Metal Maniacs: Cory Fagan

For the third installment of Metal Maniacs, we asked Cory Fagan, guitarist of local St. John’s folk metal upstarts Sons of an Eastern Moon and bassist at as-of-yet under wraps project Metaphora, to name ten albums that inspired his musical journey and led him to become the shredder he is today. Read on to discover the records that were important to him!

Good day folks, Pagan Fagan here from Sons of an Eastern Moon, Metaphora, Last Soul Down and Monolithic Sorcerer. I’m very pleased to be included in this list of Metal Maniacs and wanted to share some albums with you that helped shape me and my playing into the metalhead I am today. I mostly stuck to my teenage years when I was a budding rebellious metalhead getting kicked out of school for wearing my Zakk Wylde chain, haha. I will preface this by saying I went through my teens during the heyday of burnt CD’s and my discman so I had a lot more “mixtapes” than proper albums but I tried to include the ones I owned or stole 😉 

I’ll include some of my biggest influences as an “adult” in the honourable mentions at the end 😀

Here we go!

Death – The Sound of Perseverance

What a way to start a list! Every song on this album is my favourite and the guitar work is just unequivocally amazing. Richard Cristy’s drumming is out of this world! To think Chuck wrote this album with a tumor growing in his brain could bring me to tears just as easily as the melodies of “Voice of the Soul”. One of my favourite records of all time and has been top on my Spotify since I got it.

Skid Row – Skid Row

This self-titled album is fucking killer! Sebastian’s vocals are top notch and Snake Sabo’s lead work spoke wonders to my infant brain. I can honestly say I love every song on this record! The squeals in the intro to “Rattlesnake Shake” hold a dear place in my heart, haha. My oldest brother was born in the early 70’s so I inherited his love of 80’s hair metal in the crib.

Carcass – Swansong

Damn good melodic death metal. Some bangers on this album for sure. Definitely the album that made me appreciate how good production qualities can make or break a record. Guttural vocals that you can hear every word, sexy ass guitar tones. This and Heartwork received heeeeeeavy play for years. Just listening to the track “Child’s Play” while writing this makes me smell the stale smoke of weed and cigarettes and empty beer bottles in my apartment as a teen.

Ozzy Osbourne – Live at the Budokan

Ugh, what a good live album. This is one of the concerts that really taught me as a musician that the live show can have fun with the tunes and they can be augmented to be a little more fun to play and a little more pleasing to the ear. Take a drink every time Zakk hit’s a pinch! You’ll be loaded by “Believer”! I honestly like a lot of tracks on this record more than the originals. “Junkie” and “Gets Me Through” are two prime examples. So fucking good, and trying to figure these tunes out really helped me as a guitarist and certainly helped me learn how to do pinch harmonics, haha.

Black Label Society – The Blessed Hellride

While we’re on the topic of pinch harmonics, let’s talk about this banger! Man, what a killer album. It was a toss for me between this and 1919 Eternal. Trying to learn the solos on this album certainly elevated my guitar playing without a doubt. If I get complimented on my guitar playing it’s generally either on my pinch harmonics or how clean my alternate picking is in the fast parts of my solos, I can attribute both of those to this album. And “Stoned and Drunk” describes my teens perfectly!

Slayer – War at the Warfield

I’m gonna break the rules a little bit now and go straight for DVD instead of a live album. This concert got played after school sometimes 5 times in a row everyday. It made me fall in love with Slayer, it made me fall in love with BC Rich and the tracklist is just soo good. As I’ve said before and will say again in this list it just instilled in me what a live performance is supposed to be. “Stain of Mind” on Diabolus in Musica is super meh, but on this concert one of my favourite tracks! Amazing that Paul Bostaph played that show with a fucked elbow. It’s 6:30am at the time of writing this and I’m ready to flip my desk over and start moshing with this concert on in the background as I type this. If “Captor of Sin” doesn’t get your pulse up go see a cardiologist man!

