Sons of an Eastern Moon – Borealis August 24th, 2023 Melodic Death Metal / Folk Metal Independently Released/ Earache Digital Distribution St. John’s, Newfoundland
Several years after the release of the band’s debut full length record, L’Anse Aux Metals, along with a lineup change that saw Alex Wells taking the seat behind the drum set, we’ve finally been graced with a new release from Newfoundland’s only folk metal group, Sons of an Eastern Moon. The long-awaited Borealis was released earlier this year and features three tracks, a decidedly smaller offering than I otherwise would’ve liked, but hey, at least it’s an offering nonetheless.
The EP opens with some acoustic guitar passages on “Final Light”, a track which serves primarily as a simple introduction to the other two songs on Borealis. Interestingly, the acoustics are accompanied by some symphonic elements in the background, which is a nice touch to the overall sound of this brief piece.
From there we go to “Nightfall” and “Warriors” which feature the same kind of kickass melodic riffage we’ve come to expect from guitarist duo Cory Fagan and John N. Roach as well as bassist Rob J. Peyton. The riffs here, much like on their debut draw influence from the greats of the Viking metal genre, such as Amon Amarth and Ensiferum, though there’s also a noticeable tinge of NWOTHM-style riffing that helps this Newfoundland quintet stand apart from their contemporaries.
The vocals from Thor “Spooky” Odinson, have often been a point of contention for this band’s style, as most people who hear of them expect a more guttural approach akin to Johan Hegg. Here, however, Odinson chooses to scream in a high pitched falsetto that has always reminded me of Cam Pipes from 3 Inches of Blood. It’s certainly unique and I, for one, enjoy it immensely. I’ve always been a defender of this creative choice from Sons, and it’s no different on this EP. It’s cool to hear a few brief moments of harsher vocals show up across this recording, however.
Alex Wells was also a great choice to fill the role of percussionist here. His drumming is fast, tasteful and lively. Every section of these songs has exactly the kind of drum beat it needs. He’s precise and tight, and even throws a few curveballs through his use of accents on the hi-hat cymbal or slower beats over fast double bass sections. There’s a spring in his step, if you will, with regards to the tempo, and helps make both “Nightfall” and “Warriors” a bit jaunty to listen to.
This is a fantastic EP from Sons of an Eastern Moon. My primary complaint is that it’s just too damn short. I really hope the band is able to pull it together for another full length release in the future because this thing took way too long to get released and ultimately feels a little underwhelming since it’s only three songs, one of which is just a minute-long intro. That said, the two full tracks that are offered here are excellent, and a great continuation of the style established on L’Anse Aux Metals. I personally can’t wait for more music from Sons of an Eastern Moon.
Final Verdict: 4/5 Awesome
Favourite Tracks: “Nightfall” “Warriors”
For Fans of: Amon Amarth 3 Inches of Blood At the Gates
Allagash – Dark Future November 4th, 2022 Speed Metal Independently Released St. John’s, Newfoundland
I have been a huge fan of Allagash ever since the release of their first self-titled record all the way back in 2016. Since then I’ve been obsessed with their brand of cold, melancholic, and epic speed metal that reaches back to the past to forge something unique in the present. Dark Future, the band’s third full length record, dropped suddenly and unexpectedly earlier this year, with next to no promotion surrounding the record. Obviously as soon as I saw the link pop up on social media I immediately jumped in and have been listening to it pretty consistently since the release date in early November.
Dark Future is in fact a re-recording of an album that was released back in 2017 which the band unfortunately decided to remove from public viewing. I’ll never understand why that was done since that version of Dark Future has had some of my favourite tracks Allagash has ever written within its runtime, but I’m happy that those songs have seen the light of day once more, albeit with updated production and a few additions to the tracklist.
As always the band keeps things cold and sinister. Listening to this record feels like you’re stuck in the walls of some alien vessel. The hallways are freezing cold to the touch and clinical and sterile in their aesthetic. It feels like you’re being caroused through the stars against your will by a race of strange alien beings for whom your worst nightmares are their scientific study. There’s just something about the riff writing and the atmosphere of these songs that does a perfect job encapsulating that creepy but at the same time wondrous narrative experience of alien abduction and the realization that extraterrestrials have been visiting Earth for centuries.
These songs which are mostly composed by Trevor Leonard, aka ‘The Sumerian’, feature some absolutely mesmerizing riffs. Perhaps its this guy’s background in black metal that affords him a unique take on 80’s speed metal, but they’re simultaneously melancholy and epic. The main riff from “Intruders” for example is 100% a melodic death metal riff, like something you’d hear performed by At the Gates or even Amon Amarth in their heyday. It’s so huge and colossal, and it genuinely gives me chills when I hear it. Other songs, like the title track, are very slow and atmospheric at first, drawing upon that black metal edge like some of the slower cuts from a band like Gorgoroth, while layering squealing and soaring solos over the top of it. It’s magnificent to behold.
Vocalist Regan Ryan, aka ‘Mooncrawler’, is as beastly as he has always been on this release. His vocals have a very unique quality to them that is hard to describe, but ever since I first heard them on the band’s debut I’ve adored the way he sounds against the backdrop of Leonard’s compositions. He’s the perfect fit for this band. There’s also somebody else who does some harsher backing vocals on this record. They’re not harsh in the sense of being death or black metal vocals, more so drawing upon the more extreme ends of thrash metal to produce a snarling rasp that still retains a slight simulacrum of melody. It’s great and contrasts Ryan’s vocals well, without overstaying their welcome.
The bass, provided by new member ‘The Harvester’, who joined the band earlier this year, I believe, isn’t as present as I’d like it to be, save for the band’s awesome cover of “Critical Mass” by Nuclear Assault, which is a badass song to cover. The band did an awesome job, but I love how heavy and thick the bass comes through on this song. It’s so crunchy and loud and in your face, and The Harvester absolutely nailed his performance of this crossover classic. I just wish he was more present or standout on the other songs on here.
This record also features long time drummer Jon Singleton, aka ‘Entity’, behind the kit, and he sounds as great as always. The drums in particular on this album sound excellent. There’s a lot of meat in the rolls and the fills, though the kick drum sounds a slight bit too triggered for my liking. In terms of Singleton’s performance I have little to say. The guy is a fantastic drummer, and always has been. He adds a lot of different styles throughout this record, transitioning from fast, one-two thrash beats like on the title track, or keeping things slow. In particular he’s great at coming up with cool double-bass patterns, as evidenced by the beginning of “Nightmare Hall”.
The production on this record is where people seem to have the most complaints, and I have to say I partially agree. The drums sound great aside from the bass drum, as previously mentioned, but it does feel like the guitars are a bit washed out. There are sections where the leads or the solos feel a bit too quiet, as if they’re struggling to come out over the rhythm guitar and the bass. The vocals feel a bit drowned out as well, and I sometimes find myself struggling to hear what exactly Ryan is saying. I like the reverb on the vocals but in this instance it might be a case of too much reverb on every instrument involved. That being said the production doesn’t affect how I feel about the record to such a degree that I’m turned off from listening to it.
