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 …

Being one of the few epic power metal outfits in Alberta has provided the Edmonton-based Samandriel with their fair share of challenges while preparing for their debut album, Awakening [Independent, 2010]. The epic October-scheduled release – sure to be chalk-full of powerful riffs, fantasy-type solos and booming operatic vocals – has been long in the making, and is the perfect showcase of over a year’s worth of hard work. The band has been busy making the rounds in the Alberta scene, and I had a chance to catch up with …

Phantom Limb is just about ready to unleash their first album to the Alberta metal crowd, something that has been in the works for a while, and that many in the metal community are looking forward to. The band has a lot of talent and experience to draw from, with each member having contributed substantially to the metal scene over the years.
Guitarist and vocalist Greg Musgrave, who plays bass for another Calgary-based act, Exit Strategy, has been practicing his art for over 10 years now and, as a result, has …

“Red Deer is a town of country loving folk,” says Josh Bouw, founder of the Alberta based metal label Runic Era Records (RER), “so I can see how it can seem so out of place for someone to move a label from Vancouver to Red Deer.”
Back in October of 2009, Bouw, then based in Port Moody, B.C., created Runic Era Records, which, today, houses such bands as Dead Jesus, Necrobiosis, Odinfist and Trollband.
“What originally motivated me to start RER was definitely a business class back in college,” Bouw explains, noting …

Update: Thank you so much to everyone who came out, rocked out, and supported the first annual Alberta Metal Awards. The bands that played were amazing, the bands that came out to support – you are all awesome in every way – and I think our emcees did a great job keeping the night rolling along and making people laugh. And, of course, thanks to The Distillery for having us. It was a lot of fun and we hope that next year can be even bigger …

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 …

Ask Jan Kulakowski about Shadowblade’s upcoming album, and he’ll describe it as “55 minutes of progressive epic metal!”
The founder and frontman for the Edmonton-based metal act is talking about Frozen Serenity [Independent, 2010], Shadowblade’s full-length studio debut, recorded by Kulakowski and drummer Anders Johansson, then flown to Helsinki, Finland, where it was mixed by Nino Laurenne at Sonic Pump Studios. Laurenne has worked with the likes of Apocalyptica, Ensiferum, Sonata Arctica and Amorphis, to name a few, but it wasn’t the names he’d worked with in the past that inspired …

Self-described as “redneck aggression, washed down with whiskey,” War Eagle Rising aren’t holding back when it comes to representing Alberta metal to the metallist. The quartet is quickly becoming the ambassadors of our provincial music scene, and have been making a strong name for themselves since releasing their debut album, The New Order, this past May.
Comprised of vocalist Ian Dillon, guitarist Daniel Muise, drummer Dallas Lobb and bassist Brett Winnichuk, and fueled with “raw energy and strong emotion,” the band has no qualms about who they are, or what they …

“I started writing mellow acoustic songs with no intention to play them live,” says Sean Raven, founder of the acoustic doom blues band Chakobsa.
The band’s “heavy mellow” style emerged from Raven’s original acoustic writing and his adaptations to his own physical limits. While he began his music career as a songwriter and guitarist, he eventually became unable to endure rehearsals on the six-string, due to some problems with his arms. But he kept at his musical endeavours and, even though he is no longer a full time guitarist, he has …

“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,” …

“Living in a town full of Jesus-worshipping hillbillies can inspire one to do a lot of things,” states Jess Morrison, the sole promoter behind Calgary, Alta.’s Devil’s Work Promotions, which found it’s start in 2007 in nearby Lethbridge.
“It was kind of a selfish beginning,” she candidly admits. “I was sick and tired of the bar scene/meat market full of grabby drunk dudes. I wanted to go to shows. No one was making it happen so I figured, ‘Why not me?’”
Morrison had no background in show promotion or booking at the …

With their Reclamation [Independent, 2010] EP set for release May 8 at the Starlight Room in Edmonton, Alta., melodic death metallers Sonorous Odium are finally getting some results for their four years of hard work and tenaciousness.
Before the foundation for Sonorous Odium was built in 2006, guitarist Wally Fischer and bassist Eric Rodgers had been playing and writing together for a few years. With another guitarist and drummer in the band, the guys started looking for a vocalist when Fischer and Rodgers found Curtis Vieville.
“We actually approached him first. He …

