St. John’s grunge and sludge outfit Bog Rot have parted ways with guitarist and founding member Tomas Hiscock. The split was amicable and Hiscock remains a member of both Everose and Merlin’s Inferno. Bog Rot have not announced a search for a new guitar player and will continue on as a band.
~ Akhenaten
Bog Rot is a brand new St. John’s grunge supergroup of sorts. The band consists of Ryder Whiffen from Sentimentipede, Tomas Hiscock and Chris Lewis of Everose, and Michael Small from Jaded Truth. The band recently played their very first show on September 29th, and have since followed that up with the release of their very first EP.
The new EP is entitled Sex, Drugs, Bog N’ Roll, and was released on Sunday, October 1st, 2023 through streaming services.
You can listen to Sex, Drugs, Bog N’ Roll through our YouTube embed below.
~ Akhenaten
St. John’s black metal band Rot has released their first duo of singles. The two songs, entitled “Rupture” and “Delight” respectively, were released through Michael Barron’s YouTube channel on September 17th, 2023. Rot is a relatively new band that features Kobe Loveless on vocals and guitar, Nathaniel Howell on guitar, Tomas Hiscock on bass, and D-Beat Steve on drums. These two tracks were recorded and mixed by Michael Barron.
You can listen to both “Rupture” and “Delight” through our YouTube embeds below.
~ Akhenaten
On January 28th, 2023 St. John’s hardcore band Smoke Signals performed at a mental health benefit show at The Rockhouse alongside Sons of an Eastern Moon, Uneeda, and Carnage. Did you miss it? Well luckily for you the band’s complete set is up on YouTube in its entirety courtesy of Tomas Hiscock, albeit only in audio form.
You can listen to this performance through our YouTube embed below.
~ Akhenaten
St. John’s alternative metal band Everose is a brand new addition to the ranks of heavy metal groups in Newfoundland and Labrador. Featuring Tomas Hiscock on guitars and vocals, TJ Schwerdtfeger on bass and vocals and Alex Lawlor on drums, the group is essentially a side project of the more well known thrash metal act Pearl.
On December 14th the group dropped their first single, entitled “Falling”, which you can listen to on most major streaming platforms. You can check it out through our YouTube embed below.
~ Akhenaten
St. John’s alternative metal outfit Everose have been teasing their debut material since December of 2019 in which the band posted some early demo recordings to their Soundcloud page. Now the band has announced that they are finally working on their first official release, an as-of-yet untitled EP with no confirmed release date.
Everose consists of Pearl members Tomas Hiscock on vocals and guitar and TJ Schwerdtfeger on bass and guitar while Bradley Dyke brings up the rear on drums.
You can check out the band’s early recordings through our Soundcloud embed below.
~ Akhenaten
Left to right: Luke Roberts (guitar), Tomas Hiscock (drums, vocals), TJ Schwerdtfeger (bass).
Conception Bay South crossover thrashers Pearl have been around the block for a little while despite their relatively young age in comparison with a lot of other active bands in the area. The three piece has been active for several years and their sound could best be described as a mixture of thrash metal with Pantera-esque grooves and a tiny hint of death metal sprinkled over the top. They’ve been heavily active in the local scene within the past two years, playing a slew of all ages shows and there never seems to be a month that goes by without a Pearl show. As such, we had a chat with the guys behind the music to find out what exactly drives them to be so prolific.
First off, tell the people who we’re talking to!
Hi! We’re Tomas, Luke and TJ from Pearl, a crossover thrash metal band from a little island in the middle of the Atlantic!
How did you guys first get into heavy music? Do you have any bands you’d consider favourites?
“I got into this kind of music mainly by my dad showing me Mötley Crüe and Poison growing up with a little push down the rabbit hole by Tomas introducing me to Master of Puppets. My favourite bands are Havok, Metallica, Nekrogoblikon, Testament and Commoname.” – Luke
“Like Luke my dad was a huge influence on my music taste at a young age I remember digging through his CDs and seeing ZZ Top’s greatest hits with girls all over it and fuzzy guitars, I learned drums just so me and him could jam. Later on he showed me High on Fire and Mastodon and I ran with it developing my own taste. To this day he is my biggest musical inspiration along with Deftones.” – Tomas
“I started out in like grade seven listening to Rings of Saturn and System of a Down. Heavy music was never really a part of my life before that but it hit hard around then. I didn’t end up getting a favourite band that stuck until I found Tool, and I still listen to them now. My favourite bands are Deftones, KoRn, Depeche Mode, A Perfect Circle and Attack Attack.” – Tony
How did the formation of Pearl happen? How did you guys all meet?
“We all met through Tomas. TJ and Tomas were friends for years before through kick boxing. Since Tomas and I had gone to the same school, we just started hanging out and jamming songs like “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath and a poorly played version of “The World is Yours” by Arch Enemy. After going through certain bassists, we had asked TJ to come play bass with us one night, we all clicked, and the rest is history.” – Luke
How did you come up with the band’s name? Is there any significance to it?
“Pearl’s name was an obvious choice for us! Me and TJ did kickboxing together there, just down the street from where he lived. Both me and Luke worked in fast food there for a while plus I play a Pearl kit!” – Tomas
Does being based in CBS as opposed to St. John’s-proper present any unique challenges when it comes to being an active band and playing live as often as you do?