This is, when all is said and done, another fantastic effort from one of St. John’s’ longest running traditional heavy metal outfits. Allagash have always delivered the goods and Dark Future is no different. Without a doubt this is one of my favourite records to come out of Newfoundland and Labrador this year. I’m so stoked that these songs which I loved so much back in 2017 and thought were lost forever, have finally been returned to their rightful place. This has potential to be album of the year material for Heavy NFLD.
This edition of Metal Maniacs features Greg Ravengrave, the multi-instrumentalistbehind Mistwalker, drummer of Ratpiss, as well as numerous other projects, and the founder of Heavy NFLD.
Hey folks! After doing this project for a few months thanks to the inspiration of Winterhearth frontman and guitarist Andrew Marsh I figured it was finally time for me to sit down and write about my own series of inspirational and influential records that led me to become the musician I am today. For those of you who don’t know, my name is Greg, I’m the founder of Heavy NFLD and the guy who mainly writes for this blog. I write and record everything in the black metal project Mistwalker, play drums in the crust band Ratpiss, and have umpteen-thousand other side projects besides that which span a number of different genres. With that out of the way, let’s get into it!
The Sword – Age of Winters
When I was but a wee lad I was growing up in the town of Glovertown, which is about three hours outside of St. John’s, in the Gander area. I grew up in a pretty strict Christian conservative household where my family did everything in their power to shelter me from the outside world. In all honesty, it was pretty fucked. Thankfully we eventually got the internet. At this time in my life I was pretty heavy into gaming and I was obsessed with the PS2 video game Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. One day I was browsing YouTube and found a trailer for the game’s sequel, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. The song used in that trailer? “Iron Swan” by The Sword. The heaviness, aggression and insanity of the instrumentation in that song was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Coupled with visuals of vast swathes of Venezuelan jungle being burned to the ground and tanks and attack helicopters blowing shit up, it kicked my ass. From that moment I was hooked and needed more. Thankfully the rest of this record, including such classics as “Freya” and “Winter’s Wolves”, had plenty more megalithic riffage to offer my adolescent brain.
Slipknot – Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses
While The Sword was my gateway drug into metal, it wasn’t until Slipknot came across my ears that I delved fully into my nu metal cringelord phase. I first heard “Before I Forget” on Guitar Hero III as a teenager and, in all honesty, it didn’t quite click with me. However, when I eventually came across the song “Duality” on YouTube I was hooked. The rest of the album was like a drug, from the absurdly heavy and chaotic early tracks like “The Blister Exists” to the absolute banger that is “Pulse of the Maggots”, this album was exactly what my miserable, angst-filled teenage brain needed. Even the quieter, more solemn songs on this album, like “Circle”, “Vermilion”, and “Vermilion Part 2” hit me right in the feels. From this record I would eventually branch out into the rest of Slipknot’s discography and became a die-hard Maggot.
Judas Priest – Painkiller
Around the same time that Guitar Hero started to fall off as a franchise, Rock Band came in to absolutely dominate the rhythm game market, and me, along with many of my friends, became obsessed. Towards the end of high school we used to host Rock Band parties on a pretty regular basis, and I can even credit the game with being how I first learned how to play drums. When Rock Band 2 came out near the end of the 2000’s I ate up the amount of metal tracks that had been included on the game’s disc at release, including Judas Priest’s “Painkiller”. I was blown away by the sheer sonic assault of the drum into. I had never heard anything quite like it. I was obsessed and immediately went to listen to the rest of the record. I remember having the thought, “this is fucking metal, man”. For real, if an alien visited Earth and asked me to define heavy metal I would play this album. Every single song on this thing is an unabashed banger. This is one of the few records in existence I would say is an 11/10, and to this day it remains in fairly constant rotation on whatever device I’m using to listen to music.
Mastodon – Crack the Skye
Similarly to Judas Priest, I also discovered Mastodon through Rock Band 2 thanks to the inclusion of “Colony of Birchmen”. At the time, however, that song didn’t quite click with me. Luckily it was only about a year later when the band would drop one of the most critically lauded records of their career. Crack the Skye came to me at exactly the right moment in my life. It was dirty and dark but was incredibly complex. This album introduced me to progressive metal but also encouraged me to push my drumming skills to the next level. Brann Dailor is an absolute monster on this record and I spent many hours in the rec room of my parent’s house trying to nail this entire album behind the kit.
Between the Buried and Me – Colors
Yet another artist discovered through Rock Band 2, albeit this time through the game’s downloadable content. “Prequel to the Sequel” was my first exposure to progressive metal of this stripe. The guitar playing on that song is on another level and the sheer complexity of the track as it twists and morphs into so many different areas still boggles my mind to this day. When listening to the full record it’s clear that Colors is in a class all on its own when it comes to contemporary progressive metal. Aside from showing me just what was capable within the framework of the “metal” genre, this band also got me into harsh vocals. There was a long time where I didn’t like screaming, no matter if it was the ultra low gutturals of a band like Cannibal Corpse or the higher pitched snarl of metalcore bands, I wasn’t into it. I could only tolerate Slipknot because for some reason in my adolescent mind Corey Taylor’s yelling wasn’t the same as a straight up death metal scream (don’t ask how I justified that, because I wouldn’t remember). But once I got into Between the Buried and Me I really understood just why harsh vocals were so appealing to people, and from then on I was sold.
Devin Townsend Project – Addicted
This was my introduction to Devin Townsend, an artist who has arguably had the most effect on my life as a musician, at least from a work ethic perspective. Addicted, like many of the other records on this list, came to me at the perfect moment in my life. It melded heavy guitars with a 100% pop aesthetic, fusing heaviness with absurdly catchy bubblegum melodies, and it was like a sonic version of crack to my ears. I couldn’t get enough of it. It was this album that made me realize that no matter how complex or impressive the musicianship on any given record is, what really matters to me as a musician is if your songs are memorable, and so I started putting a lot of focus into trying to craft catchy hooks over anything else. Granted, I wasn’t actually recording my own music at this point (around 2009/2010-ish), but it greatly influenced the music I did end up working on in the coming decade. Aside from that, the sheer amount of music that Townsend put out around this time wound up having more of an effect on me than the music itself did. How he was able to put out so much material so quickly, most of which was pretty damn good, astounded me, and I aspired to try and live up to that as much as possible with my own works.
SikTh – Death of a Dead Day
The first time I heard “Bland Street Bloom” by these UK tech metal legends I was blown away. If Between the Buried and Me opened my mind to what was capable of being played on guitar, and Devin Townsend showed me that prog and metal can still be catchy and poppy without sacrificing heaviness, SikTh showed me that you can maintain both of those qualities while also being insane. No doubt a huge influence on the djent scene that emerged in the 2010’s, none of the bands that followed in SikTh’s footsteps could ever really hold a candle to these guys. Sure, I love Meshuggah as much as the next guy, and they undoubtedly started the style, but SikTh has a special flavour that nobody could ever really match. As much as I love groups like Periphery and Tesseract and Born of Osiris, SikTh is the gold standard for technical and progressive metal, and this album is the pinnacle of that. To this day I’m still mesmerized by the guitar and drum work on this thing and I can only hope to one day be able to even come close to what is performed on this record.
