A Kelowna-based podcast about all things that are metal! We sit down, hit record and talk about what's new in metal culture. This includes what we've been listening to, new music, metal news and whatever else interests us.
Sometimes local metal bands or metalheads sit in with us to talk metal. We are on a neverending quest to find new kick-ass metal so come explore metal culture with us one band at a time!
Power and heavy metal takes over Muninn's Post! ArkenFire headlined a show Friday night at the local Feast Hall along with Tzimani hailing from San Diego and progressive instrumental metal act Indecipherable Noise from Peachland, BC.
Indecipherable Noise
Instrumental progressive metal project of local talent Jevon Carignan (guitar), Dylan Gutierrez (guitar), Vaughn Janes (bass), and Mitchell Corbach (drums). They play a style influenced by Animals as Leaders and Rush. A great way to warm up the crowd and get people on their feet before the main acts took stage. I quite enjoyed it and they seemed to have some really nice ideas there.
This two piece hailing from San Diego shredded their way through their set. Straight up heavy metal brothers rocking their way across North America. Eddie can really play the guitar. Each song they played were full of mean riffs and ripping solos.
Their self-titled EP came out a year ago so still being somewhat fresh they played most songs off it. I'm not aware if they were playing any new material. Their songs have catchy choruses and great solos. There isn't much more to ask for from a heavy metal band!
I only had time to stick around for the first three songs. Morning shift beckoned. Raid Winds and Night Sister were the first two songs played. I do not recall the third. The band sounded just as good as at Wacken Battle of the Bands. These guys are on fire every time they play. It is a real treat to watch them on stage and they definitely deserve a larger one at that. There is a soft spot in my heart for heavy/power metal and have been for years.
There were lots of familiar faces among the crowd and a couple new ones. I brought out my good friend Justin who really enjoyed the music, met some new people and had an overall great night. He's a huge fan of all genres of music and always a fan of metal but just doesn't come to shows very often. That's about to change! It always makes me feel good to see both familiar and new faces. The fan base here is a dedicated bunch of people who all contribute to the scene in their own interesting and unique ways.
Saturday night, at Wacken Battle of the Bands, Apollyon debuted the new track Wretched Grandiose. The set also included songs from their album False Light and solidified themselves as winners of Wacken Battle of the Bands round 3 Kelowna.
They will battle against other winners BC Finals set to take place April 28 in Vancouver at The Red Room. See the Facebook event here.
Wacken Battle of the Bands round 3 took place last night at Muninn's Post here in Kelowna. This was yet another sold out show for the popular Viking feast hall. We had judges present including Byron Stroud from Strapping Young Lad fame and his most recent project Imonolith.
Northern Steel
The first band up were our friends travelling all the way from Prince George. This three piece metal act put on a really nice show. It was a pleasure listening to their intense but melodic songs. Lots of memorable licks. The first few songs were quite short and felt more like ideas that were in the midst of being fleshed out into songs. But their last few songs were really well done.
I had the pleasure to talk with the guys later on through the night. Really awesome people who are struggling to help the Prince George metal scene flourish. Good luck Northern Steel! When they are back in town we'll be sure to have them on the podcast.
Spencer and the boys rip. That's all I can say about these guys. Their blend of old school and technical death metal is such a pleasure to listen to. Dylan and Chandler playing off each other with the solos and Dylan just nailing some of them. Sounding so tight. Spencer's presence on stage is huge and menacing. Pairing so well with his vocal style. Taylor destroying it on the drums as per usual.
Kelowna will be left a smoldering crater when Death Machine releases studio recordings.
Eden Echo played last weekend and tonight they sounded even tighter than that set. A difference in the confidence in the live performance could be noticed already and the crowd was so supportive. I really dig their style of European folk melodeath. The fantasy themes to the songs are right up my alley and I dig all the vocal styles.
ArkenFire
The only reason ArkenFire didn't win tonight is they'd be giving all the other NWBHM/power metal bands a run for their money at Wacken Open Air. Not only is it cool af that we have a local power metal band but damn are they tight and have some really good material. Jacob's vocal style is similar to Bruce Dickinson and his onstage presence is second to none. He's having a blast up there as the band grinds out their riffs. Randy and Ian rip solo after solo.
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Apollyon
WACKEN BATTLE OF THE BANDS ROUND 3 WINNERS!!!
Congratulations to Apollyon for absolutely destroying Muninn's last night. Anyone who has seen this band live knows they deserve the victory. Matt's vocals and stage presence is so good and a lot of fun to watch. Shout out to his Emperor shirt. Horns up! They debuted a new song titled Wretched Grandiose. An intense and incredibly fast track which undoubtedly kicked everyone's ass.
They will be representing the Okanagan well at the BC Finals taking place in Vancouver at The Red Room on April 28th. There is a chance I may miss it but you don't want to!
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This was a really great night. I met some new people and made new connections. Got lots of footage to share with local fans and the Internet. This will most likely be brought up a number of times but I just love what's going on in Kelowna right now. This little scene is producing some great talent and people.
After a weekend of two sold out gigs in Kelowna we have a lot to say about what we saw and heard. Have you ever heard the soundtrack to Doom 2016? Since we can't stop listening to it we decided to give it some discussion! The show down between two melodic death metal bands is on. Hold on tight as we compare two bands that are and yet are not similar.
What happened the last week?
Thursday the 14th - Enterprise Earth and Aethere show
Saturday the 16th - Truent and Technical Damage show
News
Black Guard's new single with Kittie-frontwoman Morgan Lander.
