NIHILATE

manifestation of the beast

by Heath Fenton

photo by Kim Thiessen

 Bands often encounter challenges. The band Nihilate can attest and have overcome these trials by channelling the results into a video release. Tracing this path brings us back to 2010. After releasing their first full-length album Synthetic Order, they were dealt with the unfortunate departure of their lead vocalist.

This is probably one of the most frustrating situations a band can encounter. As the band regrouped, they managed to catch a break when heavy-hitting scene veteran Cam Kroetsch (Process, Minority, Punchdrunk) came aboard to play guitar. So, the campaign was on to recruit a new vocalist with wanted ads posted online and posters hung all over town. Sadly, no one had enough muster to fill the void.

 So the rejuvenated crew of Kroetsch, second guitarist Matthew Frost and bassist Grant Era decided to tackle the job themselves and turned it into a unique situation with three leads on vocals. Playing metal and singing isn’t easy, especially when the vocal parts were written by an ‘instrument-less’ front man. “I’m really proud of everyone for stepping up and losing their voices every night to try and better the band,” Frost gleams. “It’s nice that we have three guys who can sing and back each other up.” There is no doubt that the revitalized Nihilate, rounded out with harefooted drummer Wes Kennedy, could pull it together and move on to be a dominant force in Vancouver’s metal scene. You can say that these challenges had fueled the anger that now translates into a hungry Nihilate.

They sound like a caged animal finally released to kill. A band which came out swinging garnering some high profile opening slots with 3 Inches Of Blood, Goatwhore and Soulfly. Fitting counterparts who slam hard with old school thrash ideals and brush strokes of extreme metal. This is ‘some pissed-off music.’ Their video for “Face Of Aggression” is gathering a decent amount of traffic and gaining notoriety.

Rather than releasing a record, another video is in the works as they plan a forward thinking approach to the ever-evolving music industry. “With a video you can reach mass people super quick, so why not?” explains Kroetsch. “The shows we’ve done since the video, people have come up to me and say that the video is the reason they’re at the show.”

  Nihilate rings the neck of perseverance and makes sure it pays off. Do yourself a favour and catch them at Diecemberfest, December 13 at The Rickshaw Theatre.

 

DIECEMBERFEST 2013

Holiday tunes that matter

It’s that time of year again kids! It is Vancouver’s annual Christmas party for the underground. This is not your boring drab of an office party with dreadful catering, lack of alcohol and secret Santas. Nope, this is Diecemberfest. And it promises to be filled with rowdy patrons, cheap domestic beer, and ear splitting music. It’s an opportunity for the extreme music scene to take a break from the holiday doldrums. Where you can hoist a brew, snarl, spit and rage. All the while chaotic riffage, bomb dropping beats and tormented screams put an end to all silent nights.

Now in its fifth year, Diecemberfest in reality, has nothing to do with Christmas and everything to do with celebrating the dynamic heavy music populace that Vancouver has going for it. You’d have to go back to the 1990s to find it in a healthier state. The aught years brought a lull of sorts. The broken pieces from that period were picked up and buried, but not for good. Several years ago a shovel struck the cold winter earth and exhumed a healthy crop of new bands full of a fresh breed of flesh, stubborn scene veterans, and a resilience that only heavy music can provide. This did not go unnoticed by Diecemberfest creator Johnny Matter of Apocalypse Sunrise Productions. “About five years ago I noticed there was a big resurgence of new bands in Vancouver that were just starting out, many from old bands,” Matter recollects. “So I thought to take it upon myself to try and put on a little festival based on the concept of new era Vancouver bands coming from old bands that have broken up.”

The festival has come full circle from the original night five years ago that saw a four-band bill pack Pat’s Pub. Diecemberfest now commands a double night of mayhem. With the help Crowsnest Productions (The Rickshaw) and No Bullocks Events (Funkys), Diecemberfest will invade two different establishments that have carved out a legendary place in this venue starved extreme music landscape. Sixteen local bands in all will become a spectacle to feverish supporters that chose the night as their winter wonderland. And that amount of bands only scratches the surface of what Vancouver has to offer. Every year it’s all blood and no tears for Matter, who literally has to turn away dozens of want-to-be Diecemberfest bands. That’s just how healthy this scene is.

