Who Are You with Brandy and the Butcher

I've really been digging on Brandy and the Butcher lately. I need to get myself over to BANDCAMP to purchase their new record.

Tell me what do you think of it?

In the mean time, here's what they have to say about things.

Pandemic Dispatches with Saints of Death

About three weeks ago, our new British Columbian friends, Saints of Death, released a ripping new record called Ascend To The Throne which you should be stuffing into your earhole right now.

BANCAMP LINK

Get that going while you're reading about how the boys in Vancouver are holding up during this global pandemic.

1. How are things going where you are? The laws and such.

We're pretty fortunate being from BC. 

Although we've been in quarantine like the rest of the world, BC has done a pretty good job of dealing with it compared to the other regions of our country. We just can't wait to get back to rehearsing, touring, and writing.

2. How long have you been sheltering in place at this time?

Meowtal with Adzes

Have you heard of anything that's been happening there out on the West Coast that might concern you and make you worry about the state of our democracy?

Well, Adzes, has been fighting the good fight against Capitalism via Sludge Metal.

If you're not thinking about Jesus Built My Deathsquads right now, what are you even doing in this world?

Check it out on BANDCAMP right now!

1. In my house, we have three cats named Wickett, Louis IX, and Jiji. How many do you have and what are they called?

We have two cats and a dog.  The cats are named Zeppo (although he most often gets called Lil Man) and Zelda, and the dog is Daisy.

2. It's obvious where our cats got their names. Where did yours get theirs?

Pandemic Dispatches with Rebel Priest

Let's continue howling into the void of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Check out the latest release from Rebel Priest on BANDCAMP and in the meantime...

1. How are things going where you are? The laws and such.

Canada has had a pretty lucky go, especially where we are in Vancouver BC. with a limited amount of cases and the new “phase 2” coming into action allowing bars and pubs to open has reopened social life for us here in BC. 

Although, we still don’t get live shows, the community has gotten together harder than I think I’ve ever seen it. Everyone is hungry, everyone is itchy… this is the type of zeitgeist we’re experiencing, the NEED for a show is brewing and coming soon!~

---

We sheltered collectively for about a month, one of the 3 of us was what was deemed an “essential worker” so he really got the short end of the stick. 

AND I’d say that whole on work/off work situation has been very complicated; but we’ve come together as a crew… knowing that we were able to rely on each other the same way we did, as we were on tour, relying on the simple chemistry of the band. 

It was super refreshing to deal with each other on such an honest level… that's bein’ a band baby!!

WORST QUESTION hahaha… for real tho, we as well as many other bands had so many things cancelled this year; we lost 2 Canadian tours this year and are waiting on baited breath for JAPAN, we’d love to go back or get to our buddies on the east side of our great country (Villain, Skullfist, Luger, etc)… 

Some great local shows, Flotsam and Jetsam was scheduled for May 28… haha the more I bring up , the less I’d like to do this question… Let's pass for now, are we allowed to pass it on to next year ??

Writing songs of course!! when your jam space is huge, and your only a 3 piece… you can social distance safely and rock out hard as well… 

We’re a clean and generally healthy bunch; can’t say we were to stressed here, to be honest… BC , especially, Vancouver has seemed to dodge the worst of COVID19 thus far...

Oh, the Priest is always ready… but on a less “band pragmatic stance” , we like to have fun, writing together is fun for us… we do the best working together, we simply took the time to find what worked the best.

I could answer this all day long

For real though, what do I splurge….. hmm well we’ve been cooking up a DVD, a TV show, a NEW album amongst MANY other ideas… with all the time, we’ve talked about going in about every direction we can think of going. let's take things to the next level

How do we build a scene?? let's take this thing to the next level, how do we progress past covid19? as a global/musical population??

Vinyloscopy with Dethlehem's Brutalitus the Bloodbeard

BANDCAMP that I think you would do well to listen to.

Fair warning, the vinyl edition is edited a bit as it doesn't have the story elements in there as well, because there's just too much!

This is their fourth album, and it's time to find out they're listening to records.

Let's get it on!

1. Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. What's the album that sounds the best on 

Brutalitus: Hmmm that's a tough one because so many albums sound better on vinyl. If I had to choose ONE I would probably say.....

Pandemic Dispatches with Feleth

Let's check in with another band on the lockdown train. Who else wishes all the selfish jerks would just mask up for a month and we could have this kicked?

Anyway, check out their SINGLE here.

1. How are things going where you are? The laws and such.

It’s going pretty well. We’re located in the middle of nowhere so the quarantining has been chill. We had about 3 weeks before cafés started opening, but they still don’t recommend going to them.

As of now luckily everyone affected by corona is healthy and recovered.

Fresh Fries with King Gorm's Francis

One of the great things about living in this pandemic is the glut of fast food I've stuffed into my gaping maw.

I've been a fast food junkie for a long, long time though. Now we're going to learn about some metal dudes and how they crush the fast food, at home and on the road.

Up first is the eminently regal, Francis, of King Gorm. 

I gave their new record an A+ in my most recent review round up. Won't you listen to it whilst your reading it. You'll have to work up an excuse not to buy it.

Here's the BANDCAMP link.

