BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition December 2018

SHRAPNEL
HAVE YOURSELF A METAL LITTLE CHRISTMAS
grim gift guide to some of best Western Canadian metal releases of 2018
by Josh Wood
It’s a horrible time of year to be a metal fan.
Each Christmas headbangers across the globe
are subjected the seasonal sounds of Kenny ‘n’
Dolly duets at the company holiday party, exposed
to B-B-B-Bing Crosby crooning carols on
TV and forced to cringe along with The Boney
M. Christmas Album at the local shopping mall.
Despair not! I have the perfect remedy - a
whole satchel of brand new releases. Shiny
gifts bestowed by underground metal bands
from the prairies to the B.C. coast. A Western
Canadian Metal Advent Calendar, if you will!
It’s like “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but
with yours truly sending you a dark dozen
frosty Western Canadian metal albums to
stave off the holiday doldrums!
“On the first day of Metalmas my true love
sent to me…”
Apprentice - The Strength of Mortality,
Vancouver, BC (Independent)
They may only have ONE album to their credit,
but this progressive power metal outfit has
generated a lot of buzz in the underground. At
the head of their class, this astute blacksmith’s
debut is an adventurous six-chapter epic packed
with meditations on classic metal.
Assault - Kill for Your Life, Vancouver, BC
(Scrape Records)
After 31 years of fermenting, this distillation of
TWO old demos and other such dark matter
is faster, heavier and thrashier than their 1987
debut Survival in the Streets. For those who
remember it the good ol’ days, this was worth
the wait. Here’s a tasty trove of rare gems for fans
who still cherish them three decades on.
Edmonton’s Solborn released Dark Lights of Delirium this year.
Blackrat - Dread Reverence, Calgary, AB
(Shadow Kingdom)
Wise beyond their years, Blackrat have captured
the intensity, drive and attitude of some of the
early masters on album THREE. The tumultuous
trio churn and burn like Venom, Tank, Hellhammer
and old Motörhead but with an utterly
modern desire for speed and pressure dispensed
with devastating fluidity.
Ye Goat-Herd Gods - Ashes Shall Be Made
of Them, Calgary, AB (Independent)
This effort was years in the making and during
that period the flock has expanded to FOUR
members. Chaotic yet somehow melodic,
this death meets black mash-up is bred for
extreme temperatures. Scaling rocky terrain
with top-notch musicianship and well-conditioned
songwriting, they flex their excellent
production values and rule the wasteland with
an iron staff.
Leah - The Quest, Vancouver, BC (Inner
Wound)
It’s another win for songbird Leah as she continues
to proves why she embodies Canada’s answer
to Nightwish. Loaded with cameos from no
less than FIVE Euro-metal guest stars and treated
with lush production, this mellowed instalment
explores symphonic Celtic metal soundscapes
with great success.
how symphonic and epic they are? I know that
is a lot to digest, but thanks to some sleight of
hand and genius genre wrangling it totally fits.
Strap in and let the SIX fold Solborn spirit you
away to their delirious dimension.
Dethgod - Disease Called Humans, Morley,
AB (Independent)
Arguably the heaviest band on our twelve-fold
naughty list, this skull-crushing debut EP is the
SEVEN day heavy hangover helper you’ve been
searching for. Breaking rules comes easily to the
bat-swinging threesome whose gritty play on
traditional death metal comes across with a
face-smashing mean streak that reads as pure evil!
Arctic Circle - Where Ice Meets Ocean,
Brandon, MB (Independent)
Rumbling and roaring across the frozen
tundra, Arctic Circle strips it all down with
this lean 24-minute release. The three-piece’s
boundary-probing third effort sees them
crashing through the wilderness while wielding
behemoth riffs. As harsh and relentless as the elements
they embrace, this band of string slingers
hunted through snow and sludge to claim these
EIGHT hybrid doom-groove trophies.
Haiduk - Exomancer, Calgary, AB
(Independent)
This is the third invasion from Lukas, the oneman
army. And, believe me, Virginia, one is all
it takes. A swirling, all-consuming, snow globe
vortex of blackened death - this package is just
what the magi ordered. Camel-up, Dante. You’ll
follow the arcane star of Haiduk’s dark metal
order down through all NINE Circles of Hell
Hailing from Vancouver, Leah emobies Canada’s answer to Nigthwish.
Into Eternity - The Sirens, Saskatoon, SK
(M-Theory Audio)
One of the most successful bands in the region
returns after a TEN year hiatus to deliver album
number six. A bit of a super-group, now with
dudes from Untimely Demise and Death Toll
Rising on the roster, Into Eternity’s new singer
Amanda Kiernan’s (Order of Chaos) incredible
vocal talent is on full display and instantly
embedded into the carbonite maelstrom of their
technical death throes...
Untimely Demise No Promise of Tomorrow
Saskatoon, SK (Independent)
These guys are probably the purest example
of true ‘80s thrash in Western Canada and
the ELEVEN cuts presented on No Promise of
Tomorrow finds them deep in the stacks of
brain-frying, old school nostalgia. Shredding
with fierce vocals, blazing solos and sound-barrier
ripping velocities their timing is actually quite
impeccable. Your true metal love will dig the
awesome Ed Repka cover art too!
Mongol - The Return, Edmonton, AB
(Sliptrick)
Edmonton’s favourite marauders are back!
Sweeping across the grassy steppes with the
thunder of TWELVE drummers drumming,
the barbaric raiders behind the folk-fueled
death metal entity known as Mongols are
not to be underestimated. A grand concept
record in the truest sense, the warrior hoard’s
Return recalls the era of Genghis Khan with
a furious sense of humour and a reckless
abandon that the Blue Wolf himself would
surely celebrate!
Solborn - Dark Lights of Delirium, Edmonton,
AB (Independent)
Alberta spawned, Solborn exemplify Capital
City’s virtues with their flawless form of operatic,
female-fronted, progressive, metal. Did I mention
SHRAPNEL BEATROUTE • DECEMBER 2018 | 49