w/ RAZOR, WHIPLASH, SKULL FIST, WARSENAL, DROWNING IN BLOOD
This coming May 12th, Montreal, QC will be host to this city’s first-ever Piranha Pit Fest presented by Loudtrax, the one-stop online shop for everything swag from the biggest names in Loud Music.
Piranha Pit Fest will feature headliners RAZOR, the Canadian thrash legends who have been recognized as one of the country’s pioneers of the metal genre. RAZOR released their ninth studio album Cycle of Contempt this past September, making it their first album in 25 years. RAZOR will also be supported by another legendary thrash band, New Jersey’s WHIPLASH, one of the first American East Coast thrash metal bands of the 1980s to inspire many who followed in their footsteps. Also joining the lineup is the 2023 Juno nominated (Metal/Hard Music Album Of The Year) and international tour de force, Toronto’s high-flying heavy metal shredders SKULL FIST along with local Montreal moshers Warsenal and Drowning In Blood.
Piranha Pit Fest will be held at Piranha Bar 680 Sainte-Catherine St W, one of the city’s metal strongholds for extreme music events.
Calgary’s The Electric Highway Festival has wrapped up for 2023 and it was a resounding success according to festival organizers. The event took place from March 23, 24, and 25, 2023 at Dickens, with 3 days of music from Canadian bands trekking from across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba along with American headliners, Los Angeles’ Sasquatch.
The 2024 edition of The Electric Highway will take place April 4, 5, and 6, 2024 once again at Dickens in Calgary. Band submissions for the event open on April 1 and run until June 30, 2023. Bands can fill out the form on the website.
Fans of The Electric Highway will also have the opportunity to buy very limited Ultra Early Bird Passes for the 2024 festival starting at noon MST on April 1, 2023. Only 20 passes for $60 each will be available in the Festival Store.
About: Buckle up for The Electric Highway Festival! The 2023 edition of the festival focused on Desert Rock and Metal, Doom, Sludge, and Heavy Psych and had expanded to include some punk and hardcore bands as well.
The festival featured Californian headliners Sasquatch, one of the festival’s past favorites, laying down their brand of fuzzy, kick-ass Desert Rock & Heavy Psych with direct support from Vancouver’s La Chinga who returned for their 4th appearance on Saturday night. Black Mastiff returned to headline Friday night with Calgary’s Gone Cosmic and HypnoPilot headlined the Thursday show with support from Citizen Rage. These are just a few of the wicked bands that played at The Electric Highway.
The Electric Highway is a fully immersive festival experience and offers much more than just music. The festival also featured an art & vendor exposition during all three days at Dickens, March 23 – 25, 2023.
Check www.TheElectricHighway.ca for more festival information. We look forward to bringing this festival to you, and can’t wait to see everyone in 2024!
The Electric Highway 2023 Official Nightly Lineups:
Thursday, March 23: HypnoPilot (Lethbridge, AB) – Daily Headliner Citizen Rage (Calgary, AB) Musing (Calgary, AB) No More Moments (Siksika, AB) Father Moon (Calgary, AB) Destroy My Brains (Lloydminster, AB).
Friday, March 24: Black Mastiff (Edmonton, AB/Vancouver, BC) – Daily Headliner Gone Cosmic (Calgary, AB) Set & Stoned (Crossfield, AB) Hombre (Calgary, AB) Empress (Vancouver, BC) Molten Lava (Vancouver, BC) Space Queen (Vancouver, BC) Owls & Eagles (Calgary, AB)
Saturday, March 25: Sasquatch (Los Angeles, CA) – Festival Headliner La Chinga (Vancouver, BC) Buffalo Bud Buster (Calgary, AB) Brown Dwarf (Red Deer, AB) The Astral Prophets (Calgary, AB) Iron Tusk (Siksika, AB) The Sleeping Legion (Winnipeg, MB) Tebby & the Heavy (Edmonton, AB) Garuda (Cranbrook, BC).