“Not really it is only a half hour drive at most and our parents are all really helpful with getting our gear to us if we had to work or set up early. The biggest challenge is being underage and not being able to stick around to support our friends.” – Tomas
Speaking directly to Tomas, your vocal style is completely unchained, best described as a gruff roar mixed with the occasional bloodcurdling scream. How long have you been a vocalist? Are there any particular vocalists or frontmen you look up to as inspirations or influences? What about drummers?
First off thank you kindly! I have only been doing vocals for a few years and only really started because of Pearl. I never really could scream or sing at the time but I could do it while playing so I ended up with that duty. I wanted something to fit and I tried singing clean along with what at best could be described as a screech but over time I found myself trying to augment my voice to sound burly and it never worked. I found myself listening to Expire when I realized I just have to let go and just go for it and that is when I truly found my voice. I haven’t changed since then minus some techniques to protect my cords from damage. Some voices that have influenced me over the years are Troy Sanders (Mastodon) and Chuck Schuldiner (Death). Drum wise Gene Hoglan has been a huge influence on the way I play, hear and see the drums. He made me see them less as a time keeping device and energy builder and more of a part of the composition.
Speaking directly to Luke, your guitar riffs are heavy and groovy, with flavours of groove metal, death metal and nu metal mixed in with the thrash base. How long have you been playing guitar? Who are your inspirations and influences as an axe-wielder?
I’ve been playing guitar for about three years now. I’m self-taught and I haven’t taken a lesson in my life. I mostly got inspired to pick up the guitar by the whole 80’s hair metal scene, but my main inspirations are Reece Scruggs of Havok, Gary Holt of Exodus and Alex Skolnick of Testament, and the obviously Dimebag Darrell of Pantera. My whole riff writing ideas are based on the things I hear around me, it could be a melody that I could just hear or for example, the melody in our song “Synthetic Minds” was basically written by my sister as she was humming the melody and thought it sounded nice.
Speaking directly to Tony, your bass tone on these recordings is thick and heavy, bringing that extra layer of oomph to the music you guys have recorded (and a good bass tone is certainly needed for this style of groovy thrash). How long have you been playing bass and who inspires and influences you on the low end?
I first picked up the bass in early 2018 and I was a huge Tool fan at the time so I played exclusively with a pick, but I made the switch to fingers out of just wanting to be as versatile as I could and that’s what I mainly stick with now. Playing-wise my main influence is Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse with the gallops and flying around the neck, plus a bit of Fieldy from KoRn with the ghost notes.
Are there any bands you guys look to as a direct inspiration on your overall sound?
No actually! When writing music or dialing things in we all just listen until we all have a ‘that’s it’ moment. We try to stay away from sounding like anybody else although if we had to say some bands that may have influenced our sound it would have to be Machine Head and Sepultura.
So far you’ve released three songs, “Hallows Eve”, “Synthetic Minds” and “Daylight”. While “Synthetic Minds” has a pretty blatant political slant to it, what are the lyrical themes of the other two tracks?
“Synthetic Minds gets a bit of a wrap for being political and I understand why especially from the first verse but it wasn’t written with that in mind. More so with the ideas of being your own person and not just going with the flow, “Hallows Eve” continues on that idea but more so from the view of somebody stuck in the loop. The chorus lyrics pertain to the religious beliefs of heaven and hell basically saying that at the end of your life what you will have to say for yourself and would you be proud of your legacy. The close themes of these songs is why we released them together. Daylight comes straight from heartbreak and not knowing what to do with yourself. I’m glad I was able to take something terrible and turn it into one of our best songs” – Tomas
Do you see Pearl as a band with an overall lyrical theme, or would you rather have the creative freedom to write about whatever strikes your fancy?
“I’ve never sat down to write with ideas in mind everything I write is straight from my mind to the paper but I’ve noticed over time that the themes of the lyrics lend themselves to a concept album following somebody through their life which is where Through Life and Death, our upcoming album, comes into play”. – Tomas
You recorded “Daylight” with Ward Pike at Comfort Cove Sound Studio. What was it like to work with him?
“We recorded that as a part of a compilation CD that is yet to be released entitled Trouble at Treble. Working with Ward was truly a blessing. To this day the best thing we have done as a band. He is an amazing producer and recording engineer”. -Tomas
You guys have played live a lot, including a ton of all ages shows, throughout the last couple years. Is there any one show that sticks out as being an unforgettable experience?
“For me, it would have to be our recent Snow & Ice in Paradise show, where after our set, all of my friends came up to me asking for signatures, even ended up signing the chest of my friend Bramen of Last Cigar.” – Luke
“With all the shows we have played over the few years I would have to go with the first time we worked with Still Heavy at Treble. Everything ran smoothly which from a person who does a lot of the scheduling it was a pleasure right from the start working with Antony. Not only that the club was packed and we played awesome, we lost our minds and it was truly unforgettable.” – Tomas
What’s next on the horizon for Pearl?
“Planning on recording an album soon Through Life and Death. Other than that, we just plan on putting on an insane show and giving people a fun time they won’t forget.” – Tomas
Thanks for taking the time to speak to us here at Heavy NFLD! I hope Pearl continues to churn out awesome groovy thrash tunes for years to come.
“Thank you for everything and all the great things you do for our growing music scene here in NL.” – Tomas
~ Akhenaten
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