Tickets are currently live for Heavy NFLD Fest 2024! This year we’re bringing you 30 bands to three different venues in Newfoundland and Labrador on the weekend of July 19th to July 21st, and we couldn’t be more excited! Headlining the fest this year will be the extreme hardcore stylings of some of Nova Scotia’s best heavy acts: Thousand Knives, Fear and Filth, and Helsreach!
Also, this year we’ve upgrading things a bit, spreading our blessed black wings across the island for a first time Heavy NFLD Fest event in Corner Brook! The West Coast deserves love too, after all, right? See the info below for the full listings of each event, where they’re happening, and who’s playing them, as well as ticket links at the bottom!
DAY 1: FRIDAY, JULY 19th, 2024 @ THE ROCK HOUSE (19+) [St. John’s] – Doors – 8:30 – Bog Rot – The Tangerine Machine – Mantra – Vertebraeker – Sons of an Eastern Moon – Hag – The Birchmen
DAY 1: FRIDAY, JULY 19th, 2024 @ RETRO ARCADE(All Ages) [Corner Brook] – Doors – 5:00 PM – October Wasp – Paranoia – The Order of the Precious Blood – Fear and FIlth – Helsreach – Thousand Knives
DAY 1: FRIDAY, JULY 19th, 2024 @ RETRO ARCADE(19+) [Corner Brook] – Doors – 10:00 PM – Dwight – The Order of the Precious Blood – Helsreach – Thousand Knives – Fear and Filth
DAY 2: SATURDAY, JULY 20th, 2024 @ THE ROCK HOUSE (19+) [St. John’s] – Doors – 8:30 PM – Desperta – Of the Black – Smoke Signals – The Order of the Precious Blood – Fear and Filth – Thousand Knives – Helsreach
DAY 3: SUNDAY, JULY 21st, 2024 @ PAVLOV’S ELECTRIC VERANDAH (All Ages) [St. John’s] – Doors – 11:00 AM – Nerve Shack – Sweet Baby Angels – Fog Lake – Breadclip – Alter – October Wasp – Dodgeband – Little Fauna – Snitfit – Release the Hounds – MiR – Fear and Filth – Chokeslam – Giant Giant – Killer 9000
Get your tickets for both the Corner Brook and St. John’s shows through Eventbrite at this link: here!
We’re pleased to present you with the full lineup for Heavy NFLD Fest 2024! While you’ve already been privy to a few of the bands performing this year, namely our headliners who are being ferried in from Nova Scotia, to the first few local bands that have been drip fed to you through our Heavy NFLD Fest official Instagram page, we now have confirmation of the full lineup! We’ll be posting the individual dates and which bands are playing when soon. For now, check out the poster above or the full listing below for which artists you can look forward to catching live at this year’s festival!
Bands:
Thousand Knives [Halifax]
Fear and Filth [Cape Breton]
Helsreach [Halifax]
Vertebraeker
The Order of the Precious Blood
Smoke Signals
Of the Black
The Birchmen
Fog Lake
Release the Hounds
Desperta
Paranoia
October Wasp
Liz Fagan Band
The Tangerine Machine
Hag
Dwight
MiR
Sons of an Eastern Moon
Bread Clip
Bog Rot
Chokeslam
Sweet Baby Angels
Kicker
Snitfit
Little Fauna
Giant Giant
Mantra
Dodgeband
Killer9000
Alter
Dates, venues, and cities:
July 19th @ Retro Arcade and Sports Bar – Corner Brook, NL
July 19th @ The Rock House – St. John’s, NL
July 20th @ The Rock House – St. John’s, NL
July 21st @ Pavlov’s Electric Verandah – St. John’s, NL
Following the departure of founding member and previous guitarist John N. Roach, St. John’s folk metal quintet Sons of an Eastern Moon were in search of a new guitarist to sling the secondary axe. The band would find this person in Angus MacKenzie, who has now joined the band as their official second guitar player.
MacKenzie’s joining of the band was announced through the band’s Facebook on May 27th, 2024 along with a video of him playing guitar.
