Interview with Eloi Nicod (The Scalar Process)

What a year 2020 was with so much going on while being stuck indoors, I barely got any work done. With it being the start of a new year, the goal is to get back on track and bring even more content, reviews, and interviews in 2021. Starting right now, with an interview from Transcending Obscurity Records own The Scalar Process. The Scalar Process are a tech-death band preparing to unleash their debut release, entitled Coagulative Matter. In the lead up to the release of the album on February 19th, guitarist Eloi Nicod made time to catch up with us and give a little bit of insight into the band's first album.

Tell us a bit about The Scalar Process, where did the name come from?

Scalar is used as a math calculation you can use in a lot of contexts, to calculate speed, weight or distance, in computer science, or in hierarchical scales. It is representative of the atmospheric feeling I want for our music, it has no particular impact on the lyrics, even if sometimes I mention this in a more metaphorical way.

Releasing this year is your debut album, released with Transcending Obscurity Records, how do you feel finally getting the music out there?

It’s been a huge achievement when we finished the album. We were working on it since June 2016. Back in the days, I was writing for The Scalar Process alongside Derealized, a Black/Death Band. After having worked years and years on the songs, the production, we were lucky to see a positive response from Kunal of Transcending Obscurity Records! And then we signed!

 

We are happy to be part of this excellent record label with plenty of excellent bands like Coexistence, Hateful, Cerebrum, Godless Truth, The Last Of Lucy.

What's the backstory on this album, what's the meaning behind the art and the concept of the lyrics?

For the album artwork, I contacted Bastien Jez who already did covers for other bands like Exocrine, Promethean. He did a phenomenal job based on our story. We wanted to describe the whole thematic of the album in one artwork that supports the lyrics. It is about a protagonist who is confronted with his torments and problems which are distant from him in time and space. This is why everything displayed on the artwork is either distant or closer, it emphasizes depression, nostalgia. I tried to compare that with space, hallucinations, and even biblical references, like the Forbidden Fruit.

How was the recording process, did you find there were any issues that came along?

I have my own home-studio, so the recording process was quite easy for me. The main issue remains spending a lot of time searching for a vocalist, mid-range, and of course, available. When my best friend Mathieu came back from Portugal, I told him about The Scalar Process and he tried some vocals. I found my singer this day!

 

Did the current pandemic cause any issues in the recording process for you?

Not at all, because we recorded the album in 2019.

 

Playing and writing tech-death is certainly not easy, what bands inspire your writing?

It is not easy at all, that’s for sure! My main influences are, just to name a few: Fallujah, The Zenith Passage, Cynic, The Faceless.

 

Have you started to make any tour plans for when the pandemic is over?

We are talking with some bands about that, but nothing definitive. We can't know with this pandemic.

Speaking of tour plans, give us a little insight. Who have you shared the stage with, and who would you dream to play with in the future?

We are in the starting blocks, we haven’t shared stages with any other bands yet (and it is due to the pandemic situation as well). However, I can name a few from li ves I did with my old band Derealized. I personally shared the stage with Atlantis Chronicles, Dew Scented, Fractal Universe, Blazing War Machine.

My dream is to play with Fallujah and Cynic!

 

Thank you so much for your time, is there any last messages you would like to leave with fans? Stay Safe! And we hope to see you soon to share the album on stage!

Thank you so much for this interview, take care of yourselves! You can grab our album Coagulative Matter or our sexy merch which will be out on February 19, 2021 through Transcending Obscurity Records.

Vathek - Aborted Origins Review // Independent Release

Out of one of Canada's lesser talked about areas, comes the Death Metal band, Vathek. Formed in Winnipeg, Manatoba, Vathek have been creating a name for themselves opening for some of the biggest hitters on the road these days. After releasing the debut EP Apocalyptic Pandemic in 2013 and sharing the stage with the likes of Skeletonwitch, Kataklysm, and Aborted, Vathek got working on their first full length release, Aborted Origins.

The first thing to note is the mix of influences throughout this album, the speed and lyrical content similar to Grindcore. Blitzing guitar work and melodic undertones from Thrash Metal. Most prominently though is the chugging and blasting of Old School Death Metal. Instrumentally, Vathek take on a sound very similar to Cannibal Corpse in a lot of sections. "Martial Ingestion" is the perfect instance of this, throughout the majority of the song, the guitar work goes from chugging consistent riffs to small tapping sections. While songs like "Exsanguination Asphyxiation" and "Gratification From Despair" are much more fast paced throughout and take on a much more aggressive, pit-inducing form.

