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 …

Dark Witch Productions brought the two piece black metal band Inquisition to Calgary, Alta. for an intimate show at Vern’s Tavern on July 26. Supporting the American black metal act on the Canadian leg of their tour were Gyibaaw from Prince George, B.C. and Mitochondrion from Victoria, B.C. Joining them for the Calgary show were Begrime Exemious from Edmonton, Alta. and Calgary’s own Fornication.
Even though Calgary doesn’t have a large fan base for black metal, Brittany Levi of Dark Witch was able to draw a decent sized crowd to fill …

Stoner metal band High on Fire, from Oakland, Calif., came through Calgary, Alta. on July 11 for a headlining gig at The Republik. The band is in the midst of their Snakes for the Divine Canadian tour and brought along two wicked supporting acts.
Skeleltonwitch was the first band up and it was apparent right away that the majority of the crowd was there to see the thrash act from Athens, Ohio. They got everyone moving and the venue seemed to fill up fast as they ran through a set that …

Fear Factory’s Fear Campaign Tour stopped at Flames Central in Calgary Alta. on July 13, just in the middle of the world famous Calgary Stampede. As with the High on Fire show the Sunday before, this venue was close to the Stampede grounds and many bars in the area were catering to the Stampede crowd, so again parking was hard to find, country music was blasting from the bars on Stephen Avenue, but still metalheads came out to catch Fear Factory. But before Fear Factory took the stage, the four …

The June 19 Noctis Kick-Off Show in Calgary, Alta. began with a little Heavy Metal Jeopardy, with game show host JP Wood – best known for his work on CJSW’s Megawatt Mayhem – firing off questions to three local contestants. Unfortunately, I did not make it to The Distillery on time to witness this awesome display of knowledge, but we hear the questions were tough and those in the line of fire stayed cool under the pressure. Exit Strategy bassist Greg Musgrave claimed victory in the end, winning the grand …

It’s been more than a year since Steve Moore and Gustavo De Beauville laid down the foundations of The Unravelling and started working on 13 Arcane Hymns. There was a lot of work involved in the industrial metal project, from the writing of the songs, to the recording process, artwork, and spreading the word, not to mention finding a line-up of musicians that could help bring The Unravelling to life on stage.
And on May 21, that finally happened.
The Unravelling made their live debut at The Distillery in their hometown, with …

Dark Tranquillity’s We Are The Void tour made its way through Alberta late last month, crushing Edmonton on May 25, and Calgary the following day. The melodic death metal pioneers from Sweden were joined by Ontario’s Threat Signal as direct support, with New Jersey’s Mutiny Within opening the show.
Mutiny Within has been a nonstop touring machine since signing to Roadrunner last year and all that road time certainly shows. Their high-energy performance was extremely tight. This young band definitely has some major chops. Their set seemed extremely short, even for …

Dark Witch Productions put together a face melting death metal show for April 3, 2010 at Vern’s Tavern. Fornication from Calgary Alta. were up first and they set the bar high for the rest of the night. This band has come a long way since they started and their set on this night was impressive. These guys actually stepped in last minute to help out Dark Witch when fellow Calgary band Ominosity was forced to drop off the bill two weeks prior, due to guitarist Andrew Schoepfer breaking his hand.
Next …

To say I’m a big Alice Cooper fan is a bit of an understatement. My fascination with the king of shock rock started back in 1988 when Alice and crew came to my hometown. After seeing the videos for “He’s Back (The Man Behind The Mask)” and “Teenage Frankenstein,” the 9-year-old me decided that this should be the first rock concert I would attend. My mother, on the other hand, did not agree and in doing so inadvertently started a life-long obsession with Alice, and heavy metal in general. These …

What do you get when you mix Swedish Vikings with Swiss Gauls? Fun. Amon Amarth stormed MacEwan Hall in Calgary, Alta. on April 14 along with their friends Eluveitie. The openers joining the two veteran bands were Holy Grail from Pasadena, Calif.
Holy Grail came on stage to an antsy audience, as most people had shown up fairly early for the concert. The band doesn’t just look like they just teleported in from the ’80s thrash era, their sound is a mix of old school thrash and power metal. The band …

There are some things in life that are just meant to be together. They compliment each other: yin and yang, peanut butter and jelly… Last month, there was yet another match made in heaven, or hell rather: zombies and sex. The undead and the undressed were out in full force for Demonika’s fifth annual Symphony of Horrors, which proved to live up, once again, to all the hype the show has garnered over the years. The largest underground show in western Canada featured various artists and performers who challenged all …

Max Cavalera formed the troops and set out on the Blood Fire Hate War tour, which carried the guitarist’s band Soulfly across North America, including two stops in Alberta.
The first of these shows invaded the MacEwan Ballroom in Calgary on Mar. 27 with the support of Rotting Corpse, Incite, and hardcore industrial metal legends Prong.
Prong hail from Los Angeles, Calif. The city of angels. They left those at home, fortunately, and played an angsty set led by frontman and band founder Tommy Victor. The trio has only two tours …

