Brittany Levi and Jan Loncik are the partners in crime behind Dark Witch Productions, a promotion company bringing metal shows with killer line-ups to Calgary, Alta. And it all started with an all-ages metal show at the Winston Heights Community Hall on Sept. 18.
“I decided, ‘I want to do a show,’ so I called up a bunch of random bands and asked them if they’d like to do a show. Most of them said no because they had never heard of me before,” Levi recalls.
Regardless of the reluctance of some …

In 2006, guitarist and vocalist James Farwell began a new musical project in search of heavier melodies. Soon after, Bison B.C. was born on the West coast of our fair country. This four-piece heavy metal outfit from Vancouver, B.C. are continuing to pump out that delicious stoner-inspired progressive metal, so showcased in their last release, Dark Ages [Metal Blade, 2010]. We spoke with Farwell about the inspiration behind the music, the changing dynamics of the metal scene, and the importance of the live show in developing the musician-fan relationship.
First things …

Congratulations to the winners at the first ever Alberta Metal Awards! A complete list of all the nominees and the final award recipients can be found here.
We’ve got some exciting coverage of the event below, but first we want to give a huge round of thank yous to all those involved in helping make the Alberta Metal Awards a success.
Those who came out early to help set up and decorate and then headbanged all night were an inspiration. The bands that performed and kept the crowd moving were incredible. The …

The traveling death metal festival Summer Slaughter has been hitting Canada for the past two years and, this past August, the 10-band line-up – led by Poland’s Decapitated – stopped in at the Republik in Calgary Alta.
Vital Remains were up first, which was surprising, considering how long these guys have been around. It was their first time back in Calgary in 15 years, and luckily a lot of people showed up early to the show so they were able to play to a decent sized crowd. Vital Remains played a …

On August 7, Viathyn invaded the Royal Canadian Legion Hall #1 in downtown Calgary, Alta. to celebrate the official release of their debut album The Peregrine Way [Independent, 2010], with support from fellow Alberta metallers Divinity and Illuminated Minerva. I am embarassed to admit that I missed it, but photographer Monika Deviat was on site to capture the concert; however, after hearing the sneak previews, I made sure to pick up a copy at the Alberta Metal Awards, and the well-produced and epic power metal album has been on …

Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with a number of fabulous promoters, publicists, agents, managers, and record labels. Most work with metal bands, with many willing to consider those at the grassroots level.
In the spirit of Noctis IV: Thrones of War Metal Festival and Conference, running Sept. 24 and 25 in Calgary, Alta., allow me to share these with you. What you do with this information is entirely up to you, but do feel free to comment at the end if we’ve missed any you think …