THE FORGE OF HEAVY METAL: PROUDLY KEEPING HORNS HELD HIGH!

MERRY X-MAS FROM THE FORGE \m/

2010-12-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Tis' the season to avoid mall music and thrash your way through the Holidays and make it to the New Year hopefully in one piece. Whatever way in which you choose to celebrate, may you and yours be filled with the epicness of Heavy Metal this season! Keep those Horns High and we'll see you in the New Year!

ATTENTION EDMONTON METALHEADS!

2010-08-05T10:19:00.000-06:00

This is a repost from Vue Weekly in Edmonton Alberta, Canada. It is written by a talented Freelancer and music writer, Tom Murray. In this piece, a lot of what goes on in the metal world in general is discussed as well as the struggles of local artists and festivals here in my home city. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to keep those horns held high!

\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/\m/

Peace out, horns up

Metal makes a stand on Folk Fest weekend

Tom Murray / tom@vueweekly.com

SMASH! » Cyn Mecredi of Kriticos lets out some anger / Eden Munro

Folk Fest and Metal Fest on the same weekend? Well, at least they didn't have to worry about booking entanglements.

Which is kind of sad, really, because in the best of worlds you know that you'd want to see Oooze play after Calexico on the mainstage at the Folk Fest, or Vivisect do a workshop with Levon Helm. Oh, what a tormented version of "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" we would have heard! Or maybe Levon would lend those ragged, soulful vocals on a cover of Gorgoroth's "Revelation of Doom," with Ricky Skaggs adding tasty mandolin licks.

Alas, it is not to be. Heavy metal may have gained in leaps and bounds in the last few years, but it's still very much a ghettoized form of music in North America, whereas Europe boasts any number of massive outdoor festivals that dwarf our own Folk Fest. Edmonton doesn't lack for bands, or a concentrated scene, but it does lack for interest outside of it. It's a question of respectability, really, and metal only receives that respect when attendance figures and merch sales are high enough to warrant it.

"The thing is, we're sick of the metal community being pushed aside," sighs Art Szabo, metal musician, talent buyer for the Starlite Room, and co-originator of the idea for Metal Fest.

"There's so much talent in this city, but bands rarely get the opportunity to play more than just a few places. We have this incredible cross range of bands at our festival, from black metal to grindcore, classic metal to weird techie stuff to psychedelic. Other scenes, like folk, have had an impact, and it's time we showed Edmonton just how good ours is."

The quality of Edmonton metal isn't in doubt, but Szabo isn't the only veteran to wonder why their scene is marginalized. Is it because the folk music community is tighter, better organized, that they're able to support their own, while the metal scene here can't? Maybe; there's a network for under-the-radar folk musicians, glossy magazines, clubs and non-profit societies that groom talent until they're able to make the leap to the folk-fest circuit. They provide couches or spare rooms, home cooked meals and sometimes even rides to the gig.

Aspiring metal musicians on the road don't get quite the same treatment.

"The promoter might not be taking care of the bands," says singer Cyn Mercredi of Kriticos, one of the local bands on the bill at Metal Fest. "Someone will usually make sure that you get fed and wasted. Most of the time when bands were coming in from out of town I'd open my door so they could chill at my place."

This might be the biggest difference between the two genres; folk fans will buy the albums, diligently attend shows and tell their friends about the music they love, but metal fans go the distance. It's the difference between admiration and zealotry, enjoying music and living out the dreams demanded by music. Both types of fans see themselves as part of an extended community, but the demands of metal are more than just an ordinary fealty; it requires a blood oath that seems irrational to anyone outside of it.

Greil Marcus wrote in his book Invisible Republic about how leftists were responsible for a great deal of the folk resurgence of the '50s, and the genre, as wide and deep as it's become, is still very much steeped in those politics. Heavy metal's resurgence never had a single defining political thrust to it; from Libertarians to Satanists, far right and even racist beliefs to varying shades of the left, metal ideology can't be quite so easily pigeonholed.

"There are a lot of paradoxes in the scene," acknowledges Gabby Riches, founder of Heavy Metal on Campus at the U of A and host of CJSR's long running metal show, Mind Compression.

"You can see many different ideas and political stances, it's not universal or coherent."

Commercial radio keeps to the tried and true formula of Iron Maiden, AC/DC and a few others, but rising bands can't get a break, except on independent stations. CKUA is invaluable to the various clubs and the Folk Fest for helping to promote new talent, but mainstream rock stations are as leery of new metal as they are local anything else. CJSR, however, boasts three metal shows, where new releases by locals Striker, Death Toll Rising, Begrime Exemious and Miskatonic are put into constant rotation.

"CJSR does help," Szabo acknowledges, "and people do listen to those shows, but that's not the point.

"Bands really have to start helping each other out, bottom line. This is something that needs to happen—we can sometimes get them shows, and CJSR can play their records, but the bands themselves really need to communicate with each other and help each other out. What we need is for the community of musicians to band together."

"It's generally supportive," adds Mercedi, "but some people only go to their friend's shows, and that's not really cool; they should be supporting everyone."

Oddly enough, Tom Russell, a respected and critically acclaimed Texas based songwriter who claims much more than just the folk world for influences, is somewhat leery of the notion of community.

"To have a community is a good thing, and Canada definitely has a great folk one that's a legacy from the European tradition, much better than the States. However, it's not always something that's healthy for a songwriter or band. The New York scene of the '60s was tight knit, but it was brutal and competitive; I mean, whatever happened to Fred Neil and Phil Ochs? Ochs committed suicide, Neil just faded away. It was the competition, and especially the presence of Dylan, who wiped everyone out with his apocalyptic songs. That's something you never read about.

"There are two sides to it, really. Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary) made a good case for community nurturing songwriters, but I disagree. In the end I had to move away to El Paso, because I didn't want the pressure of people telling me how to write songs. I wanted to do them the way that I wanted. It's like Van Gogh standing outside the artist's community in order to come up with what he did. In the end you have to go back to the community to play your music, but until then it's best to stand alone."

Russell's songs have been covered extensively in the folk and country world, but he's as much an outsider to the mainstream as Obituary and Meshuggah, and he frankly has no problem with that. What he's arguing is that the community makes claims on a particular scene, consciously or subconsciously finding a particular sound that musicians are pushed to adopt. While much of the city itself is oblivious to it, Edmonton has a range of bands happily finding their own sound, even if they're relatively unheard.

"Metal lineups are always the same," says Mercredi. "They always try and put together bands that have a similar sound. That's great, I mean, I love metal more than anything, but it would be nice to see some variety. We just played a gig like that, where it was all mixed up, and we had a lot of fun—we need more like that."

The blame shouldn't necessarily rest with just metal promoters; after all, your average hip-hop, folk or jazz promoter isn't going to think of Kriticos for their next gig. It does point to something, though; metal fans and musicians do take pride in their exclusion from the rest of the music world. It's a double-edged sword; as Russell says, exclusion allows an artist to follow their muse to places where commercial considerations won't allow, but it also closes doors.

"If (veteran local band) Dead Jesus had to worry about being commercial, you wouldn't see them using animal products from a slaughterhouse as part of their act, or the lead singer self mutilating himself," laughs Riches, who is currently working on a paper about mosh pits for her degree in Recreation, Sport and Tourism. "It's still a very underground music, and that's part of the appeal; it hasn't been co-opted."

It's also been much maligned; attempts to set up an outdoor festival called Harvesting Hell last year turned into a major headache for promoters, as they were turned down by worried county officials, who denied them both Red Deer's Benalto Fair Grounds and Parkland County's Bent River Ranch. In the end, laying tarps in front of a stage is a fairly sedate activity, but moshing is an alarming one to an outsider.

In an interview done before Ronnie James Dio and Black Sabbath brought their Heaven and Hell tour to Edmonton a few years back, the late Dio mused on the difference between metal fans and musicians from the classic bands they listen to. Many younger metal fans are committed to the form itself, while Dio and his various band mates in Sabbath, Dio and Rainbow grew up on classic rock 'n' roll—Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, doo wop and rhythm & blues.

"We got a good grounding in so many other forms of music growing up, because there was no metal then," he noted. "One thing about many metal bands and fans is that many just listen to metal; I don't say that to disparage them, it's just a fact. The biggest problem with that is how it closes you off from the rest of the music world."

Dio hastened to add that he was touched by how steadfast his fans have been to him, but it points to how far the music has travelled since he had a hand in codifying many of its rituals. Szabo is also cognizant of the fact that metal bands can't just exist in a vacuum; for him, the future lies in allying with other local music scenes. In the meantime, he'll be focused on drawing attention to the community he's long been a part of.

"We're telling these bands that we're watching out for them, and that we care." V

Fri, Aug 6 (7 pm) & Sat, Aug 7 (6 pm)

Metal Fest

With Weapon, Divinity, This is War, Kriticos and more

Starlite Room, $12 – $20

Tickets available at Blackbyrd Myoozik and Starlite Room

R.I.P. PAUL GRAY

2010-05-25T13:06:00.002-06:00

Yet another of Heavy Metal's Horn Flashin' children has passed away. With Dio only a few weeks ago, we now must add SlipKnot bassist Paul Gray to the list of those who have left before their time.

RoadRunner Records could not comment on the nature of his death but initial reports do not suspect foul play.

Numerous different sites are covering this story, so I won't regurgitate too much, instead I offer you the ability to learn more about the man himself as well as some popular vids of him playing with and without his mask.

LEARN MORE ABOUT PAUL GRAY

TUTORIAL ON BASS (WITHOUT MASK)

KORN MOURNING PAUL GRAY

"BEFORE I FORGET" by SLIPKNOT because WE WILL NEVER FORGET PAUL GRAY

Ronnie James Dio - Gone but Not Forgotten

2010-05-17T08:19:00.006-06:00

After a long battle with stomach cancer, Ronnie James Dio, lead vocalist of Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, Dio, Rainbow and if you go back far enough, ELF has passed away at the age of 67. Most may know him for his hit song, "Holy Diver" but I will remember him mostly for the man he was off the stage, and his contribution of the "Metal Horns" to this, our culture. Below you can find links about his life and pay your respects as well as a few choice video clips honoring a true metal legend that was the first to KEEP THOSE HORNS HIGH!

THE LIFE OF RONNIE JAMES DIO

PAY YOUR RESPECTS

CAMEO IN TENACIOUS D AND THE PICK OF DESTINY

DIO with HEAVEN AND HELL (with a cameo from Tenacious D)

DIO with BLACK SABBATH - HEAVEN AND HELL

DIO-HOLY DIVER

RONNIE EXPLAINS THE METAL HORNS

R.I.P. RONNIE JAMES DIO

YOUR LEGACY LIVES ON

KEEP THOSE HORNS HELD HIGH!

Metallica Vs. The Taliban

2010-04-08T12:24:00.003-06:00

While I don't necessarily support some of the actions conducted in the war with insurgents in Afghanistan, some of the tactics they use are awesome.

For some reason, psychological warfare over Kandahar way has taken a Heavy Metal twist. Read this portion of an article put out by The Huffington Post. It's pretty metal if you ask me.

11:30 AM ET -- Beating them with Metallica. In Marjah, U.S. Special Forces are blaring the likes of Metallica, The Offspring, and Thin Lizzy to scare off the Taliban, reports The Daily Telegraph. The heavy metal is played at a deafening noise level as part of "psychological operations" designed to intimidate the Taliban.

From the Telegraph

"Taliban hate that music," said the sergeant involved in covert psychological operations, or "psy ops", in the area in Helmand province.

"Some locals complain but it's a way to push them to choose. It's motivating Marines as well," he added after one deafening round of several hours including tracks from The Offspring, Metallica and Thin Lizzy

But even as Metallica's jams are heard in the villages and fields of Helmand province, the insurgency rages. Residents complain that the Taliban enter their homes at night and harm residents, accusing them of cooperating with U.S. troops. In a recent 24-hour period, nine bombs exploded near U.S. forces.

The Taliban do not know how good they have it. This is all for now but in the meantime whether you're in Edmonton, Valhalla or Kandahar keep those Horns Held High!

DAMAGE INC: METALLICA FANS RIOT IN COLOMBIA

2010-03-12T08:41:00.004-07:00

Colombia despite its reputation as the world's largest producer of Heavy Metal (or at least Motley Crue) staples, coffee and cocaine is also home to some very zealous Metallica fans.

In Bogota, Colombia's capital city, fans of the long running metal band numbering in the hundreds that couldn't get tickets to Thursdays nights show rallied to "crash the gig". Some even went so far as to intentionally rally others to their cause via FaceBook.

Once riots broke out in the streets, Bogota police deployed 1500 officers and four tanks armed with water cannons to suppress what police are simply referring to as "misfits". Public vandalism took place including walls being stripped of stones so that rioters could throw them at police.

No deaths have been reported in the incident but according to sources, four officers and four "misfits" were injured, including a serious knife wound. In addition 160 arrests were made by the time the incident was over. The concert itself housing more than 30,000 was not disrupted whatsoever for the duration.

This is not the first riot Metallica has unintentionally incited. A band of this magnitude cannot help but create such devoted fans. Past incidents of note include 1989 in Sydney, 1992 in Montreal and most recently at another South American stop in Santiago, Chile just this past January.

Fans, and this includes me also, are often an understanding bunch. However, when the band you cannot live without only plays in your hometown every decade or so, and the older they get the more unsure you are they will ever return, sometimes fans do crazy things. The term "fan" says it all. It's short for FANATIC, and one should never be surprised when the fanatacism reaches this level. Most likely the mainstream media will blame this on the genre of music the band plays and the message it supposedly conveys in their eyes.

Fans of all shapes and forms and interests behave like this in one way or another when they are denied access to that which makes them a fan. The fans of heavy metal music are just as ardent and dedicated as any sports teams, pop idols, or movie stars.

While I do not believe these incidents will ever truly come to an end. I do believe (and I am not alone) that band's should make the rounds on tour far sooner than every ten years or every time a new album of theirs is released and when they do make a stop, perhaps do a double bill, back to back nights so that some of the overflow can have twice the opportunity to attend. Now, I know from agents, marketers, tour managers and bands that this tactic may not be the most cost effective, but to those people I pose the question...

Which would you prefer? A bit extra for your twenty pieces of silver or devoted albeit frustrated fans not being able to attend and getting hurt, arrested or worse because they are left out, excluded from the thing they love.

While you marinate on that, give the news footage courtesy of YouTube a look and keep those horns held high!

FUNNY HAHA OR FUNNY HELL YEAH: PART 4

2010-03-09T13:14:00.006-07:00

Welcome back to yet another installment of Funny HAHA? or HELLYEAH! Here on the Forge of Heavy Metal. So, without further adieu, strap yourselves in for some Metal inspired videos that should inflict a healthy dose of that oh so painful happiness you know you're into.
(NOT THIS KIND)

First up, is a baby that can fistpound better than a Genetically engineered hybrid of a "Jersey Shore" reject and a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robot!

An oldie but a goodie. The South Park episode featuring the Nu-metal band KORN as a mystery solving group a la Scooby Doo. This is the Korny end song bit. ENJOY!

When the future needs help and Duck Dodgers simply will not be enough to stop the evil Martian attack. ENTER DAVE MUSTAINE AND MEGADETH! (this is the short version, the long one can be seen on YouTube and features some amusing banter between Daffy Duck and Dave Mustaine.)

Metallica and the Simpsons. You know the episode. You've seen it a thousand times. Just shut your trap and watch already! (P.S. Sorry for the garbage video and audio but when it comes to vids off the net. Beggars most certainly cannot be choosers.)

I won't spoil this video by telling you too much, but for the record, I wish these were my grandparents.

Janeane Garofolo and Ben Stiller star in this old spoof of Metallica. This is back when those guys still had hair and loyal fans pre-Napster.