Albums Archived – 6000apez – The Consequential Mudhole [Demo / Hardcore Punk] – The Beer Patrice – Dead on the Ship [Live LP / Punk] – Blender – D03s 1t Bl3nd? [Demo / Cybergrind] – Clocked In – Clocked In / Year of the Rat Split [Split / Hardcore] – Coward – King Rat [Demo / Pop Punk] – Coward – Split [Split / Pop Punk] – Evan Watton – RPM 2021 [LP / Progressive Metal] – Kick Gut – Kick Gut / Don’t Split [Split / Garage Punk] – Kick Gut – The Peter Album [LP / Garage Punk] – Kristopher Crane – Piss Drunx Theme [Single / Hard Rock] – Make Mean Everything – Gamma Rays [EP / Progressive Rock] – Make Mean Everything – Make Mean Everything [EP / Progressive Rock] – Moss Heather – Summer Flu [Single / Garage Punk] – Of Wilds – A Ghost at the Strid [EP / Progressive Rock] – Personal Space Invaders – Eat Your Meat [LP / Experimental Rock] – Ratpiss – Four Humors [EP / Powerviolence] – Sarra Cenia – Good News [Single / Stoner Rock] – Solar Tongue – Consideration [EP / Drone Metal] – Sons of an Eastern Moon – Borealis [EP / Folk Metal] – The Strangled – Never Forget [LP / Skate Punk]
This year has been crazy in a lot of ways, mostly in terms of my own life getting in the way of trying to maintain regular updates on this blog, but still we soldier forth! The slow march of time won’t stop me from catching up on all the stuff I missed, so here’s the in review segment for January of 2024.
We also released Episode 62 of the Heavy NFLD Official Podcast in which we recount some of the best heavy music to come out of Newfoundland and Labrador throughout 2023.
Albums Archived – Aaiesieux – A.C.U. Volume 1: How to Kill an Idea [LP / Harsh Noise] – Aaiesieux – A.C.U. Volume 2: Hubris, as Shown by the Audience [LP / Harsh Noise] – Aaiesieux – The Monster Mash Vol. 1 [Compilation / Harsh Noise] – Bad Plan – EP 2016 [EP / Hardcore Punk] – Guntmold – Blackened Infection [EP / Blackened Thrash Metal] – Guntmold – Munging [Single / Blackened Thrash Metal] – Icefog – Firharbour [EP / Dark Ambient] – Lithops – ((BendeR)) [LP / Dungeon Synth] – Neko Suicide – Neko Suicide Suicide Neko [LP / Harsh Noise] – Nemophilist – The Forest was Silent and Clear [Single / Dark Ambient] – Nemophilist – The Nightlight Man [EP / Dark Ambient] – Outta the Basement – Outta the Basement [LP / Hard Rock] – Pretty Little Flowers – 11:39 – 2:20 [Single / Drone] – Pretty Little Flowers – A Tribute to Hoedh [Single / Drone] – Pretty Little Flowers – Betrayal in August [Single / Drone] – Pretty Little Flowers – Litani Til Satan [Single / Black Metal] – Pretty Little Flowers – Pretty Little Flowers [Single / Drone] – Pretty Little Flowers – Truly Alone [Single / Drone] – Pretty Little Flowers – Wits End [Single / Drone] – Scary Haunted Castles – Those Damn Castles are Scary [Single / Dungeon Synth] – That Night a Forest Grew – Demo [Demo / Metalcore] – Wet Cheeze Delirium – Live at Bar None – November 10th, 1999 [Live LP / Noise / Experimental] – Wretched Invention – Wretched Souls [EP / Groove Metal]
The Ram Has Touched the Wall is perhaps one of the heaviest new projects to emerge from this year’s RPM Challenge. Self-described as blackened death metal and melodic death metal, the project boasts two members known only as The Ram and The Ox. Their first effort is this demo entitled In the Arms of Death, which released through Bandcamp on March 1st, 2024.
You can listen to In the Arms of Death through our Bandcamp embed below.
2023 has been over for a little over a month now so I think it’s time we took stock of all the cool stuff and not so cool stuff that happened over the course of the last year. Let’s dive in!
This year was another rough year for businesses as both Bar None and The Abbey were forced to shut down, nixing two venues for live music and other events from the underground music community in St. John’s. Aside from that, things got rougher as members of the music community mourned the loss of Will Hapgood, the owner of The Deck who passed away suddenly earlier in 2023. His loss sent shockwaves throughout the community and resulted in an enormous show happening at the Bowring Park Amphitheater to celebrate his life and memory.