The use of snippets is also used throughout, music like those familiar with Kataklysm's use in almost all their albums. One is found is the heavily Grindcore influenced "Syphilis Shotgun" (originally from the debut EP), which literally just details what it's like to have syphilis in the most gruesome, Metal way possible. While guitar solos are far and few between on Aborted Origins, "Syphilis Shotgun" has a quick little piece near the end of the song, giving the listener just a little nibble at what could be on album number 2. 

From beginning to end, Aborted Origins is a hard hitting, no joke Death Metal album. The songs range from the absurd (see the aforementioned "Syphilis Shotgun") to absolutely destructive. Vathek don't hold back from dabbling into Grindcore, Thrash Metal and Brutal Death Metal throughout and try to push the boundaries of what's possible on this album. If Vathek continue to explore and expand their sound going into their next album, the next big Canadian Death Metal band could very well be on the way. Don't hold back, Aborted Origins is definitely worth a listen.

9/10

Flub - Flub Review // The Artisan Era

It's been a good year so far for fans of Death Metal, and the year doesn't seem to be letting up. Just recently, Flub released their new, self-titled album through The Artisan Era. This is a label known for dropping some of the most prolific extreme metal out there, which means it's generally a safe bet that any album with their name on it will be pretty damn good. So, what about Flub? Well, it's time to take a deep dive into their fast paced album.

Right off the bat, this album is introduced as a quite interesting Technical Death Metal release. It kicks off with the incredibly Jazz influenced "Last Breath". The instrumentals throughout this release alternate quite often between the aforementioned jazz inspired Tech Death, straight old school Death Metal and a more Grindcore influenced sound. Bass fans should do themselves a favour and dive into "Umbra Mortis", the intro is purely bass before the track really kicks in. Once in high gear, this song really takes off. There's nothing quite like the keyboard throughout this album and that's another thing incredibly prevalent in this track. The keyboard adds so much depth to the sound and can make a track that may feel shallow, feel emotional and intense.

One of the hardest hitting songs on the album is "Rise From Your Grave", which was also the second single off the album. A lot of this track is very reminiscent of Cattle Decapitation, it has a very intense feel with bits of melody mixed in. The vocals are well spoken, but brutal. Particularly, about halfway through there's a scream that sounds like it's ripped directly from practically any of the later Cattle Decapitation albums. Without delving too far into it, "Rebirth" takes massive influence from The Faceless, particularly in the keyboard and (dare it be said) clean vocals.

If you're looking for a Tech Death album with a whole lot of heart, emotion and logic, Flub has exactly that. This may be the debut release from this supergroup, but it could very easily be assumed that the band would be at least five albums in. You owe it to yourself to check this out if you want some Death Metal with a little more feeling.

9.5/10

Sludgehammer "Antechamber" Review

Out of Toronto, Ontario, comes one great Thrash Metal act. Sludgehammer are back for their second album, Antechamber. This time around, with a new vocalist. Between the time of The Fallen Sun and Antechamber some changes had to happen and Sludgehammer introduced new vocalist Josh Stephney. Together with Stephney, the band has played many shows and finally, as of today, released their second album. So now it's time to jump into the fire and take a look at whether or not the wait was worth it.

The album kicks off with the first single, “No Control”. Starting off with a chugging riff reminiscent of old school Decapitated it doesn't take long for the song to take on a form of its own. Once Stephney jumps in and starts to take control, the real sound of Sludgehammer starts to come out. Opting to keep to a mostly quicker pace, the only time the band returns to that intro sound is during the guitar solo. In “No Control” alone, the sound changes quite a bit. The chugging start, fast paced verse into chorus and even faster after that. This is the norm for Sludgehammer, throughout Antechamber the band isn't scared to lay all their cards on the table at once.