That's all for this edition of FUNNY HAHA? or FUNNY HELL YEAH! I thank you for stopping by the Forge of Heavy Metal and always remember Keep those Horns Held High!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2009-08-31T10:13:00.005-06:00

I know I haven't made a lot of posts as of late for the proudest horn wielding blog in Edmonton (arguably Canada). However, I am always on the lookout for smaller less publicized acts so if you know someone who knows someone who knows a guitar tech whos knows a roadie who knows a band. LET THE FORGE KNOW! Don't be shy just Email me at theforgeofheavymetal@gmail.com

Aside from that, today is in fact my birthday, not a huge deal because hey I am not that special but in tribute to those who share this day as their day of birth (CHRIS ADLER-LAMB OF GOD), I give you this classic from Dethklok.

FUNNY HA HA? OR FUNNY HELL YEAH!: PART THREE

2009-08-28T14:04:00.003-06:00

That's right Forge fans, it's back and funnier than Elmer Fudd doing Cannibal Corpse,

Is it Funny Ha Ha?

Or Funny Hell Yeah?

You be the Judge, and may your judgement be righteous and oh so very METAL! (not to mention in the comments section)

Hate Bret Micheals of Poison? Me, too watch him
eat a stage piece like it's a 60km/h C**K

Because Ronald McDonald wasn't scary before,
Here he is taking on Dimmu's Sacrilegious Scorn

Hitler demo's Master of Puppets

Makin fun of Hitler is always fun. What's he gonna do?

Come back to life as a retarded zombie

and start having a co-dependant relationship with

Varg Vikernes in a little wooden house in the Swiss Alps?

NO, because he's dead and all his skin head worshippers can

go ahead and follow his example.

Racism is like a drag queens crotch

Dress it up however you like,

in the end you're still just a dick.

Dr. Who? What? Where? and Metal?

2009-08-28T12:50:00.007-06:00

...And now time for something completely different in the words of the Monty Python comedy troop.

Heavy Metal finds its roots partly from the English (that's Great Britain for you confused uneducated tossers and wanker out there!) scene of the 1970's.

Nothing says England quite like the show Dr. Who, a Sci-Fi show that is actually the longest running of its kind in history, it started on my birthday in 1963 (bonus points if you can figure out my birthday, little hint Kennedy's assassination anniversary is the day before) and has had 10 incarnations of the character known as "The Doctor" thus far.

The basic premise is this, um...freaking watch it then you'll know won't you.

Dr. Who is so ingrained in the public consciousness now, particularily in Britain that it does in fact bleed over into Heavy Metal somewhat, for example Dani Filth collects the signature antagonist's of the show the Daleks. (the pepper shaker blokes shown above below the logo)

As any community would, we in the Heavy Metal Horns Held High community better known as the association of guys you don't sit next to on the bus because we will eat your face, have taken it upon themselves to make Dr. Who's main theme that much more METAL!

I have chosen the two best candidates I could find courtesy of YouTube, both are great but only one should prevail, so make your pick and post it in the comments. Until then keep the horns high and EXTERMINATE! (Dr. Who fans will get that one)

Dr. Who Heavy Metal Theme #1

Dr. Who Heavy Metal Theme #2

METAL ON METAL ACTION ON THE FORGE-TUBE

2009-08-27T14:56:00.002-06:00

You, Oh faithful followers of the Forge know that a Forge is nothing without an Anvil, and so you now can watch the landmark documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil on the ForgeTube, just click the link in the sidebar and you are there.

Keep the Horns Held High and I'll keep hammering away at the Forge and try to bring you quality content from the underground.

TRUE HEAVY METAL "TIL THEY DIE"

2009-08-10T09:50:00.024-06:00

As the FolkFest carried on this past weekend in our city of Edmonton, revellers of another kind gathered at Starlite Room Friday and Saturday night like a storm of steel bristling with bolts and lightning waiting to crack! The tumultuous, apocalyptic storm was called MetalFest and you best take heed lest it cross your path.

MetalFest '09 was a two day smorgasbord of destructive intensity featuring Alberta based bands from all over. Among the scores of talented acts in Friday night's installment such as Dead Jesus, Order Of Chaos, and We Found the Body, enter Calgarian five piece, KILYAKAI.

Birthed in the Alberta Heavy Metal scene in 2006, this formidable group have done nothing short of blitz every gig that the west had to offer. They have opened for the likes of Iced Earth and Zimmer's Hole and rightly so, if there ever was an example of pure metal that can make the masses move, this group is it.

Their Friday night set was a spectacular example of what this band is truly capable of. Explosive vocal deliveries both clean and dirty by lead singer Wes DeLeeuw combined with solid, polished, technical riffing, by guitarists Mike Porteous, and Adam "Vegas" Vagacs. All the while, the low end masterfully manipulated by bassist Nate Reno synergized well with the seemingly effortless but nonetheless difficult percussive beats of drummer Ryan Boyko. All this equalled a performance by a band that renewed your faith in the Heavy Metal genre's continuance into the future without losing itself along the way.

Songs like "Slaughterhouse", "Infidel", and what tongue-in-cheek they dub their ballad "Tracks of Red" (inspired by the movie Requiem for a Dream) made the once paltry crowd gather and bask in the fiery glow of Kilyakai's performance. Of the eight bands that played Friday night, this group was the only one heard receiving a chant as they played.

Just shortly after their explosive set, The Forge of Heavy Metal had an opportunity to speak with not one, but all of the guys of this fast becoming staple group of the Calgary/Edmonton metal scene.

THE FORGE: What are some of your influences as a band?

KILYAKAI: Black Dahlia Murder, Red Chord, and Pantera among others.

The Pantera influence comes as no shock due to a certain Phil Anselmo nuance to lead singer Wes DeLeeuw's voice during his performances.

THE FORGE: Where did you get the name and what does it mean?

DELEEUW: It comes from the Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were, it is described as a wizened tribesmen who resemble pygmy forest demons who supposedly steal small children and use them to reproduce more of themselves, it's the perfect metaphor for music.

Despite the insightful nature of their name, it's originality and its easy to remember tri-syllabic composition (a must have according to bassist Nate Reno), it has been associated with a few misnomers. Much to their credit, the band doesn't get upset about it, they see an opportunity to have some fun with it.

RENO: We are creating our own spicy teriyaki sauce, called "Kilyaki"

As comical as it sounds, they stand by it and apparently will release this condiment as just one of the many things they intend to do over their careers as musicians. The conversation then turns to marketing, and mainstream music such as the likes of Nickelback which frontman DeLeeuw can only say "didn't kill music, but gave it herpes", to which I couldn't agree more. (Think we're being too hard on Nickelback, check out this link, then think again.)

When they're not spending time creating condiments, the band has worked non-stop practically since their 2007 self title EP release on their latest album.

THE FORGE: You have a new album coming soon, what is it called and what's it all about?

KILYAKAI: It's called Devastate Insisted Existence or DIE for short. It's about the end of humanity, fighting the expectations that you are supposed to get married, produce a bunch of kids...

RENO: ...It's a demolition of the ego

DELEEUW: We are trying to bastardize that idea, the idea of the white picket fence and this little perfect existence that they say you should have, everyone do as your told...

THE FORGE: Like the Japanese level of conformity?

DELEEUW: Yes, that sort of thing. We're trying to put out a record that others arent doing, to stick out like a sore dink!

THE FORGE: So, that being said, what do you feel is the primary difference if any, between the early work like your EP and this new album?

KILYAKAI: Better written, with more collaboration

VEGAS: Collaboration for sure, sometimes I would just come to these guys with just a simple *motions as if playing a riff* and these guys just add and...

DELEEUW: ...We tear it apart and build it back up again, we've discarded enough to make another album right now we probably won't though just because we are constantly changing.

THE FORGE: When is the new album coming out?

KILYAKAI: In October.

RENO: October 2nd we have a single launch at the Distillery in Calgary, with a bunch of other bands but people told us that we should have our bash, our own night for our album, so we are working on doing it at SAIT for the 23rd of October, its all but finalized, after that its just lots and lots of touring. Definitely up to Edmonton because we fuckin love this town man, we really do!

With that said, the band leaves the sanctity of their DIY tour van, and our curbside interview, beers in hand celebrating not only one of their best shows but one of the best local metal shows Edmonton has produced this year. As for KILYAKAI, I have a feeling, you will be hearing about them in the metal scene " 'til You Die"

For more information and some songs from their debut EP click their logo below

*photos courtesy of Pamela Porosky

WARBRINGER: THRASH METAL'S NEW HOPE

2009-04-22T14:31:00.008-06:00

After a recent powerfully executed performance in Edmonton not too long ago, Ventura California's own thrash metallers WARBRINGER, or namely their front man John Kevill chatted with the Forge of Heavy Metal about band life and what really is at the core of his group.

FORGE: Originally you were called Onslaught, but were forced to change it to Warbringer, what is the story behind the name, if any?

KEVILL: John Laux and I were 2 kids who were just getting into metal when we started the band. We were trying to think of a name, before we had a full lineup or anything, and we thought that sounded cool. Within about a month we had found the UK band Onslaught, and decided that we needed a different name. Warbringer came up during a brainstorm session and we stuck with it. We have only ever recorded or performed under the name Warbringer.

FORGE: What are your influences from both metal and non metal music and what of them influenced you?

KEVILL: We listen to all kinds of stuff, but our music is influenced by things like Slayer, Kreator, Sacrifice, Demolition Hammer, Judas Priest, Exodus, Autopsy, Malevolent Creation, Morbid Saint, Vio-lence, etc.

FORGE: How do you feel about being an influence on other bands and metal fans?

KEVILL: Not sure about that, never thought of it. We try to play heavy thrash metal and we are always working on trying to make our own style using the old ways. None of us ever thought about influencing anyone, we just play the music we want to play.

FORGE: Any advice you have for new bands?

KEVILL: Do what you do and work on your own vision of your music, don't compromise, and always find a way to sharpen yourselves. Play a lot of shows and rock the fuck out when you play.

FORGE: Who contributes lyrically to your group and where do they derive their inspiration?

KEVILL: I write most of the lyrics, here and there there's an idea or contribution from one of the other members, usually John Laux. Usually there's riffs first and then words will come into shape once I'm familiar with the song. I try to make all the lyrics pretty violent or demoralizing, and also have a bit of that '80s action movie badassery to them. And I always try to make sure that a lot of it is memorable.

FORGE: What is one place/venue you have always wanted to play a show at?

KEVILL: South America and Mexico. All the fans down there seem completely die-hard and crazy. I would also love to play in Japan, just to see it.

FORGE: If you could tour with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

KEVILL: Tough question. Since you said alive or dead, how about fucking Thin Lizzy? I'd do it just to see them every night.

FORGE: When you aren't playing, what do you like to do in your downtime?

KEVILL: We have no downtime! I haven't been off the road for over 2 months straight now so I am starting to forget what home is like. The last few times I've been home I've been waiting to leave on the next tour.

FORGE: Do you have any significant others back home and if so, how do they feel about tours, you guys being gone for so long?

KEVILL: I do, I'm the only one right now. She supports what I'm doing, being a musician herself. But it's definitely tricky being gone for so long. Just gotta tough it out!

FORGE: Warbringer uses symbols like the pentagram and iron cross among others, these symbols are synonymous with Heavy Metal but, is there any reason Warbringer uses them other than that?

KEVILL: Don't need any other reason! Warbringer is a heavy metal band through and through and we are proud of it. We want our imagery to look either militaristic or fucking evil.

CONCERT REVIEW: LAMB OF GOD with AS I LAY DYING, CHILDREN OF BODOM, GOD FORBID and MUNICIPAL WASTE

2009-04-22T08:22:00.023-06:00

It was Good Friday, a day of worship for the Christian masses, however Edmonton metalheads were gathered at the Shaw Conference Centre for a different Lamb of God, one that is leading what is called in the scene as the “New Wave of American Heavy Metal”.

Accompanied by what can only be said as the best supporting lineup of the season, the Richmond Virginia metal giants brought a show that felt like attending a holy event, a Sabbath day for Edmonton heavy metal fans.

The event itself was well organized, with its usual compliment of security, EMT’s and of course “just in case” Edmonton police officers. The officers I spoke to when asked if they get a lot of trouble at metal shows because of the rumoured aggressive nature of the music’s fans had only one thing to say.

EPS: “We don’t see a lot of trouble, I mean anywhere alcohol is a factor you get the occasional rowdies, but we see more at say, an Oilers game.”

FORGE: “So, you find that the aggression and trouble making isn’t as prevalent at these events as it is at an Oilers game? Do you think it’s because they take out any sort of frustration in there? (pointing referencing the moshpit)

EPS: “Yeah, there is still a few, but once again that’s more the alcohol, most of them are pretty okay, too tired from being in there.”

Once the crowd began to assemble up front, there was some debate over who would take the stage first, most assumed Municipal Waste would because to most of the fans there, they hadn’t heard of them before. So it came as a total shock to some that New Jersey’s God Forbid was the opening act.

That bewilderment subsided as they ignited the fans almost immediately, bringing on the blissful punishment of their older stuff and bathing us in “Earth’s Blood” their latest album. The crowd for GF was a bit like properly boiling a frog, starting slow with a heat that eventually culminated in the fans really tearing up the moshpit. Playing regrettably a short set, God Forbid still put the cherry on our steel sundae with their closing song “End of the World” from their 2005 album “IV: Constitution of Treason”. An incredible set, in the wake of the somewhat traumatic departure of original band member, and brother of guitarist Doc Coyle, fellow guitarist Dallas Coyle on March 31st. His replacement Kris Norris (Darkest Hour) did an outstanding job and some of the fans didn’t even notice the lineup change until it came to autograph signing time.

Following the formidable, albeit short performance of God Forbid, were the surprise act of the night, unapologetic uber-thrashers Municipal Waste. Like Lamb of God, they too hail from Richmond Virginia, and carry over the attitude that comes with it. Leading off with a pleasantly hook laden song “Sadistic Magician” they had the crowd’s attention straight off. One could flash back to the glory days of the 80’s thrash metal scene in California when you watched this band. Their song titles alone inspired such a comparison, with such gems as “The Thrashing of the Christ”, (appropriate for the day no?) and my personal favourite of the night, a song about a ‘big fucking shark’ rightly named “Terror Shark”.

Alongside the unapologetic party attitude of the band itself, exemplified by their slogan “Municipal Waste will Fuck You Up” the whole set was one fast paced, circle pit swirling, shred fest inspiring journey through the mind’s of these unbelievably talented performers. These guys have been compared to the old way of doing things, but I to do them more justice, you have to think of it this way, Municipal Waste is 80’s thrash for a new breed, not a revisit or a revival. A welcome bit of “Waste” washed in with the “New Wave of American Heavy Metal.”

It seemed barely conceivable as Municipal Waste departed from the stage that there were still three more bands to perform, so much had already happened in just the first two acts.

Well the crowd had plenty of room for the glut of heavy metal goodness that lay ahead.

Enter As I Lay Dying, the San Diego metalcore group that despite being comprised of five Christians, they have never considered themselves a Christian band just a band with the same problems and issues as everyone else, taken from the Christian perspective.

Vocally, lead man Tim Lambesis was weak in the beginning of the set but quickly warmed up and screamed his way through their whole performance, making a good connection with the crowd and melding well with his band’s live sound. Drummer Jordan Mancino’s violently fast and brutally accurate double bass technique danced with blinding spotlight flashes as they played “Confined”.

Ending their time on stage with the beautifully thrash inspired track “Within Destruction” from their most recent album “An Ocean Between Us”, As I Lay Dying solidifies itself once again as a reason for metal elitists to bother with anything that decides to tack the term “core” onto the end of their genre.

