365 Days of Metal: Falling from the West

Day 51

Fall In Archaea - Gatherings (EP)

Artist Origin: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Genre: Progressive / Technical / Hardcore
Label: Unsigned
Running Time: 23 minutes
Release Date: January 25, 2011

Best Part: I'll take everything you have and bury it - with the dead!

Favorite Tracks: Machines, Gatherings, The Messenger, and High Tides

Grade: 4.5

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Gatherings in 20 words or less:

A great first impression from a west cost Canadian band looking to crush their way onto the tech metal scene.

The Band:

Fall In Archaea is a five piece metal outfit playing out of Victoria BC that focuses on technically proficient instrumentation, progressive riffs and heavy grooves, all wrapped up in a metalcore envelope. The band is currently unsigned but has been touring consistently over the past year with a number of fellow Canadian groups such as Blind Witness, as well as supporting North American tours by groups including The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza and A Plea For Purging.

Jay's Take on Gatherings:

Gatherings is a short introduction to what Fall In Archaea has to offer. Clocking in at just under 25 minutes long, the six track EP covers all of the aspects that make them a band to keep an eye on. The technical and heavy guitar work is prominent across each track, stretching across the boundaries of dissonant grinds to earth shaking drops, melodious solos, and pummeling grooves. Alex Lidstone's vocals are on point, and his screams are crisp and clear, fitting perfectly with the instrumentation of the EP, with some particularly tasty, gut wrenching lows at key points in Gatherings six track offering. The band also offers a great live performance, having seen them locally while on tour in the past year, looking forward to more in the years to come from these guys.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: A Curse Upon You

Day 34

Ion Dissonance - Cursed

Band Origin: Montreal, Quebec, USA
Genre: Mathcore / Deathcore
Label: Century Media
Running Time: 42 minutes
Release Date: August 24, 2010

Best Part: The Bonus track Pallor is an interesting shift in pace.

Favorite Tracks: This is the Last Time I Repeat Myself, Can Someone Please Explain This to Me, You People Are Messed Up, and We Like to Call This One... Fuck Off

Grade: 3.5

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Cursed in 20 words or less:

A return after a three year hiatus featuring copious amounts of intensity, brutality and dissonance - of course.

The Band:

Ion Dissonance is a five member band out of Montreal who blend together the insanity, technicality and speed of mathcore with the down low brutality of deathcore, creating a real musical meat grinder. After changing vocalists in 2006 the band released their third record, Minus The Herd which had a much more brutal deathcore focus over the anarchy and intensity of their sophomore album Solace, regarded as being their best album. After Minus the Herd Ion Dissonance went on hiatus until 2010 when they released Cursed, in a true return to their original form, but also incorporating some new technical elements, as well as some 8-string guitar work to the mix.

Ion Dissonance's other releases include: Breathing Is Irrelevant (2003), Solace (2005), and Minus the Herd (2007)

Jay's Take on Cursed:

Cursed was released by Ion Dissonance following a three year hiatus where the band looked to focus on other things than music, including work and family. This time away from touring and music also helped the band re-tune their musical focus after releasing Minus the Herd, which was not a bad record at all, but went in a heavier direction that was more akin to direct deathcore than anything else. Cursed returns Ion Dissonance back to the form they displayed with the release of Solace: A frenetic, mentally unbalanced mix of mathcore and deathcore that stays technical, unpredictable and brutal all at the same time. The addition of 8-string guitars adds to the low end, and the heaviness of the sound, noticeable on tracks such as This is The Last Time I Repeat Myself, it adds a nice groove, and a crisper feel to their intense sound without over-saturating the overall product.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: Sleep Now, In Agony

Day 15


The Agonist - Lullabies For The Dormant Mind

Band Origin: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Century Media
Running Time: 44 minutes
Release Date: March 10, 2009

Best Part: Tchaikovsky, A Capella - 'nuff said.

Favorite Tracks: The Tempest (The Siren's Song; The Banshee's Cry), Globus Hystericus, and Chlorpromazine

Grade: 4.0

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Lullabies For The Dormant Mind in 20 words or less:

A little vocal vitriol laced with southern groove that will surely make your parents disapprove. (Rhyme was unintentional)

The Band:

Alissa White-Gluz (Vocals)

The Agonist are a quintet playing out of Canada's Metal Capital, Montreal. Known for their use of a wide range of melodies in constant motion, The Agonist features technical guitar work by Danny Marino that is constantly scaling the octaves. This fused with the harsh metal growls and eloquent clean vocals of the beautiful and talented Alissa White-Gluz, The Agonist have a sound that can be described as equally melodic and harmonius, as it is fast and aggressive. Slated to release their third full length some time in 2012, they have also just released a two track EP entitled The Escape on September 3rd.

