The Fullblast

January 28, 2010
Alexander Julien
Ontario, Punk Rock, Retrospective Band Biographies

Oakville had so many good bands, and The Fullblast is one of the few punk rock bands that I really like even if I’m not fan of the genre. Maybe it’s for the simple fact that Gordie Ball was in it. Their first release was the pretty obscure “The Movie Kisses” demo ep they self-released in 2000. Their first album “Punk Technology” was also self-released and featured a really mind blowing beautiful artwork. You’d have to see it to believe it. Their last self-released material was the “Constructing Fidelity” ep in 2002. By this time the word was out about these guys and they were playing all over. Gordie Ball left sometime in 2002 and was replaced by Darran Malcolm. The vocalist, Ian Stager founded his own label, Blackbox Recordings, and they released their following effort “Contagious Movement Theory” as the label’s first output. These guys then toured with all the big bands, Boys Night Out, Alexisonfire, Rise Against, etc. Their last album “Short Controlled Bursts” would be released on Dine Alone Records, and would prove to be their most accessible material.

The Fullblast on Myspace
The Fullblast Discography Pt. 1
The Fullblast Discography Pt. 2

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From This Day Forward

January 24, 2010
Alexander Julien
Emo, Manitoba, Retrospective Band Biographies

This is my lucky first find of Winnipeg’s emo outputs. This band was a sister band to Grace Like Winter, but they were really poppy emo, like later Keepsake. They really weren’t around for long (May 1999 to 2000), and their split with Grace Like Winter pretty much features every song recorded for what I read. They were supposed to only have recorded four songs, three of which were meant for the split, and in the end the split featured four songs. I am unaware of any compilations they could have been on. The split, Amongst Rusted Heart, is the only release by Raising the Roof Records. The band disbanded when Matt decided to focus only on Every New Day, leading Andy to also leave.

From This Day Forward Split

P.S. This post needs a make-over. If you were in the band or know how to reach members from the band, please post a comment. I will get in touch with you.

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Endless Fight

January 23, 2010
Alexander Julien
Manitoba, Metalcore, Retrospective Band Biographies

Endless Fight was formed in 2004 in Winkler, Manitoba (later stapled as a Winnipeg band, not sure if they moved there or only because it was close to Winkler). They had a demo, which i unfortunately never heard. They then self-released their ep “Call on Defeat”, and started to tour the west coast of Canada. They were picked up by Spook City Records, and released their full length “Back to the Front” in 2006. They were then set to tour through-out the states, but were denied access twice. This set the band back quite a bit, and some months later they had broken up.

Endless Fight on Myspace
Endless Fight Discography

P.S. This post needs a make-over. If you were in the band or know how to reach members from the band, please post a comment. I will get in touch with you.

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Parabstruse Interview

January 17, 2010
Alexander Julien
Ambient, Band Interviews, Blog, Post-Rock, Texas

Editor’s note: This interview was originally published on Sadness By Name back in January of 2010 as “Interview with Garry Brents of Parabstruse”. Garry Brents has been a close collaborator for many years and it was an absolute delight doing this interview with him three and a half years ago. Perhaps we will do a follow up to this interview in the future!

-Hey Garry. Will you quickly introduce yourself, and mention your musical background to begin with? The bands you’ve been in, including collaborations.

Hello, first of all I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed. My musical background started when I was at the age of 7. I started playing piano for a few years. I didn’t enjoy it at first, but I grew to like it. I’d always try to make up something instead of learn how to play other songs. A few years later, I learned how to play the trumpet but only played for 2 years. I wish I still knew how to play. When I got into High School is the time I started thinking about writing my own music. I took bass guitar lessons for 2 years, but continued to teach myself and learn more on my own. So I’ve been playing that instrument the longest for about 9 years now. I self-taught myself guitar based on some of the knowledge from bass lessons and just feeling it out, maybe 6 years ago. The list of bands that I’ve been in (serious or not) are the following in chronological order: Ghastrah Proxiima, Garrsinn, From a Residence of Stars & Gnosis (changed to smoosz in ’08), Lunarian Sea, Darkphone, Semen Across Lips, Synthetic Onslaught, Sugar Highlands, Parabstruse, Cara Neir, They Mostly Come Out At Night, bunrage, Writhe.