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 …

Derailed have travelled down the tracks of heavy metal mayhem since 2008, at least in their current formation. There’s a wealth of experience amongst the Calgary, Alta. four-piece, but for lead vocalist Johnie Sinclair and bassist Steve Legault, the band’s two newest members, they can hardly hold their excitement when describing the feeling of performing original and fresh material in a live setting.
“This is where I have always wanted to be,” exclaims Sinclair. “When I think back to when I was 15 and 16, sitting in a garage, this is …

Calgary death grind heroes Kataplexis have had their fair share of highs and lows. With member changes, on-stage mishaps and bureaucratic blowups, these boys definitely know what it means to be brought to the brink of chaos. Finally finding a solid lineup and finishing up the recording of their debut album, and playing with such high calibre bands as Behemoth and The Black Dahlia Murder, the band can see the light of the metaphorical metal music tunnel. Finding strength in the local metal community and each other, Kataplexis are ready …

From the outside, there is nothing remarkably endearing about the brick building that blends almost seamlessly into the architecture of downtown Calgary. Aside from a small chalk board with hastily scribbled lunch specials and a sign above the entrance way proclaiming it as a drinking establishment, there isn’t much to distinguish it from any other watering hole in the city.
But deep within its bowels, down a long flight of stairs that descends well past street level, there exists, very fittingly, a haven for underground music.
Most people know it simply as …

Just the day before this issue was published, Edmonton, Alta.’s Death Toll Rising (DTR) played the first show of the Suffocation of Mankind tour, in support of their upcoming album Defecation Suffocation. And the quintet started off their evening with their usual Wednesday wing night tradition.
“The tradition of eating chicken wings is a time-honoured one. Ever since the dawn of man, our insatiable thirst for the dead, roasted flesh of poultry has fueled our drive to finish work at a reasonable hour, in order to stuff our mouths with the …

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 …

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 …

Junkies Rush has only been around since 2008 but they already have two music videos making the rounds, and just this year released the EP Sins On Your Sleeves. Guitarist Russ Bridger and bassist Wade Christenson had been working on the project for about a year before drummer Wayne Davies joined in and really helped get things going. The Calgary-based metal trio released their second music video “Broken Pieces” on Jan. 31, 2010. Just a day before our February issue went live and we at Pitch Black were lucky enough …

The Headbanger’s Society at the University of Lethbridge was spawned in April 2009, and it was all because a metal band asked the right person to help find them a gig. About a year ago, Datura, a progressive metal band from Nelson, B.C, approached Calvin Shiu, who is now the president and one of the founders of the Society, in hopes of setting up a show in Lethbridge.
“I was more than happy to help out, but as I went out to look for venues, I started to realize how bad …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Tim Brown, vocalist and guitarist for Edmonton country and western thrash metal band Sixguns Over Tombstone, has been writing material for the band since he was 17. Even with the release of Putting Revenge on the Map in July 2009, Sixgun has already started compiling material for another album, which is set to include new material, as well as songs written back when the group was still playing the all-ages circuit.
Sixguns Over Tombstone graduated to bar shows in 2005. That year also signaled the beginning of a series of lineup …

Kermit the Frog once sang, “It’s not easy being green.” More than 40 years have passed since he first sang that song of the same name and the Muppet is probably the most famous frog in North American history. It wasn’t easy being an all-girl group in those days either, and while the hairstyles, clothes and roles women take on in music have changed – at least in the hard rock and metal realm – the realities of stereotypes still creep into the mix.
“When people hear the phrase ‘girl band,’ …

Gales of Avalon have officially released the music video for “Cold Dark Valleys” one of 12 tracks from the band’s full-length debut Black Island.
Directed and edited by Ryan Leininger in the group’s hometown of Calgary, Alta., the new video tells part of the story illustrated through the upcoming concept album.
“It follows two survivors of a boat crash as they make there way across a deserted island. They are both broken and beaten, yet they keep forging on. There may be light at the end of the cold dark valley, there …

A summer trip to Europe in 2009, and a few metal festivals later, and Striker found themselves signed on to Germany’s Iron Kodex Records. A representative heard the band’s original four song demo, written by founding members Dan Cleary and guitarist Ian Sandercock two years prior.
The Edmonton, Alta.-based Striker has since released another collection of songs, their first release through Iron Kodex. Road Warrior was written by the quintet as a collective, and the six song EP, released March 31, 2009, gives listeners a taste of the fierce metal that …

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 …

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 …

A Bloodshed Nightmare conjures images of blood, guts and gore through their lyrics – and a bit of partying. And with Halloween coming, who doesn’t like celebrating the macabre by rocking out and partying in the most of gory of ways.
Hailing from Siksika Nation, just 30 minutes southeast of Strathmore, Alta., the quintet describes their sound as deathcore with a bit of metalcore and death metal thrown in for good measure as inspired, and counts The Black Dahlia Murder, Suicide Silence and Carnifex as their biggest influences.
A Bloodshed Nightmare are …