Camping & Extreme Music In Alberta’s Badlands – August 4th – 6th, 2023
Alberta, Canada’s LOUD AS HELL is ready to unveil its most stacked lineup to date with its 2023 edition featuring JUNGLE ROT, NARCOTIC WASTELAND, INCITE, NECRONOMICON, THE CONVALESCENCE, ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN and lots more (full lineup listed below).
Being held from August 4th to 6th at the Dinosaur Downs Stampede Grounds in Drumheller, AB, this year’s festivities see the return of American and Mexican bands joining the lineup along with artists from across Canada performing for the three-day open-air event.
Highlights for this year’s lineup witness the return of groovy death metal AmericansJUNGLE ROT to Canadian soil to headline the closing night on August 6th in support of their latest album “A Call to Arms” released last year on Unique Leader Records.
Toledo, OH’s THE CONVALESCENCE is one of the USA’s unstoppable tour de force, touring Europe in 2022 with Chelsea Grin, and Carnifex plus an upcoming tour in Japan in 2023 with Exhumed and Defiled along with their latest single “No Survivors” ft. Scott Ian Lewis of Carnifex that has fans demanding more and more.
North Carolina’s Narcotic Wasteland’s (founded by ex-Nile guitarist Dallas Toler-Wade) festival appearance comes as part of the band’s first cross-Canada tour as they will be supporting their forthcoming third studio album in 2023 on Mega Force Records.
Phoenix, AZ’s INCITE, now close to 20 years into a career where everything was earned and nothing was taken for granted, the band bridges the gap between multiple crowds across various metal sub-genres. As renegade disciples of trailblazing architects like Pantera, Slayer, Sepultura, and Machine Head, INCITE raise the torch for trend-killing and hipster-smashing metal. The band’s fifth album, Built to Destroy released in 2019 (Minus Head Records), is a visceral, urgent, voracious distillation of modern metal, with reverence for the past, produced by Steve Evetts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Suicide Silence) and mastered by Zeuss (Rob Zombie, Hatebreed).
One of Canada’s longest-running blackened death metal bands hailing from Montreal, Quebec, NECRONOMICON‘s career spans over 30 years since it was first formed in 1988 by founding guitarist and singer Rob “The Witch” in the deep, northern part of Quebec’s Fjord of Saguenay. Since then, the band has carefully released each full-length without haste, allowing them to perfect every nuance before unleashing their sonic assaults upon the masses.
Canadian metalcore titans, ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN, hailing from Grande Prairie, AB, are LOUD AS HELL alumni and return to co-headline opening night on August 4th in support of their new album “Kingdom Undone” being released on Nuclear Blast this coming May.
LOUD AS HELL 2023 LINEUP: Thursday, August 3rd – Kick Off Party EYE OF HORUS SKEPSIS BALROGATH KILL WITCH Friday, August 4th INCITE ARRIVAL OF AUTUMN OSYRON LOST NEBULA WHORRIFY SILENT LINE ASHES OF YGGDRASIL Saturday, August 5th NARCOTIC WASTELAND NECRONOMICON KYLE PULLAN UNTIMELY DEMISE HAZZARDOUS MATERIAL (Burlesque) GORGATRON JULIET RUIN VAPOR KING DYLAN ENVEILED SOL RUNNER SIONIS NECHT DIE ANOTHER DAY HOOKER SPIT Sunday, August 6th JUNGLE ROT THE CONVALESCENCE KYLE PULLAN POUND HAZZARDOUS MATERIAL (Burlesque) WORMWITCH W.O.R. LEGACY ROXXIE COTTON WITCHMAYNE EYES OF PERDITION NOMAD FALL OF EARTH VOLT BRAIN STEM
Canada’s premier melodic and power metal festival HYPERSPACE is proud to announce its full lineup for its 2023 edition being held on April 13-15 in Vancouver, BC at The Fox Cabaret and Rickshaw Theatre.
Joining the final lineup is Calgary’s speed demons Riot City, Atlanta power thrashers Paladin, power prog saviours Immortal Guardian, Denver fantasy heroes Celestial Wizard along with locals, epic metallers Atavistia, and one-man instrumentalist Zack Brannon.