-So Parabstruse originally started out from an idea you had with Semen Across Lips? This project was around from 2004-2007. What can you tell us about the early states of the band? How did you take the music you made with S.A.L. back then?

That’s correct. The early stages of S.A.L. wasn’t based on anything with serious intent. I honestly just wanted to have fun, whether it was silly or not and to just go with it. People began to think it was serious, because I denied that it was a joke, but that was the point of it all. It was just to poke fun, the music and idea. I obviously grew out of it over the years.

-The first time i heard the band name I almost refused to think there was any connection with Parabstruse lol. Where was the name inspired from?

At the time, I was trying to come up with an album name that was just one word. I have always liked using combined words or meanings, and I came up with Parabstruse. Abstruse is already a combination of abstract and obtuse and para is a prefix.

-The first demo, “Leporidae Libra”, was self-released (as most of your releases ended up being in the future). How many copies were made of this? Was this just for friends/promo or was it pushed as an actual release at the time?

I believe there were 100 copies released. A label by the name of Wolves Fight Good pressed these back then. I never really saw it as a serious release from the beginning.

-What was the music to you back then? The music itself is rather technical and shows how an incredible musician you are, but it has the experimental/funny twist to it, that leads a first time listener to wonder if this was a serious project or not.

The music was about experimenting, whether the results were silly or not. It was not a serious project, even if it were portrayed as one in ironic fashion. Prior to S.A.L., my From a Residence of Stars & Gnosis was a project that I had serious intent with – writing music that was very similar to what Parabstruse had become, but obviously more primitive due to inferior equipment at the time. So I was going back and forth between the two projects – one serious and one not so serious.

-The next release was a split with Psychiatric Regurgitation. Even at the time SAL was pretty death metal oriented. This would explain the choice in the grindcore band. How did you come to work with them?

One of their members is/was an active member in several metal bands in this area and I had always wanted to release something with one of his bands.

-You guys self-released this split CD. How many copies were made?

I don’t remember exactly, maybe 50-100.

-You then hooked up with Bastard Son Productions out of Ohio. How did this happen? They released your full length, entitled “Parabstruse”. Is this still in print?

They were supposed to release it physically, but due to financial issues it never came to fruition. So it was never pressed.

-There were also a split with Xrin Arms, and a compilation “Dumped Down the Toilet”. What can you tell us of those lesser known releases?

The split with Xrin Arms was something he and I had planned for awhile, but I don’t think any copies were made, at least none that I know of. The compilation was something I had been a part of several months after S.A.L.’s first demo was released.

-How did the band name change occur here? What does the name Parabstruse mean?

I lost interest in trying to portray that S.A.L. was serious and lost interest in the idea/image/music as a package. So I started as Parabstruse, wanting to start something new. It roughly means “beyond unfathomable”.

-You then had two demos released under the new name, still in 2007, marking a total of four releases that year. Were those two demos composed under Parabstruse, or were they just composed period, and ended up being released after the name change?

Yes, they were composed completely under the idea and name of Parabstruse at the time.

-The demo is in a form of post-metal. What were your influences at the time?

At the time, the following would sum up my influences well: Ulver (but they always were and are still a primary influence), Agalloch, Drudkh, Yndi Halda, Mono, Explosions in the Sky, Do Make Say Think, and Red Sparowes.

-By the release of the second demo, “And I, the Cape of…” you had acquired a strong post-rock sound in the music that had evolved to black metal. What were the influences within this change?

The influences were the same, but I just felt like involving more of that post-rock style into my sound. I felt that not a lot of ‘one-man’ projects were involved with that at the time. So it was a combination of trying new things and evolving my music.

-In February 2008, your best known work was released. “Old Sentimental” is considered by many a masterpiece, and is solely a post-rock/ambient album, with very little connections left of the metal movement (except maybe the guitar sound at certain points). The artwork was created by Ham, who did a marvelous job, and you self-financed to produce CDs. Lets elaborate about this album and this period in the bands history. I’ll let you ramble on…

This was a time when I was going to a recording school to learn more about production/audio engineering. I recorded all of this music prior to finishing my time at school, so I sometimes regret in not waiting to finish the album after I had more experience and the knowledge that I had after graduating. I would have made it much better, but I guess every artist says that about their own work, especially their first album. I was and still am proud that I was able to self-finance/produce and sell the album myself and make a profit. I put the money right back into what I was doing by buying more equipment that would help me later on in my endeavors. So “Old Sentimental” was a nice start to my musical journey, if you will.