The Agonist's other release was their debut LP Once Only Imagined (2007).

Jay's Take on Lullabies For The Dormant Mind:

Lullabies For The Dormant Mind showcases the technical improvement of the Agonist in almost all of the bands aspects. The guitar work of Marino and Pascal Jobin displays both technical skill and the ability to intertwine intricately laid out melodies together with fast paced and even brutal sections. Alissa White-Gluz's vocals, which are in top form as she provides excellent range with her clean vocals, as well as harsh screams and growls that fit well in all the right places. Add these two elements to some truly fantastic percussion work and you have a great sophomore outing from another talent Canadian ensemble.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: Breakdowns for the Blind

Day 9

Blind Witness - Nightmare On Providence Street

Band Origin: Grandby, Quebec, Canada
Genre: Metalcore / Deathcore
Label: Mediaskare Records
Running Time: 40 minutes
Release Date: March 9, 2010

Best Part: TABARNAK!

Favorite Tracks: Baby One More Notch, Nightmare on Providence Street, and All Alone - (The New Year is also a great closing track)

Grade: 3.5

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Nightmare on Providence Street in 20 words or less:

An album dedicated to partying, getting wasted, and getting some, featuring catchy riffs, melodic solos and wall to wall breakdowns.

The Band:

Blind Witness is a five member outfit now hailing from Montreal who live their lives according to the creed of playing the heaviest music they can, and touring night after night to bring the pain down on anyone in their path. Having gone through a number of lineup changes throughout their history, Blind Witness still manages to perform on a solid and consistent basis - and their live performances are always energetic and straight in your face. The band is now working on their third full-length record, while continuing their seemingly non-stop touring.

Blind Witness' debut record was: Silences Are Words (2008)

Jay's Take on Nightmare On Providence Street:

Almost nothing was left off the list of improvements made by Blind Witness on this record. Jonathan Cabana's vocals are much improved over his performance on Silences Are Words, providing a wide range of growls and screams that fit the energy and pace of each individual track - and gone are the clean sections of their previous record (except at the very end of the final track). The guitar work features catchy riffs, but also has more melodic sections and timely solos. Drumming was always a solid point of Blind Witness' previous work, and continues to be with this record - and lends itself even better in a live performance. Lastly, it's funny to say that what would set one metalcore band apart from another would be the breakdowns, but for Blind Witness this is a resounding truth. They're present in every song, sometimes multiple times, but they're always there, kicking in the back of your skull - fucking brains out.

Sample of the Day:



- J

365 Days of Metal: The Tide Has Come In

Day 3

Beneath the Massacre - Marée Noire (EP)

Band Origin: Montreal, QC, Canada
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: Prosthetic Records
Running Time: 13 minutes
Release Date: September 14, 2010

Best Part: Black Tide 1:43-2:00. Sweeeeeeeeeeeeps.

Favorite Tracks: Designed to Strangle, and Anomic

Grade: 3.5

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Marée Noire in 20 words or less:

Take two cups of brutality, two teaspoons of technical wizardry, add a pinch of frenetic pace and let simmer for 13 minutes.

The Band:

Beneath the Massacre is a four member group hailing from the North American Mecca of Technical Death Metal, Montreal. Known for their equal measure of brutality, speed and technicality, BTM frontman Elliot Desgagnés has indicated in a number of interviews that the band has been working since the release of their debut EP to find that perfect sound. All the while the band has managed to add their name to a long list of French Canadian talent.

Beneath the Massacre's previous releases include: Evidence of Inequity (2005), Mechanics of Dysfunction (2007) and Dystopia (2008)

Jay's Take on Marée Noire:

Desgagnés described Marée Noire as being a selection of five of the best songs Beneath the Massacre has ever written. Clocking in at only 13 minutes long, and featuring five tracks, Marée Noire is a short but intense listening experience. People familiar with BTM's previous releases will recognize that their sound has not gone through a massive amount of change. Their songs are still fast, technical and brutal. Desgagnés vocals are particularly more brutal on this release however, which alters the tone of the EP, but not in a bad way at all.  

Marée Noire was meant to be a short release while the band kept writing for their third full-length record slated for 2012. If the new record continues in the footsteps set out by this EP, it's bound to be BTM's best release to date.

Sample of the Day:



- J