Month in Review: September 2020

The frigid chill of autumn is in the air as we come into the spookiest month of the year and begin to carve the jacks to keep the spirits of the underworld at bay. But before the most metal holiday of the year commences lets take a look back at the month that preceded it, the month in which the last throes of summer die as the slow wasting away of the verdant greens sets in for the equinox.

September was a busy month. Our very own compilation album Burn the Leeches topped the Earshot Charts, the chart system used by Exclaim Magazine to deduce the popularity of music across Canadian radio stations. On top of that we saw Ratpiss announce that they have finally found a guitar player and the one and only Trash Juice reunited after a year of floundering in obscurity.

New music from The Hellfire Club, Monroe, Withered Crops, Artach, Rick Massie and Most Likely Forever graced our ears while Grole, the new side project of Spectral Wound’s Illusory, was also dropped, offering the town of Marystown some much need representation in our scene.

Veritable tons of merch were released this past month, including our very own Heavy NFLD shirts! Speaking of which, if you’d like one, send an e-mail to heavynfld@gmail.com with your shipping address and your preferred size and we’ll get one to you as soon as possible!

Biggest Stories
Burn the Leeches Tops the Exclaim Earshot Charts
CBC Interviews Heavy NFLD Founder Greg Ravengrave
Facebook Introduces New Rules that Target Musicians
Lawnya Vawnya 10 Reveals Lineup
Ratpiss Announce New Guitarist Sami El-Agha
Trash Juice Reunited
Winterhearth Receives Coverage in The Newfoundland Herald

Interviews
An Interview with Hag

Album Reviews
Rick Massie – Eclipse [by Akhenaten]

New Albums
The Hellfire Club – Volume II

New EPS
Monroe + Withered Crops – Split

New Singles
Artach – “Cryoseism”
Goddammit – “Police Force Trauma”
Hag – “Symptom of the Universe” [Black Sabbath Cover]
The Knifes – “Pop Country Single (Poisons)”
Most Likely Forever + Decay – “Natural Born Killers”
Rick Massie – “The Storm”

New Demos
Grole – Grole
Wild Step – Demo

Albums Announced
Criss Rogers – Untitled Solo LP
Mantra – Lucid
Mistwalker – It Came from the Past

Merch
Artach Reveal New Line of T-Shirts
Grind Mind Reveal Custom Skateboard Deck
Heavy NFLD Releases T-Shirts
The Outhouse Releases Misfits-Inspired T-Shirt
Ultimata Reveal New Tapestries

Horrific NFLD
Grind Mind Release New Horror Short Bound by Blood
Grind Mind to Resume Pre-Production of Mummering Legends

We also released the 22nd episode of our Official Podcast which we unfortunately had to cut short due to time constraints, but it’s still available for your listening pleasure. This episode focuses around some of the prog metal that has come out of Newfoundland in the last few years. You can listen to it through our Bandcamp embed below.

Albums Archived
Artach – Cold Day in Hell [Single, Black Metal]
Artach – Cryoseism [Single, Black Metal]
Artach – Ice Raven [Tech Noir Mix] [Single, Black Metal]
Artach – Lords of a Frozen Domain [Single, Black Metal]
Artach – Night Songs [Cinderella Cover] [Single, Black Metal]
Artach – Northward Leading [Single, Black Metal]
Artach – Shimmer [Single, Black Metal]
Bad Milk – Spitt [LP, Grunge]
The Birchmen – Hot L.A. Nights [LP, Progressive Metal]
The Hellfire Club – The Hellfire Club [LP, Hard Rock]
The Knifes – Pop Country Single (Poisons) [Single, Hardcore Punk]
Most Likely Forever + Decay – Natural Born Killers [Single, Nu Metal]
Various Artists – A Heavy NFLD Compilation: Burn the Leeches [Compilation]
Winterhearth – Riverbed Empire [LP, Black Metal]

~ Akhenaten

Mistwalker Announces New Compilation Album ‘It Came from the Past’

Glovertown blackened heavy metal project Mistwalker announced this weekend that they would be releasing a new compilation album soon. The compilation album, entitled It Came from the Past, purportedly contains demo tracks, songs recorded specifically for compilation albums as well as unfinished covers and rehearsal versions of songs.

It Came from the Past will be released on October 31st, 2020. Until then you can check out Mistwalker’s most recent song “Starlight Tour”, which was released on our own compilation album Burn the Leeches.

~ Akhenaten

Ratpiss Announce New Guitarist Sami El-Agha

Montreal based crust punk / metal band Ratpiss, which features Erin Faith on bass and lead vocals and Greg Ravengrave on drums and backing vocals, has spent the last year finalizing their lineup. After a hard go at finding the third official member to round out their lineup the band finally has settled on their new guitarist.