-You didn’t waste much time after that because by September of that year you had also released an ep, “Back and Forth”, which once again had a limited CD pressed by you. Who designed the artwork for this?

My friend Kortis Kerst (photographer) took the pictures and I had arranged the design of the booklet and layout on my computer.

-Both of those CDs are now sold out? So you left them for free download all over the net, which got you even more fans. How would you describe your “digital fan feedback” concerning Parabstruse?

Certainly. I felt that giving the music for free was the best option at the time. I still think giving music for free is truly invaluable, bringing in more than twice the listeners a band would have if the only option was selling physical copies. I like the best of both worlds. The fan feedback was rapidly growing after releasing my music for free and positive for the most part.

-In January of 2009 you recorded a new exclusive song, “Turning Back”, for a compilation, “Diluvian Temperals“. This was also your first record label collaboration (even though the compilation only came out in August, a month after your final ep). Why did you chose to work with Abridged Pause Recordings, and how did this come about?

This was a song that I had solely worked on for this compilation. It was something that was different for Parabstruse at the time. The title says it all. It was a bit of a homage to my older project, From A Residence of Stars & Gnosis, but executing the songwriting and production with more current knowledge and equipment. I felt this compilation and label was the perfect situation for releasing this song.

-Being that it came out in August 2009, it was actually the last released work of yours. Was this the only compilation appearance you had? Were any of your songs featured on other compilations, even if not exclusives?

I believe this was the only compilation for Parabstruse and very fitting as the last released song.

-Your final ep, “An Unconventional Future” was digitally released on Dedicated Records in July 2009. Your ep is somewhat of a concept album, being “dedicated to sleeping” and also to “help a friend”. What exactly was the story behind that? Did the label have this idea or was this coming from you?

It was the label’s idea and concept, so I put the music to it. It sort of followed the writing after “Turning Back”, so I had the same mindset in creating almost purely ambient pieces; something that I hope helped Brad’s (label owner) friend in relaxing and sleeping. I won’t go into detail about the disorder, but she had a rare disease where she had trouble sleeping.

-The final Parabstruse output was indeed the Diluvian Temperals compilation song, Which was released only six days after you officially announced the ending of Parabstruse. In a single word question, Why?

It’s sort of a similar situation with the decision to end S.A.L. I felt that I did everything I could under Parabstruse. I wanted to have a fresh start in my music and ending Parabstruse to begin a new project was the next step.

-The last news of Parabstruse were that you were looking for female vocalists to add an element to a new album you were working on. Have you had guests on your past releases, either from S.A.L. or Parabstruse? what did each do?

My friend Michael played the Violin intro to the beginning track on S.A.L.’s Parabstruse album. Another song on that album featured a vocal spot by a friend who shared projects with me before (Ghastrah Proxiima and Lunarian Sea). There is also one song on the Parabstruse myspace that featured drums and piano by my friend Jose. I basically just played guitar over it. It was the second song under the name of Parabstruse.

-What happened to the material you were working on towards the end? Has that been reused into one of your new projects? Any demos of it exist with any female vocalists?

All of that material is being used; there is a finished version of one of the songs already and more to be finished in the near future.

-Was there much more material recorded than what was released? Do you plan a compilation of this material, or a general Parabstruse compilation in the future?

Not much more, maybe 3-4 songs. I probably won’t release a compilation in the future.

-It has been mentioned from people talking with you that it was sort of a relief for you to end that project. Was that in a manner that it was starting to become too serious? Or that it was becoming too big for the little time you dedicated to it with all the other bands you were doing at the same time? How do you feel now, half a year later?

All those questions are pretty much the answers themselves. Although it wasn’t becoming too serious, I just didn’t have the same feeling for the project and idea. I didn’t see myself having fun anymore in the long run, for Parabstruse.

-What are your current and since musical plans?

Since then, I’ve been working on another solo project (using some of the songs I had started while still pursuing Parabstruse and writing new material already). I also have been involved with another project for a year and a half now: Cara Neir. I had a brief stint in another project called Writhe, but it came to a halt and we never finished mixing our first release, as the members left.