Breaking the norm though, “Broken Sea” opts instead to keep a midtempo, heavily melodic sound going throughout the song, only choosing to sway ever so slightly throughout the song. Mixing in Jeff Wilson (guitar, vocals) and Dan Ayers’ (bass, vocals) clean vocals to the song, and throughout the album, adds a lot of layers that help build up the grandiose sound that Sludgehammer strive for. This is even more prevalent in “Climatic Death”, which the band has released a music video for. The contract between the clean and hard vocals brings even more emphasis to the warning that this song brings. If you don't want to think that far into the song and don't care too much about the environment, then you'll still dig this song because the instrumentals are intense. The song is heavy, especially around the chorus and even jumps into a blast-ier section of instrumentals right after singing about your climatic death.

“Balance of Life” is probably the most experimental song on the album for the use of clean and hard vocals. Featuring some of the lowest vocals from Stephney and more clean vocals than any other song on the album. The chorus is almost a conversation back and forth, clean to harsh. The verses feature Stephney's low sections and if nothing else, “Balance of Life” has the best guitar solo on the album, leading right into the end of the song. The middle of the album was definitely a good spot for this, if it doesn't jive well, then at least there's still the second half the album. The album closes out with easily the most Thrash song on the album, “Line 'Em Up”. If you need a song dedicated to the party lifestyle, this is it, entirely based on getting blackout drunk and for us metalheads, thrashing and enjoying the party. The song is focused entirely around Stephney's low vocals, so for those who prefer absolutely zero cleans, this is the song. It's not over the top in any way, the instrumentals shred and there's some killer solos, but at the end of the day it's just a party hard Municipal Waste style Thrash song that would work perfectly as an opener or closer to any set.

At the end of the day, Sludgehammer took everything they knew from their debut release, evolved on it and tried some new formulas. Antechamber holds up perfectly beginning to end, this is an album that literally meets the definition of “all killer, no filler”. For those looking for something heavy, something to bang their heads to, this is it.

Live Review: Unbowed, Decatur, Stolos and Cerbearus at The Boathouse

The Boathouse is nothing show of the Metal hub of Kitchener, Ontario. You would be hardpressed to find a weekend, especially during the winter, that long haired men and women converge on this location to catch some of the best local acts. February 8th was simply jsut another night of this, featuring some of the more frostbitten bands around the area and a couple new bands to the area.

Kicking off the night around 9:30pm, was the debut show from Cerbearus a brand new band who it's kind of hard to place a finger on genre wise. They took on an almost death-thrash style for a good part of the show, along with a more hardcore style. the hardcore side of them was much more prevelent in their original track "Fucked By A Bear", which impressivly got the entire crowd chanting along with the title of the song. Also, in the two covers that Cerbearus did, "Hail Destroyer" originally by Toronto hardcore legends, Cancer Bats and "As Diehard As They Come" by Hatebreed. The latter of which was preformed with "Little Dick" Mike from the local band ULT. The band finished with "Carnivora", featuring Brett MacIntosh of Aepoch doing guest vocals, this was where the band really hit their stride, unfortunately it was the end of the set that they really nailed it, but it definitely left people wanting more. All in all, This wasnt exactly what I expected from a show focused around black metal, but it was enjoyable nonetheless and these guys definitely have a place in the scene.

Next up, making a stop on their Decatour, is Decatur. Decatur brought an old school style of thrash to The Boathouse and showed Kitchener how to rock. Even though it was getting late, these guys would not let up. Playing essentially half of their album Badder Than Brooklyn, I think these guys made a splash. They were wild from beginning to end, especially their bassist. There was no holding them back and they toom full advantage of what little space they ahd on stage. "Internal War" was easily the most aggressive song they had in the set and really set the tone and reason as to why people should not take beer in the pit, because man did it soak the place. This may have been a new band to a lot of people, but the crowd seemed to really get into it from beginning to end, Decatur will definitely be asked to return after a show like this.

New black metaller's Stolos took the stage next. These guys are taking hints and theatrics from the likes of Mayhem and King Diamond and making it work on a small stage. Their stage show kicked off with the band walking out filly robed and laying a sacrifice down on a table, then stabbing her repeatedly. Once he band took their place on stage the show kicked off. Their frontman takes his place behind a podium brandished with the Stolos logo, with his goons all around him. These guys may be rather new to the scene, only having played a handful of shows, but they perform like professionals. Their set mostly consists of orignal tracks, taking their songwriting very seriously, Stolos take on the frostbitten tones of the early black metal bands, like Immortal and Darkthrone. Towards the end of their set, Stolos do a cover of "Deathcrush" from Mayhem, and do it very well. The instrumentals are spot on and luckily, you dont have to hear Maniac's ear piercing screaming vocals. Stolos take hold of the black metal roots and make it their own. Always an enjoyable show.