An absurd amount of new music was released throughout the year, perhaps more so than any year prior since I’ve been involved in this scene. A slew of new records from bands like The Skeats and Category VI were joined by a cavalcade of EPs from the continuously exploding hardcore punk crowd that seems to churn out new bands at the same frequency that rabbits reproduce.
There were also a ton of mainlander bands who came through Corner Brook and St. John’s this year, including Montreal black metal bands Akitsa and Infernach, Halifax d-beat warriors Black Dog, long time Newfoundland expats Brutal Youth, Montreal hardcore group Deadbolt, New Brunswick stoner punks Diner Drugs, Montreal death metal power trio Obelisk, Toronto thrashers Ammo and Californian NWOTHM upstarts Night Demon, as well as Halifax deathcore ensemble Pale Ache. For a province that sees precious few touring acts pulling through, this past year was exceptionally great.
We also held the very first edition of the Heavy NFLD Fest this past year! This was something that was a long time coming, and has always been my ultimate goal for this project, so finally seeing it come to fruition was a triumph. We’re hoping to do it again this year so stay tuned for Heavy NFLD Fest Vol. II!
Here’s hoping that this year brings with it more good news and less of the bad. Here’s to a kickass 2024.
Biggest Stories – Bar None Closes Its Doors – Big Space Win Jazz Recording of the Year at the ECMAs – Da Slyme Wins Music NL ‘Loud Artist of the Year’ Award – The Deck Renamed to Pavlov’s Electric Verandah – Friends Hold Raffle for Sheavy Frontman Steve Hennessey’s Recovery Following Cancer Diagnosis – Grenadier Release Trumpets Blare in Blazing Glory on Vinyl – Heavy NFLD Fest Vol. I – Ken Power Tattoo Company Reopens at New Location – Lawnya Vawnya 13 Announces Lineup – Madison Strip Calls it Quits – Memorial Show for Will Hapgood to Happen at Bowring Park Amphitheater July 9th – Precious Blood Announce 2023 Maritimes Tour – Precious Blood and Da Slyme Nominated for Music NL Loud Artist of the Year – R.I.P. Will Hapgood – Stanley’s Pub Now Hosting Heavy Metal Karaoke Nights – Triskelyon Signs to Moribund Records – Triskelyon Resigns to Moribund Records in Two-Album Deal – Yes, Officer Signs to Scilly Cove Records
Come from Aways – Akitsa and Ifernach to Perform at The Rockhouse in September with Grole and Grenadier – Black Dog (HFX) to Play at First Light CPAC on July 15th – Brutal Youth to Return to the Rock for Two Shows in August – Deadbolt to Play The Rockhouse & First Light CPAC on September 8th and 9th – Diner Drugs to Play The Deck and The Abbey on May 12th and 13th – Mistwalker and Øbelisk Announce 2023 Tour with Shows in St. John’s, Corner Brook, and Glovertown – Night Demon and Ammo to Perform at the Bella Vista Events Venue on August 25th – Pale Ache Announce Fall Tour Including Multiple Dates in Corner Brook and St. John’s – Slaughter, Quiet Riot, and Great White to Perform at Iceberg Alley Performance Tent 2023
New LPs Released – 6000apez – January 12 – Beereaucracy – Beereaucracy – Beereaucracy / Catshit – Split – Brutal Youth – Rebuilding Year – C.A.R.E. – Creating a Righteous Energy – Category VI – Firecry – Chris McGee – The Strange Ritual of the Golden-Faced Man – Count Cromulent – Thrillhouse – Desperta – Desperta – Falter – Salt in the Soil – First Frost – It’s Dangerous to Go Alone – Lithops – ((BendeR)) – Mike Fisher – Diary of a Psychic Vampire – Mistwalker – Oceanic Heritage – Mistwalker – Under the Fallen Sky: 10 Years in the Mist – Needle Crafts – Frow’d Up – Neko Suicide – Bound by Chains and Ripped in Half – Neko Suicide – Midtown – Neko Suicide – St. Georges, Hell 3:00 AM – Nfrared – Under the Stairs – The Skeats – The Skeats IV – Triskelyon – Artificial Insanity – WXO – Waxsongs – Zack St. John’s – Prince of Fogtown – Zackary Anderson – Graveyard Filled with Snow