EXMORTUS
The lineup also features previously announced headliners California melo-death warriors EXMORTUS, Edmonton Juno Award winners, and heavy metal champions STRIKER along with HMF alumni JUDICATOR and LORDS OF THE TRIDENT among many more for the three-night event. (festival day-by-day schedule listed below).
Unfortunately, Odinfist and Hrom have had to pull out of HMF4. There will be plans to welcome them again in future years.
Festival organizer Joey Hockin of Journeyman Productions adds:
“We’re excited to have our 2023 lineup complete. This fourth year of the fest is going to be another great gathering of metal’s best and upcoming power and prog-influenced bands. We look forward to seeing everyone making the trek to Vancouver this April.”
Saturday, April 15th (Rickshaw Theatre) Exmortus Judicator Lords Of The Trident Paladin Immortal Guardian Lutharo Hyperia
JUDICATOR
Over the three editions of Hyperspace Metal Festival, bands from all over the world have come to play power, prog, melodic death, and speed metal on the Canadian West Coast. The festival has presented lineups that have included performances by Into Eternity, Witherfall, Planeswalker, Iron Kingdom, Helion Prime, Ravenous, Crimson Shadows, West of Hell, Judicator, Odinfist, Tanagra, Scythia, Greyhawk, The Order of Chaos, Red Cain, and many more.
Lone Butte, BC, Canada will once again be shaken by the sounds of heavy metal on Canada Day weekend with the 2019 edition of Metalocalypstick Festival. Over the course of the weekend, 22 bands will take the stage, each featuring at least one woman in a show of feminine power across metal, punk and rock.
This year, bands from Canada, Tasmania, Mexico, Egypt and USA will gather for the one of a kind festival in the Canadian wilds. The non-profit organization is dedicated to giving back to the community and donating 100% of the proceeds to local charities including Girls Rock Camp and the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter. Each year an independent band is also sponsored by the festival to further their musical pursuits.
Spotify Playlist here – Festival Digital Sampler of 2019 Performing Bands – Metal Queens Vol. 3
Promo video (clips from 2017):
The lineup for 2019 includes:
Attack The Fire (Vancouver) Call Of The Siren (Edmonton) Chaos Century (Vancouver) Crimson Caliber (Medicine Hat) Fallen Stars (Vancouver) Forsaken Rite (Edmonton) Interitum (Launceston, Tasmania) Kayas (Vancouver) Kelevra (Regina) Kosm (Vancouver) Lost Nebula (Hermosillo, Mexico) Massive Scar Era (Vancouver/ Cairo, Egypt) Obsidian (Vancouver) Ophelia Falling (Vancouver) Orchestry (BC) Sins Of Sorrow (Edmonton) Siren’s Rain (Puget Sound, USA) Subterranea (Toronto) Sugar Wash (Edmonton) The Shit Talkers (Vancouver) Violent Betty (Saskatoon) The Vth Circle (Vancouver)
Featured in publications such as Metal Hammer and Billboard, Metalocalypstick Fest not only celebrates women in metal but also gives back to the community. Formed in 2016 as a non-profit organization, they are dedicated to raising funds and donating 100% of proceeds to local charities Girls Rock Camp, Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, and Earth Protectors plus they sponsor an independent band picked by Metalocalypstick Fest judges.
The festival was founded by Kaija Kinney of Vancouver’s Anarcheon after researching a lack of female based metal festivals to apply her band to, Kinney took matters into in her own and decided to produce the event.
“This festival means the celebration of both sexes coming together and creating something amazing. People like to say women in metal aren’t a big deal anymore and that we are all the same. I feel that is untrue, this is still a male dominated world and woman are still looked as lesser. I want to showcase all these bad ass ladies and celebrate the differences of men and woman rather than pretend we are all equal. Truth is we are different why can’t we celebrate that?” says Kinney.
Festival Location: Lone Butte Community Hall 5994 Hwy. 24 Lone Butte, BC
Absolute Underground Mag
Atonita Draws
Asher Media Relations
Broken Neck Radio
Exclaim!