Last up was our headline band, Guelph's own Unbowed. It's no secret that I have been following these guys for years, considering their last EP Dogma was covered and highly praised when it came out (read that here). This is a band thats developed and chaged a lot over the years, changing gear from a black-death metal band and adding all sorts of influences from symphonic to hardcore. Unbowed focused mostly on their newer songs from their latest album Through Endless Tides, actually opting to not play anything from their first EP or album and only one track from Dogma. The songs on Through Endless Tides hold up well live though, showing the experience and the full scope of Unbowed's influences. Their set kicked off with a new song, a song we should see released on their new release which is most likely coming this year. The song itself was tame, it's a good way to start of their set showing the power this band has without over doing it. It may be breaking midnight, but there was no sign of slowing down. The enxt three songs were all off the latest album, but "Mountaincarver" stands out for it's harmonies and the major shifts in tone in the song. "Mountaincarver" changes from black metal to symphonic metal to so many other thigns, but it never loses its momentum in these shifts. The band showed off another new song, "Anthem Of I" before breaking into the only song of Dogma, "Besieged". "Besieged" is a song that should never leave Unbowed's live rotation, the song itself is everything the band embodies from beginning to end. Unbowed kill it once again and this time on their first show in Kitchener. This is a band that should not be missed live if you have the chance as their ever evolving sound will always keep fans old and new interested.



Backstabber "Conspiracy Theorist" Review

For fans of aliens and death metal, a new band is making its way onto the scene. Backstabber, a new band out of Quebec, look to show off their style of death metal with new album Conspiracy Theorist. While this may be the debut full length release from Backstabber, the band has definitely already made waves having shared the stage with the likes of Cattle Decapitation, Depths of Hatred, and First Fragment. It makes sense that Backstabber shared the stage with Depths of Hatred, seeing as guitarist and vocalist Christian Mongrain-Thériault was with the band between 2012 and 2013.

Conspiracy Theorist kicks off with a, sort of, instrumental track. “Inaugural Address” features fairly basic and a very slow tempo instrumental part with John F. Kennedy's infamous secret society or conspiracy speech. What is a more perfect way to kick off an album about conspiracies than the original speech on them. This leads straight into the first actual track on the album, “Whistle Blower”. “Whistle Blower” is a straight to the gut death metal track, without too much to note really. It's a great way to start the album, it gives an idea of how hard Backstabber hit. It does exactly what an opening track should, grabs the listener's attention and lets them know what's going on without giving away all the tricks. “No Privacy”, a song that Backstabber has up for free download (right here) for anyone interested, is a little bit of a step up. “No Privacy” builds off what “Whistle Blower” started with straight up death metal, throwing in some heavy bridges and a guitar solo that's impressive but not over the top.

Backstabber also released a music video leading up to the release of Conspiracy Theorist for the track “Subterranean”. The video features the band in a room playing the song, nothing too special, but it is very, very well filmed. The song itself is very heavy, starting off with a soft guitar part and harsh vocals over top, it very quickly develops into something more intense. Watching the song played through in the video is easily the best way to enjoy this track, it's a song that alternates between fast blastbeat centered musicianship and a heavy breakdown topped with a guitar solo. This is the kind of song you want to hear when a band relates themselves back to some of best in the business, like Hypocrisy and Kataklysm.

It may be early in the year, but this is easily one of the best death metal releases of the year. Backstabber show off that bands can have that Hypocrisy style, without blatantly ripping off the band. The songs are incredibly well written, alongside the inclusion of different speeches and other famous public speaking that's mixed in before, after and even in the middle of some of the songs. The mixing is great and if you're a death metal fan of any caliber, this is an album that should definitely be included in your collection.