In a season of mistletoes and lack of live shows, the month of December makes for a perfect platform for locals to come together. “Obviously people are out shopping and leaving town. But people are also going out for drinks, living it up and having fun,” says Matter. “I don’t really celebrate the holiday, so Diecemberfest is my Christmas. It’s a way that I can celebrate with friends and have cheers, beers, play music and have fun. That’s what it’s all about.”

And in the true spirit of the season, Matter is awarding gift bags for food bank donations to help the less fortunate. “Aggressive music gets a real bad rep. Outsiders think we might be real scary, not-good people. That doesn’t fairly represent the people who play this type of music. Most of which are some of the most genuine people you will meet. So it is kind of my way of saying we are part of the community, we’re helping out,” he adds.

The first night features featuring Archspire, Burning Ghats, Sinned, Anion, Nihilate, Ogroem, Dungeons, and Nautilus. Night two unleashes Tyrants Blood, Life Against Death, Zuckuss, Abriosis, Dead Again, Memorial, Destroy All and Witch Of The Waste.

So, if you haven’t heard, there is a Christmas party for all you miscreants out there. Diecemberfest is the two nights your true love for music gave to thee.

Diecemberfest happens December 13 at The Rickshaw and December 14 at Funkys.

SHOCKLOAD

Attractive Distraction - Independent

The debut album from East Vancouver’s Shockload starts off with a real cooker of a song with “Settle The Score”. The song pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album as relenting is not something that interests this group. Shockload’s sound can best be described as a band that borders on greasy rock and gutter punk. The vocals are sung with a snarl and there are some tasty guitar solos too.

SUBCULTURE DECEMBER

Last month, we lost Canadian punk rocker Nev the Impaler... Neil Robert Burns was an original member and guitar player for The Dayglo Abortions... There will be a memorial show on Friday, December 13th at Funkys to celebrate his life... The Dayglos are playing and there will be a jam / tribute / spoken word aspect to the show during intermissions and just before the Dayglos take the stage... We will also be having a raffle 50/50 type of thing full of band merch and other goodies to raise a bit of dough for his daughter Jules, whom he had just reconnected with when she moved out here recently... I'm glad they had that time before his passing... On that day, Nev had been jamming and recording, doing what he loved... If any bands/artists want to donate some stuff to the raffle get a hold of Deborah or me or just bring the stuff to the show and we'll add it to the prize pack...

RICHARD DUGUAY, IBRAINEATER, LIQUOR KINGS

Fairview Pub, Vancouver, November 15 2013

PunkRockaRolla101 - Showin' The Kids How It's Done - Gloriously Reckless

I hate to be an asshole and show up late to a show – especially when the kickassery meter is as high as an Liquor Kings and IBraineater/Jimmy Cummins double side kick in the balls opening one-two - but I was a late ass crotchety old man on this particular evening. I freakin’ missed two of the city's best live acts – cuz I had to take a nap. Yes, I am old...everyone involved in this show was old, and you know what – we kicked your Main Street hipster iconic beardo asses very nicely on this night. It was real, it was sweaty, it was high on the vibe-o-meter and... shit, it was punkrockarolla101. I kid you not.

FALL DOWN/GET DOWN 2013

Roky Erickson headlines FD/GD 2013

local label thumbs its nose at November

by Bryce Dunn

Let’s face it, as the end of the year draws nigh in Vancouver most of us wanna hunker in our bunkers until March and not come out until the apocalyptic clouds part like Moses parting the Red Sea. Thankfully, LA-TI-DA Records is once again giving the gig-going public ample reason to bundle up and brave the elements by hosting another epic seasonal shaker in the form of the Fall Down/Get Down Weekender November 14-17.

Even before the dust settled on last year’s line-up, many were asking if a sophomore stab was in the works as hard lessons were being learned with every step. This time out, according to Tim Horner (along with label partner Dale Davies and LTD team members Corey Poluk and Vanessa Dandurand), they want to “make sure to slow down, pace ourselves and enjoy the damn thing this year. Last year, the workload was crippling and often meant that we didn’t have the opportunity to take in a line-up that we worked so hard to curate.” They seem to have solved this issue with a slightly scaled down, less scattered, devoid-of-overlap program, but in the same breath have not skimped on the talent in the least.

Returning LA-TI-DA bands include the Ballantynes, Needles//Pins, the Tranzmitors and Fist City who will be rubbing shoulders with a solid set of out-of-towners such as Californian garage-pop creeps Cool Ghouls, Seattle’s sunny pop punk purveyors Big Eyes and the Brooklyn-based, slash-and-burn rock of Obits.