Vancouver metal bands Truent and Technical Damage played Muninn's Post on Saturday night (March 16, 2019) with supporting acts The Unending and Eden Echo. As far as I knew this was still one of Eden Echo's first live shows. They have maybe a half dozen under their belt. This was also The Unending's first show in a long time with a new lineup too.
I also had the pleasure of meeting a number of new people whom I struck up conversation with. One woman coming from Vernon to see the shows at the Post due to the lack of metal culture in Vernon. As we touched on in our dialogue Vernon does have the odd metal show and the blackened death metal band Xul hails from there as well. It is not a lost cause! Also, as she told me, it is worth driving the 45 or so minutes to Kelowna for a show. She also has a relative in a black metal band called SVNEATR which is coming to town this year. I'll be contacting them for an interview. I listened to their album and really dig their old school style of black metal.
There was one man I met who had said that he had been going to metal concerts in Kelowna since the 80's. The other night when Enterprise Earth and Aethere were in town was the first time he was turned away at the door because the show was sold out. This show is the second sold out this week. It is starting to feel like metal is really on the verge of becoming something bigger in this area.
Eden Echo
Eden Echo presented their songs very well. The style felt a little like a slight mix of Jari's Ensiferum meets his first Wintersun album. Very creative with tons of different vocal styles and musical influences. These guys have a great opportunity to tighten their sound and continue creating awesome music!
Wow, I was very impressed with The Unending. I had the pleasure of talking with Tyler a couple evenings before. He will be on the podcast in the future to discuss this band along with his metal history. This was their first show in, if memory serves me correct, five years and Tyler has been writing music for 9-10. These songs sounded very tight, interesting and very hard hitting. All the members had a fantastic onstage presence and were 100% into the show.
The Unending was a pleasure to watch and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. I had a difficult time describing the style so I will just let the videos do that for me.
Technical Damage has this machine like sound to their tone, riffs and licks. It sounds unique to my ears and wasn't something I could really get into at first. I had listened to their Bandcamp songs enough that I purchased their newest release and continued to listen to it for some time. Eventually it grew on me and I quite enjoy it now. They put on a great set. Lots of intensity and I highly enjoyed it.
These guys put on a hell of a show. Great stage presence and very tight sounding. Unfortunately the singer and guitarist Johnny Roodenrys had an injured hand so not only was he unable to play guitar but also had to cut the set short. He still put on a fantastic show despite his injury. The entire band did.
I purchased their EP off Bandcamp after they so graciously asked me to for listening to it too much. I felt they had the potential to put on a great show with their style mixing (which sounds to my ears like) Lamb of God, early SYL and System of a Down. They absolutely did not disappoint.
Spokane Deathcore band Enterprise Earth was playing at Muninn's Post last night along with supporting acts Aethere, Vultures from Victoria and local hardcore band Ugly playing their first live gig.
I had never been to a deathcore gig before and I thought there would be no better time to start than today with a sold out show at Muninn's Post. In fact I haven't really listened to deathcore in general. So I took the opportunity to listen to the bands all afternoon before going to the gig. Aethere struck me as more technical and death influenced than core so it was a lot easier for me to get into and I quite enjoy their newest album Open My Wounds. So seeing them live was going to be interesting to see how they performed their songs.
Ugly was the opening act. A local hardcore band playing their first live gig in support of their new release VILE. I'm kicking myself for not have gotten pictures or video. They put on a good show, sounded very tight and had me second guessing if Vultures were actually playing. The topless singer wearing a balaclava was a great touch and was very fitting to the lyrics. I'd definitely watch them perform again!
Vultures also put on a good show. It was entertaining to watch them from the back. Everyone was quite into it and the music sounded good. Hardcore is something also I haven't really gotten into though I definitely see the appeal.
Aethere put on a great show and the crowd was really into it! Lots of moshing and crowdsurfing. It was really awesome to see how supportive the fans were with the crowdsurfing. Deciding between songs who's going to be hoisted up and then everyone doing their part in carrying the crowdsurfer away from the stage. It looked like a lot of fun and really helps bring the people together to help one another out.
Aethere - Ash of Existence:
Aethere - Open My Wounds:
Enterprise Earth seemed to put on a really good show as well. I was very conflicted by these guys. Their albums sounded very deathcore without much death metal influence (unlike Aethere). Because of that it didn't really sit well with me. I was waiting to see them live to see if their live performance changed my opinion. Sadly it didn't really. I will have to give this band another chance to try and get into deathcore.
From what I have heard of the genre so far I understand the fushion of core/punk and death metal. It is an interesting blend that produces some styles that are very different from traditional metal genres.
I'm really looking forward to seeing the show Saturday night at Muninn's Post. Local acts Eden Echo and The Unending supporting Truent and Technical Damage from Vancouver.
This week Apollyon sits in with us and tells us about the band, as well as their new album, trap music and deathcore. Does Tool really have a new album coming out? Is this for real? We also cover some new releases including Finnish metaller's Children of Bodom's 10th album Hexed, Misery Index, and this new prog tech band called Equipoise.
What's new in metal for the week of Feb 24th to March 2nd? Join us as we discuss Inter Arma, Children of Bodom, In Flames, and Devin Townsend. Metalstorm released the results of their 2018 awards! Join us as we go through some of the notables.
In the second half Kelowna death metal band Death Machine join us in the discussion. Yes, the whole band! We discuss Wacken Battle of the Bands and the Kelowna metal scene as well as where the band has been and where they're going!