Sami El-Agha (formerly of Empire de Mu and presently of symphonic deathcore outfit Nephilyte) has joined the ranks of Ratpiss as their new guitar player. The band is currently working on finalizing a setlist and demoing new songs written since the release of their first demo Do Not Return.

Ratpiss recently appeared on the Heavy NFLD compilation album Burn the Leeches with a demo version of their latest song “Something in My Eye”.

~ Akhenaten

‘Burn the Leeches’ Tops the Exclaim Earshot Charts

Our first ever compilation album Burn the Leeches, which we released on August 21st in support of the Anti-Racism Coalition of Newfoundland and Labrador, has been doing a lot better than we ever could have anticipated. Thanks to different media outlets reaching out to us, including CBC Newfoundland and Labrador and Montreal’s CJLO radio station, we’ve been getting the album out there on the radio.

For the week ending on Tuesday, September 1st, the week which followed the album’s release, Burn the Leeches made it into the fifth position on Exclaim’s ‘National Loud’ charts. For the charts specific to CJLO the album landed into the number 1 position that same week. The week following, ending on September 8th, we sat at the number 2 position just below Live in Seattle by Power Trip (R.I.P. Riley Gale).

This has been unprecedented in the history of our humble little blog here at Heavy NFLD and never would we have expected this kind of support not only for us, but for the good cause that this album was released for. If you still haven’t given it a listen or a purchase head over the heavynfld.bandcamp.com and give it a download!

~ Akhenaten

Goddammit Releases New Single “Police Force Trauma”

Glovertown hardcore punk project Goddammit released their brand new single “Police Force Trauma” on August 30th, 2020. The new single was originally released as part of our first Heavy NFLD compilation album Burn the Leeches which was dropped on August 21st.

Police Force Trauma exists as a standalone single exclusively on Bandcamp and you can listen to it through our Bandcamp embed below.

~ Akhenaten

August 2020 in Review

Well, well, well. Things certainly picked up in August didn’t they? After what felt like a months-long drought of news with potential stories merely trickling down the gutter into our figurative drainage pipe, things are finally starting to happen again.

We got a shit-ton of new releases including a monumental new album from the Winterhearth (their first new music in four years), the first full length record from sludgers Puce, entitled The Trough, plus a surprise return from St. John’s hardcore punks Of the Black, who have been out of the picture for so long that I imagine most people had assumed they were broken up or on indefinite hiatus. The Birchmen also surprised us by dropping their first full length album on the last day of the month and boy is it a doozy.

On top of that we hit a major milestone right here at Heavy NFLD by releasing our first ever compilation album. While it’s digital only, Burn the Leeches is a record released for a good cause. All profits obtained from digital sales of this album will be going towards the Anti-Racism Coalition of Newfoundland and Labrador. At the time of this writing we’ve already donated $100 and we’ve been getting sporadic purchases in the last few weeks. So help us reach our next hundred dollar goal and go buy yourself a copy for as low as $1.00 CDN over on our Bandcamp page!

New Albums Released
– The Birchmen – Hot L.A. Nights
– Heavy NFLD – Burn the Leeches [Compilation]
– Puce – The Trough
– Winterhearth – Riverbed Empire

New EPs Released
– Of the Black – One
– Of the Black – Two
– Of the Black – Three
– Of the Black – Four
– Of the Black – Five

New Singles Released
– Artach – “Night Songs” [Cinderella Cover]

New Demos Released
– Deadmarsh – Debut Demos

Albums Announced
– Aeria Working on New Material

Reviews
– Yes, Officer – Autobiography of a Naysayer [By Corey Merrigan]

New Merch
– Jaded Truth Reveal Rx Shirts

Horrific NFLD
– Grind Mind Working on New Horror Short Trap
– Grind Mind Reveal Release Date for Bound by Blood (Formerly Entitled Trap)
– Horror Anthology Terror Nova to Receive Physical Release

Watch
– Interview with Sruthan of Artach
– Jaded Truth Premiere Music Video for “Fat Man in an Overcoat”
– Puce – Dragonfly Sessions
– Winterhearth – “Charmed (By the Dead)” Official Lyric Video

We also got back to our regular schedule with attempting to do a monthly podcast. In this edition we play some songs from new albums that have come out in Newfoundland and Labrador over the course of 2020 thus far and we take a listen to the interview that yours truly did with CBC over on their Sunday Morning Show. You can take a listen to the latest episode over at the Heavy NFLD Bandcamp!