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Concert Review: Farewell Frank - Death Chopping North America featuring Suffocation, Cattle Decapitation, Krisiun and Visceral Disgorge

          Visceral Disgorge kicked off the night at Lee's Palace. Visceral Disgorge were kind of a last minute addition and a damn good addition at that after Soreption we unable to get visas as per the usual with touring the states. Unfortunately, due to our interview with Cattle Decapitation's vocalist Travis Ryan, we missed the first half of their set. What we did catch though, man did these guys bring the slam. It makes sense these guys kicked off the show, Visceral Disgorge are an absolutely killer brutal death metal band. Although there wasn't much room to move around on stage, the band made the most of what they had. Four big dudes plus a drummer pumping out slamming death metal, it wasn't all that surprising when the floor opened at the end of the bands set for a pit. These guys warmed the crowd up real well, if you're hitting up the tour, definitely make sure you show up early for these guys.

          Next up is the Brazilian death metal masters, Krisiun. Krisiun are a band we've actually covered before, when they came through a few years back. This time, Krisiun are coming through supporting their new album Scourge of the Enthroned which was released only in September 2018. For fans who have yet to see Krisiun or anyone who is new to them, this is probably the perfect set to catch from them, although it is a bit shorter. Krisiun play a good mix from the entirety of their nearly thirty year career. Although Krisiun have at this point released eleven full lengths, their six song set has songs from all different albums. "Ominous" and "Combustion Inferno" take on a much stronger, old school style. The title track from the new album "Scourge of the Enthroned" was even stronger live than it is studio and for the real fans, "Vengeance's Revelation" from the bands second album Apocalyptic Revelation comers right near the end of the set. It seemed like a lot of people in the audience were unfamiliar with Krisiun prior to this outing, but we heard nothing but good things from the crowd between sets.

Edit this setlist | More Krisiun setlists

          Next up was the key reason this tour sold me, Cattle Decapitation are back in town. Although they don't have a new album yet, they're always a blast live. Playing songs solely from their previous two records Monolith of Inhumanity and The Anthropocene Extinction the band blasted right into it from the get go with "The Carbon Stampede". Fans of Cattle Decapitation, who have seen the band in the past couple years, will be very familiar with the bands set on this run, which is my only real complaint. We have seen Cattle Decapitation three times since the release of the band's 2015 album The Anthropocene Extinction. The set all three times has consisted of almost entirely the same songs. The set is killer and if this is your first time seeing the band, you're going see the best of the best. Cattle Decapitation are incredibly strong live and they've all but mastered these songs. Especially with the new monster of a lineup the band has including the addition of Olivier Pinard (Cryptopsy) on bass and Belisario Dimuzio on guitar. If you're a fan of blistering speed and want to be in the pit showing what you've got, you're going be a fan of "Forced Gender Reassignment", "The Prophets of Loss" and "The Carbon Stampede". If you prefer slower, heavier death metal and just want to bang your head, "Manufactured Extinct", "Clandestine Ways (Krokodil Rot)" and "Kingdom of Tyrants" are going be right up your alley. At the end of the day, Cattle Decapitation always put on a wicked show and whether you've seen them before or not, it's definitely worth catching this tour. Only real complaint about the set is simply the fact that there's no older songs from The Harvest Floor or earlier.

Edit this setlist | More Cattle Decapitation setlists

          Now for the main event. Capping off the Farewell to Frank tour, is the man himself. Suffocation hit the stage fast and hard. Whether or not you've seen Suffocation before, this is the epitome of the perfect Suffocation set. This is the band's final outing with Frank Mullin fronting Suffocation and whether or not they continue past that appears to be up in the air. Suffocation play a little bit of everything from every album except two, ironically enough that's the self titled and the newest album ...Of The Dark Light. The set will be adored by the original fans, people who have been following along with Suffocation from the beginning. Souls To Deny and earlier makes up for almost the entirety of the set. As this was our first time catching Suffocation we were unsure of what to expect, but the show was spectacular. The personality on stage was incredible, Frank was nothing but personal and friendly. For a death metal show, it's kind of unexpected to hear a band talk so much between songs, but Frank was an honest person. While the band tuned and reset, Frank talked about his life with the band, what his plans were after this tour and his love for everything. It was a very human show, it brought you back to earth that these are real people who live real lives and it made it far more special. This may be the last time Toronto ever gets to see Suffocation and it was easily the best example of who these guys are. When the band came back out on stage for their encore, "Souls to Deny" and "Infecting the Crypts", the audience knew this was their last chance. The pit opened to its largest of the night, everyone needed to get in there and show one last hoorah to Frank and Suffocation. The band closed the show with big smiles and one last speech from Frank before saying good-bye.