Stolen Babies – There Be Squabbles Ahead
I was never quite a goth kid when I was in high school but I always kind of wanted to be. There was definitely an appeal to the aesthetic presented by what is considered typical “goth” media like The Nightmare Before Christmas or My Chemical Romance, but given the oppressive nature of high school in small town Newfoundland I never really went full tilt, so to speak. Musically I wouldn’t even end up getting into actual, honest to Satan, goth rock until recently. Back in high school I found myself drawn more to avant garde metal, which, in my opinion, is usually just a fancy way of saying carnival musical with distorted guitars. Stolen Babies were my entryway to that world, and to this day I don’t think any band has quite managed to capture the feeling that their debut record, There Be Squabbles Ahead, has. I remember hearing one song from these guys on YouTube and being unable to find the rest of the record anywhere, save on a torrent site, so I let the album download over the course of a week and when I finally got to listen to it I was enthralled by what I heard. It’s fair to say that this record has influenced my own music to a degree, especially when it comes to some of the Halloween-themed releases I’ve dropped as Mistwalker (namely Of Pumpkins and Pinecones). And yes, before you ask, I did end up buying the album. I own a CD copy of it at my parents’ place in Glovertown.
Amon Amarth – Twilight of the Thunder God
This one probably doesn’t come as much surprise to anyone. The band’s most popular and critically acclaimed record, Twilight of the Thunder God is remembered fondly for a reason. This album is another 11/10 for me. Every track on here is so flawless both with their songwriting capability and memorability. Every song on this album is memorable and stands apart from the others on the record with their own individual flavour and uniqueness. This was probably the first death metal record I ever full enjoyed, this or At the Gates’ Slaughter of the Soul. However, it was this album’s (and band’s) Viking themes that drew me. It was around this time (2011-2013) that I became very interested in Norse mythology and Viking history, and this record was my gateway to that. The riffs and the vocals are so powerful that nary a melodeath record has risen to accomplish what this album has. It was this record that led to me incorporating occasional themes of paganism and Norse myth in my own music when I officially started recording under the name of Mistwalker in 2013.
Darkthrone – F.O.A.D.
It was when I was in college (from 2012-2014) that I met my Kristopher Crane (from the projects Nemophilist and Acorn to Great Oak and also from the bands Impaled Upon the Mountains and Grimacing, which we formed together) who introduced me to black metal. I was aware of black metal before college but it never quite clicked with me. Once I was a bit older and felt a bit more depressed in my adult life I think that’s when I fully got it. The album that really did it for me was F.O.A.D. by Darkthrone, which Kris had introduced me to. Songs like “Canadian Metal”, “The Church of Real Metal”, and “Raised on Rock” just hit me right in the gut. To this day Darkthrone is the band that has inspired me the most as a musician, particularly in terms of style. Their mixture of black metal with old school heavy metal and crust punk (particularly their 2000’s era) and even the doom metal they’re doing these days is exactly the kind of music I want to create.
Honourable Mentions:
At the Gates – Slaughter of the Soul Baroness – Red Album The Black Dahlia Murder – Nocturnal Darkthrone – Transilvanian Hunger Diablo Swing Orchestra – The Butcher’s Ballroom Equilibrium – Sagas High on Fire – Death is this Communion The Human Abstract – Digital Veil Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance Kylesa – Static Tensions Mastodon – Leviathan Periphery – Periphery Slipknot – All Hope is Gone Whitechapel – A New Era of Corruption
For this installment of Metal Maniacs, Sons of an Eastern Moon guitarist John N. Roach takes us on his own musical journey that led to him becoming the musician and music fan that he is today.
Alrighty, my turn to contribute to this amazing website. Hello! My name is John Roach and I’m a founding member and guitarist for Sons of an Eastern Moon and Animus Volatilis (disbanded). Following Andrew Marsh’s (WinterheartH) lead, I too will refrain from adding local metal to my list, while also not allowing any repeat bands. My music influences span far beyond metal, but I’m sticking to metal for the sake of this list. While I’m borrowing ideas from Andrew, I’m also gonna tack on some honorable mentions at the end. Lets do this.
3 Inches of Blood – Fire Up the Blades
One of, if not THE greatest metal bands to come from the Great White North. 3 Inches of Blood helped me through a lot of angst in high school. I would be walking the halls blasting this album on my walkman or Zune player on a regular basis. It was around this time I had recently picked up the guitar. While others learned “Smoke on the Water” or “Stairway to Heaven”, I was trying to learn “The Goatriders Hoard” and “Black Spire” by ear.
I tend to save the intro tracks for when I have an exam or some test to get me mentally prepped for the challenge ahead. I would end up doing the same for job interviews, and for tests when I attended OIART. Whenever I face adversity, I will fire up the blades.
Amon Amarth – With Oden on Our Side
High school. I was just getting into metal at the time, after being shown DragonForce, Sonata Arctica, Kamelot, Nightwish, etc. I was stuck on the notion that “screaming is not singing” and was strongly against it. That is, until a span of maybe 2-3 months where I was introduced to In Flames, Arch Enemy, and Amon Amarth. The song “Cry of the Blackbirds” was my greeting from this massive album. A friend of mine gave me a burned CD with some select bands on it. No matter how much I would continue to say I was against gutterals… I would come back to this song. It became common for me to have Amon Amarth at the ready for when I’d go for walks in the hall to make me feel stronger and more confident. It’s a big reason why I have the album art tattooed on me now (thanks to Jessica Smith Tattoos).
Blind Guardian – A Twist in the Myth
First job. I had my first taste of disposable income. Whenever I could get the bus or hitch a ride with my parents, I would go to the HMV in the Georgian Mall in Barrie, Ontario and buy random CDs purely based on name recognition or if they had a cool album cover. Absolutely no prior research.
Blind Guardian’s A Twist in the Myth was one of these treasures I brought home. I wore out the CD I played it that much.
The melodies, the soaring vocals of Hansi, the intensity… I was hooked in a way I hadn’t been with a full album before. Masterpiece of an album, and an underrepresented album in Blind Guardian discography discussions. BUY IT!
Sonata Arctica – Ecliptica
Let’s rewind the tape here a little bit. Before Amon Amarth and liking gutterals, I was predominantly a power metal kid. While looking up other bands that sounded like DragonForce, I found Sonata Arctica.
Ecliptica is the debut album from Sonata Arctica, and to this day one of their strongest releases with most of the band’s greatest hits. Jani Liimatainen quickly became one of my favorite guitarists, and I binged every one of his Young Guitar videos. I was ecstatic when my parents got me my first electric guitar for Christmas, partly because it looked like Jani’s. Now, Jani played an expensive Ibanez at the time, but my Costco-bought Yamaha guitar had the exact same red burst that his did. The first metal song I tried to learn was “8th Commandment”… which I still can’t play, but at least I have a cool guitar! Hahah!