With a lot of tough acts to follow in the monolithic lineup, Finnish modern thrash legends, Children of Bodom walked out onto a stage they had graced just last year on the Gigantour. Always crowd favourites, they blitzed the crowd here in Edmonton (or as lead singer/guitarist Alexi Laiho says it in his Finnish accent, Ed-MUN-tun) with the ferocious precision, and lightning fast speed that we come to expect from them as a band. Their incredible set showcased some of their greatest tracks, really showing off the elements they are known for, screeching yet discernible vocals, ridiculously fast guitar playing and synth work usually with a keyboard. A triumphant melody in “Hate Me”, dynamic solos in “Living Dead Beat”, and mosh friendly “In Your Face” created a warzone of a moshpit, a virtual Valhalla for moshers, seeming to continue on for hours without rest. It was a good night to be in the pit, and the pandemonium hadn’t even truly begun.

Finally as the atmosphere in the Shaw Conference Centre became a haze of human sweat, smuggled in pot smoke and adrenaline, the “Wrath” of headliners Lamb of God descended on the crowd.

Emerging from the smoke of the stage, bathed in ambient blue stage lighting, Lamb of God came face to face with an Edmonton in need of their brand of music, hard, fast and unquestionably Heavy Metal.

Their opener of “The Passing” would send an epileptic into fits, with the light display and the percussive beats of distinctly bearded “skin-walker” drummer, Chris Adler.

Their whole set really demonstrated their evolution as a group musically. Songs from “Wrath” have a more raw sound, than previous installments. Peppered throughout their setlist were the offspring of “Wrath”, songs like “Dead Seeds”, “Set to Fail” and “In Your Words” all made their debut. (for a complete set list click HERE)

Lead vocalist Randall Blythe (pronounced Bly) was hitting his mark all night, the dark, throaty singer was lyrically very solid and even with the expulsion of so much energy using his voice alone he still was pacing the stage and showing animation of a vocalist 10 years his junior. Blythe’s onstage commentary, was at times touching with his tribute of “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For” to Canadian troops deployed overseas to the hilarious realization that so many shoes had been flung up on stage from crowd surfers that he remarked,

“This has to be, the most amount of shoes I’ve seen on tour!”

Leave it to Edmonton to be exceptional at pitching shoes on stage, (see Dave Mustaine, Gigantour 2008 on YouTube)

Finishing their night with “Black Label” a song from their second album “New American Gospel”, Lamb of God sent all the metalheads of Edmonton home on a heavy high note.

The whole experience in its entirety felt very much like the holiday it was overlapping in our city of champions, at first you are subjected to a brutal thrashing, then in the middle you feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven and then finally by the end, you feel resurrected, capable of anything. A bit dramatic I know, but it is highly unlikely for the remainder of this year we will see a purely metal lineup such as this come through town.

A few may find this comparison offensive or perhaps a little dramatic, but when it comes to Heavy Metal, it is like a religion, with a powerful message of independence, strength and ultimately belief in what makes you, you.

Until the next holy day of Heavy Metal Edmonton, keep those horns held high!

FOR MORE INFO ON ANY AND ALL OF THE BANDS REVIEWED HERE, CLICK THEIR RESPECTIVE LOGOS BELOW

A TRUE PERFORMER IS HARD TO FIND

2009-04-09T11:10:00.006-06:00

(Taken from the recent performance at Rexall, no joke)

Outside the metal box for you this morning (why does that make me think of the 3rd Terminator film?). Pop Princess and all around musical waste of time Britney Spears who has graced more tabloid covers (at least parts of her) than CD covers as of late, walked off stage in Vancouver just days after "performing" in Edmonton. Complaining that there was "too much smoke" in the venue, which made me think of a phrase I used as a bouncer working the bar many years ago when times got tough, "suck it up buttercup!"

Now, I am not advocating that smoking in a non smoking venue is acceptable, as a non-smoker myself, I find it can be pretty rough on the throat the next day, however, it HAPPENS! Nothing you can do but continue to perform, "the show must go on" as they say.

From what the reviews say about this lack luster bit of entertainment, the smoke had nothing to do with it, by the sounds of it, Britney needed to just go back to the gym and maybe the studio and actually WORK!!!

That is all I have to say on the matter of that fallacy of an artist, which is so full of manufactured ingredients that even 1970’s TAB soda and MSG would get together and say "that stuff will give you cancer."

The main reason I even bring up this topic at all is because metal has had some of these instances as well, some artists are even known for it. Whereas, one can see incredible performances time and time again, from bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica and even to a lesser extent AC/DC. Artists like Axl Rose of L.A. Glam-Metal band Guns N' Roses and Megadeth front man Dave Mustaine have been known to become angry, freak out at fans or just plain walk off stage for the sake of walking off stage. This infamy has prompted some to show up to the shows just to heckle and harass these artists hoping for some on stage drama to occur.

Don't get me wrong, no matter the band, a walk off can happen, sometimes for legitimate reasons, Nickelback back in 2002 played at a Portugese open air festival and had to leave the stage because they were reportedly "pelted with rocks and bottles to the point they couldn't safely continue" (can you blame them?). A little bit closer to home and at least involving real metal musicians, (Sorry Chad Kreuger, covering Metallica doesn't make you metal) Ex-patriated Metallican turned Lord of Megadeth, Dave Mustaine had quite a hissy fit at last years Edmonton stop of the Gigantour (the tour he founded might I add). Stand in a line for a concert in Edmonton these days and you will here one or two different tellings of this story, from guys that "were there, man".

(Do yourself a favour, make up your own mind, and take a look at the two clips below)

A short one, where Dave has just been hit by a shoe @ Edmonton GIGANTOUR '08

Fans rescue the performance from Mustaine haters @ Edmonton GIGANTOUR '08
>>

Thankfully, even though Megadeth walked off stage, they did return in full force, but this is not always the case, and the only ones who suffer are the fans. Artists do as well to a certain extent, but it's the people who pay money, sometimes a lot of money that ultimately get burned by a walk-off.

Musicians are people too, I get that and things do happen, I get that as well, but the main problem I have with most of these artists, not just in metal is that they don't fully understand the ramifications of their actions.

They forget their starting out days, when walking off was never an option, despite the jarring boo's and heckles of such helpful phrases as "get off the stage!" and "you suck!". They aren't reminded enough of how important their fan base is to their success. There are a lot of very talented artists, who play in subway stations because they lack a fan base.

Most of the time, artists do submit an apology in one way or another but it doesn't totally wipe away the acid reflux like sting of seeing your musical heroes and metal gods abandon the stage, leaving you in the kicked up dust and exhaust of their escape vehicle.

Artists are not totally to blame either, in many instances where a walk off occurred, a heckler who isn't even a fan most of the time will throw something at the stage causing the domino effect that eventually leads to a performer's departure and a lot of upset fans.

In conclusion my message is simple, artists and bands, when "it" hits the fan or even you, especially if you call yourself Metal, shrug it off and keep playing, hell, pull a DimeBag Darrell and turn the fans on the assailant (where do you think the Pantera song "Five Minutes Alone" came from? story here) Better yet, learn a martial art like Tool front man Maynard James Keenan and deal with bothersome people yourself (see below)

Fans, you see some guy messing with your band, tell him to shut up, make sure he "accidentally" catches an elbow in a moshpit, or just have security remove them, which leads to my next point.

Security, I have worked in your field, and I get it, you can't catch everyone, but come on! Stop worrying whether or not your crisp clean, Event Staff shirt is going to get rip or ruined and do your job, if some moron throws a shoe at you and almost ruins your house party, you'd throw him out!

I digress, life is too short to let the actions of one or two individuals ruin the finer things in life. I will see you all at the next concert, keep those horns high Edmonton, you are what metal is all about and most importantly.

NO WALK-OFFS FOR 2009 EDMONTON, MAKE IT HAPPEN!

CHRISTIAN: THE OTHER BLACK METAL?

2009-04-06T08:59:00.011-06:00

Coming from a Christian background, I can understand how the positive messages can be very appealing and fulfilling for some people out there. Over the years, the words of the bible have had a wide variety of vehicles to convey their message.

One of the strangest vehicles for "the word" by far (not excluding those creepy Veggie-Tales) has got to be pro-Christian extreme metal offshoot, Un-Black Metal, sometimes referred to as Unholy Metal, White Metal or Christian Black Metal. Like its Scandinavian cousin, Black Metal, the Un-Black stuff features aggressive, screeching vocals, fast, partially distorted guitars with tremolo picking and dark ominous overtones.

The only exception is that Un-Black literally preaches a positive message incorporating Christian beliefs and messages. Some in the Black Metal community see this as an oxymoron, taking into consideration the blatantly anti-religious stance the music has had since its inception. On the British black metal documentary Murder Music: A History of Black Metal (Available on the Forge Tube), all interviewed musicians stated when asked about the matter that black metal cannot be Christian. The term "Christian black metal" drew confused replies from the black metal musicians, for example Martin Walkyier of the English metal band Sabbat commented: "'Christian black metal?' What do they do? Do they build churches? Do they repair them? (laughs)"

Others including members of Mayhem whom practically founded the very concept of Black Metal itself, have said that Black Metal was never meant to convey certain ideologies, neither Christian or even Satanic, as long as it's dark and powerful.

So called "purists" however, don't quite see it that way, slews of YouTube commentaries and internet forums and chat rooms are riddled with arguments stating that Black Metal is something of an anti-religious torch bearer, and in more extreme circles, a message of Satanism like in the case of extreme Black Metal band, Gorgoroth.

Ultimately, it comes down to what you believe is the message of Black Metal if there really even is one to begin with. Frankly, with respect to the pioneers of the subgenre, Black Metal now, as opposed to back in the days just before the church burnings and Varg Vikernes incidents, is a technique, like choosing to paint in abstract over pointillism.

Not to mention, it's about time the "bible thumpers" of whom I used to be a part of, had something better to listen to then Jars of Clay, something with some real meat and grit to it.

Don't take anyone else’s word for it, if metal has taught me anything, it is this, make up your own mind, do not let someone or something make up your mind for you. With that said my metalhead (and some non metalhead) readers I give you a selection of Un-Black, Christian Black, Sorrow, White, Unholy Black Metal or whatever it is you want to call it. You decide whether or not, it can even remotely be held to same standards as its Scandinavian un-Christian predecessors.

BAND NAME: HOLY BLOOD

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UKRAINE

SONG: THE PATRIOT

BAND NAME: FROST LIKE ASHES

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

SONG: LORD OF DARKNESS

BAND NAME: KEKAL

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: INDONESIA

SONG: BEHIND THOSE IMAGES

BAND NAME: SANCTIFICA

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: SWEDEN

SONG: THE DARK DESIRES

BAND NAME:VAAKEVANDRING

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: NORWAY

SONG: SOMEDAY

FORGE OF HEAVY METAL SPOTLIGHT: RUSSIA / РОССИЯ

2009-04-01T09:04:00.005-06:00

Heavy Metal exists in countless different countries around the world. It is a cross culture phenomenon that allows some to deal with the hardships of being a teen or even in some places in this world, it allows one to vent the anger and sadness that comes from atrocities like war and oppression.

Russia or namely the Russian Federation can sympathize with these feelings. It is made up of countries that know what it is to be at war, be oppressed by Communism, ultimately restricting the rights of its peoples.

When the "Iron Curtain" came down, the Heavy Metal one went up, the freedom to express ones anger cathartically through music was made available to the masses without having to masquerade as a pro-Soviet band.

This Spotlight is dedicated to Russian Metal, the songs a new generation of Russians, free to embrace their artistic freedoms and in so doing, provide entertainment and catharsis to their countrymen. The country has much to offer so what is shown here is a mere sampling of what this Eastern bloc powerhouse has to offer. Спасибо моим друзьям, держать ваши рога высоко!

Band Name: ALKONOST / Алконост

Sound: DARK FOLK METAL / темно-фолк металл

Song Title: WAITING / Ожидание

Band Name: ARKONA / Аркона

Sound: PAGAN METAL / язычник металл

Song Title: RUS / Рус

Band Name: BLACK OBELISK / Черный Обелиск

Sound: THRASH METAL / треш металл

Song Title: STENA / СТЕНА

Band Name: DOMINIA / Доминиa

Sound: MELODIC DEATH METAL / мелодический Смерть металл

Song Title: BEHIND THE UNIVERSE / Позади Вселенная

Band Name: SLOT / Слот

Sound: NU-METAL / пУ-металл

Song Title: DEAD STARS / Мертвый Звезды

CONCERT REVIEW: DESTRUCTION with KRISIUN and MANTIC RITUAL (March 16 2009)

2009-03-31T08:45:00.024-06:00

A sleepy Monday in mid-March dressed in a shroud of chilly, winter air could not hold back the feverous fanaticism of Edmonton's metal community.

It was an exceptional turnout for the Starlite Room in spite of the chilly pseudo-wintry weather and a sound check mishap that delayed the doors opening for almost an hour and a half.

What band could inspire such adamant dedication to a level that its followers would gladly become more frigid than an Amish singles night?

The answer my friend is Teutonic thrash legends, Destruction. The trio from Lorrach, Germany that have been making music as long as Metallica has, an original cog you could say, in the great Metal machine and a gem of the underground scene.

Joined by Brazilian all brother group Krisiun and Pittsburgh's 'steely' hopefuls Mantic Ritual, this seemingly manic Monday was about to summon forth a Saturday night feel with all the trimmings!

Firing the first shot in the thrash metal barrage were Mantic Ritual, the young Pennsylvania outfit who just recently graced the stage of Starlite back in January on their tour with Greek headliners, Rotting Christ.

It's surprising what a couple of months can do for a band, whereas their performance with RC was marginal at best, this time out, they really turned up their intensity. Debuting with their song "One by One" it was at first, lyrically very disappointing. Vocalist Dan Wetmore was accomplishing more bark than bite at first, however as their set progressed whatever it was that hindered Wetmore from really digging deep and unleashing hell was gone.

With a group like Mantic Ritual you get a pure experience, the business has yet to take its toll on these young guys, leaving them untainted in their performance, and you genuinely feel based on their actions on stage that they are out there giving it their all and are still having fun when they play.

The night's set list for MR was mostly comprised of songs from their newly released studio album "Executioner" with a well executed cover of Venom's classic track "Black Metal", thrown in for good measure, it was just the right sound for this band to tackle. Not to undersell their album's songs, catchy hook and riff laden song "Panic" got quite a positive response from the crowd.

Their performance ended on a high note and it seemed to be the general consensus of those in the crowd that Mantic Ritual given time could be a force to be reckoned with in the near future.

Where Mantic Ritual left off, Krisiun picked up and knocked out of the park. These three brothers invoked a spirit of Brazilian metal style in the same tradition as Sepultura, but with much more growl, due to Krisiun being a death metal group straight out of the abyss.

From the first chord played, a sensation danced down your spine like a spider as Krisiun ignited the crowd with fiery metal zeal. The bass lines and percussion ripped through you like automatic gun fire, coursing in the veins of every song, rattling your teeth with every tone. Songs like "Vicious Wrath", "Refusal", and "BloodCraft" from their 2006 album "AssassiNation" firmly demonstrated the ferocity of their death roars and the consistency of their technical skill and chummed the waters of the pit below, inciting a swirling rift of moshing metalheads.

At every opportunity they could, Krisiun showed their humility by thanking the fans for coming out to see them on a Monday, understanding and acknowledging the level of dedication and support fans give them. This being their first ever show in Edmonton in their nineteen year history as a literal "band of brothers" the thanks seemed very genuine and was reciprocated by the raised horns and hollers from the Edmonton crowd.

Ending their set with the song "Slaying Steel" from their most recent album "Southern Storm", Krisiun left the crowd like a school of hungry, heavy metal piranha, anxious for the next band to cross their path and sate their wanton mosh-lust.

The crowds thirst for thrash did not go unquenched as main act, Destruction took the stage. Like Krisiun, these veteran performers are a three man group that could compete if not destroy inferior thrash metal four, five and six pieces.