When Graham Harris made the cross-Atlantic move from Scotland to Calgary, Alta., he had no idea where to see a good live metal band, let alone join one.
“I did some searching on the Internet and came across Alberta Metal,” he recalls of the locally run forum for metal fans and bands across the province.
As it so happened, guitarist Don Stenhouse, who formed Reverend Kill in 2004, had just posted an ad looking for a new vocalist. The band had decided to pursue a heavier, more death-influenced sound, and needed …

Calculating Collapse are about to take take their ferociously metal blend of thrasy hardcore on a cross-Canada tour, drawing on the many invaluable lessons learned since the band first formed in the winter of 2006 to help get them ready for the journey.
“We have toured through parts of British Columbia and Saskatchewan before. The last time we went on tour was a year and half ago, before we began prepping for our upcoming album,” says guitarist Arjun Roy, one of the founding members of the Grande Prairie-based quintet.
“A few days …

As the owner of Scarab Metal Productions, a Calgary-based concert production company, Terese Fleming has to stay up-to-date with the goings on of the music industry and the trends that drive it on a global scale, then take that and apply it to the music community closer to home. It doesn’t hurt that she holds close a passion for music and the metal artists across Alberta.
As a result, Fleming has seen her business grow, and the annual metal festival Noctis Valkyries approach its third year, growing bigger and better …

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 …

The name Teitan conjures all sorts of wonderfully dark imagery.
The ancient god Kronos of Greek mythology as he overthrows his father, only to be defeated by his own son, Zeus.
Through mystical numbering systems, the name adds up to 666.
A mythical two-headed beast from the sea whose visible head was Saturn, and whose invisible head was Teitan.
According to Homer, one of ancient Greece’s most famous yet ambiguously known authors, all the gods of hell were called Teitans, while the 8th century Greek poet Hesiod excuses them as sons of heaven who …

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 …

Verbal Deception, Calgary’s kings of pirate metal, first formed as a trio in 2002, and in 2005 this humble writer was press-ganged into playing bass for the progressive, death-infused folk metal band. Okay, so I volunteered, but “press-ganged” does sound so much more pirate-y.
It was a formidable time of getting grogged at great gigs and pillaging full venues, but eventually scheduling conflicts – like my wedding clashing with the band’s first tour being one, and increasing commitments to my other band at the time, Caveat, being the other – resulted …

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 …

Change can be good. And for A New Face For Marley, change came in all shapes and sizes through a series of drummers, wrapped up in one final swoop of a cross-Pacific move to western Canada.
Oh, and don’t forget the name change that followed shortly after bassist David Blume and guitarist Jared Hansen gave up the sunshine and surfboards of Australia for the seemingly yearlong winters that Calgary has to offer.
“When the band first got together, we were called Music, The Real Killer,” Hansen explains. “But, we were watching TV …

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 …

What do heavy metal and pole dancing have in common?
Not a whole lot, actually. That is until Calgary metalhead and amateur dancer Monika Deviat decided to fuse the two together.
“Pole Junkies dances at Snatch [Rock Bar] right now. Fridays and Saturdays from 10 to 12. We perform. They have poles on the bars. We just kind of dance and advertise for ourselves, and so I’ve been doing that. And I book all my shifts around metal shows, and sometimes I’ll go to a metal show afterward. And I thought, ‘Why …

“It’s really inspiring what a lot of the home studio guys are doing with cheap gear, and not a real studio set up. If you put the work in, and you have a little bit of knowledge, you can make some killer shit. That inspired me,” said Sacha Laskow, one of the guitarists in Calgary’s Divinity, and the recording mastermind behind their latest tracking endeavours.
“I wanted to document our recording process since we’re doing things the [do-it-yourself] DIY route, and I thought it might be useful to other bands to …

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 …

Exit Strategy started obliterating the sound systems of venues across Alberta back in the fall or 2006 when guitarist Joe Sikorski and drummer Casey Rogers were playing in the technically astounding progressive metal act Caveat.
“Casey and Joe decided to go down to our jam pad/studio and jam out on some death metal/grind sounding songs that wouldn’t really fit into the style that we had going on with Caveat and ended up putting a couple of demos together,” bassist Greg Musgrave chronicled of Exit Strategy’s early beginnings.
“They then showed the …