Devin Townsend – Ziltoid the Omniscient
Teenager after a heartbreak. What else is there to do but sulk and listen to metal music? At this point I had been exposed to a lot of metal and was downloading music like mad. I’d hear a single song, and then torrent their discography. I didn’t wanna miss anything lol!
I had my bloated collection on random one day, and a song called “Terminal” from the album Ki by Devin Townsend Project came on. I was mindlessly listening up until then… and I was grabbed. I had thought to myself “wow…I need more of this”. Little did I know, this was the tip of the Devin Townsend iceberg and in no way could I have expected to go from the album Ki to something like Ziltoid.
Yeeeeesss. Indeeeeed, Ziltoid the Omniscient is a concept album that explores war, hatred, revenge, genocide, depression, and the worlds best coffee beans. Once I learned that all the music was written by Hevy Devy himself, it added to my intrigue. I’ve been a huge fan of all his works since then, but Ki into Ziltoid was the sonic whiplash that my soul needed at the time to help me grow up and move on.
“They hide their finest bean…PREPARE THE ATTACK!”
Arch Enemy – Doomsday Machine
Surprise, surprise! We’re back in high school again. This time in Mr. Ness’ music class, and we were all assigned to bring in one song for us all to hear an analyze. He stressed that it could be anything, and that he wanted us to share our real music.
I don’t remember what I brought in, it was some DragonForce song I think. This other kid, however, broght “My Apocalypse” by Arch Enemy.
We’re still at the “no screaming” phase for me, so I was turned off immediately. Silently and internally bitching to myself about how bad it was sounding… until the bridge. The ambient chirps and clean guitars, with a super melodic lead. I remember the goosebumps. Fuck, I’m listening to the albums while I write and it still does it to me. I raised my hand right after it ended, and asked the kid who that was again… I was on board now lol. I left that class thinking “wow…this music can be melodic too?”.
Since then, Arch Enemy might have changed, but this album left its mark on me. The first time I preformed metal in front of an audience was a cover of “Nemesis” with my old band Animus Volatilis at a school assembly…. 13-14 years ago. Holy fuck.
In Flames – The Jester Race / Black-Ash Inheritance
Alrighty, so we’re in that 2-3 month metal transition time… thing. I’m on the verge of liking heavier vocals in my music. Arch Enemy and Amon Amarth are starting to sway my my opinions. In Flames swung me the rest of the way.
Songs like “The Quiet Place”, “Cloud Connected”, and “My Sweet Shadow” were what initially started it all… but then I did some digging. I found out about the monolithic melodic powerhouse that In Flames really was, with Whoracle and The Jester Race. It’s almost ethereal how these Swedes juxtapose beauty with brutality. The songwriting, the riffs, the lyrics, all accumulate into one happy metalhead.
As a diehard fan, it was difficult to narrow down one single album, but The Jester Race altogether encapsulates the band in my eyes. It’s the album I spent the most time with trying to learn guitar.
In Flames We Trust.
Dark Tranquility – Fiction
These next 3 albums are invaluable for my music identity, but there’s no bombastic high school sob stories or significant tales of random finds. On my quest to find more melodic death metal, I heard some friends talk about “The Three Gothenburg Kings” of Swedish Metal. I had already started my fandom with In Flames… why not the other two?
Fiction was where I began with Dark Tranquility. It was a similar flavor to what I had heard before, but with a difference in orchestration and instrumentation. We have clean vocals mixed in, we have more emphasis on synths and keys, and we have a more earthy scream from Mikael Staane. Hooked. Instantly hooked. NEXT!
At the Gates – Slaughter of the Soul
Continuing onto the thrid king… whoa. I was not prepared for this immaculate pillar of the melodic death metal legacy. Everything that needs to be said about this album has been in past interviews, reviews, documentaries, etc.
There is no way I could not include At the Gates’ magnum opus. NEXT!
Insomnium – Above the Weeping World
I grew up associating melodic death with Sweden, and power/folk with Finland… that was until I stumbled upon Insomnium. MDM like I hadn’t heard it before. More “modern” in the guitar tones and production. Beginning this album with rain and piano sets the mood for what Insomnium means, and its a unique sonic footprint that has inspired me and my songwriting. Instead of the cold, harsh, and crisp nature of early 90’s MDM, this was warm, full bodied, and still brutal.
Welp, that’s my list… and potentially too much info. I hope you enjoyed my hike down memory lane, and I appreciate being aloud to add my two cents to this album article run 🙂
Here are my honorable mentions, as promised!
Twelve Foot Ninja – Silent Machine Kamelot – The Black Halo Angra – Shadow Hunter Noumena – Anatomy of Life Kalmah – Seventh Swamphony Soen – Lotus Unleash the Archers – Abyss Omnium Gatherum – Grey Havens Equilibrium – Sagas DragonForce – Sonic Firestorm
On this new segment on the Heavy NFLD blog, we’re asking local metal and punk musicians to tell us about ten albums that influenced them as both a musician and a music fan. For this first installment of ‘Metal Maniacs’, Andrew Marsh of the bands Winterhearthand Dead Inner Youth, who originally came up with the idea for this segment, will kick things off!
Hey everyone! This is Andrew Marsh from WinterheartH! Today I have picked 10 albums that have undeniably influenced my musical playing as well as song writing executions. I have excluded anything from the local scene in Newfoundland as well as Atlantic Canada as I don’t want to seem biased because we have an amazing scene with amazing talent. I have also included 10 other honorable mentions that I just had to list and not say “man…. should have at least acknowledged that album as well”. So here we go!
Black Sabbath – Never Say Die
I know some people may be surprised by this choice. Last album to feature Ozzy (until 13 came out). The title track is one of my all time favourite Sabbath songs. So energetic I hope to cover it myself one day. If I’m having a hard day, that song will always turn my spirits around. “Johnny Blade” is quite the journey as well. “Air Dance” is also a really awesome track and so is “Over to You”. It’s just an album you wouldn’t expect from Sabbath and sadly you can feel a sense of change now looking at what album came after. Sabbath was the working class band in the 70’s. Was recorded in Toronto too I do believe!
Diamond Head – Lightning to the Nations
Legendary debut album from a legendary NWOBHM band. I have 2 copies of this album. It’s literally taking Sabbath, Zeppelin and Deep Purple and mashing it altogether. So many amazing riffs. “The Prince” is such a killer song. All the songs I can listen to on repeat for hours and never be tired of it. Brian Tatler is a huge reason why I love Flying Vs so much (along with Schenker, Mustaine and Amott to name a few others in that department). You listen to albums like Kill ‘Em All by Metallica or Countdown to Extinction by Megadeth, they’re basically sped up Diamond Head albums. This album in 1980 was definitely a foundation / blueprint of what was coming next!