Erupting on stage blanketed in smoke and bathed in strobing light, all set between two giant standees of their bands logo, the onslaught began. Like a blitzkrieg of sonic chaos, front man Schmier unleashed powerful raw vocals while galloping percussion and incredible thrash riffs sent the crowd into overdrive.

It was one great song after another, as they took us through their twenty-eight year journey as a band. Album title tracks like "Devolution" and "Metal Discharge" melded harmoniously with mid-80's favourites like "Death Trap".

Schmier as a lead man hasn't lost the ability to keep a crowd pleased and stirred into frenzy, as he demonstrates with ease before leading into 1986 song "Life Without Sense". His counterpart and career long band mate Mark Sifringer did not slip one iota despite the intensity and speed of their bands playlist.

Continuing on with their set, songs like "The Butcher Strikes Back" and a cover of the Plasmatics song "The Damned" fed the fire and kept it hot, up until the encore.

After such a dynamite showing, one could not fathom what they would do for an encore or whether or not there would be one at all. Destruction did not disappoint making sure that any mosher standing wouldn't be after the they were through. Like their main set, it was a mix of everything, making your blood pump and burn with the fire that only true thrash metal can create. "Curse the Gods", followed by "Nailed to the Cross" and finally to finish a crowd weary with metal ecstasy, appropriately "Total Disaster" was chosen.

With a closing statement of true appreciation, the juggernauts that go by the name Destruction thanked Edmonton's metal community; because like Krisiun this was their first gig here in our city and in their own words they are "tired of the constant, boring cycle of Montreal, to Toronto, to Vancouver over and over again."

It seemed more than evident that with the showing of support Edmonton gave them, they will return sooner rather than later.

We'll be ready, for 100% pure thrash, ready for the next wave of Destruction and any who should choose to follow in their wake.

For more info on any of the bands showcased in the performance check out their websites below.

THE FORGE SUMMONS THE BEAST!

2009-03-16T08:23:00.003-06:00

THE RECENTLY INSTALLED FLAGCOUNTER FOR THE FORGE OF HEAVY METAL OFFICIALLY REACHED THE 666 MARK TODAY COURTESY OF METALHEADS FROM CHILE, MAKING US OFFICAL WITH THE MAN DOWNSTAIRS. THAT IS, IF YOU EVEN SUBSCRIBE TO SUCH PRETENTIOUS DOGMA IN THE FIRST PLACE.

NEVERTHELESS, THIS DOES INDEED CALL FOR CELEBRATION AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO CELEBRATE THAN WITH LUCIFER INSPIRED TUNES.

ALSO, IF I FORGET ANY OF THE TUNES YOU WOULD PICK (I AM SURE I WILL) SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS OR HIT ME @ TheForgeofHeavyMetal@Gmail.com

IRON MAIDEN-NUMBER OF THE BEAST

AVENGED SEVENFOLD- COVER DEVIL WENT DOWN TO GEORGIA

TENACIOUS D-THE FINAL SHOWDOWN (BEEZLEBOSS)

VENOM-WELCOME TO HELL

GORGOROTH-INCIPIT SATAN

LORDI-DEVIL IS A LOSER

CONCERT REVIEW: SOILWORK with DARKANE, SWALLOW THE SUN, and WARBRINGER

2009-03-03T11:08:00.005-07:00

Hundreds of Edmonton's wayward metal souls descended on the Starlite Room Friday, as Swedish metallers, Soilwork headlined a torrential lineup of bands on their North American tour.

Leading off the attack against the crowd was Finnish outfit, Swallow the Sun. Utilizing melodic, doom, and death metal elements this group was stylistically like a shot of Jack Daniels with a Vicodin chaser, it had just the right amount of sting but left you still pretty placid and calm. They seemed an odd fit for the line up but were nonetheless entertaining, having the feel, melody, and vocal style you come to expect from scandinavian groups like them. Lead vocalist, Mikko Kotamäki's screams were swallowed up by the overwhelming sound of his band, leaving little that was discernable or audible. Beyond this minor shortfall, the six piece still comes together well, with deep, penetrating, bass lines and guitar riffs that fostered synchronized headbanging, the sight of which strikes you as something you would see if Heavy Metal had its own mosques.

Following the performance of Swallow the Sun, Californian thrash metal pentacle Warbringer roared with fury onto the stage, despite the fact that behind the scenes they were all still battling a severe case of bronchitis, (especially front man John Kevill) and a back injury suffered by one of the guitarists. I never would have been able to tell at all based on their show, these thrash warriors delivered an onslaught of punishing screams, and Slayer-esque melodies mixed with an attitude and sound akin to the thrash metal coming out of California in the 80's.

On stage the five piece really come alive, whipping up a frenzy not only in and amongst themselves but in the crowd itself, lead vocalist John Kevill, demonstrates this mid-set as he skillfully stirs the crowd into a circular moshpit like he were stirring a cauldron of testosterone driven angst. Their songs display catchy hooks that draw you in with relative ease and kept up the momentum from start to finish.

The fans now at a rolling boil, lusted for more, longing for the next band to take the stage and keep this shred-fest going. While perhaps not meeting those expectations right away, Darkane, the third group in the night's lineup, started off well with some of their more melodic tracks. It wasn't long though before these metal magi brought it back home with more thrash infused songs, casting riffs and thumps from guitar and drum that should split your skull wide open. Even with the absence of one of their own guitarist who was called away to Sweden abruptly, Darkane still succeeds in tremendous solos with open notes that ring out and fill every chasm and crevice of the brain. Crowd favourite "Rape of Mankind" stirred up the frothing assembly just before the end of the set, finally culminating in one more song, where new addition and lead man Jens Broman left the exhilarated gathering before him to the mercy of a shredding thrash guitar firing squad.

The crowd bristled with excitement as the anticipated headliners Soilwork were next to hit the Starlite Room's stage. The return of Peter Wichers on guitar after his 2005 departure from the group is a great bonus, as most would say that Soilwork wouldn't be the same without his influence. The curtain remained drawn, for what seemed like an eternity, finally parted as a back track of "Baba O'Riley aka Teenage Wastleand" by The Who, summoned the beginning of Soilwork's performance. Cutting no corners the group immediately tapped into the ferocious sound that this band is known for. Incorporating the classic Gothenburg sound with their own musical influences, these Helsingborg swedes never let up, making moshing a necessity. Front man Bjorn "Speed" Strid adopts a Pantera-like twang to his singing but used more range, switching between melodic, guttural growl, and screaming vocal stylings.

The set list was as diverse as it was fast paced, with old songs making appearances as well as new ones like "20 More Miles" which was voted onto the tour's track list by way of a fan poll posted on Soilwork's main website. The encore did not disappoint whatsoever as it featured the 2002 single "As We Speak" and a modified Edmonton version of "The Pittsburgh Syndrome" in which lead vocalist Speed Strid changed Pittsburgh to Edmonton for our shows purposes. Eventhough their set almost lasted an hour and a half; you couldn't believe it was over; it went by so fast, as most pleasurable experiences do.

The city of Edmonton was once again graced with a great metal show, one in which sold out completely, which means more than likely we will be seeing more acts of this caliber roll through. With any luck one of those acts will once again be Soilwork, so that way those who missed out Friday can truly see what the "Edmonton Syndrome" is all about.

For more info on all of the bands that played Friday, try these links below.

SWALLOW THE SUN

WARBRINGER

DARKANE

SOILWORK

I SEE A "DEAD MOON" RISING: AN INTERVIEW WITH LUNA MORTIS' LEADING LADY, MARY ZIMMER

2009-02-09T08:44:00.018-07:00

In a world where today's metal music is inundated with bands that sound relatively the same, have indiscernible vocals or have some sort of "core" assigned to them. It's rare to find a band you cannot assign any of the useless metal subgenre labels to, try as you might, you won't be able to label Madison Wisconsin five piece Luna Mortis with one hundred percent certainty.

With elements of melodic, thrash, and death metal in their instrumentals, combined with a vocal style that is equal parts Nightwish and Arch Enemy, this group is rapidly gaining ground with several different audiences. Nothing could be more evident of this fact then the roster of bands they have opened for in the past three years, the likes of which include Children of Bodom, Dream Theater, Nevermore and Megadeth. All this completed without even having their first full length album released themselves.

To learn anything about a band so new but yet so technically skilled you have to go to the source, the man at the top or in this case the woman. Lead singer, Mary Zimmer, who surprisingly is not only responsible for the clean vocals of the group but the aggressive, harsher ones as well is a force to be reckoned with serving a vital role that separates this group away from the pack.

How did such a talented young woman, let alone a technical and harmonious group come together to create such a distinctive sound?

The chanteuse had some interesting things to say on that, as well as life, death, the possibility of a Canadian tour, and most importantly, the release of their premier album "The Absence"

Surprisingly, this mid-western femme fatale is a relative newcomer to metal music itself. She laments, "Growing up I never really had that much exposure to that kind of music, and it wasn't until I was 18, in college that I started to see how much fit under the umbrella of heavy metal, listening to stuff like Nightwish, that's pretty much where I started with it.”

Some would say that Mary is quite attractive as female vocalists go; the metal scene has seen a spike in attractive female band members in recent years, most are talented, Zimmer feels that some however, are nothing more than a marketing tool. "Oh, it's totally a gimmick! It's really hard for a female musician when there is a whole bunch of girls out there just getting by on their looks. I am not going to mention names, but some bands are riding on the image of their one female member without actually being any good at playing music."

Not to say that Mary is entirely opposed to the idea of looking good as a female entertainer, "It's okay to be attractive, just not first before anything else."

The difficulty of being a female entertainer aside, Mary and the band has had their fair share of problems getting to the top; the group has used the term "clawing their way up" in the Wisconsin metal scene. Wisconsin being more notable for "cheese-heads" than metalheads, she justifies that, "There is lots of metal in Wisconsin, lots of Thrash, Black Metal, but it is mostly in Milwaukee where it all is, ironically there isn't much of a scene in Madison."

The band has covered most of their home territory during their DIY touring days, winning fans all over, including places like Des Moines, Iowa, home of fellow metal artists and Grammy winners, Slipknot. "Every band in Des Moines sounds like Slipknot; they are heavily influenced by them there, so when we come along it's a nice surprise for them." Zimmer says, "They are not sure what to do with us."

Des Moines may not be sure what to do, the industry certainly does though, as was mentioned earlier, Luna Mortis has already opened for some top talent in the genre. Mary's favourite band however? "After Forever, we had played with them before, when we weren't Luna Mortis yet, and built a relationship with them." She gushes, "They are the nicest Dutch people you'd ever meet, and she (Floor Jansen of AF) is the best female singer in metal." This answer clearly evoked feelings of pain in Mary, as just hours before our interview, After Forever announced they broke up as a band, with her personal connection you definitely got the sense that it wasn't just another band's dissolution to her.

Such is the way of the music industry, Luna Mortis understands this, and clearly so does Mary. She offers some advice to any new bands hoping to get their start in this notoriously tough business, "You really have to bust your ass, the one the label signs is the one who works the hardest for it, just having a MySpace page and doing a couple of gigs a year isn't going to do it."

Zimmer continues to say that "there is no such thing as being discovered anymore, it just doesn't happen, work as hard as you possibly can, put yourself out there."

This Do-it-Yourself attitude has carried the group far, as well as just sheer technical skill and talent. Mary herself is a classically trained singer, who came to harsher vocals after first hearing "Heartwork" by Carcass and At the Gates' "Slaughter of the Soul". She does remark that harsher vocals are the anti-thesis of classical training and although it helped her teach herself how to "growl" it's so different you almost have to relearn everything.

For all their hard work Luna Mortis is far from a break for a while, their roster is filled now, with their debut album "The Absence" hitting stores today. It's overall dark but empowering theme, the brainchild lyrically of guitarist and primary songwriter Brian Koenig, deals mostly with the hardships of life and the task of overcoming such bleak circumstances.

Mary's contributions lyrically to the album with "Never Give In" and "Embrace the End" fit it's overall tone, with one exception in the case of "Embrace the End", which is more about complete submission to death, with no room for a happy ending.

Another song from the album "Forevermore" is the bands first music video that will be shot sometime this month. As for touring, the band has some dates in the near future with Warbringer, nothing regrettably that will bring them out our way.

Zimmer is certainly not opposed to a Canadian tour herself she says "We'd love to! I have a grandfather in New Hamburg, Ontario and I always have wanted to reinstate my dual citizenship!"

"It's just a matter of getting on the right tour."

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT LUNA MORTIS AND TO LISTEN TO SOME OF THEIR NEW STUFF FROM "THE ABSENCE" simply click HERE

CONCERT REVIEW: CRADLE OF FILTH with SATYRICON and SEPTIC FLESH

2009-02-04T09:33:00.008-07:00

For some metal fans, especially those supposedly of the "True Black" persuasion, Cradle of Filth inspires feelings akin to those felt when nails are raked across a chalkboard. If you happen to be one of those individuals, Saturday night's performance at the Edmonton Event Centre was not for you, and you probably should stop reading right now.

Those of you that are still here, good on you because Saturday nights performance by all three bands was incredible not just Cradle of Filth. With openers Septic Flesh and Satyricon, the crowd was frothing over with fury by the time Dani Filth and the rest of those whom rock Filth's Cradle took the stage.

Although never intended as a promotional tour for CoF's new concept album Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder, the show did feature some of the new songs like "Shat out of Hell", "Honey and Sulphur", and "13th Caesar". Fan favourite "Nymphetamine" also made the set list that night, the shorter "Fix" version though, not the nine minute long "Overdose" which was disheartening, but you have to make some compromises when you hammer off a list of tracks like they (CoF) did.

Here's the complete set list of the night:

1) Shat Out Of Hell
2) Guilded Cunt
3) ...Dusk and Her Embrace
4) 13th Caesar
5) Nymphetamine
6) Principle Of Evil Made Flesh
7) Honey and Sulphur
8) Under Huntress Moon

ENCORE

9) Cthulhu Dawn
10) Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids
11) Her Ghost In The Fog
12) From The Cradle To Enslaved

After seeing them live, it comes as no surprise whatsoever that Dani Filth and consequently his band's sound is influenced by Iron Maiden. Dani's exuberant on stage animation, constantly jumping from raised platform to center stage and back again was very reminiscent of Maiden's front man, Bruce Dickinson. His vocal range as well make Cradle of Filth stand out among throngs of deep guttural vocalists within their own genre. Rumoured to be able to achieve eight octaves with his voice, Dani Filth can go from a brutal dirty vocal to a screeching banshee seamlessly within seconds.

Combine that with his back up vocalist/keyboardist Rosie Smith's harmonious siren song, and the gothic cathedral-like orchestration and you can't help but feel not just hear the reason why this band, however controversial is so successful.

Feel free to call them Black Metal if you want but as far as CoF is concerned, they don't fit that title that well aside from their penchants for "corpse paint". Dani even joked once on a British quiz show that his music is "heavy funk". He prefers the simple title either the bands name or Heavy Metal as he should because the whole label thing is getting a little out of control honestly

Whatever you may call them, Edmonton was proud to support them January 31st, and likely will again.

In the meantime, study up on Gilles de Rais (the French serial killer Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder is based on), Get a controversial Jesus is a C**t band tee and we'll see you at the next live show.

Oh! and one more thing, Keep those horns high!

YOU REALLY SHOULD GET THAT LOOKED AT: An Interview with SEPTIC FLESH

2009-02-03T08:47:00.010-07:00

It is starting to feel like Mount Olympus here in Edmonton with the amount of Greek Metal Gods that have graced our city in the past year, with such bands playing here as FireWind, Rotting Christ, and now Septic Flesh.

Relatively unknown to the mainstream, the group has been an entity in their native Greece since 1990. This semi-veteran level of talent, ability and skill really showed as they opened up for Cradle of Filth and Satyricon Saturday night at the Edmonton Event Center. Showcasing songs from their repertoire including some from their recent classically infused masterpiece album Communion, the depth of which is brought together nicely with the backtrack of an actual eighty piece orchestra they used while recording the album. Add in the ferocious vocal style and stage presence of lead singer/bassist Seth Siro Anton and you had an impressive showing by a band otherwise unknown to North American audiences.