“But the heart of this fest,” concedes Horner, “rests firmly in the local scene. There are two central themes this year: local record release parties and local debut shows.” Introducing themselves during the festivities will be Mike & the Flintettes (featuring folks from the Tranzmitors, Vancougar and Weathered Pines), Charm (starring the hard-rockin’ ex-Hard Feelings rhythm section of Rick O’ Dell and Al Boyle) and Sunday Morning (sporting members from such legendary Mint Records bands as Tankhog and Pluto among its ranks).

Not content on hogging the spotlight for themselves, the crew at LTD is turning over the majority of Saturday’s soiree to the aforementioned Mint Records and Mammoth Cave Records for conjunctive record release shows for their respective acts Tough Age and Nervous Talk. Sunday’s finale will most certainly blow minds with the man who pioneered psychedelic rock, Roky Erickson, and the gloom-country crooner King Dude.

With the addition of DJ Russell Quan (the musical “Mummy”-fied mayor of San Francisco) spreading some good time record spinning fun and a gaggle of other great local acts, you can’t let this opportunity slip to help LA-TI-DA Records give November the middle finger and make some magic happen.

“Showcasing the LTD bands is honestly just a bit piece to this festival,” admits Horner. “If there’s any sort of aim, it’s to shake things up [in Vancouver] a little. The hurdles are not logistical: putting on Fall Down/Get Down is like solving a giant Sudoku puzzle. We really like solving Sudoku puzzles. The real hurdles run a little deeper in the collective consciousness.” Horner sums up the feeling of anticipation ahead of the upcoming event with some prophetic words from one of last year’s participants. “I think Tim Kerr put it best after returning to Austin from last year’s festival: ‘I wanted to say thanks to all in Vancouver that came and helped with the shows. You all have a really great scene going there… don’t get jaded and fuck it up!’ ”

And that’s the truth, Ruth. Get thee to www.latidarecords.com/the-fall-downget-down or check the LA-TI-DA Records’ Facebook page for the all the latest info including the full list of performers, then score a weekend wristband for $49 (+ S/C) and have some goddamn fun!

LA-TI-DA Records Presents FALL DOWN/GET DOWN 2013 NOV.14-17 at Biltmore Cabaret/Neptoon Records/Astoria Pub/Electric Owl Social Club.

ROCK BAND CALLED TIME

clocks in, ten more songs!

by More Betty

The eternal spirit of RNR finds its gravity in a Rock Band Called Time (RBCT). The origins of this East Vancouver trio can be traced back a few years, but the time is right for their self-titled LP. Guitarist and vocalist Braden DeCorby along with bassist Phil Misquitta both play in a very different sludge-doom band called Haggatha. “It's really slow heavy grim music with very little rock and roll influence. ‘Killyourmothermusic’ some would say. Just ‘cos we play that stuff, doesn't mean that’s all we listen too,” explains Misquitta, “Truth be ‘telt,’ we all MAINLY listen to old hard rock records.”

So to step back to 2009-ish and a broken ankle had DeCorby trading in his kick for a guitar and he wound up writing what could be described as “straight down the line” rock songs. Once healed, a few drum tracks made it to tape. Misquitta infers that an earlier incarnation with DeCorby had 20 songs written and sat in the basement on Fraser Street. “One day, a few years later he just pulled out these ADAT tapes and we started listening to them. They all had these amazing riffs and classic structures and I was sold right away,” he explains. Material that recalls Thin Lizzy, MC5 and early KISS. “I told him if he ever wanted to jam these songs, I would be down to play bass,” says Misquitta. At the time DeCorby was working with drummer Stew Johnson (GRASS CITY, BRONZE). “Stew is pretty much the most rock and roll guy in the city, so it made sense. We started jamming and pretty soon we were [the] rocking-est band in all of Little India,” he exclaims. To go from playing provocative punk-metal to music that gets folks dancing and singing can be described as “flattering!”

Hearing a Rock Band Called Time, the Thin Lizzy connection is so clear and incidentally another ensemble that started out as a trio before adding their two-guitar sound. “Everything about them was awesome. They had the best riffs, best drums and the best pronunciation of the word ‘out’ (oh-we-at). They wore women’s blouses but were super tough at the same time. All the vital rock and roll requirements,” says the bassist. RBCT considered adding a fourth member. “We always said that the only other guitar player we would ever add is Davy Blaze from Hoopsnake on account of him being one of the most ‘badassed’ rock and roll bastards we have ever known. He lives in Squamish though, so for the time being all you get is a power trio.” Another local, Pride Tiger, comes to mind immediately. “We actually played our first ever show with Pride Tiger, which ended up being their last ever show. I guess they passed on the Thin Lizzy rip-off torch to us,” he says.