Edit this setlist | More Suffocation setlists

Review/Unboxing: The Metalhead Box - June

THE APPAREL

 

This months The Metalhead Box featured a bit more wear than just a shirt. We are heading into the summer months and especially here in Ontario, that means HOT, HOT, HOT! Needless to say, it was nice to see a trucker cap right on top of the box. Playing off the Death logo, the hat simply says "METAL". Get it, Death Metal? Anyways, its a nice hat and perfect for keeping this crazy hot sun off your face. To go along with it, this month's box featured a shirt from the Technical Death Metal band Whore of Bethlehem which features some killer art of a demon holding a sword on essentially a throne of skulls. Killer art and killer shirt.

THE ALBUMS

It's not very common I get handed an album and have never heard of the band at this point. Years of writing down the line, you tend to discover a lot of underground bands. That being said, this month I was handed three new CDs from three different bands I had never heard of. From left-to-right we have; Mortuorial Eclipse Urushdaur, which is this Symphonic Black Metal bands brand new 2018 release, something I'm very excited to dive into. Next is Infernal Legion Your Prayers Mean Nothing, this month I went for a bit more of a Death Metal theme, I've been slacking in new Death Metal so this 2005 release is exciting to me. Lastly is another Death Metal release, this time it's Bloodsoaked and their last EP Religious Apocalypse which dropped in 2014. Stoked for a good mix of some new music, all these albums look like they'll be good listens.

THE EXTRAS

To go along with the hat and keeping cool outdoors, the box also came with a Pestilence Koozie featuring the artwork from Consuming Impulse. Gotta keep that beer, or other canned item you are enjoying, at the right temperature, right? The other "extra" is a nice signature as The Metalhead Box  is known for. This month's feature is John McEntee, guitarist for the legendary Death Metal band Incantation which is definitely a cool signature for any Metla fans collection.

Cruelty Exalted "Cruelty Exalted" Review

          “Cruelty Exalted”, the new EP from the band of the same name, is a fantasy themed Technical Death Metal band who, while they stick true to this style, implements some of the best traits other subgenres have to offer, like the harmony Melodic Death Metal has or the speed and intensity of Black Metal. Featuring Alec Cordero on guitars, Todd Farnham on Bass and Yuri Kondra on vocals.

          Instantly, with the first track “Dethroning the Righteous” it becomes obvious the skill this band has as musicians, until about the midway mark, the song is pretty tame really only featuring a very melodic sort of sound, once the song speeds up and jumps into the faster bit though, it's not hard to hear the Technical part of this band. In the last minute, we get to hear everything in overdrive, speeding up even further and surprisingly in this part instead of trying to break into “the craziest solo you'll ever hear” it actually puts a lot more focus on the bass playing to push it along.

          “Callum Incendebat” pulls a lot more influence from Black Metal, taking a much more Melodic and harmony inspired approach to the entire song. Imagine the intensity of Darkthrone infused with the melody of Carcass or early In Flames. The song also taps James Benson (Amiensus) to help push along that Black Metal feel.

          All-in-all, this is a very solid first release from Cruelty Exalted, full of charm and intensity. With the amount of different styles prevalent throughout this EP, it's hard to not find something you could get behind. The only thing I think that can push this band along is a full time drummer, although it is hard to tell that the drums are programmed, some of the sections do seem a little inhuman.

Quantum Hierarchy "Neutron Breed" Review

          If you're into space and Death Metal than let me welcome you to Quantum Hierarchy. This is a Technical Death Metal band with the speed and destruction of a meteor and lyrics to match. Right off the get go, you'll hop into a short intro track and right into the title track, "Neutron Breed", luckily the lyrics are relatively easy to follow, describing the vast emptiness of space. The first track is blisteringly fast, full of hooks and intense musicianship, but does fall short in one section. While the lyrics are easy to follow, the vocals are mixed in slightly too low, as such the rest of the instrumentals are generally overpowering the vocals making them hard to make out without reading the lyrics.

          While I may have a mild gripe with Quantum Hierarchy's low vocal mix, there is a spot where they excel past the vast majority of bands and that's transitioning from song to song. Where a lot of bands want to be as heavy and intense as possible that's generally lost between the end of one song and start of another, while Quantum Hierarchy manage to maintain their intensity throughout all of "Neutron Breed" with perfectly implemented transitions. The EP, while only 3 actual songs (not including the minute intro) and 12 minutes actually sounds like one full song with the way each song transitions into the next, you won't even realise you've listened to the whole thing until it's done.