New EPs Released – 6000apez – Farmlife – 6000apez – Glauchoma! – 6000apez – Mule Touch – Adam Sharr – To the Woods – A Body Without Organs – Broken Terminal III: Milk Blood – Bog Rot – Sex, Drugs, Bog N’ Roll – Canvas – Down Horrendous – Carnage – Free at Last – Cerebral Palsy – Seas of Bloody Mist – Chimp Apparatus – Sober – compareyourself – Mary and the Misanthropic Buzzard – Cortex Strikes Back – Cortex Strikes Back – The Crevice – 11th Hour / Valley of Flies – Foundation Chain – Sanrio-core – Fucked to Death – The Penile Code – Glitterglue – Friends Club – Jaded Truth – Bitter – Knarl – Bad Luck – Lil Dirtbag – It’s Been Too Real – Love Letters to Lewis – Letter One: Vemödalen – Mistwalker – Pumpkinsmasher – Mistwalker – War on Christmas – Neko Suicide – Cross – Ninth Quarter – Below Knee – Nuclear Casket – Irascible – Of Wilds – A Ghost at the Strid – The Order of the Precious Blood – I No Longer Wish for Salvation – Pouch Dweller – Goes to the Movies – Ratpiss – Misanthropy Now! – Roach Smoking Buddies – Roach Smoking Christmas – Sex Hole – Kill or Be Killed – Shit Dildo – Odes to the Fecal Phallus – Skreeched In – Skreeched In – Smoke Signals – Send Me Flowers While I’m Still Here – Sons of an Eastern Moon – Borealis – Winterhearth – Beyond the Frosted Graves – Winterhearth – Rape of Eden – Wiremouth – EP2 – WXO – Albert Rolling Down the Magical Infinite Hill
New Singles Released – Amer Ali – “Face in the Clouds” – Amer Ali – “Forever” – Amer Ali – “Never Say I Don’t Care” – Artach – “Black Metal Drummer Boy” – Artach – “Hell on Halloween” – Bonewing – Assorted Singles – Category VI – “Firecry” – Cerebral Palsy – Assorted Singles – Chimp Apparatus – “Garfield” – Choplicker – “Brigandine” – Choplicker – “Heliouroboros” – CR – “Last Address” – Dendron – “The Glass Spire Redux” – Disposition – “Decomposed” – Disposition – “Slow Haze” – Drop Your Trust – “Hacked” – Drop Your Trust – “Think for Yourself” – Elder Caius – “Alien Space Bats” / “From Below” – Elder Caius – “Kailash, When It Rises” – Everose – “Flourish” – Ex Press – “The Island” – Guntmold – “Menstrual Shark” – Guntmold – “Munging” – Guntmold – “You Suffer” [Napalm Death Cover] – Homesick N’ Wanderlust – “When I Grow Up” – Jaded Truth – “Bottom of the Bottle” – Jaded Truth – “Samsquanch” – Jaded Truth – “The Shake-Up” – Last Cigar – “Pitchforks” – Love Letters to Lewis – “I, the End” – Needle Crafts – “Worried Sick” – Neko Suicide – “2015” – Nemophilist – “Aurora” – Nemophilist – “Failure, Goodbyes. Isolation” – Nemophilist – “Put Me on a Ship That is Sinking” – Nemophilist – “Tragedy and Loss Never Known” – Nerve Shack – “Ash” – Nerve Shack – “Forever in Your Lie” – Nerve Shack – “Yellow Teeth” – Nfrared – “Betrayed for the Better” – Nfrared – “Innocent Criminal” – Nfrared – “Piece of Mind” – The Order of the Precious Blood – “Suffer and Die” – Qyn – “Ideologue” – Rot – “Rupture” / “Delight” – Sex Hole – “Stay Out of My Way” – The Skeats – “Fine Wine” – The Skeats – “Torch” – The Skeats – “Twitch” – So Violento – “Elegia Moderna” – Sought – “Samqwan” – Sought – “Valorous Asinus” – This Day – “Euphoric State” – Triskelyon – “Visionaires” – Vertebraeker – “Buried Again” – Winterhearth – “Winter Punks” – WXO – “A.I. Instincts”