In Vancouver, the name Jesse Gander is synonymous with recording and an obvious choice for this group with their collaborative history and a style that goes “above and beyond.” In 2012 they went to the Hive to record with Gander with plans for a four-song tape. “The songs went down a treat; even being played on 99.3 The Fox's indie show. The song ‘Manitoba’ in particular seems to be somewhat of a hit with the punters,” he says. “A friend of ours, let’s just call him ‘Big Fancy,’ persuaded us to go back into the studio and record enough songs for a full-length LP. His method of persuasion was to pay for it all,” he adds. Before recording they rehearsed with a vigorous work ethic, jamming for months, preparing right down to the last note. This allowed them the freedom to work and record right off the floor. “We find that we get a more honest and real result that way and that is important to us," says the bassist.

The task of an independent release can be a challenge to coordinate and finance. That said, their LP is available at Antisocial Skateboards, Audiopile, Neptoon Records or directly through them and be sure to catch them live so you can experience both the new songs and the old un-recorded ones too! “With the spirit of ROCK on our side.” Be assured, the torch will burn!

Look out for a show in December with Jiffy Marker and Proteens. Don’t be so ANTISOCIAL, come on out!

BURNING GHATS

worship the fore

by Heath Fenton

What is a burning ghat?

One version: A ghat is a stairway down the banks to the holiest bodies of waters used in cremation rituals and the charred remains of the burned would be set adrift into the current. Another version: The Burning Ghats of Vancouver: an extreme noise-filled, irate machine of a local band dedicated to dreadcore. Steeped deep in hardcore with a guitar tone that preys on minor chords that summon storm clouds to roll in fast, topped with lyrics that wail and scrawl with despaired reality, it’s bleakness at best.

Now that we cleared that up, may there be no more misinterpretations of their name. “Everybody seems to have their own versions of what it means,” chuckles bass player Cam Strudwick. “I actually went to the burning ghats in India. It’s insane. The funny thing is that they named the band before I joined.”

Over five years ago Burning Ghat’s guitarist Kevin Grindon’s previous band Batoche fizzled out. It was from these ashes that the Ghats were born. For his next project, Grindon picked his Scab (vocalist Chad Jones from the band Scabs). Then another scab was picked when Strudwick was recruited. More recently, they snagged manic drummer Ryan Driscol from Galgamex to make the current line-up. Like many young bands, Burning Ghats would go through evolutionary phases to get to what they have now.

“When we first started we wanted to be super techy and still have crust punk parts,” Grindon speaks of this process. “Then we moved away from the heavy metal and monster vocals to go back to our roots: hardcore, the one thing that ties us together as a group.” That may be, but there’s more going on in their music than hardcore, like evil undertones and dark tumultuous screamed lyrics.

The Ghats recorded their new record entitled Something Better Than Yourself at the Hive Creative Labs and made it a sort of coming out party for the years put in. “Lyrically this record turned into an attack on the lack of compassion I am forced to see every day. I've seen situations with other people that have affected me and about 75 per cent of what I write about deals with addiction and aversion to pain. Escapism, I guess.”

The Burning Ghats will announce their full arrival on to Vancouver’s extreme music scene with a coming-out-record-release-party on November 22 at the Astoria with Bridge Burner, Keep Tidy and Soot.

WALL OF SOUND - NOVEMBER

Here are some gigs to keep you maniacs smashed and thrashing through the fog and November rain:

Fri. Nov. 1: The Ramores (Ramones Tribute) Teenagers From Mars (Misfits) and Turbobastard (Turbonegro) wendythirteen’s Funky Winkerbeans @ 37 West Hastings St.

SUBCULTURE NOVEMBER

Ha ha ha, Chi Pig was part of a hilarious situation last night at the SNFU show as he came up and hid behind me saying that a rabid female fan was harassing him... So I was standing there protecting him and she spots him poking his head out from behind me... She moseys on over and tries to engage him again while he's telling her to leave him alone and I'm also then telling her to shoo... Then she says, “I'm going to keep bugging you until you remember me Justin!” Chi and I were just gutting ourselves laughing about that all night and for the rest of the gig I addressed Chi by his new nickname 'Juschinn'! Comedy gold! They say everyone in the world has a doppelganger... Oddly enough; Chi Pig has one named Justin somewhere out there...