This being the group's first time playing in Edmonton, not to mention doing a cross Canada tour, The Forge had the opportunity to find out what Septic Flesh (SF) thought of our city of champions.

Forge: How do you like being in Edmonton, and touring Canada?

SF: Honestly, it is probably one of the best shows we've had on the tour of North America, when the crowd did the wall of death* it was great!

Forge: You and Rotting Christ are both from Athens, any chance of you two touring together?

SF: Maybe, but not right now, they are great friends of ours, Christos (Guitar/Orchestral) has done some of the orchestral backtrack work on their album. With us still being at a different level than those guys, if we started touring with them, we wouldn't want people to think we got on the tour because we're friends. Someday we will tour, but not now. We are currently planning a tour that would include North America in the near future possibly with Behemoth, but that is still just talk. They are closer to our sound than the bands on this tour, these bands are not that different but they (Behemoth) are much closer.

(*a wall of death, is when the crowd splits and each side left and right come at each other, colliding with one another similar to a mosh pit)

A tour with Septic Flesh and Behemoth would be well received for sure, especially for Edmonton, a city that is constantly overlooked in favour of other cities in the eastern part of Canada or worse yet Calgary, just kidding Calgarians!

Bands like Septic Flesh, and their European counterparts unanimously agree that making the trip across is tough and when the rare tour including them on the bill crosses the pond, it is unfortunate that our city let alone the west gets left out of the party. We, the metal fans, need to show our support by going to these shows and who knows? Maybe we'll have a heavy metal version of the Calgary Stampede right here in our beautiful city of metal er, I mean champions, our own western Canadian version of Wacken.

Until that happens, keep the horns high Edmonton!

For more info about Septic Flesh check them out online@ http://www.septicflesh.net/

CONCERT REVIEW/INTERVIEW: EPICUREAN

2009-01-26T09:08:00.009-07:00

Opening for Rotting Christ Jan 21st at the Starlite Room were Minnesota metalheads, Epicurean. Their performance like most opening bands was expected to be sub-par compared to the headliners, a consequence of seeing that exact formula time and time again.

Much to my surprise these five guys from Minneapolis did an excellent job at getting a crowd whipped up and ready for a night of destruction!

Front man John Laramy, can provide power in his vocals that propels Epicurean's energy all the way to the back of the room and back again. His transition from dirty to clean vocals is almost seamless and even though he is not the most animated on stage his stage presence is strong enough that he can command an audience.

Laramy's band mates cannot be undersold at all either. For young talent, guitarist Jarod Mills has all the makings of a great entertainer as well, his charismatic mannerisms, whilst still executing riffs with lightning precision makes him a well rounded performer and clearly a crowd favourite. Bassist Eli Pete and substitute guitarist on this tour, Brian Koenig (Luna Mortis) rounded off the string section well. Epicurean, like most melodic metal would be nothing if the percussion and keyboarding fell short. This group did nothing of the sort, with machine-gun drummer John Gensmer let loose on tracks like "Behind the Chapel Walls" and the backing tracks of temporarily absent keyboardist Jared Shneider setting the ominous tones over the entire set, Epicurean proves that not all melodic metal has to be Opeth-esque in nature.

This stellar performance from relative unknowns propelled this band from my periphery to dead center in my sights and in my mind as some of the new American metal talent to watch for.

I believe that with Chicago dark metal staple and metal veterans, Novembers Doom dropping off the Lucifer over America tour at the beginning of January for medical reasons left a void that allowed Epicurean some breathing room. If lead singer John Laramy's vocals are any indicator, they are taking some big breaths and making the best of their time in the spotlight.

Such a terrific set could not go unanswered for, so Epicurean agreed to sit down with The Forge and chat about all things music and many other things that had nothing to do with music whatsoever.

Joining me, were founding members, John Laramy, John Gensmer, Jarod Mills, and Eli Pete

After some deliberation about whose mall was bigger West Ed or their hometown's Mall of America, playful banter about Dave Mustaine's diva-like antics locally here at Gigantour, and some excellent song recommendations from (Jarod) Mills. We started to finally get down to our Q&A session, only occasionally being distracted by attractive female tennis players with long Russian names on the TV's behind us.

Forge-It may seem somewhat cliché to ask, but what were your first influences in metal that made you decide to get into metal yourselves?

Mills, Gensmer (almost in unison) - Megadeth! and also Dimmu Borgir's album Puritanical (Euphoric Misanthropia)

Laramy- Definitely the song "Epic" by Faith No More

Pete- Uh, I don't know, my first taste of extreme music was like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, that kind of stuff.

Forge-So, you basically made the transition from grunge into metal?

Pete-Yeah, that's it.

Forge- What do you guys like to do when you are on the road other than anything music related?

Mills-(laughs) smoke a lot of weed!

Pete- Sleep mostly

Laramy-We do a lot of stuff, I don't know we're all just a bunch of "goofy douche bags" you know?

Forge- How do you like this tour, being just signed on with Metal Blade in 2007?

Gensmer- It's way better than our old D.I.Y. tours, never being sure of whether or not you're getting paid, being stranded in places, it's way better on this tour.

Forge- Speaking of being on tour, or in this case, not. Where is your man (Jared) Schneider?

Now, at this point, the guys preferred that I not share the intimate details of it, suffice it to say, he had prior commitments that wouldn't allow him to attend the touring portion of the trip.

Mills- He's still a huge part of the creative process, he does a lot of our writing like 51% and we just put his keyboards on the back track to make up for his absence.

Forge- So, who does the other 49% of the writing then?

Mills- I think we all do, we each contribute a little bit, collectively.

Forge- Like taking each of your individual experiences and bringing it to the table?

Mills- Yeah pretty much.

Forge- Being on tour, are you guys leaving any significant others behind? girlfriends, that sort of thing?

Mills, Gensmer, Laramy, Pete- Oh yeah. Sorta

Forge- Then what's with all the talk about girls and the like from earlier?

Laramy- Hey, it's all good to preheat the oven as long as you do your cooking at home!

Forge- If you guys weren't in this band, doing metal music what would you more than likely be doing?

Gensmer, Mills and Pete- Probably working in a warehouse somewhere, thats kind of how we all know each other from working in warehouses.

Laramy- School.

Forge- What for?

Laramy- English or Physics

Forge- Oh alright guys, final question, hypothetically speaking if your careers were going to end forever with no way back but, you had the opportunity to go and play one last show in any country you wanted where would that be?

Gensmer- Romania or Greece

Laramy- Japan definitely

Mills- Japan

Pete- Japan or to play Wacken (German Open Air Festival)

The boys are in no danger at this point of having their careers ended prematurely, if nothing else the future holds big changes for the guys. Bizarrely, the band now has a Canadian connection, coming on in February, is a new lead guitarist to fill the gap that Brian Koenig is sitting in on for this tour. Originally a native of Newfoundland, this artist has resided in Windsor, Ontario for a few years and despite the guys from Epicurean completing over 150 pieces of documentation just to bring him over they still say he is not one hundred percent legal yet. From what they say he is supposed to be an incredibly talented individual and I, personally cannot wait to see what developments take place after their new addition comes onboard.

Hear the three debut EP songs released by Epicurean and much more, simply click here for their site.

CONCERT REVIEW: ROTTING CHRIST ft. EPICUREAN AND MANTIC RITUAL

2009-01-23T13:35:00.005-07:00

As darkness fell in our beloved city Wednesday night, the cold winter air returned, biting the flesh of a very dedicated albeit relatively smaller than normal following of metal fans outside the Starlite Room.

What in all of Rotten-Christendom could bring these people out of the safety and comfort of their warm homes? The answer is quite simple, melodic black metal pioneers, Rotting Christ, have arrived.

It's been twenty years since Rotting Christ became an entity in their native Greece and even with all the notoriety they have gained in the underground annals of Heavy Metal; nothing much has changed them as people. They are still the same down to earth, salt of the earth guys who would gladly give you the shirt off their back to help rather than turn their nose up at you. You see this reflected in their offstage behaviour and their sincere appreciation of their fans. All the stigma and stereotype that has surrounded them over the years could not be further from the true heart of this group.

Supporting their ninth full length release, "Theogonia" on this, the second leg of the "Lucifer over America Tour", Rotting Christ displays that consistently, they can still produce an album that can please their fans, allow them to make something different from previous releases, and stay true to their original vision all at the same time.

Opening their set to the theme from the Frank Miller film "300" came as no big surprise given the grand presence it creates, the overall sound of Theogonia as an album, and the background of the band. A few technical issues arose during the show that interrupted the intensity of the "Herculean" performance but in live shows this is something of a common expectation.

Despite the technical pitfalls, a great set list including "The Sign of Prime Creation", "In Domine Sathana", and "Threnody" made any previous inconveniences and interruptions fade away into distant memory. Their effective blend of Greek mythological imagery, Latin verses (which didn't stop fans from singing along surprisingly) and ominous chants in the back tracks set the tone nicely, turning the intimate venue of the Starlite Room into a sort of twisted perversion of a place of worship.

In this synagogue of doom worthy of Phobos himself, front man Sakis Tolis relentlessly envelops the room in his vocalizations, stirring fervor in the crowd that is compounded by the drums of his brother Themis. Amplifying the duo on either side of the stage like great pillars are bassist Andreas Lagios and relative new addition, lead guitarist Giorgos 'George' Bokos (joined in 2005). The animation of Bokos and Lagios amplify what has already become an exceptional show with ferocity of presence and fine display of technical skill.

They finish the night the same way they began it and an air of satisfaction hangs in the room long after the last amp gets switched off.

Those that came, saw something that has a legacy going back two decades, those that couldn't make it, I hope to see you out the next time, with your horns up, in support of one of the few purist underground metal bands still around today.

More than likely it will be much warmer then; I know this because when asked about their experience touring in Canada, vocalist Sakis Tolis expressed the group’s exact feelings as best he could.

"We're freezing our asses off!"

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A DEATH METALLER?

2009-01-16T10:37:00.004-07:00

Chances are, you probably aren't.

For years, even as early as 1986 when Heavy Metal was the most popular music in the world, it has been undersold by it's opponents as music for a lesser breed of humanity. This sort of elitist, self righteous, my excrement don't stink mentality is exactly why I wanted to start this Webpage/Blog in the first place, to provide a voice of reason to meet the mainstream and the underground in the middle.

Do not misunderstand, I do not believe that ALL metal fans are brilliant T.S. Elliot spouting intellectuals. There will always be a few less than bright 'mammals' that coincidentally happen to listen to my favourite musical genre. If you don't believe me, the next time you are at an event that features heavy metal music, watch for the guys who talk exactly like Spicoli from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and hang out in a pack, the "Surfers without an Ocean" as I call them. Put it this way, if these guys wrote CD reviews, it would have two categories, "THAT SUCKS!" and "THAT RULES!" I'll stop picking on these guys, because if they're going to see Heavy Metal, they must be smarter than they look and behave.

Honestly though, the stereotype over the years has always been one of inferior intelligence, violent aggression against others (outside of a moshpit), and/or suicide. For example, in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, Marilyn Manson and other forms of metal music were made scapegoats for their actions, when in reality, it was done on that day to supposedly commemorate Hitler's 110th. Perhaps we should condemn marijuana because they chose to do it on April 20th (4/20, trust me, the potheads get it.)

I have said for years that this music DOES NOT inspire violence, depression, and satanism, and I am not the first, but, try as I might there was nothing but my opinion to back it up.

Until last year when numerous studies were documented that had actually looked into the psychology of heavy metal music and its people. Just as I thought, it chimed in just about everywhere with my own personal beliefs.

Unlike former president (thank god!) George W. Bush, I do not make a habit of spewing from my mouth something that someone else has written without giving credit where credit's due. (CLICK HERE FOR THE SYNOPSIS ARTICLE COMPILED FROM THESE STUDIES!)

Even with this information, there will always be opponents to metal music, as there always has been. Even one of metal's root melodies the tri-tone, was banned by the church at one point in history, because it would invoke "Satan" c'mon, if ABBA, Duran Duran, and anything done by Vanilla Ice haven't inspired the rise of the Dark One, metal doesn't stand a chance of doing so.

So, in summary, do yourself a favour, take a minute and listen to some metal and truly listen, not just hear and see it for what it is. Another form of music, that all walks of life can find cathartic, and bearing some correlation to their lives. Especially those whom are gifted intellectually. (see study above)

Not ready to delve into hardcore death metal just yet? That's okay, metal has much to offer, for "the softer side of heavy metal" click this previous posting.

Alright class! Pencils down! Horn's up!

FUNNY HA HA? OR FUNNY HELL YEAH!: PART DVA (that's Russian for two for those playing the home game).

2009-01-14T11:05:00.006-07:00

ENTER SANDMAN: THE KAZOO EDITION

THE HEAVY METAL MONK: THIS IS ACTUALLY FUNNY BECAUSE IT'S REAL!

GREEN JELLY: THREE LITTLE PIGS (FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED THIS METAL COMEDY CLASSIC)

RICK N' ROLL (RICK ASTLEY METAL COVER)

DAVE MUSTAINE ON ROCK N ROLL JEOPARDY (He's not so much what's funny, it's Moon Unit Zappa)
PART 1

PART 2

ALL GOOD METAL IS FROM SWEDEN AND THIS GUY IS NO EXCEPTION, I THINK HE USED TO BE A CHEF ORIGINALLY

Public Service Announcement from The Forge

2009-01-13T08:40:00.008-07:00

A new documentary on Black Metal, that surprisingly does not focus on church burnings, is available on the FORGE-TUBE. Enjoy at your own risk of self discovery.

"EDUCATION IS THE PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERY OF OUR OWN IGNORANCE"

-WILL DURANT (1885-1981)

QUEER EYE FOR THE BLACK METAL GUY?

2009-01-08T08:32:00.015-07:00

GAAHL(in makeup above and right, below sans makeup) WITH FORMER BF, AND MODELING AGENT,

DAN DE VERO

Back in August, 2008, the news that Gorgoroth frontman Gaahl ( real name Kristian Eivind Espedal) was working in collaboration with a fashion label to start up his own line of women's clothing, was not shocking, Gaahl has always been an eccentric. Around the time of that news, rumours began to start that stated that he was in fact gay. Nothing more was really said on the matter, a lot of speculation for the most part, a background incident at Wacken, and even outright defiance to the fact by some black metal fans.

However, on January 6, 2009 in a talk with Hollands FaceCulture, Gaahl was very open and honest about his sexuality and said that he is gay. An English translation of an article regarding his sexual orientation from Germany's Hard Rock magazine became available on metal news site Blabbermouth.Net (click here for that) and since then, both himself and former boyfriend Dan De Vero have received threats, De Vero says they have come by telephone, mail and email.

Gaahl though, has never considered this whole debacle to be a "coming out" he says "It doesn't feel to me as if I've outed myself because up until now the whole thing was a non-issue for me. All this evolved very naturally. I feel how I feel and I've never made any secret about it."

In the interview, FaceCulture asked him whether or not people would react differently to him and/or his music in light of this news. His answer was this, "Mankind is known to be narrow-minded, so… maybe some [will have a negative reaction]," he replied. "But I guess it will even out the score in a way. I think it will be positive for some and negative for some. It's always good to have some negative as well. Otherwise you would end up with equality and equality is the worst thing in the world. . . Equality is stagnation. It doesn't let anything grow. It holds back."

Well said, from what I can only describe as one of the scariest gay men since Jeffrey Dahmer (a little extreme but not far off). Despite this ballsy move, and the fact that its such a non-issue for the Gorgoroth front man, one who has followed his career cannot shake the memory of his assault against a young man some time ago. In the documentary True Norwegian Black Metal, you get a look at a completely different Gaahl than the one you see depicted here.The documentary is available on the Forge-Tube (click here) for your entertainment and information needs.

