Tag Archives: Ontario

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!)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

 
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 ‘em While They’re Hot: Grab a Song from Vesperia’s New Demo for Free!

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STOP! You should totally check out THIS POST instead. Vesperia‘s entire The Swordsman demo is now available to download for free; the full details are included there.

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The “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week: Patron Saint of Plagues

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Hello there, readers!  Hope your day is going well — or at least, as well as a Monday can be expected. Even though I’m at work, I’m not in a terrible mood, which is pretty unusual for me. Maybe because I feel like I actually got some stuff accomplished over the weekend. More likely, I’m just (still) not awake enough to really feel anything yet. Well anyway, I don’t know about you, but I need some music while I work. Today (just like I do every Monday) I’m heading over to the “Sign Me to Roadrunner Records” website to look for something good, and then I’ll share whatever I find with you!

A short while ago, I got a message from a Canadian band called Patron Saint of Plagues, who describe themselves as “a twisted concoction of ominous tones and eerie melodies melded into dark story-tale like songwriting that touches on the very essence of the darkside of humanity and the terrifying thoughts that plague the mind of a psychopath.”

That, coupled with the photos of the quartet (guitarist Dead Boy, bassist Robbie Graves, drummer Bonez, and founder/frontman/vocalist/songwriter/guitarist Opi Saint) looking like a cross between The Spooky Kids and The Misfits on Halloween, definitely let me know that we’re in for a fun ride today.

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Just Released: Nephelium Offering First Single from Upcoming Album for Free Download

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Brutal death metal band Nephelium formed more than ten years ago in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Although they have long since relocated to Canada, they never left their roots far behind, as is apparent from the music they create, which blends technical death metal with exotic Middle Eastern melodies and flavors. Their debut LP Coils of Entropy is scheduled to be self-released in just over a week (7 February 2012), but as an appetizer they have served up samples of all the songs, including one full song you can download for free!

 

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