THE SADIES

wax sonic mileage and landscapes

By More Betty

Photo by Don Pyle

Canada’s favourite touring band The Sadies are dropping a new record! Internal Sounds is a record infused with psychedelics, garage, a country lineage, Detroit RNR undertone and the geography of their native Ontario runs through its veins. The autumn hued gold-orange cover of this 2013 release is actually an image of guitarist Dallas Good’s shattered leg. “An accident [happened] before a show in Saskatoon a couple of years back. So, that was the inspiration for the title. I remember right after, he wanted to call the next record, Internal Sounds referring to the noise his leg made when it popped,” explains sibling, guitarist Travis Good as he chats from his Ontario farmhouse.

The contrast and harmony between the brothers, Dallas and Travis Good, a pairing of guitars and vocals, is consistently paced by the backbone of Sean Dean on upright bass and drummer Mike Belitsky. The original four-piece is still intact. “It’s really rare for a band like us,” he says, “to continue on with the same line-up this long. No members have ever changed, no-one has ever dropped out as we move along.” The accomplished catalogue from Favourite Colours, New Seasons and 2010’s Darker Circles segues seamlessly into Internal Sounds and the narrative and musicality of the recent recording unfolds from the inside out with tracks from “The Very Beginning” to “Leave This World Behind.” Dallas Good produced this album, which afforded the band space to work within their own timeline. “He’s learned a lot of tricks from a lot of people,” says Travis Good of his brother Dallas. “He always had [producer] Gary Louris’ voice ringing in his ear.” These experiences have guided their process. “He always knew what Gary was going to say,” he adds.

Travis Good wrote “So Much Blood,” with an acoustic guitar in mind, something folks could play at a campfire. “All my songs are just weird. Something you can’t play without The Sadies,” he says. “So I consciously made a decision to make it a real simple song.”

The lyrics of the second last song, “Story 19,” are written by Mike Stacks of The Loons along with Dallas. “It became our tribute to Ronnie Splinter, as opposed to a collaboration,” says Travis. It’s a song about the guitarist from ’60s Dutch garage group, The Outsiders, who passed away during the recording of this album.

This band has been blessed with stellar associations. “I just have to pinch myself for our luck,” says bassist Sean Dean. One track, and quite possibly the biggest surprise on the album, includes a guest appearance by Buffy Sainte-Marie.

“It was a sonic experiment that turned into my favourite song on the record,” echoes Travis. They met in Winnipeg, where she joined them onstage for a few songs and Dallas stayed in touch. “We heard that in the old days that standard tuning was a different,” explains Travis, which led to a noise experiment with the tuning. “We had had two, three minutes of this droning psychedelic music. So we sent it to Buffy to see if she would play, maybe her mouth harp,” he says. “She had lyrics for it that [went], way, way, way beyond our expectations and hopes. We just hoped she would contribute anything, strum a guitar and then she gave us that!”

This well-humored four-piece hits the road once more, this time extending their show. “We are going to do two sets,” Travis explains, as he considers the pacing of their live shows, working this time without an opener. A spirit reflective upon the days when a band would play all night, as it was with his father’s group, The Good Brothers. To add, these dates are rumored to bring along a light show of projections. “We don’t take ourselves seriously, but we take our rock ‘n’ roll very seriously,” says Sean Dean. If you haven’t ‘experienced a Sadies event, be prepared and if you don’t normally dance, you probably will here.

Join the Sadies for an evening at the Rickshaw Theatre, Oct 24th.

HAGGATHA

as ugly as they want to be

Remember when music was ugly, despicable and repulsive? Nirvana glamorized it. Eyehategod and Buzzoven disfigured it beyond recognition. Music played with anguish, desperation and hate. No shine, no polish, just greasy notes buried in mud, crust and chaos. Violence thrusting forth, screams of the depraved slaves. Haggatha captures this lost art with pure dissonance and disregard for anyone’s eardrums. Dirgy scowls and a raw slow grinding of the bowls. They are creating Vancouver’s ugliest music as they staple beer goggles to your ears and force you to fall in love with them.