Dissection – The Somberlain
Dissection are notorious for a unique blend of technical and melodic black metal. Jon Nodtveidt is definitely considered a controversial person. You can hear the darkness of his soul in his music. Dissection has a sense of nihilism I’ve never heard in other bands. Unfortunately he made some choices that had massive consequences and ultimately when he got out of prison he eventually committed suicide. Considering Dissection are a Swedish black metal band you can definitely hear a precursor to what would morph into the Gothenburg melodic death scene here. Slaughter of the Soul by At the Gates would definitely be considered ground breaking in that department to.
Sepultura – Beneath the Remains
Moving on we have arguably the most successful metal and rock act to ever come out of South America. This was also the album that gave Scott Burns his start as producer. Scott Burns and his Morrisound Studio would become a champion in death metal production. The musicianship of the Cavalera brothers as well as Paulo’s bass playing and Andreas’ amazing lead skills are all over this album. I can see how people in countries in South America as well as places like Spain or Mexico would be so into Sepultura. Their music spoke to those who thought their voice never mattered. I always saw Sepultura and Sarcofago as the warriors of, for lack of better words, “third world countries”.
Carcass – Heartwork
On the topic of producers who defined a genre we have Heartwork. Produced by Colin Richardson. Another world renowned producer. Heartwork was easily 15 years ahead of it’s time. Carcass being known as grindcore with gore influence as you seen from precious albums like Symphonies of Sickness. Now you have an album that uses borderline radio song writing formula but still have fantastic extreme metal riffs. It’s also complimented so well with Steer and Amott’s bluesy 70’s metal style solos. Another album that laid the blueprint for melodic death metal and even what became 2000’s metalcore. Phenomenal album.
Venom – Black Metal
What can I say about the first two Venom albums that hasn’t been said? Legendary is just putting it lightly. Venom, when I was a kid, actually used to scare me. I remember having “Sacrifice” on as a teen and my mother flipping out cause of the lyric “lightning strikes, a virgin dies, Satan smiles”. Venom in their day, there was nothing heavier and more sinister happening until you started to hear the likes of Hellhammer and Bathory. Like you had very sinister songs like “Heroes End” by Priest or “Baphomet” by Angel Witch but not a whole album of pure sinister evil. To this day the hair on my arm stands as soon as I hit play. The album defined a subgenre!!! Who else did that besides Possessed with the song “Death Metal”?
Immortal – At the Heart of Winter
Finally moving into the notorious Norwegian black metal scene. This was the fifth studio album by Immortal. It’s such an amazing blend of unique ambiance, meets second wave black metal meets the kind of riffs you’d expect Randy Rhoads or Ritchie Blackmore to play if they were black metal musicians. Abbath and Demonaz never get the credit they deserve for their musicianship and song writing. You can listen to this album without one word being said and you will understand what the music is portraying. For the “true raw” fans of the genre you may not like this album as much as Pure Holocaust but the riffs and structures are second to none.
Mayhem – Live in Leipzig
Another album from the notorious Norwegian black metal scene and the only live album on the list. What a raw lo-fi album from the legendary tour Mayhem did with Dead. This album will always make me wonder how different Des Mysteriis would have been if Dead never committed suicide. Dead wasn’t playing a character, that is who he was. Also, listen to “Necrolust” on Deathcrush then listen to “Necrolust” on this album. Manheim was a great drummer but what Hellhammer transformed the song into here was incredible. Easily one of the greatest drummers in Metal history.
Windir – Sogneriket
The only demo on this list. This demo tape really changed how I constructed music back in my teenage years. Windir was such a one of a kind in black metal I’m all about a mixture of amazing soundscapes with catchy riffs. This demo has it all. Valfar was as young as 16 when he released this demo tape. Listen to “Norron Seier” and you will understand what I’m having a difficult time explaining why I love this demo tape. It hits me in the heart like no other.
Mercyful Fate – Melissa
Here we have the authors of metal rhythm guitar if you will. This album is truly incredible like all Mercyful Fate or King Diamond. The structures are like taking metal and giving it a classical spin without the classical flashy lead playing. It’s progressive without being a 20 minute opus. This band also use to scare me as a kid with King Diamond being a member of Church of Satan. When you know that you feel the music itself is more than just Halloween. I would get a spiritual sense from some of the tracks. The twists and turns in songs like “At the Sound of the Demon Bell” or “Satan’s Fall”. You’d get riffs that were harder than Priest and then BAM, a really cool bluesy rock riff. Shermann and Denner are an unbelievably underrated guitar duel. More people need this album in their life. The title tracks is an eerie ballad about a witch being executed!
Well I hope you enjoyed my take on 10 albums that greatly influenced my music. Here are 10 more albums that I have to mention! Even now I’m rotted because I never mentioned a Kreator or Sodom album!
Ozzy – Diary of a Madman Kat – 666 Megadeth – Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? Metallica – …And Justice For All Master’s Hammer – Ritual Cardinal Sin – Spiteful Intents Celtic Frost – To Mega Therion Slayer – Show No Mercy Bathory – Blood Fire Death Tormentor – Anno Domini
Artach – Sworn to Avenge June 25th, 2021 Black Metal Depressive Illusions Records St. John’s, Newfoundland
The notorious St. John’s black metal duo of Artach have returned to the wintry wilds of the extreme metal world with this sophomore offering. Sworn to Avenge is the second album from this ever more raw and destructive force from the Newfoundland wilderness, released through Ukrainian black metal label Depressive Illusions Records in the summer of this year. I’ve had quite a bit of time to digest this rather monolithic release, which clocks in at just over an hour, and am finally ready to divulge my thoughts on it to you all.
Opening with the sound of gusting winds careening across a desolate tundra as the roar of a beast and the laugh of witch pierce through the ambiance, you get the feeling that what awaits you on this record is not for the faint of heart. Indeed, the opening track, “Tuiteam an Duine”, which is Gaelic for “The Fall of Man”, wastes no time assaulting the listener with a rather frantic riff playing over blast beats and coupled with the tortured screams of vocalist and percussionist Fiochmar. This opening track rumbles onwards for just over seven minutes, and showcases numerous tempo and time signature changes throughout, showcasing the group’s lack of respect for conventional songwriting standards. We even get a brief moment of cowbell playing on this track to emphasize just how little Artach wish to adhere to the rule books of black metal. Who cares about the rules anyways? Fuck the rules, says I.
Perhaps “Tuiteam an Duine” is a portent for what to expect from the rest of the record, as the songs that follow see Artach experimenting more with tempo and time signature changes, as well as invoking riff and melody ideas from across the spectrum of the metal world. “Ice Throne” involves some pretty flashy death metal riffage in its opening before launching into a kind of epic black metal galloping sound that wouldn’t sound out of place on an old school Immortal record. Similarly, “Into the Frozen Woodlands” conjures foggy remembrance of old school thrash bands like Slayer and Megadeth in the way the riffs are composed, but when the song comes together it feels like more of a melding of these disparate worlds together into a sort of blackened thrash sound.