1. Let's not pretend.  Fast food is delicious. What is your favorite fast food joint?

Pandemic Dispatches with Junkowl

Montreal seems to be the city where I'm getting the most pandemic dispatches.

Check out Junkowl on BANDCAMP and find out how they're coping below.

1. How are things going where you are? The laws and such.

I think things are starting to relax a bit here in Montreal, businesses are slowly starting to re-open and we’re now allowed small gatherings of people. 

Still no date set for the re-opening of bars or venues though.

2. How long have you been sheltering in place at this time?

I started self-isolating at the end of March, and just starting seeing some close friends, while still being careful. 

Vinyloscopy with League of Corruption

Whilst you and I sit here worrying about what is coming next...remember MURDER HORNETS? Now it's secret police...

Well, while all that's going on and the world is burning around us, let's focus on the positives and get to know a band and their record collection.

Hailing all the way from Vancouver, British Columbia, we have League of Corruption giving us a look into their racks.

In the meantime, check out their southern sludge over on BANDCAMP, I'd say you should stream that stuff while you're reading.

Tell me I'm wrong.

5 Min Origin Stories with Kavorka

I want to show you this band Kavorka and find out how they got it all started. They're from my favoritely named city in the world...

Reykjavik, Iceland.

Now, do you think they had anything to say about Icelandic Honey Week? It's almost like the Icelandic metal bands don't even give two craps about their honey.

Anyhoo...they'll be releasing their debut, Internal Rituals on glorious vinyl.

Keep an eye on their BANDCAMP in the meantime.

It's time to learn more about what makes them tick.

1. Is there an event you can point to you that made you say, wow, that's the instrument I want to play? Not like guitar or drums, but the reason why you play the model you do?

My answer is Kurt Cobain´s Fender Mustang. 

Pandemic Dispatches with Black Pestilence's Valax

Check out the latest record from Calgary's own, Black Pestilence.

It's all up there on BANDCAMP.

1. How are things going where you are? The laws and such.

After about two and a half months of quarantine, various provinces in Canada have lifted restrictions. 

This has resulted in the re-opening of various nonessential businesses and restaurants. 

Overall, I think Canada has reacted to the virus quickly and efficiently. 

Social distancing rules are still in effect but it is obvious that even in common places such as grocery stores, people are starting to not care as much. I am sure this is due to the fact that overall cases of the virus have started to decline significantly within Canada. 

The laws haven't been as strict as other countries (no mandatory masks, no curfew, no special ID cards, etc.) because most people, at least in Calgary, have been following the guidelines.

Meowtal with Andy Dowling of LORD

To be perfectly honest, when our little Kitten, Randall Pink Floyd died in April...I couldn't do this column anymore. It was largely written in his honor.

But now, we are a few months on and our tears for Floyd have dried. He's gone but never forgotten. We also adopted a new little kitten named Jiji.

So, in that vein, it seemed right to revive this column and find out again what those metal guys with their cats were doing.

I think we're going to find that Andy Dowling's cat is a bit on the ugly side, but we won't cat shame.

Presently, Andy holds down the bass notes with Australian Power Metal institution, LORD, and he's podcasting like nobody's business.

He was also kind enough to join me on my weekly Instagram Live.

Check out what's he kicking over on his WEBSITE.

1. In my house, we have three cats named Wickett, Louis IX, and Jiji. How many do you have and what are they called?

I have a pet Cockatiel named Larry Birb.

Pandemic Dispatches with Dyatlove

On May 29th, Dyatlove released their self-titled, debut EP, it comes it about a minute less than 1 Reign In Blood, via BANDCAMP.

1. How are things going where you are? The laws and such.

In Vancouver BC we have done quite well with the pandemic.

We are through phase 2 of reopening and are hoping to be at phase 3 by July.

With phase 2 retail stores are all back open, parks are up and running and restaurants and bars are open to limited capacity.

Review Round Up 7/10/20

On a personal note, it's been really hard to maintain my standard content output and I'm sorry. I have figured out how I can get back to at least getting some reviews out there.

For the moment, I'm sticking with the round up style of reviews.

King Gorm by King Gorm (7/31/20)

So, this was a band I'd been seeing things about on Twitter. With my situation being what it is, I've not kept up on my emails. With that said, their style was still unknown to me. So, when pressing play for the firs time, it's hard to precisely describe the music I'm hearing.

Without going into all of the costumes, mythology, and origin of the name, let's just talk about this music. Vocally, there's a bit of Ghost in there, along with some Ghost-ish, instrumentation. Keyboards and such.

But musically, it's far closer to Iron Maiden on the metal spectrum. This band sounds like what I what hear in my head when I see Ghost.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

Vinyloscopy with Kore Rozzik

When deciding what music to purchase or what to listen to, I feel like it's important to support the musicians who support your values.

For me, the scratch of the diamond on the wax, the slight pop of the static, and the old school sounds crushing me in the face is what I need when I'm ready to listen to some music.

Kore Rozzik embodies all of these things for me...so let's find out more.

1. Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. 

What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources?

This is just for whatever reason the first thing that popped in my head was Cinderella Night Songs. It just sounds so much crisper and alive on vinyl compared to cd or even cassette.