In early March, Omega Crom set out on a cross-Canada tour to promote their upcoming release, Blood, Steel & Fire [Reversed Records, 2010]. The tour carried them through the heart of the prairies, and as far east as Montreal, before performing their way back toward their home province of British Columbia, where they’ll end up later this month.
The Vancouver-based metallers had five Alberta dates on the tour schedule, including a crushing set at The Distillery in Calgary, Alta. on Mar. 12. Calgary’s own Razorwing started off the night. The four-piece …

Southern Death Threat embarked on their Ready Set Attack Tour at the beginning of March, and stopped in at Calgary, Alta on Mar. 11, 2010 to play The Distillery. Joining the Vancouver band on stage were two local acts that brought their own unique style of rock to the bill. Meggido, another local Calgary band, were also scheduled to play but were unable to make the show that night due to unforeseeable circumstances.
Playing their debut show and kicking off the night was Calgary’s Stinger. The band is comprised of some …

Megadeth. The Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary Tour. The show at the Big Four Building on Mar. 6, 2010 was not a show to miss. Fans’ reactions to finally hearing songs off Rust In Peace [Capitol Records, 1990], an album that is known as a genre-defining landmark in metal, well… those reaction can’t exactly be reiterated here because all the profanities would be edited out and all you’d get is maybe a “holy” and the odd “mother.” Joining the tour were thrash legends Testament and Exodus, to form a full …

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 …

The New Year started with a bit of a rough start for The Distillery. The Calgary music venue was hit by a major flood and it was unclear if they would be opened for a show on Jan. 9 with headliners Exit Strategy. Luckily, the bar was able to get everything cleared up enough to open the doors that weekend.
Cast in Stone kicked off the night. CIS has just recently started playing live again after almost a yearlong hiatus. The band had a hard time putting together a full line …

In the first leg of their Evangelia Amerika tour, in support of the recently released Evangelion, Polish blackened death metal legends Behemoth visited with fans before another slaytacular show at The Republik.
Dozens of enthusiastics showed up at Calgary’s Axe Music for a chance to meet the band and score autographs from vocalist/guitarist Adam “Nergal” Darski, bassist Tomasz “Orion” Wróblewski, and percussionist Zbigniew Robert “Inferno” Promiński. Guitarist Patryk “Seth” Sztyber wasn’t along for the meet-and-greet, but joined the rest of the group on stage before a riotous crowd.
Plagued by controversy through …

Not many venues are more than halfway full when the first band hits the stage, especially when the opener is local, and there are three bands before the headliners. That wasn’t the case at The Republik when the mighty Behemoth invaded Calgary for the first of two Alberta shows.
For Calgary’s own death grind quintet Kataplexis, the place was buzzing, in spite of a lineup outside still going through the ticket motions. Their short half hour set only served to intensify the energy; it would seem the excitement of opening such …

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 …

The Nov. 28 thrash metal show headlined by Richmond, Va.’s Municipal Waste at The Warehouse began in an unusual but sensual fun way. Opening up for the bands were Calgary’s Kabuki Guns Burlesque (KGB) troupe. Bunny Bunnotzi, Lacy Gunsmoke Dusty Tops, Lacy Gunsmoke and Daisy DeVille treated the audience to their unique sets of saucy striptease.
Toronto, Ont.’s Cauldron are a very impressive NWOBHM band. Not only do these guys look the part, they play it very well. The set was tight and the crowd went nuts for “Chained Up In …

I think it’s only fair to say right from the beginning here that this isn’t so much of a review as it is a recollection, because no matter how I word it, it’s gonna sound biased.
You see, the Halloween show at Big Al’s in Calgary, Alta. featuring headliners Sacred Ally in their fourth anniversary performance, was my first show laying down the synth for Celtic-influenced death metal act Gales of Avalon.
The cool thing about this show, aside from sharing the stage with the always-awesome progressive trio that is Phantom Limb, …

The first ever Metal Conference was held in Calgary, Alta. on Oct. 2 as part of Noctis Valkyries, an annual festival put on by Scarab Productions. Upon arriving at the Ramada Inn, everyone was greeted by Terese Fleming and her well-organized Noctis crew. Each guest received a warm welcome, the schedule for the day, and lots of free swag, which included stickers buttoms, music samplers, and even a copy of Divinity’s Allegory and Kilyakai’s single “Without Warning,” from their latest album.
The conference rooms were named after some favourite metal bands: …

MacEwan Hall was packed on Oct. 2 with those who came out to see Children of Bodom on their first headlining tour through Calgary, Alta., but a large portion of the young crowd was excited to see the two openers as well. However, the key word here is “young.” The beer garden, which usually ends up crammed with the over-18 crowd between bands was practically empty the whole night. It seems the Club Night show of Noctis III at The Distillery was able to lure most everyone of legal age …