New Demos Released – 6000apez – The Consequential Mudhole – Bazooka – Demo 2022 – Beereaucracy – Vote for Us – Blender – D03s 1t Bl3nd? – Choplicker – Rollercrisis – Disciplinary Action – Floor Demo 2023 – Doberman – Shed Demo ’23 – Glitterglue – Shed Demo ’23 – Guntmold – Guntmold – Kicker – Kicker Demo – Kris Butt – Old Path Demos – Life Jolt – Floor Demo ’23 – Malpractice – We Don’t Go to Church – Nerve Shack – Sheep Kill – Paranoia – Paranoia – Vehement Slaughter – Demo – Vomit Denial – Demo ’23 – Wannabe Erudite – Remembered Demos – Winterhearth – The Rehearsal Session
New Compilations Released – Aeria – The Deadman Collection
New Live Albums Released – Defense Force – Live Like Death – Killer9000 – Live at The Deck 02/11/23 – Malpractice – Live June ’89 – Smoke Signals – Live at The Rockhouse 01/28/23
New Music Videos Released – Artach – “Hell on Halloween” – Beereaucracy – “Beerboarded” – Category VI – “Coven” – Category VI – “Valkyrie” – Hakapik – “Don’t Make Me Laugh” – Jaded Truth – “Bottom of the Bottle” – Jaded Truth – “Riders” – Jaded Truth – “The Shake-Up” – Jaded Truth – “Worthless Meek” – Nerve Shack – “Forever in Your Lie” – Nerve Shack – “Yellow Teeth” – The Order of the Precious Blood – “Bastard! Rejoice!” [Live] – The Order of the Precious Blood – “X You Out”
Album Announcements – Artach – Untitled New LP – Bog Rot – Untitled New EP – Da Slyme – If There’s No Rubble, You Haven’t Played! – Grole – Untitled New LP – Guntmold – Blackened Infection – The Hellfire Club – Volume III – Jaded Truth – Bitter – Mistwalker – Oceanic Heritage – Nocturnal Prayer / Funeral Fullmoon – Disciples of the Moonlight Worship – The Order of the Precious Blood – I No Longer Wish for Salvation – Qyn – Untitled New Release – Riproar – Untitled New Release – The Skeats – The Skeats IV – Smoke Signals – Send Me Flowers While I’m Still Here – Triskelyon – Artificial Insanity – Wendigo – Untitled New Release – Winterhearth – Rape of Eden – Yes, Officer – Untitled New LP
Live Sets Filmed – Bazooka – Live Set @ Peter Easton Pub – December 23rd, 2022 – Defense Force – Live Set @ The Dank Basement – August 17th, 2023 – Dendron – Live Set @ The Rockhouse – August 19th, 2023 – Everose – Live Set @ The Rockhouse – August 18th, 2023 – InfectDead – Live Set @ The Rockhouse – August 18th, 2023 – Jaded Truth – Live Set @ The Rockhouse – August 19th, 2023 – Kaspam Cult – Live Set @ Gower Street United Church – August 19th, 2023 – The Mill – Live Set @ The Corner Pocket – August 16th, 2023 – Mistwalker – Live Set @ The Dank Basement – August 17th, 2023 – Mistwalker – Live Set @ The Rockhouse – August 18th, 2023 – Mistwalker – Live Set @ The Rockhouse – August 19th, 2023 – Needle Crafts – Live Set @ Peter Easton Pub – December 23rd, 2022 – Obelisk – Live Set @ The Corner Pocket – August 16th, 2023 – October Wasp – Live Set @ The Corner Pocket – August 16th, 2023 – Shit Dildo – Live Set @ The Dank Basement – August 17th, 2023 – Sick Puppy – Live Set @ Peter Easton Pub – December 23rd, 2022 – The Skeats – Live Set @ The Rockhouse – August 19th, 2023 – Tunnel Vision – Live Set @ Peter Easton Pub – December 23rd, 2022 – Wretched Fiend – Live Set @ The Dank Basement – August 17th, 2023
New Merch Drops – Artach Reveal New T-Shirts – Everose Reveal New Patches – Fog Coffin Reveals New Pins – Fog Coffin Reveals New Stickers – Grole Reveals New Hoodies – Grole Reveals New T-Shirts – Guntmold Reveals New Stickers – Heavy Metal Karaoke Reveals New Stickers and Pins – Metaphora Reveal New T-Shirts + Other Merch – Mir Reveals New T-Shirts – The Order of the Precious Blood Reveal New T-Shirts – Ratpiss Reveal New Black on White Patches – Ratpiss Reveal New White on Black Patches – Sea Shanty Studios Now Offering Patch Services – The Skeats Reveal New Hats – Skreeched In Reveal New Patches – Smoke Signals Reveal New Circular Patches – Winterhearth Reveal New Diamond Patches