Despite his strange albeit checkered past, it is the main message of black metal itself to be true to yourself without caring what others think. An excellent lesson in self-esteem, tragically skewed by satanic imagery and messages.

Gaahl is not the first metal frontman to reveal his sexual orientation publically, Rob Halford of Judas Priest (a major influence of Gaahls) came out years ago, much to the surprise of 'Priest fans. Although in hindsight, the signature leatherbar attire he wore on stage would be a dead give away in modern times. Its not just a game for boys either, L.A. screamer, Otep is a proud lesbian. I am sure there are others that remain uncounted because for them, its not what defines them and it's more about their music.

It's sad in this modern time, when one's sexual orientation can inspire such hatred and prejudice even among a band's most dedicated of fans. However, how much of a fan are you when you put the music and the message second behind the artists sexual preference? Gay, Straight, and anything in between, metal's message has always been acceptance and the breaking of barriers that separate us. Better to be a proud metalhead accepting of all that come into our fold than an ignorant breeder, probably unsure of their own sexuality (you know who you are.)

Until next time, keep those horns....and rainbow flags, high!

A VERY SPECIAL HEALTH MESSAGE FROM THE FORGE OF HEAVY METAL

2009-01-07T12:44:00.013-07:00

Nothing, with the exception of the metal "horns" is more dogmatic to Heavy Metal music than a good old fashioned headbang.

For those not familiar with the term headbang, it is the physical action at most Metal shows where either the crowd, the band, or both, with sway their head rapidly in succession up and down, in a circular motion, or from side to side.

However, if you want to continue this practice, do so at your own risk. According to a study conducted in the UK and published in the British Medical Journal (click here for the study) headbanging can create problems such as whiplash. They found using a theoretical model that certain songs and even style of headbanging, could be responsible for serious injury.

To summarize, the study suggests the following to prevent injury.

1) Decrease the range of head and neck motion

2) Head bang to slower tempo songs by replacing Heavy Metal with adult oriented rock (Good luck on that one lads)

3) Only headbang to every second beat. (because metalheads were so in sync before, with the exception of Amon Amarth)

4) Use protective equipment

One problem with that last one, you show up looking like this:

Some metalheads may just laugh at you, others though, who didn't get enough hugs as children, may make you leave looking like this:

In all reality, headbanging is like any other physical activity, if it starts to hurt or you feel a little disoriented, um... what's the word I am looking for here, ah yes...STOP! Any athlete knows when to stop and take a second before risking injury the same needs to be done here. I have headbanged excessively throughout my deep, committed, relationship to Heavy Metal and I haven't gotten hurt, a little dizzy yes, but not hurt. It is important that we use the very brain we rattle around at these shows and take care of ourselves, its the same reason we pick a guy up that falls in the moshpit or keep a person moving along during a crowd surfing moment, because in the end we all just want to go out, have fun and not get hurt for our trouble.

Being a solid headbanger isn't all bad, check this guy out from a European Gameshow.

GUERILLA METALLICA CONCERT VIDEOS-REXALL PLACE DECEMBER 7th

2009-01-05T09:08:00.006-07:00

METALLICA

OPENER-ECSTASY OF GOLD

THAT WAS JUST YOUR LIFE

ONE

BROKEN BEAT AND SCARRED

ALL NIGHTMARE LONG

MASTER OF PUPPETS (SOLO)

THE SWORD VIDEOS (A LITTLE BONUS FOR YOU GOOD PEOPLE)

BARAEL'S BLADE

FIRE LANCES OF THE ANCIENT HYPERZEPHYRIANS

FREYA

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: METALLICA PLAYS REXALL PLACE DECEMBER 7th

2009-01-02T15:01:00.007-07:00

My sincerest apologies for taking ever so long to have the review for this concert to fire through The Forge. Thankfully unlike most metal shows in Edmonton, there was some excellent coverage done on the event by our cities mainstream publications.
For those, choose your Poison below:

EDMONTON SUN

EDMONTON JOURNAL

Well, the "Death Magnet" had its attraction on overdrive on sunday the 7th, as fans of every conceivable shape and size came together and packed Rexall to the roof.

Fans only began to trickle into the main venue by the time the first of two openers, The Sword, took the stage with such song essentials of theirs as "Barael's Blade" and the Guitar Hero fave "Freya". Although they had a great set, for most of the mainstream Metallica fans there, it seemed like an odd fit to them. These are also the same people who deny the existence of previous Metallica albums "Load" "Re-Load" and musical group hug "St. Anger".

If The Sword threw them off their game, they hadn't seen anything yet...

Next to take the center stage of Rexall, were Richmond Virginia's Lamb of God, the five member metal machine with the misleading name. They've been called leaders of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, and with their performance that night, its clear to see why, with gut wrenching songs like "Laid to Rest" "Redneck" and the always popular "Walk with me in Hell". In addition to their usual faire, the savage throated, head slammin', five piece gave us a taste of their upcoming album Wrath with their song "Dead Seeds" as well as sending a shout out to our military as a lead into "Now You've Got Something to Die For". With all this intensity on stage, I was incredibly surprised to see the relatively inactive crowd on the floor save two very unimpressive moshpits. Perhaps the crowd was preparing for the onslaught to come.

Anticipation and energy grew as the lights went down and the Rexall crowd became a sea of glittering lights, like stars constructed of cellphone displays and lighters. After what seemed like an eternity bathed in darkness, the long awaited kraken that is Metallica came from the darkness below to take the stage, dwarfed by the four monolithic casket shaped lighting rigs that dangle above their stage. (photo shown at the top)

Opening their set with "That Was Just Your Life" amidst a dazzling laser light display from the complex lighting apparatus that flowed throughout their almost now signature central stage setup. The band it seemed, had finally tapped into that youthful energy they seemed to lose long ago as their set continued, executing such staples as "Creeping Death", "Battery", and "Of Wolf and Man" with expert precision.

As excellent as the older songs were, for me, I wanted to hear the songs from their latest work and the force behind their tour, Death Magnetic. Sometimes a song performed live can be like the pretty girl at the end of the bar late into the night, great at first, but upon closer observation, not nearly what you were expecting. Three seconds into "Broken, Beat, and Scarred" I knew for sure that this "girl" was hot. The new stuff blended well with the old, keeping the universal theme for the night, laughing in the face of death and personal struggle. With alchohol, career wide lineup changes and the loss of Cliff Burton years ago, this band knows all too well what price can be paid in life and in death.

An element of theatre was prevalent as the band continued, songs like "One" among others had plumes of fire erupt from the stage, the heat so intense that I could feel it in the front row beyond the floor. One could only imagine how hot it got for James Hetfield and his merry men, with these eruptions going off mere feet from them. Beyond the great spires of fire, rows of coloured flame shot up from raised platforms at appropriately choreographed times. Besides the fire and lasers, the caskets that seemed to hang precariously above them, could actually move and change position almost walling up the band at certain points, bathing them with light effects.

The band ended their evening with the deployment of what can only be described as black, logo emblazened, beach balls of varying size. Adding an element of impish fun, to an otherwise traditional heavy metal experience.

All in all, eventhough, the tone of the evening and of Death Magnetic, was the macabre and the dead. One could not help but be brought back to life, empowered by a thrash metal band that had fairly humble beginnings in their native California, just a bunch of kids, trading cassettes (you remember those, right?) of heavy metal from across the world (a pre-Napster music sharing network, irony anyone?). Young kids who now, have kids of their own, but no matter the age, no matter the strife and trouble that life throws at them, Metallica will continue to inspire generations to come, ensuring that metal, particularily the subgenre they co-founded, thrash will live on.

Missed the concert and want to know what songs played that night?
Here's the SET LIST from our show here in Edmonton.
(TRY ONE, THEY'RE INTERACTIVE!)

That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Creeping Death
Of Wolf And Man
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
The Unforgiven
All Nightmare Long
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Battery
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
~ENCORE~
Last Caress(Misfits Cover)
Die, Die My Darling(Misfits Cover)
Seek and Destroy

Related Reading from The Forge
DEATH MAGNETIC CD REVIEW

CONCERT VIDEO FOOTAGE: DISTURBED AT SHAW CONFERENCE CENTER DECEMBER 2nd 2008

2008-12-04T20:11:00.017-07:00

As promised, here are the videos of the Disturbed concert, a look into what goes on at these events for the uninitiated.

Regrettably, some of the videos mostly of Disturbed are quite shaky or in some cases cut short, simply because that the only place any self respecting metalhead belongs is in the mosh pit. In this case the pit was the whole crowd, an angry sea of humanity, making smooth video capture and standing at the same time quite difficult.

I'm pretty sizeable but when you get a crowd going like Disturbed did, there is nothing stopping them from pushing you around, you'll notice that this is made evident by how much closer each video seems to get to the stage. It was controlled chaos and anyone who has been to a metal show knows this, for those who do not, this will be a glimpse into the inner sanctum that is the mosh pit.

Enjoy nonetheless, it was well worth the superficial wounds and minor injuries to bring the proud Edmontonian metalhead this footage.
If you have video of your own from the event and want to share, fire it in the Forge and email it to me @ THEFORGEOFHEAVYMETAL.GMAIL.COM

Click the title below to enjoy
ART OF DYING-GET THROUGH THIS
EGYPT CENTRAL-WALLS OF INNOCENCE
EGYPT CENTRAL-TAKING YOU DOWN
EGYPT CENTRAL-YOU MAKE ME SICK
DISTURBED-ENTRANCE/PERFECT INSANITY
DISTURBED-PRAYER
DISTURBED-LAND OF CONFUSION
DISTURBED-DEIFY
DISTURBED-INSIDE THE FIRE
DISTURBED-STRICKEN

TALKING WITH TENNESSEE PHARAOHS: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS D'ABALDO OF EGYPT CENTRAL

2008-12-04T12:40:00.011-07:00

This past Tuesday Disturbed undisputedly tore the roof off Shaw Conference Center. One of the bands leading them into battle that night was Egypt Central, a relatively unknown band in the mainstream consciousness. After their set, The Forge had an opportunity to talk with Chris D'Abaldo, one of the two guitarists in the band. If Chris looks familiar, he was once a member of Saliva back in the "Click Click Boom!" days, he left the band in 2005 for "creative differences" and after a short time, hooked up with the guys in Egypt Central and has been with them ever since.

Chris was not feeling so good the night of the performance, he said he got sick just before they hit Canada, which led to my first question...

J.R. With you feeling so bad, what gives you the strength to shake it off and give such an energetic performance?

Chris Well, its the music mostly, and the fans, the audience really gives you the energy.

J.R. So its like you feed off each other?

Chris Oh yeah, for sure.

J.R. Alright, some of the fans tonight have been wondering, who exactly is the lead guitarist, because you're both so active and up front.

Chris *laughs* Oh, thats definitely Heath, he's definitely the lead.

J.R. Now that we have that straightened out, what are some of your musical influences personally outside of the genre, outside of metal?

Chris Pink Floyd

J.R. So you like the more melodic stuff or...?

Chris Well, sort of and also get alot from Hip Hop.

J.R. Really? what aspects of Hip Hop influence you?

Chris Its the beat, there was always a lot of good rap coming out of Memphis, like Three 6 Mafia.

J.R. Speaking of Memphis, thats a very music oriented town, did you find that that was a hindrance or a help for you guys (Egypt Central) when you started out?

Chris Well yeah, in some ways there was just so much out there, in Memphis theres a ton of bands but no representation, and its even harder to get exposure in cities like Nashville too, its a little tough.

J.R. Final question, your favourite animal in the animal kingdom! and GO!

Chris *after a brief pause* Lion, for sure, actually any big cat, because its like when you play a video game, you look at the characters stats and you see some are good at one thing and another one is good at another, I like characters who are even, they're a good balance of everything, like big cats.

We parted ways as friends, brothers in metal, and hopefully the arctic winds that brought them here the first time will bring them back this way again in the near future. For more info on Egypt Central check out their site at http://www.egyptcentral.net/

In the meantime, keep those horns high!

OUTSIDE THE COLD, "INSIDE THE FIRE!"

2008-12-03T22:57:00.014-07:00

Who: DISTURBED with EGYPT CENTRAL and ART OF DYING

Where: SHAW Conference Center

When: Tuesday, December 2nd

Metalheads of all shape, size, and age were "Stupify'd" last night, as they came to watch Alt-Metal juggernauts, Disturbed, take the stage and raise "Ten Thousand Fists" in their name.

Spawned by Illinois' windy city, the Chicago quartet has accomplished much in their twelve year run, most notably of which, being one of six rock bands that can make the claim of having three consecutive number one albums. It should seem only fitting the band choose the title Indestructible for their latest release.

Warming up the crowd last night were relative newcomers from Vancouver, BC, Art of Dying and Memphis Tennessee five piece, Egypt Central.

Art of Dying's "green" status came through in their opening performance, of all the acts, they were the least engaging and interactive, giving the impression they were trying, but still had yet to master their stage presence. One fan was quoted as saying that they were "a less talented version of SpineShank" an obscure reference but an accurate one.

Coming from a music driven city like Memphis, it came as no surprise that the next act, Egypt Central, took the stage with tremendous ferocity, animation and energy. Between lead singer, John "Jack Sparrow" Falls' powerful and uplifting lyrical resonations and the tag team effort of guitarists Heath Hindman and Chris D'Abaldo, the crowd finally began to bristle with energy, like a human thundercloud. With songs like "You Make Me Sick," "Different," and "Taking You Down" you couldn't help but think that you may see these boys again, next time as headliners themselves.

Minutes later, the stage was literally set, and a stillness set over the crowd, the calm before the torrential storm to come. It grows black, the crowd roars with anticipation, the shadowy wave of a black stage curtain falls to the stage, bathed in red light emerging alone from this abyss is Disturbed front man David Draiman, restrained in a straightjacket, afixed with a face mask a la Hannibal Lecter. An attendant wheels him to center stage, quickly removes the jacket whilst moving away himself as if setting free some terrible Jabberwocky-like terror. With the mask still on his face, David raises his hands not surprisingly leading into their song "Perfect Insanity".

This grand entrance would set the tone for the rest of the evening, iconic songs such as "Liberate", "Deify", "The Game", their cover of Journey "Shout 2000", and of course the title track of the new album release "Indestructible" kept the masses standing before them in a constant state of fervor. The song list never seemed to let up, allowing the audience to jump around wildly, mosh relentlessly, and as lead vocalist David even exclaimed himself "release our frustrations and anger" that night without impedement.

After a false conclusion to their show, they took the stage one last time ending the evening with an encore consisting of "Stricken" and their controversial song "Inside the Fire" which is the tale of a young man whose girlfriend commits suicide and in his grief, is visited by the devil, who tries to convince the young man to take his own life so that he may be with her again in Hell. This song comes from a very personal place for front man Draiman, as it is based on events in his real life.

Despite the macabre undertones of the closing songs, the crowd was sated and most went home very pleased with the performance, anxiously awaiting the next time Edmonton will come "Down with the Sickness".

FUNNY HAHA? OR FUNNY HELL YEAH?

2008-11-12T09:29:00.008-07:00

I think it is important that fans of Heavy Metal not take themselves too seriously, otherwise, how do you explain GWAR?

Humour is a crucial component to being human, and so even metalheads know how to laugh at themselves. So, in comedic spirit I present you, the reader with a brief selection of amusing clips of heavy metal just not taking itself too seriously for once. Additionally, I did some digging and the classic Heavy Metal mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap" is available on the Forge-Tube in its entirety. So sit back, relax, enjoy the ride on this comedy rollercoaster, and until next time, keep those horns high!