Pantera – Official Live 101 Proof

“Pure Against the Grain American Metal”. Here I go again with another live album, but saves me from have five Pantera albums on this list of ten, haha. Who knew so much energy could fit in your pocket? The playing on this album is top notch, even Phil’s voice isn’t too fucked yet, haha. Dime’s playing is exquisite and this album is why the majority of my guitars have Floyd rose bridges haha. I wear my love of Pantera on my sleeve. The “Dom/Hollow” mash up is perfect (I saw Phil Anselmo and the Illegals do this in 2013 and split the pit like the Red Sea to make it to the rail) and “Where You Come From” is one of my favourite songs! There really is a lot to learn from weed and whiskey 😉 R.I.P. Abbott Brothers.

Megadeth – Rust in Peace

Oh boy, what can I say about this album that hasn’t been said a million times? Countdown was my first Megadeth album, bought in a pawn shop in Sydney, NS visiting my grandparents, but when my buddy Eason got the tab book for Xmas around 2005-ish is when I went from a “fumbling” guitar player to a “good” guitar player. Learning these riffs you don’t have a choice: it’s get good or fail, haha. The solo in “Tornado of Souls” will always be on a pedestal for me. I’m afraid to even try and learn it at this stage of the game. I made my mom sit through me playing so many of these songs in a tiny apartment with a full stack, lol. Sorry mom!

Metallica – Kill ‘Em All

You can basically blame me being the metalhead I am today on this album. It replaced Poison and Motley Crue in my heart and led me down the path I’m still walking 19 years later. This was my first CD I bought  with my own money at Walmart in Carbonear on a camping trip with my folks when I “borrowed” my brother’s discman. Right from the get go with “Hit the Lights!”, “The Four Horsemen”, “No Remorse”, “Metal Militia”, “Whiplash”, “Phantom Lord”, “Seek and Destroy”, like, come on! This lit a fire inside of me that still burns bright to this day. Learning these tunes at an early age definitely, definitely set the foundation for the guitar shredding mosh-head I am today!!!! How these songs breathe and flow are certainly still forefront in my mind as a songwriter today. 

Weapon – The Forging

If this is a list of albums that made me be the musician I am today this is by far number one by a fucking mile. I probably wouldn’t be a musician in bands if it wasn’t for Weapon. I even thanked Miller for making me want to learn to play guitar in the liner notes on “L’anse aux Metals”. I can remember vividly sitting in Jimi Nugent’s shed in Kelligrews when our buddy Keegan walked in when this album first came out and we listened to it front to back multiple times. I’ve gone through about 4 copies myself. Allen and Brad’s guitar work on this album is outstanding! Trevor’s thunderous bass and Karl’s drums keep the metal flowing full force. The song writing is a straight influence to my soul as you can probably tell in my own music. The mid-to-late-2000’s was a very special time in the Newfoundland metal scene and in my humble opinion Weapon were the kings of the mountain, especially after Kevin and Jeff joined the fold. If you’ve seen them live there’s a 99% chance you’ve seen me windmilling my heart out up front and I apologize for spilling your beer in the circle pit (not really though!). I’m also pleased to say my first show as a guitar player was opening for Deadgaard.

Well this was a little foray into the mind of a fledgling Fagan’s trip down metal memory lane. I hope you enjoyed this list and check below for honourable mentions! Thanks again to Heavy NFLD for including me in Metal Maniacs and for everything Greg and the other authors do for our little scene here on the rock! Cheers!

Honourable mentions in no particular order:  

Black Sabbath – Master of Reality
Pantera – I Am the Night
Amon Amarth – With Oden on Our Side
Clutch – Blast Tyrant
Lynyrd Skynyrd – Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd
Testament – First Strike, Still Deadly
AC/DC – Live at Donington
Eluveitie – Helvetios
Iron Maiden – The Number of the Beast
Annihilator – Alice in Hell

~ Written by Cory “Pagan Fagan” Fagan
~ Edited by 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

Hefe NFLD: Deadgaard / Orchid’s Curse – Graveyard of the Gulf

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.