Metal Devastation Radio
Metal Master Kingdom
Pabst Blue Ribbon
Prairie Fire Events
PureGrainAudio
Pure Rock Radio
Whitelf Films
L-R: Dave Pollock – Bass | Luke Barry – Rhythm/Lead Guitars | Karli Romyn – Vocals | Tyson Travnik – Drums | Diego Fermandez – Rhythm/Lead Guitars |Photo Credit – Dana Zuk
_____________________________
Thrash-Power-Speed Metal quartet Ironstorm are proud to announce they will be performing two CD launch shows for their forthcoming EP ‘Wrathwind’ set for release on April 22nd. They will be showcasing in Calgary, AB on Friday, April 25 at Lord Nelson’s with support from Bloodreich, Shrapnal, Samandriel and in their hometown of Edmonton, AB on Saturday, April 26 at The Starlite Room with support from Bleed, Mortillery, Gatekrashor. For further event details, please visit the following link: http://artistdata.sonicbids.com/ironstorm/shows/
In additional news, Ironstorm has teamed up with PureGrainAudio.com for the exclusive premiere of their track ‘The Watcher’.
Ironstorm’s debut EP, Wrathwind will feature six tracks highlighting the band’s “energetic, organic, melodic, passionate, powerful” sound. Wrathwind was engineered and mixed by Travnik in his own professional studio, Excalibur Productions and was mastered by Andy Larocque of King Diamond/Merciful Fate at Sonic Train Studios and will be available in a number of formats, from digital download to floppy disk. Yes, floppy disk.
MONSTER TRUCK – Hamilton, Ontario’s Monster Truck had a breakthrough year in 2013, with their first full-length: Furiosity. With an ever-growing fan base coinciding with raving album and concert reviews, Monster Truck is surely one of the finest exports from Canada next to bacon. A supporting role, during the Summer of 2013, to Rock the live stage for Alice In Chains’ Canadian tour trek is certainly a bad-ass badge of honor as well!
Looking back to 2010, the debut, S/T EP from Monster Truck was born. Self released and produced by Gus Van Go & Werner F, the four songs on this EP are solid fingerprints of Heavy Rock ‘N Roll which draws influences from Classic Rock, Classic Hard Rock and (from what my ears here as) Southern Rock. I cannot help embracing the raw and down-to-earth Heavy Rockin’ sound of this Monster Truck EP! These seasoned musicians were paving their path to Rockin’ fame with this EP and that is now a Rockin’ fact!
_________________________
Brandon Bliss on the organ/keys is reason enough for any classic Deep Purple and/or Jon Lord fan to smile in appreciation. Jon Harvey (bass and lead vocals) sounds like his voice was born to be heard on vinyl, with so many shades of natural born talent about it. Steve Kiely (drums & vocals) and Jeremy Widerman (guitar & vocals) complete this Monster Truck story and their debut EP. Understand, that ALL four songs on this EP have played out as an immense launching pad for this (now) world-known band!
Monster Truck plays their Heavy Rock ‘N Roll with both relevance and a two-way ticket on the Classic Rock time machine. It does suck when I return and the Monster Truck songs do come to a close; however, the repeat arrow to hear this band again and again is what makes life so damn good. Metal be thy name. – Stone
You can download for free or buy this (2010) debut EP from Monster Truck, by clicking on the link below. Either way you get it, support Monster Truck and be glad they exist! Whoa.
If you’re a band or musician and would like your music reviewed or be interviewed by Stone, please click the link under the “ALBUM REVIEWS ARCHIVES” section below!
RT @queensryche: Thanks so much Las Vegas!! Good times at the Cannery Hotel and Casino – North Las Vegas NV (photo: Craig Blackwell) #Quee… 11 hours ago
RT @metalchurchis1: NEW DATE!! June 25th at Asbury Lanes in New Jersey, with special guests Living Wreckage and Damn Your Eyes!! Doors at… 15 hours ago
Metal Odyssey's Rock, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Hall of Fame! These Are The Rock And METAL Legends Wrongfully Ignored By "The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame"
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
You must be logged in to post a comment.