Tag Archives: Canada

Vesperia Now Have A New Guitarist; New Album On The Way Soon!

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Good afternoon, readers! I hope your day is going well. In my opinion, this Monday doesn’t seem to be coming to an end nearly quickly enough! All I’ve wanted to do all day is go back home and get back in bed. Oh well, only a couple more hours before I’m able to do that.

In the meantime, I’d like to share some news with you. It’s been a few months since we mentioned Vesperia — the Canadian black/folk/pagan metal band who used to be called Bolero — and as you might have guessed, they’ve been as busy as ever during that time!

Following the release of their first demo EP under their new band name, the re-release of their 2011 full-length album, and the announcement that they were searching for a new guitarist, it turns out that they now have filled that missing spot in their line-up, and have been spending this winter working on more new material!

 
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Vesperia – Voyage from Vinland (FREE DOWNLOAD, LIMITED TIME ONLY!!)

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Vesperia – Voyage from Vinland (self-released, 08 January 2011)

 
Ladies and gentlemen and whoever else might be out there reading this:

This coming Saturday — the 20th of October — blackened folk/pagan metal band Vesperia are headlining a show in the band’s hometown of Oshawa, Ontario (city motto = “Prepare to be amazed.” I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.) Also appearing will be Battlesoul, Will of the Ancients, and Unbowed, and for more details on the event you can check out this page.

Anyway, in celebration of this occasion, Vesperia wanted to do something special for their fans. Giving away downloads of their new demo EP from earlier this year (The Swordsman) wouldn’t work though, because they’ve already done that (see here for a full write-up about that release) — so instead they’ve decided to give away their previous album for free!

Voyage from Vinland was actually the first (and only) full-length album released by Bolero (in January of last year), prior to that band changing its name to Vesperia. But the whole thing — all eleven tracks, forty-five minutes of it — has been re-released digitally under their new name on their Bandcamp page, and for this week ONLY you can download all of it absolutely FREE! This is only supposed to last until Saturday’s show, though, so ACT FAST!!

 

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Vesperia Searching for a New Guitarist (Plus, a Preview of their Upcoming Live DVD!)

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Canadian Celtic/Viking metal band Vesperia are definitely not strangers to change. In fact, as you may recall, it was just a few months ago that they announced they had undergone a metamorphosis and rebirth with a brand-new name (they had formerly been known as Bolero).

Well, the winds of change just keep on blowing, it appears, because the band is now announcing that they are looking to replace a guitarist.

 
In the words of bassist/lead vocalist Morgan Rider,

Hey guys,

It really sucks to have to be typing this and we never thought in a million years we would be doing so… Change has been a defining word for Vesperia in 2012 and so far we have held our heads high and kept our sights in the clouds with all these testing changes and new commitments we have been taking on each week that would have normally seen a band dissolve. Aspiring for the greater purpose with our music and selves has always been our focus.

Our comrade, lead guitarist and brother-in-arms, Tim, has recently felt that in his and the band’s best interest he must hang his hat on guitar duties for Vesperia. There is no tension or bad blood between any of us and him business-wise or personal whatsoever and we will carry on feeling the mutual respect and brotherhood we’ve always had for each other.
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Biipiigwan – Nibaak EP

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Biipiigwan – Nibaak EP (Handshake Inc., 27 February 2012)

 
Man, what a horrendously ugly day this has been. As I begin writing this review, I’ve been at work for over seven hours already, and my feet are STILL cold and damp from traipsing through the streets of downtown Pittsburgh during a deluge of Noachian proportions, after getting off the bus this morning.

If they ever published a list of ways to make being at work less miserable, I can guarantee “walk around with wet socks all day” will not be anywhere on that list.

Nevertheless, regular readers of this blog have probably figured out by now — an ugly day calls for some ugly music! (Very observant regular readers may also have noticed that ANY day can benefit from some ugliness, regardless of the weather!)

So to help me along today, I’ve turned to some new friends, whom I discovered two weeks ago when they came to play a show here from their native Ontario. The band is called Biipiigwan (don’t worry, it’s easier to pronounce than it is to spell — and in fact it isn’t really that hard to spell either — drummer Steve Vargas informed me that the double “i” sounds like an “e”, so just say “BEE PEEG wahn“), and their newest release is an EP called Nibaak (again, the “i” sounds like an “e”, so that’s “NEE bawk“).

Now that we got all that out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the actual music. I’ve already mentioned that it’s ugly, but that isn’t nearly descriptive enough — this is grimy, sludgey, filthy, and soul-wrenchingly painful stuff. Plus, you can listen to it for free or download it for any price you choose. Honestly, what more could you ask for?

 

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Get Yourself Some FREE Canadian Metal: Canuck Metal Vol. 2

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Heavy Metal Music Association of Canada – Canuck Metal Vol. 2 (01 July 2012, LoudTrax)

 
The H.M.M.A.C. recently announced the release of their second collection of Canadian metal music (actually, it was about two weeks ago — the official release was on Canada Day)!

If you missed out on the first volume from back in October, it’s no longer free, but you can still grab a copy for really cheap right here from LoudTrax.

Spanning a variety of hard rock and heavy metal as wide as the Canadian countryside itself, Canuck Metal Vol.2 includes an hour’s worth of songs from a bunch of bands that might be familiar to you, and some that might not be but should be!
 