-Whats the word with Bunrage? This space is yours to introduce the band to all new readers of your output.

It is my current main project now. The idea is just to write songs without hesitation, without too much thinking in the process. Just having fun again, yet balancing it with the serious intent of having a following for it. Obviously the production part takes more thinking, but the songwriting process and the regard to the style of music is much more open and spontaneous. I don’t want to put too much thought into describing the project. Feel free to check it out yourself, readers: http://bunrage.bandcamp.com/

-I wish you the best of luck with your projects, and thanks a bunch for taking your time with this interview Garry!

My pleasure, and thank you once again for giving me the time and opportunity to have an in-depth interview about my music and past projects.

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Winter Records & Rhythm of Sickness Records Interview

January 14, 2010
Alexander Julien
Ontario, Record Label Interviews

Winter Records was a label formed by Paul Bright (of As We Speak and Shoulder) in 1995. After putting out four releases, the label changed name to Rhythm of Sickness Records, named after lyrics of a Shoulder song. I conducted an interview with Paul to cover the label’s history and help document the immense importance of the releases he’s put out.

What was the complete discography of material released by Winter/Rhythm of Sickness?

Winter Records #1 – As We Speak/Ignorance Never Settles split 7″, 1995
Winter Records #2 – Shoulder “Touch” CD/12″, 1995
Winter Records #3 – Fieldtree “Fleas in His Collar” 7″, 1996
Winter Records #4 – Holocron “Celestial Sphere” 7″, 1996
Rhythm of Sickness #2 – Shoulder “Kindling” 7″, 1996
Rhythm of Sickness Records #3 – Chokehold/Left for Dead split 12″, July 1997
Rhythm of Sickness Records #4 – Wooden Stars “Rise Up & Get Down” LP 1998
Rhythm of Sickness Records #5 – Snailhouse “The Radio Dances” CD 1998
  • WIN-001 As We Speak/Ignorance Never Settles – Split 7″ (1995)
  • WIN-002 Shoulder – “Touch” CD/12″ (1995, with Conquer the World Records)
  • WIN-003 Fieldtree – “Fleas in His Collar” 7″ (1995)
  • WIN-004 Holocron – “Celestial Sphere” 7″ (1996)
  • ROS-001 “The Cold Front” compilation (unreleased)
  • ROS-002 Shoulder – “Kindling” 7″ (1996, with Conquer the World Records)
  • ROS-003 Chokehold/Left For Dead – Split 12″ (July 1997)
  • ROS-004 Wooden Stars – “Rise Up and Get Down” 12″ (1998)
  • ROS-005 Snailhouse – “The Radio Dances” CD (1998)
Winter Records logo

Winter Records logo

-You first started Winter Records in 1995 in London, Ontario. Where did you run your label from at the time? What made you settle on the name Winter?

I ran it out of my room in my moms basement, I think I was 16 so i still lived at home. My friend Ben and I were talking about starting a label and we were walking down the street one cold winter night and i thought that the name “winter” was as good a name as any for a label.

-What made you decide to form a record label? Had you worked with record labels before, even in your own bands? What was your goal in creating a label?

It just seemed like the logical next step for world hardcore domination. Bands i had been in since 1990 had put out cassette demos but we really wanted to put something on vinyl and didn’t really want to wait for someone else to do it. I had just been to the “A New Hope Hardcore Festival” in Madison, WI and i realized that there were a lot people my age (teens) that were doing labels so i asked around and found out where you could get records pressed and how much it cost….  and then just did it.

Winter Records #1 - As We Speak/Ignorance Never Settles split 7", 1995

Winter Records #1 – As We Speak/Ignorance Never Settles split 7″, 1995

-How did you end up working with Ignorance Never Settles, which eventually became one of the most important bands from Ontario 90’s hardcore.

I think the singer of INS went to school in London, Ontario  at the time and Scott the singer of As We Speak had their demo. The song on that 7″ by INS sounded like Chokehold, a band that was universally loved by everyone so we though it was a good choice for the other side of the 7″. Our song was a lot faster, much like early 90’s midwestern hardcore, like Endpoint or Spit Lip.

