn’t be reading this column. So... in that spirit, Bat Sabbath is playing Calgary on Saturday, March 18th with Chron Goblin, 7’s Wild, and Sellout. Bat Sabbath is the punk/metalcore act Cancer Bats exclusively playing covers of the legendary metal creators, and it rips. The band is touring across Western Canada in March; they’ll also be hitting Red Deer at the Vat on March 16, Edmonton at the Needle on March 17, and Winnipeg at the Windsor on March 24th. Slaughterfest 2017 goes down in Edmonton on Saturday, March 25, and features the final Alberta performance by Edmonton death/grind institution Disciples of Power, alongside sets by Display of Decay, Vile Insignia, Barrows, DethGod, and Misery Tomb. According to a Facebook post, DoP is breaking up due to a dispute with a former member, and aim to rebrand under another name. “We have been writing and performing some of the new music we have to offer and this is what we are focusing on now,” they wrote on a status posted on February 2, that has been edited for grammar and punctuation. “The new name will be posted on a later date and it wont throw you off too much. We are who we are, regardless of the name. You can still expect a sonic crushing blitzkrieg to hit you every time. [It’s] what we do.... and we have been known to throw a few oldies in the set. Cheers to you all and see you this summer!” There is a Memorial Fundraiser for Skyler Rasmussen on Saturday, March 25th in Calgary at Distortion. Featuring performances by Blackest Sin, Traer, Frightenstein, and Path To Extinction, all proceeds from the event will go to his family, who are in a tough financial spot following his unexpected passing. Says the event description: “We will be hosting this event at Distortion, for a night of music, art, and remembrance. There will not only be live entertainment, but also a silent auction, and a raffle for various prizes, including gift certificates for tattoos, piercings, salon treatments, Cursed Earth Apparel, and pet training/ grooming services. As well as gift baskets from Hazzardous Material, Filth Hounds Beauty!” Bring your money and support a good cause. • Sarah Kitteringham SHRAPNEL BEATROUTE • MARCH 2017 | 41
Page 1: FREE MARCH 2017 LOON See... Festiva
Page 4: pulse The Kinkonauts, Calgary’s o
Page 8 and 9: CITY GODDAMN MILLENIALS secret line
Page 10: The NASH beware of the Quarter Hors
Page 14 and 15: $100 FILM FEST 25 years of small ga
Page 16 and 17: Questioning the Old Trouts’ about
Page 19 and 20: ROCKPILE THE COURTNEYS all around t
Page 21 and 22: TRIM SIZE: 10.25"W x 11.5" H, RIGHT
Page 23 and 24: STRFKR from disillusionment to thri
Page 25 and 26: TOURING ROUNDUP what’s coming to
Page 27 and 28: WORST DAYS DOWN bring Elsewhere hom
Page 29: letters from winnipeg JOEY LANDRETH
Page 32: LET’S GET JUCY! Clubbing in the w
Page 36: DEAR RABBIT silly little songs true
Page 43 and 44: musicreviews Dirty Projectors Dirty
Page 45: Dead Men Can’t Cat Call Tour Wine
Page 48: out,” she sings. “And all the p
Page 51 and 52: as exuberantly friendly as it is fu
Page 53 and 54: “KMAG YOYO,” a high-paced humor

BeatRoute Magazine AB print e-edition - March 2017

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