Touring, for some bands, is as simple as loading your gear and selves into a van and heading down the road, and hoping to make enough off a cut of the cover charge and merch sales to make it back home again in one piece.
Others taking a slightly different approach.
A wise musician once said: “I bought four cases of Fun Dip!”
Actually, that was Andy Sidloski, bassist for the band Silent Line, but he makes a valid point.
He’s thought about what it means to go on the road, and he wants …

“Acoustic” isn’t a word often heard in metal bars, but Jesse O’ Reilly and Judd Johnson, the unplugged force behind Red Deer’s Cain & Abel, are changing the way metalheads view the “wooden twang boxes.”
“I guess we just make acoustic guitars look metal,” O’ Reilly laughs. “Although we have understandably been the ‘freak show’ at every metal gig we’ve played, I think we have both been pleasantly surprised by the positive reaction from metalheads and general rock fans alike.”
“My ascent into the acoustic ranks was somewhat accidental. I blame Jesse,” …

How do you support your metal community?
Most of my friends are metal heads, and and I try to go see their shows as often as I can. Which is great in Edmonton. There are so many good metal bands performing constantly, it’s hard to miss them all. Every show I go to, I try to bring a friend who hasn’t heard them before. It’s always great to see new friends meeting the old, and appreciating each other’s abilities.
Do you play the guitar you are posing with?
No talent on the …

In the spring of 2006, Chris ‘Savage’ Jennings responded to an ad for a local band looking for a singer shortly after work brought him to Red Deer, Alta. He met and jammed a few cover songs with guitarists Dean Scott and Mike Williams and bassist Ryan Piecowye.
“I was essentially hired once I proved I had the vocal range required to fit the music being written” Jennings explains.
Chad Hutton relocated from Vancouver to play drums and soon after, Diesel May started writing their self-titled debut album, which was released in …

Work place accidents occur every day and can have a big impact on a person’s normal daily life. A stint in hospital, perhaps, hours of physiotherapy exercises and, for some, the inability to play or practice music. For Greg Smith, drummer of central Alberta’s Before The Unseen, this scenario is all too familiar.
“I work for an oilfield cleaning facility, so I clean 400 tanks and clock tanks and anything to do with rig equipment, and was inside a tank when an 1,800 lb piece of ice came off the wall …

As most up-and-coming and well-established bands know, merchandise is a great way to get your name and logo out there. But with so many choices for printing companies and available merchandise, it can be a tad overwhelming for any newbie, and even seasoned musicians, looking to fill their merchandise table with garments for the apparel-hungry fans.
Bassist for the central Alberta band Thunder in Paradise, Bryce Thurston, is no exception.
“We could not find anywhere locally to get all our merch done on time, correctly, and at a decent price. So I …

Edmonton rockers Looking East are in the process of writing new material for an album they plan on recording in the new year, a follow-up to their 2008 EP Telling Lies. And as any musician knows, that can be a trying and busy time, no matter your schedule.
But still, vocalist Jadie Hunt, who founded the band in 2007, finds the time to carry on a new tradition, with help of Looking East bassist Steve Mardling.
“Rock 4 Santa is a charity concert of all independent bands giving back to their community …

What was your first ever metal concert?
Ozzy Osbourne. I saw him in Edmonton, Alta. on his “Retirement Sucks” tour in 1996.
Who is your favorite live band?
Hard question! I would have to say Clutch, since I’ve seen them five times, and also Kylesa.
Any favourite music to help you celebrate the season?
The only holiday music I really enjoy listening to during the holidays is the soundtrack for The Nightmare Before Christmas.
What’s on your Christmas wish list?
It was going to be Kittie’s new album, In The Black, but I couldn’t wait and bought …

What first started as a joke during a high school math class soon evolved into “a melodic metal band focusing on grotesque and absurd lyrics made to make you laugh out loud when read,” explained Corpse Vapour guitarist Logan Wilson.
“The band name is more of a joke. In a way though, it’s a pretty original name for the genre. Chaotic, fast and funny could be used to describe the name, as well as the music,” Wilson added.
In the year since first forming in Sherwood Park, Alta., Corpse Vapour has released …

What’s spinning on your CD player or iPod right now?
My all-time favourite albums are Dimmu Borgir Death Cult Armageddon, Poison – Look What the Cat Dragged In, and Kataklysm – Shadows and Dust.
Favourite local venue to get your live music fix?
I always have a great time at The Starlite Room but anywhere that allows metal bands to play is wicked!
What is the best hard rock or metal show you have attended so far this year?
AC/DC in the pouring rain was so much fun!