Vocally this record sees Fiochmar stay mostly within his typical range of throaty rasping that sounds like an imprisoned demon trying desperately to break free from its chains while being possessed by the spirit of an even bigger, more insane demon. But there are some moments when he breaks free from this typical style and tries something different. I particularly like the “woah-woahs” that pop up on “Ice Throne”, which hearken back to some old school folk-infused black metal projects like Isengard. On the song “Shimmer” he even lets himself get slightly more melodic during the bridge, if only for a few lines, while he engages in a more spoken word style of delivery in the intro to “Endless Tundra”.
The guitars, however, are doing all sorts of different things on this album. While some songs may feel more grounded in the realm of epic black metal a la the previously mentioned Immortal, or even Taake, it’s clear that axeman Sruthan takes influence from many different areas. Elements of the track “Shimmer”, for example, invoke the memory of groups like Mercyful Fate or King Diamond during some riffs, before launching into more conventional, Darkthrone-esque tremolo picking. While Immortal seems to be a fairly obvious influence on Artach’s songwriting and Sruthan’s guitar playing (much like fellow St. John’s black metal alumni Winterhearth), it wouldn’t be too far fetched to bring up old school death metal acts like Death or Possessed as influences as well, especially when you hear those pinch harmonics present on tracks like “Endless Tundra”. The riffs also don’t shy away from melodic death metal influence here and there, especially on the song “She Gathers Leaves”, a Halloween-inspired ripper that I would say sounds like At the Gates meets Dethklok, albeit much more lo fi.
In regards to the drumming I think Fiochmar has upped his game here, involving lots of different types of beats throughout the record, from blast beats to slower, more plodding gallops, to war-like tom beats to thrash-style one-two one-twos. In the past I’ve felt like Fiochmar’s drumming was a bit too flashy, like he couldn’t decide which cymbal he wanted to be the backbone of any particular beat he was laying down. While I think there are still some points where he engages in this kind of playing, it feels like he’s reigned that in a bit more. Most of the songs on this record seem to have a more consistent approach to the drum tracks, which, as a drummer myself, I can appreciate. There are, however, also some moments where it seems like the drums and guitars go out of sync. For some people this can add character to a recording since it makes the performance feel more human. However, from my perspective, it feels amateurish. I can tell because I’ve done the same thing in the past. I don’t know if Artach eschew the idea of recording to a metronome, but if they do then perhaps they should consider doing so on their next full length, if only to tighten up these few instances where synchronicity seems to be an issue.
Lyrically I can’t discern what each song is about on here since the band has only posted lyrics for a few of the tracks online. By and large this collection of tracks seems to mostly about typical black metal subject matter: warriors, ice, storms, battles, kingdoms, winter, forests, tundras, etc. You get the idea. However, there are a few exceptions. The track “Endless Tundra” is a 21 minute odyssey about the many failed attempts throughout the 1800’s to locate the elusive Northwest Passage, a trade route connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Canadian Arctic. I’m a slut for songs about historical subject matter like this, and I think Artach do a good job of evoking the feeling of being lost in a desolate Arctic wasteland after your ship has become trapped in the pack ice, only to die of exposure in the middle of nowhere, never to be found.
Instrumentally I think Artach have pushed the boundary of what they achieved on their previous record. The structure of the songs here are more experimental and incredibly diverse, especially with the aforementioned “Endless Tundra”. The guitars push up against the limits of what one would typically expect from black metal while also keeping a foot firmly planted in that world, so as not to stray too far from the conventions that make the genre what it is. It’s an interesting middle ground and I’d like to see Artach continue to push these ideas further on their next release. This album as a whole sees the band try different things and generally improve upon the formula established on their debut, and I look forward to seeing what they do next.
Winterhearth – Riverbed Empire August 21st, 2020 Blackened Death / Thrash Metal Still Heavy Productions St. John’s, Newfoundland
Newfoundland black metal thrashers Winterhearth have been around the block for quite some time, first dropping their debut album Curse the Summer back in 2015 featuring the lineup of lead songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Andrew Marsh along with bassist Robbie Butler and drummer Zack Keating. Keating would later depart the band and be replaced by Michael Small who would perform on the group’s second outing, 2016’s Resettlement, an album that received a polarizing response from critical outlets. In the aftermath of Resettlement both Small and Butler would depart the band leaving the future of Winterhearth tenuous at best. However the lineup change didn’t deter Marsh from the path of metal once blackened and he would regroup with bassist Lenny Carey and drummer Brad Ivany four years later to unleash 2020’s Riverbed Empire.
Riverbed Empire begins on an odd note for Winterhearth. The band mostly known for their bestial and fervant brand of death metal draped in the accoutrements of both black metal and thrash metal opts for a piano-led intro on “Marshlands” that starkly contrasts the aggressive bombast of what is soon to follow. The sound of rushing water coupled with the serene piano chords and ethereal vocals provided by Devilment’s Anabelle Iratni conjure beautiful imagery of a marshland drenched in mysterious and oddly captivating mists.
When the rest of the band kicks in they do so with no leniency for the listener. The guitars, bass and drums all crash in at once, barely leaving Iratni any time to finish her melody before being cracked in the skull by the barbaric instrumentation. “Marshlands” sees the band engage in the Immortal school of black metal with a series of riffs that forge ahead at the speed of a gallop a la Abbath. But while that does make up the majority of this song there are still plenty of dynamics, such as when the whole band drops out for a mere three seconds to allow the orchestrations to jump in and fill the gap, leading the listener to hotly anticipate what comes next. There’s another part towards the back end of the song where the folk instrumentation comes in to break up the aforementioned Immortal-esque section and the solo that comes later. For the record’s longest song (eclipsing ten minutes) it’s one hell of a dynamic juggernaut.
The followup, “North Star, Be My Guide” wastes little time jumping into things. After a brief moment of creepy atmospheric guitar the rest of the band bursts into this almost Motorhead or Metallica-esque thrash segment that’s followed up by atmospheric synths that could’ve easily been dredged up from a 70’s horror flick. The Immortal comparisons continue as the band launch into a sonic assault that conjures imagery of Blashyrkh, Antarctica, Atmora and other dense, frozen, glacial landscapes from both myth and reality. There are some absolutely beautiful and epic guitar melodies on this track that really drive home the feeling of the song’s theme, that being an adventurer embarking on some sort of quest through an ancient land.
“Sunset Over Winter Corpses”, a song about Operation Barbarossa and the German invasion of the Soviet Union during World War 2, may be my favourite track on the entire record. The main riff on this song is ridiculously catchy, sounding like something that could’ve easily come off of a Carcass album, pre-Heartwork era of course. The band doesn’t let the catchiness rule the song, however, opting for some truly brutal moments of blackened death metal cacophony that steamroll the listener like a Blitzkrieg, which are juxtaposed against quieter moments that give the listener a chance to breathe in between the absurdly brutal sections.