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Coming Soon: Titans Eve – Life Apocalypse (Free T-Shirt with Pre-Order!)

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Titans Eve – Life Apocalypse (13 July 2012, Self-Released)

 
Good morning, readers!

You may have noticed that I don’t normally publish album reviews before the official release dates. Part of the reason might be because I want to share things with you when they’re actually available for you to get your hands on them, because I know how short people’s attention spans can be sometimes — myself included! Sometimes when I read about something several months before it comes out, I might think to myself, “Oh that sounds great, I’ll have to check that out” and then I completely forget about it a few days later.

More than that, though, it’s mostly because I usually just don’t get around to it. I hear about loads of great music and I want to write about all of it, because I want to make sure the bands get the exposure they deserve, and I want to make sure YOU have every opportunity to hear about the new music you want. Besides that, I try to spend as much time as possible with something before I start writing — albums usually get numerous listens on several different days, so that I feel familiar enough with the material to be able to describe it adequately AND so that I can be sure I wasn’t hearing something wrong just because I was grumpy or preoccupied on a particular day.

Unfortunately, I don’t have an unlimited amount of time for writing, which means I’m perpetually running behind. I’ve still got a bunch of albums from 2011 I haven’t even listened to yet, not to mention how much stuff I haven’t had the chance to write about!

When I heard this album full of killer thrash music by Vancouver’s Titans Eve, I knew I would want to write about it and share it with you, but then when I found out that they have pre-order packages (either the digital or CD versions) where they are throwing in a FREE t-shirt, I decided I needed to bring this to your attention sooner rather than later! This Friday (the 13th of July) is the official release date, so hurry up and finish reading, then at the end of this post you’ll get the chance to hear the album for yourself, and I’ll give you all the links you need to take advantage of this special pre-order deal.

For my Canadian friends, I’ve also provided the dates for the band’s July/August tour of western Canada with Anvil, as well as a list of stops when they will be heading east across the rest of the country with Kill Devil Hill.

 

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Free Music Alert: Now You Can Download Vesperia’s Whole Demo for FREE

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Vesperia – The Swordsman Demo (Self-released, 01 May 2012)

 
Ladies and Gentlemen, if you’ve been paying attention to this blog over the past month, you’ve seen the name Vesperia a few times. That’s because this newly-renamed band has put together a brand-new demo to reintroduce themselves to the world, and each week throughout the month of May, they released a new track for free.

Well, now that they’ve all been made available, the whole four-track package can now be downloaded for free (or any price you choose), for your convenience. There’s also more stuff on the horizon for these guys — including a newly-added tour date and an upcoming live DVD!

So I’ve taken this opportunity to collect all the information I’ve previously shared about the band, combined it with the new stuff, and while I’m at it, I’ll say a few words about the music contained in the demo. Which, again, you can go download for free. Ready? Here we go…

 

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Free Music Alert: Grab a Free Track from Tribune’s Latest Release

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Hey there!  I’ve got good news for any fans of death metal or stoner metal, or especially, for those who like both genres equally!  British Columbians Tribune, whom I designated as ”stoner/death metal” in my review of their recent double-EP album, Elder Lore/The Dark Arts, have announced that you can download one of the songs from that release for FREE!  Even better, the song in question (“Man on the Outside”) is one of the catchiest and most memorable — and in this reviewer’s opinion, one of the best — from the album.
 
  
 
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The “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week (Memorial Day Hangover Edition): Amy Caudle

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Good morning, friends. A quick peek at the calendar reminds me that it’s Tuesday, which is the day that comes after Monday, so as you’ve obviously figured out by now, this post is getting published a day late.

For those who are keeping track, every Monday I visit the “Sign Me to Roadrunner Records” website to find some new music, either from randomly browsing artist pages, or based on suggestions I receive directly from people or bands who are looking for reviews. Then I come back here and describe what I found, so another artist can get a bit more publicity each week, the lovely and intelligent people who read this blog can discover new music to listen to, and everybody wins.

Well, this Monday (yesterday) was a little different, because in the United States, we have a national holiday every year near the end of May, which is called Memorial Day. One of our favorite things to do in this country is to get together with our families and friends, drink excessive amounts of alcohol, eat some meat which has been charred on a grill (as well as side dishes which often contain eggs or mayonnaise or other perishible ingredients and typically don’t hold up very well when the weather outside is hot), drink some more alcohol, sit around in the sweltering heat and humidity, drink even more, and then eventually get into huge fights with our families and friends.

This is pretty much how most of our holidays (between May and September) are celebrated. Now, we realize that some people in other countries don’t have the same freedoms to celebrate like drunken assholes that we Americans enjoy, so we don’t take this for granted! As a nation, we have a long military history, and there have been many wars fought — and sadly many people have lost their lives in the struggle to maintain our freedom and general standard of living. Hence, we have set aside a Monday each year called Memorial Day, where we memorialize and honor those brave individuals, by giving ourselves a three-day weekend and celebrating like drunken assholes.

Fun times, obviously, but between three whole days of parties and picnics, I sort of wore myself out – and by Monday evening I wasn’t really in a condition to do much writing. But I do have an obligation to you readers (particularly those who live in countries where you had to go to work yesterday!), and so I did make an effort to go and listen to something that I could share with you. And this morning, I will tell you about what I found.
 

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