For those who attended the metal conference portion of Noctis III: Tritagonist Metal Festival, and even those who joined the crowd afterward at The Distillery, just around the corner from the conference venue, the club night show was a real treat. Headlined by Chicago, Ill. metal act Novembers Doom, the place was nearly packed by the time show openers Tosca hit the stage. The Calgary, Alta.-based two-woman sludge act – one on guitar and vocals, the other on drums – did an awesome job warming up the audience for what …

We Found the Body is one of those bands that never disappoint, no matter where they perform, or how many people are in the crowd. Their Oct. 9 show in Red Deer, Alta. at Cheers North was no exception.
Red Deer’s Cain & Abel quietly opened the show with an original half hour acoustic set. Not what you’d expect at a show promoted as “a night of metal mayhem,” but the duo, armed only with guitars and vocals, was a fitting and well-received choice nonetheless.
Of Thorn and Vine came up next …

Fictional metal act Dethklok came to life Oct. 6 at the Big Four Building in Calgary, Alta. Mostly backlit and in front of giant screen displaying music videos and shorts from the hit cartoon series, Metalocalypse creator Brandon Small, taking on the role of frontman and guitarist, was joined on stage by bassist Bryan Beller, guitarist Mike Keneally and drummer Gene Hoglan in front of a diverse and enthusiastic crowd.
Opening the show was Oakland, Calif. three-piece High on Fire, a group that never disappoints. Fronted by guitar virtuoso Matt Pike, …

Harvesting Hell Open Air Festival, changed last minute to an indoor event, brought a diverse line-up of heavy metal and punk from regional to international scales to Edmonton, Alta.
Originally proposed as a “cultural gathering” for the growing metal communities across the province, the two locations considered to host the show outdoors were in counties which decided not to proceed due to concerns over permits and security. Regardless of those events, the Harvesting Hell crew did an impeccable job with the last minute changes, and put on a “hell” of …

Finland’s symphonic power metallers Stratovarius played to a small but enthusiastic crowd on Sept 29th at the Warehouse in Calgary Alta. With the original openers Pagan’s Mind dropping off the bill, two local bands were called in. Kobra and Lotus, a mix power metal, thrash and a bit of rock’n’roll, played first and had a lot of fun playing to the Warehouse crowd. Vocalist Brittney Paige is a captivating frontwoman she was full of energy and even got up to the barrier to interact with the crowd. Progressive metal …

Marilyn Manson finally got to perform in Calgary, 12 years after the shock rocker was first scheduled to appear in the Alberta city. His controversial stage antics and lyrical subject matter proved to intense for Larry Ryckman, former owner of the Calgary Stampeders football team and owner of the Max Bell Arena ,where that 1997 show was to take place, and the concert was derailed forcing Manson to skip the tour stop.
This time around, in support of his latest musical offering, The High End of Low [Interscope, 2009], Manson had …

Falsetto Overpowers the Sirens of Forest Lawn
Big Al’s in Calgary’s Forest Lawn is not a usual place for metal shows, but Sacred Ally secured show there in February, and made such a good impression they were invited back to headline a power metal show on Aug. 2. Sacred Ally knows how to engage a crowd no matter how diverse it might be and their music and stage antics are always well received.
HROM, playing their first bar show, kicked off the night. HROM had the crowd singing along …

Live Slaughterfest 2009
This year marked the third annual Live Slaughter Fest in Edmonton, Alta., and the first time the event darkened Calgary soundwaves. On July 17, The Underground played host to five Canadian metal acts.
Unfortunately, the promoter was unable to make the journey from Alberta’s capital due to unverifiable circumstances, but local videographer Michele Sinclair, who is about to embark on a nationwide footage gathering journey for an upcoming metal documentary, stepped up to make sure that things ran as smoothly as possible.
Also a little disappointing was the notable absence …

Power Metal Invasion @ The Den
Well, sort of… a show that originally had Brazilian power metallers Hibria as the headliner had the hard-working folks of Scarab Productions scrambling last minute to find a replacement after the quartet’s van broke down somewhere in B.C. But, as us musician’s can well attest to, the show must go on. And with nary a minute behind schedule. Kudos to Terese and your quick-thinking team for putting on a great show that saw not just power metal, but a variety of sights and sounds with …

All-Ages Auditory Assault at The Den
It was an onslaught of thrash, hardcore, folk and death metal at The Den in Calgary on April 25, courtesy of Scarab Productions. The all-ages event kicked off at 6 p.m. and attendees were treated to a variety of sounds from an all-Calgarian line-up. Seven bands hit the stage, including newcomers Moradin and Thrashomatic, Akakor, Norrath, Epi-Demic, and veterans Kilyakai – who have, until recently been tied up in the studio putting the finishing touches on their full-length debut album – and Exit Strategy, who …

Cannibal Corpse
Children of Bodom
Exodus
Neuraxis
The Merciful
The Order of Chaos

Cradle of Filth and Satyricon