We then come to the title track, “Riverbed Empire”, which invites further comparisons to Immortal and Carcass with the guitar work. I especially love the dancey drum beats chosen by Ivany on certain parts of this track and there are certainly plenty of other creative elements to highlight. For example there are these really cool alternative picked moments on the guitars that come at the end of certain measures as well as multiple moments throughout where the bass takes the lead, adding further dynamics to the second longest track on the record.
Of course I would be remiss if I did not mention the guest bass solo from Hugo Doyon-Karout, current bassist of Montreal tech death masters Beyond Creation. The solo indeed adds a lot the mid-section of this song, as not only does Hugo’s bass have an impeccably serene tone, but its coupled with some hauntingly mournful synths that add to the glory of this composition.
“First Frost Harvest” invites further Immortal comparisons with its clean guitar intro, though the track definitely throws some curveballs with its other elements. For example there’s a waltz-like jaunty segment early on in the song while the aforementioned clean sections have what sounds like bongos going on in the background alongside some fun basslines. The last few minutes of the track have some super groovy riffage that doesn’t really show up elsewhere on the record, helping this song to stand out on its own amidst the tracklist.
What comes next will be a surprise to old fans. “Beyond the Frosted Graves” bears the title of the band’s debut demo released way back in 2013, which launched the group’s seven career leading all the way to 2020’s Riverbed Empire. In true callback fashion this song ends up being one of the most straight up ‘metal’ tunes on the record with savage riffery and a truly thrashy, blackened feel that hearkens back to the Teutonic days of Sodom and Kreator. This track may be the most perilous assault on the senses that the boys from Bonavista offer up on this hour long slog of devastation, and is one of my personal favourites from the album.
“Beyond the Frosted Graves” is followed by “Charmed (By the Dead)”, a song that many will recognize as the lead single that dropped from Riverbed Empire, as well as being released on Still Heavy Production’s compilation album Still Heavy Eastern Canada in December of 2019. This song brings out the band’s influences from the Gothenburg melodic death metal world in full. “Charmed” has some of the most melodic guitar moments on the record which conjure similar tastes to early Arch Enemy and At the Gates. Of course the influences from Carcass are still a hefty portion of the overall brew.
“The Shipwright” continues this approach of blending Gothenburg style melodic death metal with the more aggressive tendencies of Carcass and Immortal to form a unique cocktail of all things good about extreme melodic metal. Notably Marsh has a slightly different approach to the vocals on this track, opting for more of a Sodom or Kreator-esque raspy shout than his typical black metal snarl. This track definitely stands out as one of the thrashier offerings on the album and is a welcome addition to a tracklist full of malignant atmosphere.
“Infliction” brings an end to the record with some of the most relentless and brutal riffage. There are a lot of dynamic changes on this song with lots of intricate sections that differ wildly from one another. It’s kind of a riff-salad sort of affair but I feel like this kind of approach is a great way to end this record. It’s like the band took all the influences present on the rest of the album and threw them all in a blender for the finale. The drums blaze along at the speed of a stealth jet and the guitars and bass hold nothing back as they whip the listener’s ears with callbacks to the thrash gods of old through wicked solos and maniacal fretwork. The track finally ends with the same piano melody from “Marshlands”, allowing the record to come full circle as it leads back into the intro from the beginning of the album.
While Riverbed Empire starts off on an epic and grandiose note with its piano-laden intro and mournful tones in the first half, the second half of the record is notably more aggressive and down-to-earth in terms of its influences. It feels as though the thrashier side of Winterhearth wins out on the last four tracks whereas the influences of Scandinavian black and death metal reign over the first five. It’s a unique contrast that places the band’s style somewhere west of Dissection and Immortal and north of Carcass.
As the group’s third full length album Riverbed Empire may be Winterhearth’s best effort yet. It takes the relentless blackened fury of Curse the Summer and the disparate death metal barbarism of Resettlement and melds the two together into something that is wholly unique for the metal world of Newfoundland and Labrador. Nothing of this scope has ever really come out of the province and for that feat alone this record should be lauded. Though it may drag a bit in terms of length and there may be the occasional recording hiccup in some tracks Riverbed Empire will surely go down as one of the best metal albums to ever come out of Newfoundland. It sure is one hell of a way to start the decade.
Final Verdict: 9/10 Awesome
Favourite Tracks: “North Star, Be My Guide” “Sunset Over Winter Corpses” “Beyond the Frosted Graves”
For Fans Of: Immortal Dissection Carcass (early) At the Gates (early) Arch Enemy
Deadgaard / Orchid’s Curse – Graveyard of the Gulf June 7th, 2018
Melodic Death Metal / Progressive Death Metal
Independently Released
St. John’s, Newfoundland / Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Throughout human history, we have existed and persisted through extraordinary strife
and conditions that should have been the end of our story, time and time again. We have continued on despite all of this, and the arts have survived along with us. COVID-19 is another chapter in this continuing story, keeping a lot of us metalheads from gathering, moshing, and enjoying a big part of what makes our community so tight knit. While being isolated at home is for the overall safety of everyone, a positive that can be taken away from it is that it allows us to have the time to catch up on and absorb the absurd amount of music at our disposal. Especially, from all of the local talent that Atlantic Canada has to offer your quarantined ear holes. Two melodic death metal masters, Deadgaard and Orchid’s Curse, released a split EP in 2018, which is what I will be pairing and reviewing in this… review. Sit back, and get your online liquor store shopping carts prepped for the beers that will go along with Graveyard of the Gulf.
We start out of the gate with “Endless Hate”, and we get smacked with triplet grooves and
melodic moves that you would expect from a band plucked right out of the heart of Swedish metal scene in the late 1990’s. The opener is progressive and has a definite flow, moving from hammering melodic passages to slow, heavy, chugging moments filled with stops. It reminds me of how Megadeth’s “Holy Wars” has an album’s worth of riffs in the one song. The combination of the massive vibrato of the whaling guitars along with the annunciation and grit of the growls, invoke thoughts of Dethklok’s (Brendon Small specifically) approach to song writing. As the EP progresses, there are also moments of 90’s In Flames in the song “Nightfall”. The latter half of that song in particular has a modern At the Gates feel. Again, the b’ys are wearing their influences on their sleeves (and we have the same sleeves). This is brought to life of the heels of the expert drumming. The use of flighting bass frills that poke through the mix at just
the right times also adds to their raw power. Deadgaard’s final track of the EP is “The Call”, which has the most bounce and groove of all the tracks so far. Poly-rhythms aligned with surgical precision, showing how tight this group truly is. “The Call” also again demonstrates the progressiveness of the band, moving flawlessly in and out of grooves, stops, and solos.
And then the Soilwork half of the… I mean, the Orchid’s Curse half of the EP begins.