GUITAR WOLF

“Creates, builds, destroys”

Something feral makes it’s way to all points rock ‘n’ roll. Seiji a.k.a. Guitarwolf, Toru a.k.a. Drumwolf and U.G. a.k.a. Basswolf comprise Japan’s Guitar Wolf and are set unleash their inner beast on this side of the Pacific. This ferocious trio touched down in Memphis late September and is set to prowl and stalk across North America equipped with a state of the art 12-inch vinyl titled, Beast Vibrator. A moment of acuity and keen observation spawned this recording. “Everyone was looking at smart phones while walking in the street. One day, surrounded by the telephone junkies, the anger exploded in me. That was the moment the album title track “Beast Vibrator” was born.” Seiji believes there is a solution to the technological malaise of the soul. “Recently, I noticed people saying, ‘I want to be healed,’” says the guitarist. Instead, he sees the real need is a matter of energy, to become “wild beasts” and to transform. “Move your body, shake your body more and more!” he exclaims.

There is a well-documented Japanese fascination with American rock ‘n’ roll; both masters of raw intensity, colliding, yet distinctive. “It’s like a difference between King Kong and Godzilla. I bet the longing for King Kong motivated the creator of Godzilla. “The rockers in Japan admire rock ’n’ roll in America strongly,” says Seiji. He mentions variances between Japanese and American culture, as well as physical characteristics, so Japanese R&R has come through the filter differently. “It’s like trying to be King Kong but turning out to be Godzilla with a long tail. I’m one of those rockers in Japan, clumsy but aiming at one of a kind R&R,” he explains.

Seems appropriate that Guitar Wolf lands in the birthplace of rock ‘n’ roll. This relationship was established because of a demo tape handed over to a man at the end of a live show. “Six months later, a vinyl record of the tape was delivered to me. The man was Eric of The Oblivians, a founder of The Goner Records in Memphis,” he says. It was a place that accepted the band when no one else was interested. “Sometimes, some interviewers do not know we are from Japan and ask us ‘Where are you from?’ Then, of course, I answer ‘Memphis, Tennessee,’ ” he adds.

“Energy” is a constant with Guitar Wolf’s music; it reads like a science fiction novel. “When I was in high school, I had sleep paralysis, old hag attack … it seemed I was taken away to UFO and they embedded a chip inside my body. I write the songs when I receive the messages or the commands from the star,” he says and explicates further, “It might be a memory of the past of the aliens. The source of my power and energy is UFO and a cool Alien chick I haven’t met yet.”

There is further evidence of this phenomenon on Beast Vibrator with titles like, “EARTH vs. ALIEN.” Stories of time travel with “Mesopotamia Lonely,” a motorbike ride to “Sapphire City,” the power of “Magma Nobunaga,” the prophetic “Gasoline Lullaby,” the motivation of “Ghost You,” and technological love story with “Maria Robot,” to the ferocity of “Female Machine Gun.”

Science Fiction is evident; distortion obliterates and lays waste to the doubt of non-believers of the robust power. “There are two types of human beings in the world: Ones who can play the guitar with clean sound and ones who can’t. I’m the one who can’t,” he says, “I’m the one who wants to destroy the sound. I guess those of us who like noise and distortion want to explode ourselves all the time. That’s right, the rockers who rode on such a sound were always exploding.”

Guitar Wolf live is a transformational experience. A connective ritual and Seiji is the master of ceremonies, harnessing and molding the energy. “Of course! You haven’t looked at the movement of my throat when I gulp down a beer. It’s the Morse code. I’m sending a message to everyone, “Fire up tonight!”

Get set to create, build, destroy and vibrate with Guitar Wolf at the Rickshaw Theatre October 9th.

-More Betty

TERROR

Keeping it real

Los Angeles’ Terror is one of the hardest-working bands that has more than earned its place and keep at the top of the hardcore mountain. Certainly, they’re a tall order alongside legendary contemporaries like Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Sick Of It All, Cro-Mags, Madball and H20. Together since 2002, one of the most dedicated and respected, known internationally for the intensely powerful and energetic live shows. The last 11 years has seen this band tour the world, back and forth, relentlessly, and still constantly destroying stages and representing real hardcore to the kids.

SUBCULTURE OCTOBER

I had really hoped that the public outrage over the new labour market opinion [LMO] fees would carry more weight than it has ... Jason Kenney doesn't seem to give a shit at all ... That being said, I'm sure Stephen Harper doesn't care either, even with nearly 137 thousand signatures opposing those changes ... I personally find it outrageous that musicians are lumped in with mine workers from China with multi-billion dollar corporations behind them...