Meshuggah Baby, the youngest metalhead known to man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbYgvhwUfmk

Comedian Brian Posehn-"Metal by Numbers"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chiVMrWMHko

Jim Breuer Sings New Metallica Song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOn_4Mj4W7E

Stand-Up Comedian Pablo Francisco talks about Death Metal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t53E-u0U5rI

Cookie Monster Metal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWac5UT80no

Growl Metal Karaoke

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq2PQm6FqVY

Heavy Metal Farmer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jag7oTemldY

European Metal Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlpaNwu7yAk

KFC Goes Black Metal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO1rYr4BXAI
...and finally the Crown Jewel of the lot!

Justin Timberlake Metal Cover

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVLAZtAcUBk

HEADS, STOP YOUR BANGIN, AND BOW THEM IN REMEMBRANCE

2008-11-11T09:35:00.006-07:00

Growing up in a military family I know a thing or two about the personal sacrifices members of our Canadian Armed Forces give each and every day, so that way I can exercise my personal freedoms. Just about every member of my family is in the military and in my teenage years I had the opportunity whilst living in Germany to visit every place Canadians fought and died in WWI and WWII in the European theatre. From Dieppe to Vimy Ridge to the Somme and everything in between, I began to understand what it truly meant to be a hero and how brutal and costly war can be. I also visited places like Krakow and Auschwitz, places of immense death and suffering, the soot still stains the fences and barbed wire of Auschwitz black.

It is because of being at these historic places and seeing these sights that the phrase "Lest We Forget" has serious significance for me personally. Most Canadians however do not even know why it is we fought or more disconcerting where and when. Place the blame wherever you like, but thats not the point I am trying to make today. No matter your level of understanding of the day, just pay your respects to those who fought, people you never met, or ever will know but mark my words they affected the way in which you live your life today.

Every metal fan knows that war is a common theme in their music, speaking moreso about the atrocities committed than glorifying it as something 'cool". A good example is Slayer's song "Angel of Death". It talks about those that suffered at Auschwitz.

Like Remembrance Day, some Heavy Metal keeps our history alive, making sure the wrongs of yesteryear do not happen again because remember...

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
-George Santayana (1863-1952)

Some songs in Remembrance of those who came before us.

A short tribute to Canadian troops set to Metallica's song "One"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLOSo5Ki39o

A Remembrance day tribute set to Iron Maiden's "These Colours Don't Run"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xVue2kx1G8
System of a Down's song "Soldier Side" a little more on the American side but the lyrics and video run true for anyone who has a loved one in the Armed Forces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8YluAMCRT8

IRAQI METAL LIVES ON

2008-11-10T13:18:00.003-07:00

It has been five years since Heavy Metal music last graced the city of Baghdad when Acrassicauda played a hotel gig under extreme security. (For More details on that band's struggle in Pre/Post War Iraq, see Heavy Metal in Baghdad in the Forge-Tube)

Now, like the titanium clad, bullet ridden, phoenix rising from the ashes it is, Iraqi metal is back and better than ever. Gracing a crowd of 250 headbanging fans from the area, Brutal Impact and Dog Faced Corpse tore up their modest venue literally and showed everyone the resilience and strength heavy metal can give to a people who have long suffered at the hands of tyranny. To any Iraqi that may read this, and to all metal heads, keep the horns high!

An MSNBC report on the event

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbMNfLyTGxo

TRUE "BLACK" METAL

2008-11-06T10:42:00.020-07:00

In the aftermath of the historic election recently that makes Barack Obama America's next president, a lot of discussion surrounding race has come to the surface. Race should never play a factor in a modern world full of multicultural nations but regrettably it does, and despite some noble efforts over time, racism is certainly not a thing of the past.

Some of these discussions I have seen, read and heard about race recently, sound a lot like discussions people have had with me, about how Heavy Metal being a racist artform and is a music exclusive to white people. Those that know metal know that this is not true, but you would be surprised how many people, particularily in visible minority groups that believe this prejudice fantasy.
Music is truly an international language, so it should not surprise you that metal music exists in just about every culture there is on this planet. For the purposes of this article I will simply confine my examples to those artists of African descent (For a broader view of the international metal scene, watch Global Metal, a documentary available in the Forge-Tube, a link is located on the right hand sidebar of this page).

Artists of African descent are thought of as rappers and reggae artists and nothing more by the undereducated and xenophobic. Just because an artist comes from one race or another does not make them better or segregated to one style of music or another. So, if education is the cure for this racist pandemic then I suggest you use only a No. 2 pencil, open your mind to a blank page and prepare to be schooled, because class is in session!

Metal groups that contain members of African descent include:
1. SEVENDUST: Lajon Witherspoon (vocals)
The group flying under the banner Sevendust since 1998 has played with some of the industry giants like now deceased guitar shredder and Pantera God, Dimebag Darrell, Korn, Godsmack, and Metallica. Up and coming artists even list them as being their inspiration behind their own unique visions.
"Black"- song inspired by Lajon's personal struggles growing up with racism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O90WBpvlNk
"Praise"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXnQZUOlYws
2.GOD FORBID: Byron Davis (vocals), Cory Pierce (drums)
These New Jersey thrash metallers lead the way for the New Wave of American Metal and after much touring finally recieved acclaim in 2006, when their song "To the Fallen Hero," won the Independent Music Award for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Song.
"To the Fallen Hero"- the award winning song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMwhJ6JV25Y
"The End of the World"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0273mpIw6F4
3. SKINDRED: Benji Webbe (vocals)
Appropriately calling themselves "Ragga Metal" this band hails from Newport, Wales and using Benji's Rastafarian inspired vocal style has made them standout in a sea of cookie monster growls that seems to be overtaking the genre. So much so that they toured with the likes of HIM, Soulfly, Breaking Benjamin, Korn, Papa Roach and fellow listers, Sevendust. More recently they teamed up with Bullet for my Valentine for their Scream! Aim! Fire! tour in 2008.
"Nobody"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRY31d55HSM
"Rat Race"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-kmLkfFrtU

4. WICKED WISDOM: Jada Pinkett-Smith (vocals) Rio Lawrence (Bass)
Most find it surprising that the "Fresh Prince's" bride is a metal artist, even when they formed up in Los Angeles in 2003 not many knew what to make of her or her group. Among their accolades are playing the "Rock the Vote" tour, opening for Britney Spears European tour that same year and in 2005 becoming a fixture on the second stage of Ozzfest. An album rumoured to be named "Wrath of the Wicked" is expected out in 2009.
"Something Inside of Me"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA4T77EuzGk
"Bleed All Over Me"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhNQKGq4QZw
I hope those changed altogether if not at least skewed your perspective on the metal scene in general.

In the meantime, whether your black, white, brown, vermillion, teal or clad in steel, keep those horns high!

THE SOFTER SIDE OF HEAVY METAL

2008-11-04T10:08:00.013-07:00

Pop quiz hot shot. You love your Heavy Metal any way you can get it, but your significant other is more mainstream and cannot enjoy it the same way you can and it has caused some unwanted tension in an otherwise unblemished relationship. What do you do? What do you do?

First, you excuse me for that obscure mid-90's movie reference. Next, you have to find a way to compromise, you want to spend time with the important person in your life but you don't want to have to sacrifice things that interest you, namely your metal. The first thing you have to do is drop your macho guard down a little and start to expand your repertoire outside your usual Metallica, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC palette.

Metal is so diverse that it almost has a hand in any other musical form and has influences from just about every other genre of music as well. Remember its roots came from Blues, Jazz, Rock and Classical (for more info on metals origins, check out the documentary Metal: A Headbangers Journey in the ForgeTube section of the site).

So, if you found yourself in this predicament or perhaps just want to listen to something new and expand your Metal library try these bands and artists on for size. There are many more groups or individual artists that could fit the bill as being on the lighter side, for now here's a taste. More artists will be added and reviewed on here as time goes by...

In the meantime, keep those horns up

METAL BANDS THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT ON THE SOFTER SIDE:

1.APOCALYPTICA:
These Finnish musicians got their first bit of exposure playing Metallica covers (among others) on their four cellos. Completely instrumental, sometimes they team up with other artists to add drums, guitar or even vocals to their songs.
Cover of "One" by Metallica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JjQGt7WjK0
S.O.S. featuring Cristina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WHEqpoADTY

2.HAGGARD:
These Germans originally started out as a Death Metal band, but then radically changed their style to include Progressive, Folk, and Doom Metal elements. They still incorporate guttural vocals, however, they do balance well with the operatic vocalist and orchestra.
Per Aspera Ad Astra "Through the hardships to the Stars" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ2Y9_MwiE8
All'inizio E La Morte
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKDrtq0dyZw

3. Lacuna Coil:
Italian gothic metal group, with harmonious balance of male and female lead singers, they've received some notoriety in part from the Guitar Hero series of games. The female lead singer, Cristina Scabbia has had many pair ups with various different groups and/or artists, a prime example being Apocalyptica, the first entry on this list.
Swamped
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly9E30Hc5pg
Closer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6gFJogLJ_g
Megadeth:A Tout La Monde ft. Cristina Scabbia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn01nSG4cvU

TOP SHOCK ROCKERS OF HISTORY

2008-10-30T08:39:00.026-06:00

Source: MSN/Sympatico

1.SCREAMIN JAY HAWKINS

In the 1950's Screamin' Jay was known for his crazy, theatrical performances and macabre imagery. Best known for scary tracks like ''I Put a Spell on You'' and ''Constipation Blues,'' Screamin' Jay was arguably the very first shock rocker. (credit: Frank Edwards/Hulton Archive) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kGPhpvqtOc

2.IGGY POP

In a class all his own, Iggy's 1970s psycho stage persona was scary, and not just because of the raw meat, puking and rolling around in broken glass, but because he had a little trouble keeping little Iggy in his pants, if you know what we're saying. (credit: Marty Temme/WireImage)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbLRf0j80wU

3.ALICE COOPER

He welcomed us into his nightmare in the 1970s. Alice Cooper's scary stage show featured guillotines, electric chairs, (fake) blood, and scary snakes. A metal pioneer and born entertainer, some would argue that pretty much every shock rocker since then owes something to Alice Cooper. (credit: Max Schneider/Hulton Archive)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeZxRYXZ154

4.KISS

Coming to prominence in the late 1970s, scary KISS wore face paint and costumes and their stage show featured smoking guitars, fire breathing, blood spitting, and pyrotechnics. Not to mention Gene ''The Demon'' Simmons has the scariest, longest tongue in bass player history. (credit: Chris Walter/WireImage)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgsoJrzplUI

5.OZZY OSBOURNE

Before he was the battered shell of a husband you see before you today, and after he was paranoid with Black Sabbath, Ozzy was scary! Every teenaged boy's mother's nightmare. He bit the heads off a dove and a bat. And word is that he was in cahoots with the devil. The DEVIL! (credit: Hulton Archive) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRbPWcLode0

6.W.A.S.P.

Nudity! Simulated torture! Raw meat! In the 1980s, metal band W.A.S.P. were such scary troublemakers they were a catalyst for the formation of Tipper Gore's PMRC. (credit: Paul Natkin/WireImage) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r3gVs6UG5Q

7.TWISTED SISTER

They were all about teenaged angst, like their 1984 hit ''We're Not Gonna Take It.'' But scary frontman Dee Snider didn't look like the sort of guy you'd want to meet in an alleyway. (credit: Chris Walter/WireImage)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyu7nN3kBnw

8.MARILYN MANSON

Marilyn Manson, who named himself for Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson, considered himself something of an antichrist superstar at one point. In the 90s he was sort of the king of the scary macabre imagery. Boo. (credit: Patti Ouderkirk/WireImage)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mKlb8N6TqA

9.SLIPKNOT

Late nineties offering Slipknot relied on nu metal and scary masks. And guess what. It worked. These are the dudes you have nightmares about when you're away at summer camp. (credit: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1unzN2zsA4k

10.ROB ZOMBIE

A walking horror show with industrial, punk metal leanings, Rob Zombie has also made something of a scary name for himself as director of such films as ''House of 1000 Corpses'' and ''The Devils Rejects.'' (credit: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPdhVT9OfLQ

11.LORDI

Also apparently known as ''The Finnish Monsters'' and ''The Monsters of Finland,'' scary metal band Lordi won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with a record 292 points, which is scary enough on its own. (credit: MJ Kim/Getty Images)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6VzdtmrP6Y

WHO SHOULD HAVE MADE THE LIST

12. GORGOROTH

While not the best sounding band in the industry, these self proclaimed messengers of the devil have been banned from Poland for displaying decapitated sheep heads at one of their performances and current frontman Gaahl went to jail for assaulting a man who assaulted him. That's not the weird part, apparently Gaahl tortured the man for hours, including some acts inflicted upon the mans genitalia. In the same incident he supposedly drank the man's blood from a cup. For more about his weirdness check out the True Norwegian Black Metal documentary in the Forge-Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgdmrSxDN_4

13.VENOM

No Black Metal band worth its salt cannot say that they don't owe a certain amount of thanks to these pioneers of the aggressive, droning, dark, Black Metal sound. Proclaiming themselves Satanists, these British metalheads carved a path that later would be followed by the likes of Mayhem, Dimmu-Borgir, and countless other Black Metal bands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYtVb48fvY0

METAL SHOWDOWN:IRAQ

2008-10-29T12:49:00.005-06:00

Three Metal Bands that are coming out of the wartorn country of Iraq, true metalheads to the bone. See the personal struggle of Acrassicauda in the documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad (available on the Forge-Tube).

WARNING: Some of these videos contain graphic images of war.

Amargi-Wrath of Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuQOLQ636Lw
Mesopotamica-Black Hole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH0TO6_oGHI
Acrassicauda- Between the Ashes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU6iIQtEj0w

Pick your favourite send your feedback to theforgeofheavymetal@gmail.com and I will make your favourite a nice warm place to roost in the Forge-Tube.

EMPOWERMENT AND INCREASE IN SELF ESTEEM: The side of Metal the moral majority doesn't want you to know about.

2008-10-29T09:13:00.019-06:00

Heavy Metal since its inception in the 60's and mainstream breakout in the 70's, has been viewed as a negative influence, driving young people to feel depressed, lonely, suicidal, and suffering from low esteem.

Where does this opinion come from? What makes people think that a genre of music is solely responsible for these tragedies amongst young people?

The answer, lack of education.

From an outside perspective, Heavy Metal music has all the appearance of being quite evil, especially in the Black Metal/Death Metal circles. Even seemingly tame musically by today's standards, Motley Crue, adorned their album cover with a an upside-down pentagram, a pagan inspired mark used by Christianity to symbolize Satan. For the most part, these are all symbols of rebellion, a common theme in music listened to by angst driven hormone fuelled young people, mere flash and stage antics, no more realistic than the characters played out in professional wrestling.

There are exceptions to the rule, but there always are, with the thousands of bands in existence you are bound to find some individuals who are a little left of centre (ie: Gaahl, frontman of Gorgoroth). This however, still should not affect the listener in a negative way, no matter the age, unless that person has other problems psychologically outside the music that make them succeptable to depression, suicide or unchecked violent tendencies. If it truly was a question of music influencing actions, "Helter Skelter" by the Beatles should have been the scapegoat when Charles Manson did his dirty deeds in the Tate/Bianca murders.

In the case of a troubled individual, absolutely nothing will ever replace a good support structure like parents, friends, or a counselor of some kind. In spite of all those things, metal unlike some other musical genres that choose to sugarcoat the problems facing someone, confronts these same problems head on unabashedly slapping these metaphorical demons across the face and saying "So what!" It is this aggressive and direct approach that give metal its capability to empower, uplift and drive a person to rise above strife and pain affecting their lives.

Some great examples of this direct confrontation with our fears, forcing us to look inward and gather the strength to overcome these obstacles. "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, "Fear of the Dark" by Iron Maiden, and "Get Up Again" by Flaw are great examples of overcoming nightmarish distress and soaring above it. To use a choral excerpt from the song written by Flaw previously mentioned as an examplar of what I mean,

Reach out your hands

Out for the ones who, aid when the going gets rough

Until the end.