~ John N. Roach

Members of Local Scene Document January 17th Blizzard Dubbed ‘NLWX’

Photo from CBC

There’s been a severe lack of anything other than the above photo in the local news over the past few days. The blizzard to end all blizzards appeared on the east coast of Newfoundland on January 16th before moving inland and battering the island and the city of St. John’s on the 17th and 18th, plunging the city into a state of emergency. While the storm has since subsided and moved on the people of the city are now heavily focused on the clean up efforts. Many people from the local scene posted their experiences online to show just how bad the situation was and still is.

Photo by: Geoff Waye (Category VI)

Photo by: Steve Woodman (Bridges)

Photo by: Kris Gillis (KG’s Law, Magic Glasses, Silly Talent)

Photo by: John C. Ennis (Qyn)

Photo by: John C. Ennis (Qyn)

Photo by: John C. Ennis (Qyn)

Megan Seabrooke (Iron Siren Stage Merchandise)

Photo by: Ricohardt Von Pyres (Last Soul Down)

Photo by: Ryan Wade (Black Market Hard-Tack)

Photo by: Ashley Hiscock

Photo by: Trevor Bolger (Deadgaard)

Photo by: Trevor Bolger (Deadgaard)

Photo by: Dan Moore (Sheavy, Dan Moore Art)

Photo by: Dan Moore (Sheavy, Dan Moore Art)

Photo by: Georgie Newman ft. Mr. Moo

Photo by: Adam Giles (Goreforge, Undesirables)

Photo by: Alex Rumboldt

Photo by: Alex Rumboldt

Photo by:  Ian White (Radio Witchwood, ex-Anal Christ)

Photo by: John Roach (Sons of an Eastern Moon)

Photo by: Robert Butler (Brainer, Wild in the Streets)

Photo by: Chris Feener (Qyn, Hostile Takeover)

Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Photo by: Jonathan Mercer (Bridges)

Photo by: Jonathan Mercer (Bridges)

Businesses and venues in downtown St. John’s also found themselves eye-deep in snow, bringing the local economy to a complete standstill for several days, save for all the storm chips and beer that were sold in the days prior.

CBTG’s – Photo by: Danielle Trouble

Green Sleeves Pub & Eatery – Photo by: Jon Swift

The Rockhouse – Photo by: Wendy Rose

Fred’s Records – Photo by: Wendy Rose

Hooligan’s Custom Tattoos – Photo by: Wendy Rose

Pennywell Orange Store – Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Bud Light Mainstage – Photo by: Jon Swift (Waste of Corpses)

Fogtown Barber – Photo by: Fogtown Barber Official Instagram

 

 

Many people also posted short videos online to catch the storm in action as it wreaked havoc throughout the city as well as the cleanup efforts in the following days.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7cVtvuH9yl/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7cEtU9BMRGt5ZNZFjrL-81XqHy8FuO_ns7LAI0/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7eC4Imh-Fr/

View this post on Instagram

update… ☹️

A post shared by chantelle🌿 (@data.seven) on Jan 17, 2020 at 12:32pm PST

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7cEtU9BMRGt5ZNZFjrL/

View this post on Instagram

City just got here. This storm was insane. State of Emergency declared, Canadian Military en route to the province. #snowmageddon2020 #aftermath #stateofemergency

A post shared by Ryan Wade (@fromthetip_of_atlantis) on Jan 18, 2020 at 3:18pm PST

View this post on Instagram

Pert near dirty out

A post shared by Avalon James (@trinitybaybae) on Jan 17, 2020 at 1:17pm PST

 

Some were a bit more wild than others…

 

View this post on Instagram

B'ys are ripping it up!

A post shared by Alex Rumboldt (@alexrumboldt) on Jan 18, 2020 at 12:57pm PST

 

While the weather has subsided we hope that everyone who had to endure this monumental record-breaking storm did so safely. We also wish everyone the best of luck with the clean-up efforts that will be taking place over the next several days until the state of emergency is lifted.