          Quantum Hierarchy's "Neutron Breed" is an exceptional level of Technical Death Metal, the instrumentals are intense, the guitar solos are, while few, technical and awe inspiring and the lyrics are distance but relative. If you're a fan of bands like Artificial Brain and Beyond Creation and need some SciFi based Death Metal, look no further.

Live Report: Invicta and Raider Release Show with Rippr'd and Woofout

          A sold out show at the Boathouse on Saturday night, led by the release for the new Raider and Invicta albums. The night kicked off with the only out of town band, Woofout, this was my first interaction with the band, never heard them prior to this show. The played pretty solid Rock and Roll, much in the vein of Motorhead, and it seems like the crowd was into it. Woofout rocked a handful of songs, with some good crowd interaction, but pretty quickly the show was over and we were into the next band.

          Rippr'd kicked off the hometown metal vibe with their oldschool Thrash Metal vibes.

"Too Trashed To Thrash" is essentially the Metal anthem of Kitchener at this point. It seems like it's a must know song to be officially part of the scene, I'm saying this as someone who was an outsider only two years ago. Rippr'd rock that Thrash crossover sort of tone much along the lines of Municipal Waste or S.O.D. and they take full advantage of it, they're also very self aware as a band with songs like "Ripp", "We're Rippr'd" and "Tales from the Ripp'd" it wouldn't surprise me much if they ended up as well known for their catchphrases, as much as their music.

Rippr'd Setlist:

1. Too Trashed To Thrash

2. Banned For Life

3. Hot Sluts With Tits

4. Ripp

5. Tales From the Ripp'd

6. We're Rippr'd

         Raider followed up the hometown heroes, but considering it was their release show the crowd was beyond anxious for this to start. Even though the recently released "Urge to Kill" is only 3 songs, Raider managed to fill out a full 45 minute set playing the entire EP, including taking a fan from the crowd hostage during "Phlebotomized". If the crowd wasn't rowdy enough already, when the band broke into their cover of Pantera's "Fucking Hostile" the venue became, for lack of a better term, fucking hostile. With ~120 cap, the bar was packed so when the pit opened, everyone knew it. People were being carried around (since there wasn't much area to crowdsurf), the first front row was nothing but a flurry of hair and the back was people on their toes trying to see the mayhem. It's hard to think of something that could top this, but apparently covering the infamous Amon Amarth song "Twilight of the Thunder God" will do it. Although this was a release show for Raider, they showed off what the future held, filling out the rest of the setlist with a couple new songs "Sky Burial" and "Ravenous Hydra", but with the close of Raider's set, it was time for our second release set of the night.

Raider's Setlist:
1. Nebulous
2. Phlebotomized
3. Ravenous Hydra
4. Fucking Hostile (Pantera Cover)

5. Sky Burial

6. Twilight of the Thunder God (Amon Amarth Cover)

7. Urge to Kill

          Just like Raider before them, Invicta were playing a release show for their recently released EP "The Executioner". Also along the same lines, the album is 4 tracks (5 with the intro) and doesn't quite fill out a 45 minute setlist. Majority of the EP was pumped out right away and the best thing about Melodic Death Metal is the pits, the pits are always a good idea and everyone in the venue knew it. If Raider didn't cause enough damage, Invicta took it a set up by showing off their level of influence even causing a more intense wall of death in a ~120 capacity venue where its about 15 strides wall to wall than I've seen in 900-1000 cap venues like the Mod Club and Opera House in Toronto. Invicta broke into a cover of "Sixpounder" by Children of Bodom, a generally underappreciated, yet still well known song and that pretty much set everyone off, the hair was flying and no where was safe. Luckily this is Metal and we don't need a safe space. Invicta showed off what would be coming in the future with "Halls of Execution" and "Infinite Aggression" and much like Raider, I wouldn't be too surprised to see the next release relatively soon. With everyone tired out though, Invicta called it a night.

Invicta's Setlist:

1. Hamartia

2. Prehistoric Suffocation
3. Forbidden Scriptures

4. Promise Land

5. Sixpounder (Children of Bodom Cover)

6. Halls of Execution

7. The Executioner

8. Infinite Aggression