These are the ones who, help when the times get tough

And times will get tough.

Get up again.

Times will get tough.

Get up again.

There is a host of other artists that could be added to this list but to simplify the matter and not cloud the issue with too much trivia, the resounding message of Metal is this, be happy with who you are, however you look, whatever your upbringing, you are not alone and you will get through this.

For a great look at being confident and sure of oneself in a counterculture check out the cover story for the Edmonton Journal today. Its worth checking out.

Public Service Announcement

2008-10-26T21:33:00.002-06:00

The Forge-Tube has been setup for your enjoyment, see your sidebar for details.

Public Service Announcement

2008-10-25T16:59:00.003-06:00

This Blog is not only dedicated to established Metal superstars and their bands but also the Metal scene in general, particularily in Canada. So if you're reading this Blog and you have some friend, cousin, friend of a friend, in-law, goat, anyone you know in your life that has a Metal band send me some info. I find that one of the great things about Metal is its underground, but it can also be one of its greatest downfalls as well, especially for bands who want to build their audience and get themselves heard. So please, if you know someone who raises their horns high and is bringing something to the Metal table, drop their info into The Forge! Send it to theforgeofheavymetal@gmail.com and like the message at Marathon got to its final destination, I will get yours. In the meantime, keep feeding the fire and bringing down the hammer! \m/

Oh Lordi Lordi, Finnish Metal goes to the movies!

2008-10-24T14:24:00.004-06:00

Finnish Extreme Metal Band Lordi, have a movie that came out called Dark Floors, it released on this side of the pond Oct 14,2008. The band play monsters (big stretch there) that of course terrify wide-eyed young adults. Just what the doctor ordered for this Halloween!

For more info check out:
http://www.solarfilms.com/elokuvat/kaikki/darkfloors/en_GB/darkfloors/

The Attraction of Metallica's Death Magnetic (Sep 16, 2008)

2008-10-24T14:01:00.005-06:00

The tumultuous career of one of the worlds most iconic metal bands can be summed up nicely by the opening lyrics to one of their new songs on Death Magnetic, 'Broken, Beat and Scarred' which begins with signature frontman James Hetfield's lyrical eruption of "Rise. Fall. You're down then you rise again. What don't kill ya make ya more strong."

In their long history since their formation in October of 1981, Metallica has had a colourful past to say the least. They've played a major role in creating the 'Thrash Metal' sound, won Grammys, played alongside the San Francisco Symphony, and led the charge against Napster and its music piracy. Surviving pitfalls, rehab, and members coming and going over the years, not to mention, the less than satisfying predecessor to Magnetic, 2003's St. Anger, it seemed that the end of the road was fast approaching for Metallica.

If Death Magnetic has done anything, it has shown the world that this oncoming demise couldn't be further from the truth. One surefire example is Hetfield's pre-St.Anger style of solo lyric writing returning or as he iterates quite well about writing the new lyrics in this months Revolver magazine, "I really wanted to crawl back into 'the cave' and kind of get scared, dark, and scared." True to his word, he has tapped into some dark places in this newborn album, showcased in heavily radio played hit 'The Day That Never Comes', a tale of abuse between a father and son. In this latest album, the band has released a third installment into the 'Unforgiven saga' not surprisingly title 'The Unforgiven III', which stacks up comparitively with its previous incarnations.

Lyrics and rekindlings of older installments aside, this album very much has the feel, taste and smell of the Master of Puppets/Black Album days, and is almost a fusion between the two whilst still having a modern edge with tracks like 'The End of the Line', 'All Nightmare Long' and 'That Was Just Your Life'. Kirk Hammett's machine gun fast guitar playing and numerous solos will make any metal fan bang their head, and curl their lip, all the while pounding on their chest to Lars Ulrich's, pulse quickening drum beats and Rob Trujillo's bass riffs.

Death Magnetic, with its biblical commandment-like ten songs, is an angry cornucopia of deep seeded pain, anguish and nightmares. For the most part, these tales have needed to be conveyed for a long time in the over twenty six year history of the band.

Metallica has come down from the mountain with these ten 'commandments' after many years, and it has one clear message, they shall not go quietly into the mists of antiquity, they will, as 'Broken, Beat, and Scarred' reiterates in its second line,

"Rise, Fall, Down, Rise again, What don't kill ya make ya more strong!"

Concert Review: Amon Amarth featuring the Absence, Belphegor, and Ensiferum (Oct 8 2008)

2008-10-24T13:58:00.002-06:00

Cold gripped our city Wednesday night, chilling Edmonton to the bone. This cold became something of a harbinger for what would coincidentally take place at the Starlite Room, the arrival of true Viking Heavy Metal.

Led by relatively unknown melodic Death Metal band The Absence, following subsequently by Death Metallers Belphegor, and self described Heroic Folk Metal from Finland, Enisferum.

Despite some initial sound problems that occurred mostly due to the setup in this relatively small venue, by the time the headliners Viking Metal band Amon Amarth (means Mt. Doom in one of the Lord of the Rings languages.) took the stage everything was in line as though the Norse Gods came down and fixed it themselves.

Amon Amarth’s flair for storytelling in the true ancient Nordic fashion is prevalent throughout their lengthy sixteen year career as musicians, and their new material showcased on this tour is no different. With a crack of thunderous drums and lightning quick guitar playing, old songs and new came together nicely, never dampening the momentum they had from one song to the next. One couldn’t help but be thoroughly enthralled while these gigantic Swedes took us on epic adventures with them through songs like “Guardians of Asgaard”, “Runes to my Memory”, and “Victory March”.

All in all, the night delivered a healthy dose of Heavy Metal that can be appreciated as what it truly is, a sophisticated, intellectually charged art form, which can not only inspire and entertain but bring about an understanding about another cultures ancient customs and mythology.

CD REVIEW (Oct 9 2008)

2008-10-24T13:45:00.004-06:00

Band: The Absence

Album: Riders of the Plague

Florida based Melodic Death Metal five piece, the Absence; relative newcomers to the heavy metal scene (formed in 2002) have released a second full length album entitled “The Riders of Plague”. In contrast to its predecessor, the album “From Your Grave”, this latest incarnation shows a greater technical skill level, whilst still holding firm to their original style. Were it not for research on the band itself, one almost would be convinced they were from Scandinavia and not the southern United States based on the sound of their vocals and vibrant mix of acoustic and electric guitar styles. An excellent example being the song titled “The Murder” which begins with a rugged, medieval, acoustic buildup which quickly transitions into rapid-fire electric guitars and growling, dirty vocals. Whilst their lyrics are poetic in their own right, their sound bears some stark similarity to Dark Tranquility, Arch Enemy, and even at times Opeth. For a fledgling band to sound like such long time veterans could mean big things for this group.

Some recommended listening (click to listen):

“Riders of the Plague”

“The Murder”

“Merciless”

‘Queen of Death Metal’ Screams Above Average (July 18, 2008)

2008-10-24T13:38:00.003-06:00

With: FireWind, Divine Heresy, and Dark Tranquility

Where: The Starlite Room

When: Saturday Night

It’s Saturday night in Edmonton, and dark, ominous clouds loom over the city. A storm is blowing in and a collective shiver runs through the crowd waiting for shelter in The Starlite Room.

The tempest on the horizon is wrought by veteran death metal band Arch Enemy on their latest tour, Tyranny and Bloodshed.
Arch Enemy, like many death metal bands, has not much exposure in North America. Even devout followers of metal could be forgiven for not knowing the dark, heavy, melodic sound that shakes the stage, blending melody with brutality.

In We Will Rise, the haunting song from their 2003 Anthems of Rebellion album, Arch Enemy vows to Tear down the walls / Wake up the World/ Ignorance is not bliss / So fed up with second best / Our time is here and now.
Since their change in vocalist in 2001 from former founding member Johan Liva to German wunderkind, journalist-turned-lead singer Angela Gossow, the band has seized every opportunity for larger exposure and successfully cemented themselves on the scene as a powerful metal band.

Fans are thoroughly enraptured when the tiny, unimposing singer takes the stage. The earth starts to rumble / World powers fall / A’warring for the heavens / A peaceful man stands tall, as the lyrics from Symphony of Destruction describe. But it’s not a man standing tall when Gossow takes the stage and delivers deep, powerful roars of vocal power that would be unlikely to come from a fellow twice her size.

Dwarfed by her six-foot-something Swedish band mates, what she lacks in size and Y chromosomes, she makes up for in sheer talent and riveting on-stage charisma.

Fans may not care that the attractive singer unwillingly graced the front cover of Revolver magazine last year as one of “the hottest chicks in metal.” (“I didn’t want to be in that because I thought it was the wrong idea for me. And they put a picture of me in there anyway with some quote,” she later said in an interview.) Most of the die-hard metal fans are more interested in her exceptional skills in the male-dominated art of guttural vocal-screaming, complimented by technically-accomplished guitarists Michael Amott and his younger brother Chris, with Sharlee D’Angelo on bass and the bone rattling drumming of Daniel Erlandsson.

Fellow veteran Swedish death metallers Dark Tranquility, Greek power metal band FireWind and the fledgling Divine Heresy delivered such an inspiring, interactive and ultimately entertaining performance, that by the time Angela and her Swedes took the stage, the crowd was a sea of raised ‘devil horns,’ brewing with a hurricane of energy and anxious anticipation.
Not to be outdone by their tour mates, Arch Enemy decisively delivered a steel-toed heel-kick to the senses. The intensity that built up before they took the stage, inciting whiplash-causing head-banging en masse and a swirling moshpit torrent, never let up.
With interludes featuring awe-inspiring solos from every instrumental member of the group, in spite of the slightly smaller venue, Arch Enemy and comrades pulled no studded-leather glove punches. The evening celebrated what true heavy metal is all about.

After the show Dino Cazares, guitarist of Divine Heresy and well-known metal band Fear Factory, said, “Not just Edmonton, but Canada as a whole is a good country for metal, there is always a big turn out and the people are good to us.”
During a chance meeting with Sharlee D’Angelo, bassist for Arch Enemy, he commented that perhaps being more in the mainstream consciousness, death metal bands would get more exposure, and consequently, a larger venue. He’d like to see fewer fans turned away due to capacity issues. But don’t expect to see Cazares and his music to go more mainstream anytime soon.

“Actually I like the aspect of keeping it underground,” he says.

Russian ban creates EMO-tional response (Sep 5 2008)

2008-10-24T13:31:00.003-06:00

If you haven't heard by now, the Russian government has deemed it necessary to work on putting into action a nationwide legislation, which upon completion would heavily regulate Emo and Gothic style music, and their websites. In addition, the government's regulation would ban the wearing of any and all Emo/Goth garb such as black or gothic style clothing, facial piercings, long hair that drapes down the front of the face and paraphernalia of regulated bands, inside schools and government buildings. Although not fully put into action in the whole of Russia, the ban has already been put into effect in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia and, as expected, has been met with protest by Russian fans and musicians alike.

So, the question remains, why, is this former cold war communist superpower turned democratic republic restricting the freedoms and rights of one specific group and the artform that they all share? The answer, the government believes that this type of music, exalts suicide, creates national instability, and incites violent behaviour.

Some of these presumably insurrection inciting bands considered to be on their regulation list are, My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional, Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, Billy Talent and countless others.

The segregation of a musical subculture is not a new practice, and similar legislations have been implemented in dozens of countries some successful, some not. In 1975, the South Korean government saw fit to ban all Heavy Metal music from airplay on its radio stations and police were gathering up metalheads and giving them haircuts to rid them of their anti-social long hair. In modern day Iraq, fans of music genres such as Rock, Emo, Punk and Heavy Metal are usually arrested and/or beaten by the religious police usually having contraband like band t-shirts and their long locks confiscated and destroyed. Although Russia will more than likely not go to these extremes, the situation currently ongoing is very reminiscent of a ban that was trying to get off the ground in the mid 80's in the United States by the Parents Music Resource Center political-advocacy group (PMRC), headed up by former Vice President and "An Incovenient Truth" author Al Gore's wife, Tipper Gore. The PMRC, like the Russian goverment was trying to ban certain types of music and musicians that they claimed the "moral majority" deemed harmful to the youth of the country. Unlike Russia, however, the PMRC in conjunction with the Senate Commerce Committee was willing to hear from select members of the musical community they were raising allegations against. Two of the key speakers called before the committee, were Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and Frank Zappa. Snider and Zappa, both suggested to the committee that parents should be responsible for the music that enters their house via their kids not the government. With this testimony given by these two men and others, an effective compromise was reached. An all out ban would violate the Constitution, so some five years later in 1990, the now commonplace Parental Advisory Warning Labels were required on all music media with certain types of "subversive" content.

Russia could extrapolate a solution to their own moral plight from the events that transpired in the U.S. with the PMRC in the mid 80's, however, as the situation continues to develop it appears that the goverment remains steadfast in their opinions and remain unconvinced despite an outcry from nationals and foreigners alike. Inevitably, in any Democracy, the elected officials will have the final say, I hope that they accept the input of the people and reach a peaceful and non civil rights restricting compromise.

Here in Canada, these events do not directly affect us, as fellow children of freedom we should take an interest in the goings on in the world around us, allowing us to appreciate what we have and not take our freedoms for granted and if necessary, like Russian Emo fans, fight for our right to free expression. It certainly crosses my mind everytime I pick up my electric guitar, listen to my vast Metal playlist on my iPod, watch a re-run of Metalocalypse on cable late at night, or go see Iron Maiden play at Rexall Place.

OPETH CONCERT REVIEW (October 1, 2008)

2008-10-24T13:29:00.001-06:00

Amidst the usual goings on at a metal concert, an underlying anticipation even, some might say, a longing seems to take hold of the crowd gathered at the Edmonton Event Centre this past Wednesday night. The bated response of the group is well founded, Swedish progressive metal veterans, Opeth have returned to town, their latest album, Watershed, functioning as their “standard”.

The majority of people in attendance, although not familiar with the opening act, High on Fire and their work, did not hesitate to bang their heads and raise their “horns” when this aggressive three piece band took the stage. Like a medieval bellows, fuelling the fires of an ancient forge, High on Fire’s performance surprised and thrilled those whom had never heard them before and caused fervor amongst the forest of raised hands at their feet. Riding this wave of excitement, Opeth took the stage to a roar of applause, drowned out almost immediately by the sound of their first song of the evening.

For the whole of the two hour set, you get exactly what you’d expect from Opeth, progressive riffs and melodies, complimented by thunderous drumming, clean, almost whispering ballads fluidly moving into harsh guttural vocals just to remind you that they firmly still have their roots in the Swedish Death Metal scene.

Despite a technical problem with lead singer Mikael Akerfeldt’s guitar early on, (which was simply played off with impish humor, and some choice four letter words) the set went well, taking you through all the band had to offer, from their older albums with song selections like “Deliverance” all the way up to several of the newer tracks from Watershed.

Opeth’s performance, while musically spot on, was also complimented by the unique and often times humorous commentary made between songs, everything from an semi-improvised quiz game of where they played other bands guitar riffs and the audience had to guess correct before they would play their next song, to an admittance of their own personal guilty pleasures (Mikael’s is “Take On Me” by A-Ha) and an introduction of each band member along with a comparison of what foul smell they are most akin to on stage.

This humorous display sets apart Opeth from most of what we see in the Swedish Metal scene with their jests, candor, and childlike enthusiasm as they play, you cannot help but share in the celebration. Metal has always been about pushing boundaries and exploring new territory some other musical genres won’t dare explore.
As their album title suggests, Opeth continues to create “Watershed” moments in metals vast and sordid history, and if you are up for a change of pace or just want more to stuff onto your iPod, gives these Stockholm natives a try, you won’t be disappointed.