While attending a photography class at Metro Campus, a self portrait for a final project “took on a life of it’s own,” says Edmonton-based performance artist Madeleine Horn.
“I had so much fun. Getting carried away with dolling myself up and posing.”
Since that first foray in front of the camera in 2004, Madeleine has made many appearances in front of the camera, but also an audience.
“It’s no secret that I was a stripper for a few years while I started modeling. I loved being on stage, and many of …

1997 marked the start of something special: the coming together of a group of very different individuals to make one fleshy sound rooted in the belief that all organized religion is detrimental to human existence and should be buried, along with… well, other stuff. But definitely not their creativity especially of the on-stage variety, which has brought them both popularity in the Alberta metal community, and notoriety with the kinds of people who think Pamela Anderson knows the first thing about chicken farming.
More than a decade has passed since Dead …

First metal album bought: Pantera, Vulgar Display of Power [Atco Records, 1992]
Favourite local band(s) that never gets old: Dead Jesus and Death Toll Rising
Favourite metal band across the board: Zimmers Hole
Daily metal fix: Lead vocalist for Order of Chaos

Five years worth of energetic shows and festivals prove Necrobiosis are no strangers to the stage. And with the upcoming release of their as-yet untitled third album, and a cross-Canada tour that they’re keeping hush-hush for the time being, all the hard work and determination are finally starting to pay off for the horror-grinding-death metal quintet from Edmonton, Alta.
Founding members and dual guitarists Josh Fell and Curtis Vanderham gave us a peek into the world of Necrobiosis, taking time to reflect on where they’re headed, where they’ve been, and how …

“Little Ineffectual Nothing” Track List:
1. Mental Anorexia
2. Beyond Shut Eyelids
3. Shuddercase
4. The Harlot Prophecies
5. The Hate That Binds
6. Choke Out Your Pride
7. The Sardonic Blast
8. Beyond Despair
9. Untouched/Unspoiled
Up-and-coming Red Deer metal act Awkward Silence is fast gaining credit and fans across Alberta.
On the eve of the band’s debut album official re-release, vocalist and bassist J Michalski offered a little insight on how the Little Ineffectual Nothing [Awkward Silence, 2007] came to be, and the band that eventually followed.
You see, most bands form, write a while, play a few shows, and …

Favorite Aspect of Metal Shows: The mosh pit, for sure.
Favorite Alternative Clothing Store: It used to be Cabbages and Kinks in Vancouver, but it burned down a few years ago. Now, I would have to say Sanctuary in Edmonton. It’s where I got my wedding dress.
First Metal Show: Queensryche at the Coliseum in Vancouver when I was 12. My Dad took me from Merritt, B.C. to Vancouver on the Greyhound to go to the show. I swear we were the only ones there dressed in gortex.

With spots in the line-up at the recent Live Slaughterfest, which massacred black metal fans over a weekend in both Edmonton and Calgary last month, and the three-day Harvesting Hell Festival in Drayton Valley, Alta. later this summer, Begrime Exemious certainly know how to bring metal to the masses in true festival format, whether indoors or out.
“We place great importance on every gig we play,” says bassist Alasdair Rintoul (aka R – Judas Cradle Heresy).
“Personally, I feel playing outdoors during the witching hour suits Begrime Exemious more so than an …

Touring can be tough at the best of times, but even more so when crossing borders into other countries. It’s a daunting task of passports, visas and paperwork, not to mention the cost of making it all happen, which is why when Edmonton-based prog quartet Portal decided to play a few shows in the United States, they chose a simpler path, even though it still took about four months of planning.
“We knew that if the U.S. border had any evidence that we were making money on our trip, we would …

Whether hitting the road for a one-night show or a month long trek, you can never really know how it’s all going go.
“Some things are not foreseen; the only thing you can do is be prepared. The most important thing is reliable transportation, and the next thing is good experience to adapt to all kinds of situations,” affirms Section VIII guitarist Wes Sontag. And after 20 years of shows and side projects, and the fact that he’s been part of the Edmonton-based six-piece metal act since 1989, he’s learned a …

A “psychomantium” is a chamber designed for gazing into the spirit realm, usually a darkened and mirrored room set up to induce a trance-like effect through sensory deprivation. The mirror-gazing practice has roots dating back to the oracle pools of ancient Greece, where reflective surfaces were considered conduits to other worlds.
Lethbridge metallers Psycomantium have slightly more recent origins than the dowsing style of their namesake, and a slightly different purpose.
With a full-length debut album in the works – and plans to take it on the road once completed – guitarist …

First metal show: My first “metal” show was Tool in the ’90s in Vancouver.
Favorite live band: It’s a very close tie between Satyricon and Hanzel und Gretyl.
Best thing about going to live metal shows: The shows are always impressive, but the fans are the most fun. Everyone gets so excited – and us girls get to dress all snazzy.

Red Deer metallers First Church of Mud are ready to convert the masses, and with the word fast spreading after the central Albertans released their debut album “Dark Humanity” last September, the shows just keep on coming.
“We like to put on a show with a lot of energy and will have you banging your head and kickin’ shit over,” said lead vocalist Greg Mix of the band’s live sound.
Mix, who also takes charge of the band’s promotional, management and booking needs, first picked up guitar when he was 16.
“I’ve always …