Cyrus Kriticos is a character from the 1960 horror flick “13 Ghosts,” and the namesake of Edmonton’s female fronted death/thrash metal band, Kriticos. Cyrus Kriticos was a ghost hunter that hunted ghosts specifically from the black zodiac to complete a machine called the “Ocularis Infernum” (Eye of Hell) that was designed by the devil and powered by the dead.
“Just as Cyrus Kriticos fueled the machine with spirits of the dead, we fuel our fans with the spirit of our music,” vocalist Cyn Mecredi explains.
Bassist Rick White takes the significance of …

After many years in the making, Calgary metal band Viathyn made their debut in 2009. Brothers Tomislav and Dave Crnkovic had been playing music together for most of their lives, but it wasn’t until four or five years ago that the seed for what would eventually become Viathyn was planted, when guitarist Jacob Wright caught Tomislav’s ear.
“Jake came into the music store I work at and started playing a very difficult guitar solo that I recognized. I actually got him a teaching job there first, and months later realized we …

“The show was originally started to bring some attention to the Alberta metal scene. I was going to see a lot of local shows and really enjoying the music so I wanted to find a way to be involved and help out,” says Mark Dillon, founder of Vinland Radio, a weekly podcast featuring heavy metal music and news.
“I had been working in radio both as a amateur and a professional since 1995, so some sort of radio program seem like the obvious choice. I just want to some of this …

Casey Orr was a fan of GWAR for years before taking on the role of Beefcake the Mighty in 1994, a character introduced in 1987 and portrayed by bassist Mike Bishop until Orr took over, and by Todd Evans in the early 2000s.
“I was one of those guys that when I saw GWAR I was like, man, that’s what I wanted. That’s what I was standing in front of the mirror mimicking Kiss and that what I wanted to do. I wanted to do the whole full show. And when …

“Often times I’ll write something and I’ll think this has to have been written already,” says guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie, of Massachusetts grindcore act The Red Chord.
“I’ll write something, and then I play it for the guys and I say, ‘Hey, does this sound like somebody else’s riff?’ because it sounds familiar to me, and they’re like, ‘Uh, no…’ and I’ll be like, ‘Are you sure? Then why do I feel like I already know this?’”
Anyone who is familiar with The Red Chord and the albums they’ve released since founded …

It’s been more than two decades since GWAR first arrived on the seething mud ball that is planet Earth, and at the beginning of December, the comedic thrash band that’s hailed from the state of Virginia since their intergalactic journeys brought them to our planet visited Alberta, as part of their 25th anniversary tour.
Joining the group and their slaves were Massachusetts grindcore four-piece The Red Chord, who opened the show with a killer 30-minute set of original material from their first three studio albums, as well as tunes from their …

Rock 4 Santa started off in 2008 as a one-off charity show in Edmonton, Alta., organized by Looking East musicians Jadie Hunt and Steve Mardling. It was a way for local independent bands to give back to the community. They raised money for Christmas Bureau of Edmonton, Santa’s Anonymous, The Edmonton Food Bank, and Adopt-A-Teen.
This year, they expanded on the vision by adding a second show in Red Deer, aiming to raise money for the Adopt-a-Family program through the Women’s Outreach Center. Pitch Black’s managing editor Becca Stone took the …

The first week of December was one brutal snowstorm after another, and on Dec. 5, the snow was making the highways so treacherous for the bands on the Decimation of the Nation Tour, it even caused Cannibal Corpse, who were co-headlining with Hatebreed, to arrive so late to MacEwan Hall that Hate Eternal was already on stage. Due to that same weather, we at Pitch Black were unable to capture Hate Eternal on camera, but we were lucky enough to catch the last part of their set. Even though they …

“Behind the Curtain” Track List:
1. Agenda
2. Demonseed
3. Blackened Sunsets
4. Behind the Curtain
5. Bad Boy
6. Cattle Drive
7. Closer
8. Fight My
9. Sever the Spine
10. Sexual Degenerate
11. Usurper
12. Bleedthrough
“We’ve learned to pack bedding, because a lot of times we sleep either in a vehicle or on a floor. We haven’t made a lot of money on the road, so we have to prepare to just live. And friends are a huge, important things for us, because they usually put us up,” says Marcus Steiner, guitarist and vocalist for Lies From Elysium. The Calgary, …

How did you first get involved in Alberta’s music community?
I’ve been involved as a musician in both the Edmonton and Calgary areas since I was a teenager, writing and performing music in a variety of genres, ranging from Celtic to hard rock. After moving to Calgary, my passion for metal led me to play keyboards for Sacred Ally. I am now the keyboardist for Gales of Avalon.
What inspired you to launch Pitch Black Magazine?
As a journalist and a photographer, a lot of music-related gigs are freelance and pay little to …

When heading out on tour, one of the most important details to consider is also one of the least or last thought of. What the hell are we gonna eat?
For most bands, the first trip, even if just across the province, involves booking the gigs, finding “reliable” transportation, packing the gear and hoping you’ve got a place to sleep after the show. Food is often secondary. It’s also one of the biggest money mongers if you’re touring for more than a couple of days, and it seems the more you …

I’d love to write something deeply profound and inspiring as we step forth into this new decade, but I’ve had way to much sugar, which makes it really hard to focus on just one thought.
On the one hand, I’m astounded. Remember when all that Christmas candies and chocolates went on sale on Boxing Day and you could run down, fight the crowds for those last few boxes of truffles? Well, not only has the last decade brought us Boxing Week, where stores offer deals all week, but don’t stock enough …