While these b’ys are still within the melodic death metal tree, they are flexing different muscles than Newfoundland’s Deadgaard, but still deeply rooted in the Swedish branches of the sub-genre, while also merging a handful of others. Track six for example, “Thoughts & Prayers” manages to meld elements of hardcore punk, black metal, groove, and thrash. Extremely diverse for such a short banger of a tune. The Gojira-like belts in the songs chorus with tremolo picking and blast beats is a massive punch to the guts, without overstaying it’s welcome. Compared to the first half of the EP, Orchid’s Curse have a more rounded and tamed sound. Don’t get me wrong, it’s metal as fuck, but that raw factor isn’t there as much as it is from Deadgaard. The drums are snappier and brighter, the guitars are cleaner… actually everything on this half of the EP is brighter. Brightness suits the style though, where isn’t not as much about straight double kick, but about the dynamics of the progressive changes happening throughout. They flow, but the flow is faster and the mix facilitates that perfectly. For example; “Black Mirror” takes it’s pedal off the gas, and then finds another heavier pedal to slam down on. The use of the dynamics, stops, and melody interwoven again prove to me that Orchid’s Curse are deserving of being one of Canada’s elite metal bands this side of Quebec. The final track of Graveyard of the Gulf, brings everything to a close bringing back an In Flames “Pinball Map” groove that has a wicked and dissonant bridge near the end of the song that snarls my face up every time I hear it. Orchid’s Curse are Canada’s black metal / thrash Soilwork, and I’m very okay with that.
Swedish metal has been a major influence on a lot of bands over the years, and strands
of those melodic tendencies can be found in both of the epic bands on display here. There’s two bands with similar influences, but two sides of the same coin. You have your raw, unadulterated, HM-2 pedal on max powerhouse of Deadgaard combined with the polished, progressive, soil workers in Orchid’s Curse. Both bands flexing their love for the blue and gold, but with their own takes on the genre. Due to this, I do not believe a single beer can do. We have to represent the whole coin here, which is why the two beers I have paired for this EP are Erdinger’s Weissbier and Dunkel beers from Germany. Dunkel for Deadgaard, representing that raw melodic malty darkness that each song provides from them. Weissbier for Orchid’s Curse, the sweetness of the coriander showcasing smoothness and fullness/ brightness of the mix.
We know that both of these bands are deadly, and worth all the attention they can get.
Especially live. One of my dreams once all of this pandemic shit is done with, is that I get the opportunity to see both of these bands again (and with Erdinger beers ready to go). Graveyard of the Gulf is available for digital purchase on Bandcamp, and I encourage anyone who is a fan of any of the bands I’ve referenced in this review to go and buy it. It showcases two bands, filled to the gills with talent and a common love of all things thrashy and melodic.
Sons of an Eastern Moon – L’Anse Aux Metals April 27th, 2019 St. John’s, Newfoundland Folk Metal
What can I say about Sons of an Eastern Moon that hasn’t already been said at this point? The band almost took over the metal scene in St. John’s in one fell swoop over the course of the last year, consistently playing shows in packed venues, drawing thick crowds for good reason. They are without a doubt one of the freshest groups on the go in the scene right now, and the release of their debut album, L’Anse Aux Metals, proves that they have exactly what it takes to continue their raids across the island and hopefully beyond.
The first thing that will stick out to new listeners of the band is the vocals. Frontman Kris “Thor Odinson” Ross lets loose with a raspy falsetto no doubt inspired by the shrieking cries of Cam Pipes from the now defunct 3 Inches of Blood. Ross has remarked before how it took him quite a bit of trial and error to nail down exactly what he wanted his vocal style to be, going back and forth between clean singing and the typical death metal growls before finally settling on the current style, and I think that was a fantastic choice. Its not often you get this style of riffage and musicianship accompanied by clean vocals, less so clean vocals in this high octave range. That being said, while Ross’ vocals aren’t polished by any means, I believe that lends to this style of music. The dirtiness and occasional off-key moments accentuate the barbarian-esque theme of the band, adding to their overall style and image . Its very punk rock.
Instrumental-wise we’re given a real treat for the ears. The riffs on this thing are what the meat of the album is based on. Dual guitar duo Cory Fagan and John Roach may be fledglings in this genre, following in the footsteps of many great Viking metal bands before them such as Amon Amarth or the almighty Tyr, but they can shred and write with the best of them. There isn’t a single moment on this record where the riffing feels phoned in or used as filler. Every riff here matters. Take for example, the earworm that is the bridge section of “Serpent’s Rise”, a jaunty jig-inducing melody that will instantly get stuck in your head before the song goes back into the main riff once again to close out the track. The melodies here are deliberate and focused, doing a stellar job of drawing the listener in to a fantastical world of ancient Nordic history and myth. Even the acoustic interlude “Full Sails and Calm Seas” pulls no punches with evoking imagery of pirates and brigands of all sorts sailing the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean.
Of course its not all folksiness from front to back. On occasion the songs on here delve into much darker territory, the most prime example being “Scorched Steeples”, which is not only the heaviest hitter on L’Anse Aux Metals, but also borrows heavily from the brutal side of melodic death metal a la At the Gates and even has a minute but noticeable black metal influence. The band has stated that groups Immortal and I have had an impact on their sound, and in fact covered a song by I at one of their performances, so it makes sense to see that influence wade through in their recorded material.
The rhythm section on L’Anse Aux Metals pulls no punches either. Bassist Robert Peyton keeps the groove held down in simple-but-effective thudding basslines behind the guitar riffs, adding a thick layer of low heaviness underneath the soaring highs of Fagan and Roach. Meanwhile drummer Benoit Roy maintains himself as a rhythmic powerhouse who can be flashy when he needs to be but isn’t a show-off either. Slower tracks like “Under the Eastern Moon” have simple beats behind them which works for the overall context of the songs. He knows when it sounds best to use the hi-hat and ride during verses, to use the crash during choruses and uses the china exactly when you want him to. Not to mention the double bass drumming here is on point, coming in at just the right moments, tying the tightness of the band together in a nice, neat, little bow.
Lyrically the album covers the standard fare you’d expect from any folk metal band; Vikings, paganism, northern European history and culture, Norse mythology, etc, and it makes sense. As most of us know already, Newfoundland and Labrador has a proud bit of Viking history behind it, with the ancient Viking settlement of L’Anse Aux Meadows, from which the album gets its name, located at the extreme northern tip of the Great Northern Peninsula. As the location of the first European contact with the Americas I’m honestly surprised a Newfoundland band hasn’t come by sooner to tap into this topic and this genre. It seems to me that our province would be teeming with metalheads willing to write about the Vikings but aside from a few songs here and there by some select bands, Sons of an Eastern Moon are the first band to hang their entire sound upon this theme.
When all is said and done, Sons of an Eastern Moon have really accomplished something special here. They’re one of the few bands from our province whose music has actually given me shivers, that feeling of elation you get when you listen to a song that’s so good and touches you in that special way that few other songs can. In just a single album they’ve managed to, at least in my eyes, catapult themselves into the ring with the other modern metal contemporaries in this province. Alongside Emblem, Deadgaard and Allagash these Vikings are now a part of the metal revolution that’s happening on the island. If you haven’t heard L’Anse Aux Metals yet, what in the Hel are you waiting for?
Final Verdict: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “Scorched Steeples”
“Under the Eastern Moon”
“The Battle of Utgard”
HeavyNFLD 