Album Reviews – Category VI – Firecry [by Akhenaten] – Count Cromulent – Thrillhouse [by Akhenaten] – Dead Inner Youth – Dead Inner Youth [by Stephen] – Jaded Truth – Take a Seat [by Akhenaten] – Triskelyon – Triskelyon [by Akhenaten] – Vertebraeker – Spinal Sword [by Akhenaten]
EP Reviews – Bog Rot – Sex, Drugs, Bog N’ Roll [by Akhenaten] – Chimp Apparatus – Sober [by Akhenaten] – The Crevice – 11th Hour / Valley of Flies [by Akhenaten] – Glitterglue – Friends Club [by Akhenaten] – Foundation Chain – Sanrio-core [by Akhenaten] – The Order of the Precious Blood – I No Longer Wish for Salvation [by Akhenaten] – Ratpiss – Misanthropy Now! [by James Titford] – Ratpiss – Vermin Urine [by James Titford] – Sick Puppy – Haunt the Hill [by Stephen] – Skreeched In – Skreeched In [by Akhenaten] – Sons of an Eastern Moon – Borealis [by Akhenaten] – Winterhearth – Rape of Eden [by Akhenaten]
We also released twelve new episodes of the Heavy NFLD Official Podcast this past year. We did our typical installments such as the RPM Re-Cap in March, Heavy Halloween in October, and Merry Fucking Solstice in December, but we also had genre-specific episodes focusing on grindcore, hard rock, hardcore, and grunge. Other episode topics included focuses on metal and punk from Prince Edward Island, a smattering of new metal and punk released in Newfoundland and Labrador over the past year, bands who have come to Newfoundland from elsewhere in recent years, a re-cap of artists that my own band played with during the Atlantic Annihilation Tour, and a re-cap of the bands who played this past year’s installment of Heavy NFLD Fest. You can listen to all these and more on the Heavy NFLD Bandcamp which will be linked down below.
We also released our 61st episode of the Heavy NFLD Official Podcast, which is the fourth installment of our holiday-themed Merry Fucking Solstice series. Listen to it at the Bandcamp link below!
Albums Archived – Amer Ali – Pathogen [Remastered] [Single / Hard Rock] – Ashen – Demo [Demo / Black Metal] – The Crevice – 11th Hour / Valley of Flies [EP / Stoner Metal] – Elder Caius – Alien Space Bats / From Below [Single / Progressive Rock] – Elder Caius – Kailash, When It Rises [Single / Progressive Rock] – Mistwalker – War on Christmas [EP / Black N’ Roll] – Ninth Quarter – Below Knee [EP / Metalcore] – Pouch Dweller – Goes to the Movies [EP / Dungeon Synth] – Phil Gallant – Demos [Demo / Sludge Metal] – The Skeats – Torch [Single / Hard Rock] – Sought – Samqwan [Single / Black Metal] – Triskelyon – Artificial Insanity [LP / Power Metal] – Vomit Denial – Demo ’23 [Demo / Hardcore] – Vomit Denial – Vein! [Demo / Hardcore] – Winterhearth – Winter Punks [Single / Blackened Death Metal]
Guitar player and founding member John N. Roach has amicably parted ways with St. John’s folk metal band Sons of an Eastern Moon. The band announced John’s departure from the group on Sunday, January 7th, 2024. Roach has stated that he has other projects in the works and that this doesn’t mean that he will stop playing music, but his time with this band has come to an end, citing a refocusing of priorities as the main reason.
Sons of an Eastern Moon are going to continue on as a band, and are currently in the process of finding a new guitar player.
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
HeavyNFLD 