Mechanize [Candlelight, 2010] marks the first release in five years from Fear Factory, and the first since 2001’s Digimortal [Roadrunner] to feature Dino Cazares on guitar.
Mechanize is the band’s seventh release to date, and features original members Cazares and vocalist Burton C. Bell, and a rhythm section not to be messed with in bassist Byron Stroud and drummer Gene Hoglan, best known for their work together in Strapping Young Lad.
“Yeah, Strapping Young Lad and the many, many other projects they’ve worked on. It’s been great because these guys are real …

Recording can be daunting enough on its own without factoring in the task of finding a studio that not only suits your technical needs, but is comfortable to be in and fits your budget. If you’re Calgary musician Anthony Blaine, the solution is simple: just open your own.
Okay, so maybe it’s not all as simple as that.
The idea to one day open a recording studio was there, and Blaine even had his eye on a location, so when the space became available, it didn’t take long for the dream to …

Kelly the Bastard is one of the best known figures in Calgary’s cover band circuit. First picking up the guitar at a serious level after an injury ended his professional sports career as a BMXer, he joined his first touring act in 1989.
“There was more of a cool party attitude back then,” Kelly recalls. “People were in the bars to see bands. Now it’s like musicians are sort of a hindrance, a pain in the ass for clubs. We’ve become a glorified jukebox in some ways.”
In his opinion, “the whole …

It wasn’t too long ago that we chatted with Shawn Drover, talking mostly about Megadeth’s Endgame [Roadrunner, 2008], the recording studio and, of course, his heat vision and other superpowers, as an entire thread on the band’s forums will attest. In fact, this guy could probably give Chuck Norris a challenge, especially when you add the fact that he is the backbone to one of the most popular metal acts in the world. No pressure, right?
The laid back Canadian drummer has a good laugh; he takes it all in stride. …

Testament has long secured their legacy as the unofficial fifth member of the so-called “Big Four” of thrash metal (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax). As one of the few Bay Area thrash bands still around from the genres early years, and certainly one of the few bands that are still putting out consistent releases, Testament is about to head through Alberta with fellow thrashers Exodus and headliners Megadeth, who are celebrating 20 years since their monumental release Rust in Peace [Capitol, 1990].
While the concert’s line-up is sure to get any metal …

February 24, 2010 marked the beginning of Shadows Fall’s first ever headlining tour in Canada, and The Republik in Calgary Alta. was packed most of the night for all four bands on the tour.
Baptized in Blood, of London Ont., started off the night and their metal-meets-punk sound was well received. These guys clearly have fun on stage, and with songs titles such as “Up Shirts and Down Skirts” you know you’re in for an entertaining show.
Blackened death metallers from New Orleans Goatwhore played second and were the band that got …

Every once in a while, a band will come along that never disappoints, releasing consistently solid albums de force, touring non-stop, and never failing to draw the audience into their performance, treating them like extended band members, and gripping them in an intense, fist-pounding tango of musical solidarity, until the final note of the evening rings out before fading into a true metal memory.
That is my definition of Arch Enemy.
The melodic death metallers ignited the North American Tyrants of Evil Tour in the U.S. in late January, before driving the …