Bookin' It with Kurtis Jeffrey of Technical Damage

Technical Damage

Are you familiar with Technical Damage?

Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, they're a melodic death metal band. Back in September, they released their debut full length LP, The Introspect. You should check that out at BANDCAMP.

You'll always feel better checking in with any of friends from The Great White North. Instead of discussing the minutiae of their record, Kurtis Jeffrey was good enough to talk to us about what books he's been reading.

1.  I try to read at least two books per month, and mostly fail, what's your goal and reality?

A goal that I've been facing an upward battle with recently is taking care of my personal health. A demanding job, busy lifestyle and the constant mental gymnastics I use to justify "down time" prevent me from seeing certain specialists who I know would improve my general quality of life. 

Album Review: "Gotterdammerung" by VARG

Although I am grateful to the British Empire, Elvis Presley and Black Sabbath for ensuring the majority of heavy metal is performed in the one language I fully understand, I wouldn’t mind if more bands performed in their native tongue.  The rhythm, cadence and melody of the vocals has always been more important to me than their lyrical content.  This isn’t to say strong lyrics are not of great value, but if a German band can get the vibe right, I am happy to dust off the little German I did learn in school and let Google translator handle the rest.  Certainly, if a band is performing German Pagan Metal, it is reasonable to assume, expect, and hope for the lyrics to be in German.  In this matter Varg delivers.

Varg has quite a devoted following in their home country with their brutal assault of melodic death metal.   The label of death metal alone does no fully describe their sound, as there are several passages throughout the EP which delve fully into the black metal sound.  Their strong visual element is a perfect blend of the death and black metal aesthetics.

Album Review: "The Immortal Wars" by Ex Deo

No other genre of music has sub-genres like heavy metal does. Not only are there dozens of sub-genres which explain the sonic qualities of a band, but there are sub-genres which are purely thematic which reflect the band’s lyrical content and stage appearance. 

 There is the much celebrated and beloved Viking Metal, Pirate Metal, Teutonic Metal, Egyptian Metal, Pagan Metal and at least a dozen more which are not occurring to me right now. Besides maybe Vikings, there is probably nothing more metal than an armor clad legionnaire charging into combat with the name of Caesar on his lips and the might of Jupiter at his back. So it stands to reason it was only a matter of time before the need for Roman Metal was necessarily met.

I cannot imagine a band could execute it more capably than Ex Deo. The glory of Ancient Rome has never been so appropriately displayed as when Ex Deo storms the stage in garb fit for an invasion of Gaul, whilst performing symphonic death metal.

LP Review: "Battle Through Time" by Undrask

Battle Through Time

Lately my daughter has been obsessed with the Hotel Transylvania movies.

So, I've been seeing a great many "hilarious" takes on the classic monsters many of us grew up watching. Considering that she is not one to enjoy being scared yet, do you think she'd enjoy watching Frankenstein ransack a town of villagers?

Or see him being chased away by villagers with torches?

That leads me to thinking about Frankenstein, or as it should be said, Frankenstein's Monster.

How many bands in this day and age aren't just that? Well, really all of them are because you have, presumably, a few distinct personalities and styles that meld this whole song together and make it one.

LP Review: "Agonia" by Shadecrown

Agonia

First impressions are just worst thing in the world if you're anything like me.

Case in point, my daughter and I were headed home from school when she asked about handshakes.

"Daddy, why do people shake hands?"

Truth be told, I did not recall the reason why we did that, but after a hockey game that same week, our friend told us about checking for hidden daggers.

Handshakes are anxiety inducing for me...because it's a feat of strength, and what does it matter if this guy can crush my fingers? Seriously, who wants their fingers crushed and how's this supposed to mean that he's good at business?

Customs are stupid, but anyway, let's all shake hands with Shadecrown.