~ Akhenaten

Paganfest 2019 Announces Lineup

Paganfest, a newly anointed annual tradition conceived by everyone’s favourite local pagan metallers Sons of an Eastern Moon in association with Make It So Productions, has announced the lineup for its second iteration. Following last years event, entitled Paganfest: A Slaughter of the Solstice, which featured Sons of an Eastern Moon alongside melodic death metallers Deadgaard and Across Darkness, this year’s event, entitled Paganfest: Return of Winter, will feature Sons of an Eastern Moon alongside speed metallers Emblem, weirdo progressive death metallers The Birchmen, and good ol’ meat-and-potatoes death metallers Exotic Narcotic.

The event will take place at Treble Lounge on December 21st, 2019, the day of the Winter Solstice. Doors will open at 10:00 PM and the event will go on until 3:30 AM the following morning. The event is 19+ and the entry fee will be $10.

The above poster was designed by local artist Airline Bourbon, however there is an alternative poster that was originally used for the event, as seen below. Please note that this event is not related to the multiple other events named ‘Paganfest’ which exist throughout North America and Europe.

~ Akhenaten

Allen Miller of Deadgaard Begins Guitar Repair Service

Deadgaard frontman and guitarist Allen Miller has started up his own guitar repair service simply named Miller’s Guitar Repair. Miller is a former employee of Long & McQuade’s St. John’s location and has over seven years of experience in repairing a large variety of instruments. Yesterday the start-up company created a Facebook page which was shared around extensively amongst members of the local music world, both the metal scene and the non-metal scene alike.

Deadgaard itself has gone on hiatus, which we reported on earlier this year following one of the band members’ departure from the island entirely. It is unknown how long the band’s hiatus will last.

If you are interested in contacting Miller for his services check out his Facebook page, give him a like and send him a message regarding the details of the repair you require. In the meantime, why not also give a listen to this track from Deadgaard’s most recent release, Graveyard of the Gulf.

~ Akhenaten

Album Review: Sons of an Eastern Moon – L’Anse Aux Metals

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”

For Fans Of:
Amon Amarth
Tyr
3 Inches of Blood

~ Akhenaten

Deadgaard Go On Hiatus

St. John’s melodic death metallers Deadgaard announced earlier this morning that the group would be going on hiatus following a series of life changes within the band’s lineup. The band implied that multiple members of the group would be leaving the island for an extended period of time, which is something many people in our music scene are used to. The group made it clear that they are not breaking up, stating that they would be writing new material in the interim while merely stepping away from playing shows. Deadgaard will still be performing on June 8th at The Rockhouse alongside Orchid’s Curse, Dendron and Sons of an Eastern Moon, though that will be their last show for the foreseeable future.

~ Akhenaten

Sons of an Eastern Moon Reveal Artwork for L’Anse aux Metals

Well there you have it, folks, the art for the debut album from local pagans Sons of an Eastern Moon, which features frontman Kris Ross’ signature vegivisir wooden rune. For those of you who are not in the know, the vegvisir is a magical stave of Icelandic origin that is intended to help the bearer find their way through rough weather, an appropriate symbol in regards to the turbulent climate of our island. The band will be playing their album release show this coming weekend on Saturday, April 27th, at Distortion alongside Deadgaard, Last Cigar, Devastator and Winterhearth. The band also appeared in a write-up by Dillon Collins in this week’s edition of The Newfoundland Herald and showed up on CHMR this past Sunday to talk about their new album and the upcoming show. You can check out the interview at this link right here!

~ Greg Ravengrave

Sons of an Eastern Moon Reveal Release Date and Title of New Album

Sons of an Eastern Moon have been hyping their debut album for a while now, revealing only one track from the record entitled “Loke’s Legacy” in the lead-up to the album’s release. Much like Allagash who we mentioned earlier today, we won’t have to wait much longer to hear this album from Newfoundland’s very own proponents of the pagan lifestyle.

The band will be playing at Distortion alongside Winterhearth (long time, no see), Devastator, Last Cigar and Deadgaard on April 27th to celebrate the release of the album. The title of said release is said to be L’Anse Aux Metals, a play on words referencing the legendary L’Anse Aux Meadows, the site of a Viking settlement on the Great Northern Peninsula dating back over 1000 years.

Whether or not the album will receive a digital release prior to the release show remains to be seen. In the meantime, check out “Loke’s Legacy” on Bandcamp.

~ Akhenaten