Albums Archived
– Hag – House Sparrow [Single / Progressive Doom Metal]
– The Knifes – No Quarantine [Live Single / Hardcore Punk]
– Nocturnal Prayer – May You Lay Waste to Astral Gods with Star Disintegration [Demo / Black Metal]
– Old Thieves – The Keys [Single / Post Hardcore]
– Rick Massie – Eclipse [LP / Progressive Metal]
– Rick Massie – Following the Rain [Single / Progressive Metal]
– Rick Massie – Time After Time [Single / Progressive Metal]
– Rick Massie – Together As One [Single / Progressive Metal]
– Ultimata – Voiceless [Single / Progressive Metalcore]
– Yes, Officer – Autobiography of a Naysayer [LP / Post Hardcore]

~ Akhenaten

CBC Interviews Heavy NFLD Founder Greg Sweetapple

Off the back of the success of our very first compilation album Burn the Leeches, of which all proceeds are to be donated towards the Anti-Racism Coalition of Newfoundland and Labrador, CBC reached out to us to conduct an interview pertaining to the album. The interview with yours truly was conducted by Jonny Hodder and received airplay on CBC’s Weekend AM radio show on Sunday, August 29th.

The entire interview was released in podcast format through CBC’s website and you can listen to it at this link.

~ Akhenaten

Rick Massie Releases New Single “The Storm”

Yukon-based, Labrador-born progressive metal musician Rick Massie has released the first new slice of music since he dropped his debut record, Eclipse, back in May of this year. The new song, entitled “The Storm” was inspired by our own recent release, the compilation album Burn the Leeches which we dropped back on August 21st.

The new single was released on September 4th through Bandcamp and other streaming services. You can check out “The Storm” through our Bandcamp embed below.

~ Akhenaten

June 2020 in Review

Oops! We made a bit of a mistake. On account of incredibly busy home lives and a hectic summer filled with political upheaval and civil unrest we missed our June in Review segment. But hey, better late than never right? Of course it goes without saying that the continued civil unrest going on across the globe has been felt even in our home of Newfoundland and Labrador with everything from Black Lives Matter protests to COVID-19 anti-mask protests occurring on the streets and in front of the Confederation Building and heated discussions, debates and arguments going on across the Newfoundland sphere of social media.

Even in our own community there have been individuals who have been assaulted by the police (as evidenced by one of the biggest stories we published this month in which Kristopher Crane of Nemophilist and Impaled Upon the Mountains was brutally attacked in Montreal) while we decided to put together our first ever compilation album to raise funds to fight racism and discrimination here in our own backyard.

Read on to find out exactly what June 2020 had in store for the punk and metal community of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Biggest Stories
– Ambient Artist Nemophilist Assaulted by Montreal Police
– A Compilation Album for a Good Cause
– Hag Receive Coverage in The Newfoundland Herald
– Kaspam Cult Seeking New Drummer
– Local Musicians Speak Out Against Racism
– Racism in Newfoundland
– November Mayhem Will Not Happen in 2020
– Yes, Officer Donates 100% of LP Proceeds to Black Visions Collective

New Albums
– Hag – Hag
– Yes, Officer – Autobiography of a Naysayer

New EPs
– Divine Eradication – Marystown
– Froze to Debt – Mind Control
– Nemophilist / Vehement Gates – Split
– Ring of Restoration – To Breach Cyclopean Tombs

New Singles
– Blood Wyrm – “The Forbidden Hand”
– Blood Wyrm – “Runestoner”
– Blood Wyrm – “War Maiden”
– Doom ‘An Blue – “Wicked Serotonin”
– Nemophilist – “The Nightlight Man”
– Yes, Officer – “Play in Traffic”

Album Reviews
– Hefe NFLD: Deadgaard / Orchid’s Curse – Graveyard of the Gulf
– Qyn – Archetype
– Sludgefist – Sludgefist

Albums Announced
– The Hellfire Club – Volume II

Albums Archived
– Divine Eradication – Marystown
– Vehement Gates – EP
– Vehement Gates + Nemophilist – Split

~ Akhenaten

Heavy NFLD Compilation Album ‘Burn the Leeches’ Out Now

Burn the Leeches is the first official compilation album that we here at Heavy NFLD have put together, and I must say, we are quite proud of the reception the record has received from within the local scene. Boasting a copious 22 tracks from artists all across both the musical and regional spectrum of Newfoundland and Labrador, Burn the Leeches is not only a record comprising some of the best metal and punk that Newfoundland has to offer, but is also being released for a good cause.

As most of you will know this album was spurred into being by the killing of George Floyd on May 25th by Minneapolis police and the civil unrest that has followed. With protests erupting across the globe in response to police brutality we felt it was only right to do our part in helping those who have been victimized by state violence. As such all proceeds from the digital sales of this album will be donated directly to the Anti-Racism Coalition of Newfoundland and Labrador, a group within St. John’s that is dedicated to fighting racism and discrimination in our province.

As of right now the album is available for purchase on Bandcamp. We will be posting regular updates to our Instagram account as proof of where the funds have been donated.

We would like to thank Ritchie Perez for aiding us in our decision to go with ARCNL as our beneficiary of choice as well as Jenne Nolan from ARCNL for being our liaison during this process.

~ Akhenaten