Winter Records #2 - Shoulder "Touch" CD/12", 1995

Winter Records #2 – Shoulder “Touch” CD/12″, 1995

-How was that first 7″ received? How many copies were made? As We Speak didn’t last very long after, and the band sort of merged into Shoulder right? You then once again worked with your own band on Winter, by co-releasing the first album “Touch” with Conquer the World Records out of Detroit. How was the collaboration with CTW at the time?

I think Maximum R&R did a review of the AWS/INS 7″ and it was good, but the As We Speak cassette demo was way better than the 7″ and the last unreleased stuff we did with Bry (who ended up being in Shoulder) was super good. I still have a vhs of the last As We Speak show… pretty heavy. Mike Warden from CTW was like a kind of psychotic uncle erie ( The Who reference ) type figure for all of us in the scene in London.  He came up to London with all the midwestern and Detroit hardcore bands to and we would go down to the Grounds Coffee House and places like that to see Detroit hardcore shows. I distinctly remember seeing the Strife, Earth Crisis and Snapcase show at the Ground Coffee House at the University of Detroit in 93. Those bands had a tremendous influence on As We Speak. Mike and i eventually put out the Shoulder lp.

Winter Records #3 - Fieldtree "Fleas in His Collar" 7", 1996

Winter Records #3 – Fieldtree “Fleas in His Collar” 7″, 1995

Ad in the May 1996 issue of HeartattaCk zine, advertising for Fieldtree's 7"

Ad in the May 1996 issue of HeartattaCk zine, advertising for Fieldtree’s 7″

-The labels 3rd release was your only time working with a none Canadian band, Fieldtree. How did you come in contact with this Michigan band, and what was the reception of this release 7″?

Fieldtree was a band from Michigan, I liked the recording and just though it was a good thing to put out, I don’t remember much more about it.

Winter Records #4 - Holocron "Celestial Sphere" 7", 1996

Winter Records #4 – Holocron “Celestial Sphere” 7″, 1996

-You then worked with Holocron, releasing their 7″ EP. This would end up being the labels last output under the name Winter. How was this release welcomed? I assume that when the band released their split with Reversal of Man later that year, it managed to get more copies of that record sold?

People liked it. There were a lot a amazing crusty, hardcore bands from Quebec at the time that were getting a lot of attention from HeartattaCk magazine. People were into that shit at the time. They were from Guelph  and Toronto. That was a really screamy and intense record, one of my favs. It still holds up.

Rhythm of Sickness Records logo,courtesy of Michael Coll.

Rhythm of Sickness Records logo,courtesy of Michael Coll.

Rhythm of Sickness Records ad from 1996

Rhythm of Sickness Records ad from 1996

-In 1996 you changed the name of the record label to Rhythm of Sickness. The name was taken from a Shoulder song (“Kindling” to be exact). Why did you decide to change the name of the label? Did you find a set back when doing this or were the same people still following? By this time you also had a different address, where were you operating from by then?

Around this time the band Shoulder came in to the world and we were writing and recording quite a bit… one of Bry’s lyrics in the song “Kindling”  were “all the kids are dancing to a rhythm, a systematic rhythm of sickness….” and for some reason i change the name of the label to “Rhythm of Sickness” or ROS, kids used to call me ROS the boss. I think by that time i had moved out on my mom’s basement. At that time i opened a record store, with the ROS name.

-You were then working on a various artist compilation for the new label’s first release. What can you recall about that? It never came out, but can you remember who was supposed to be on it?

I know Drift and Jonah from Quebec contributed a song each and Propagandhi was going to give me a live song… Holocron as well and Shoulder recorded the song “This Is Not An Exit” for it.

The name of the LP was “The Cold Front” and it was all Canadian bands. The cover was going to be a group of 7 paintings but then I changed my mind about the artwork after seeing an album cover by a hardcore band called Threadbare. I tracked down the artist that did the painting (Jordin Isip) and went to meet him in NYC. After that I got involved with the art scene in NYC  and started to phase out my music activities. I went back to London and transformed my record store into an art gallery and the comp never came out.

Rhythm of Sickness #2 - Shoulder "Kindling" 7", 1996

Rhythm of Sickness #2 – Shoulder “Kindling” 7″, 1996

-The first released album by the labels new name was your next Shoulder release, the Kindling 7″, which was once again co-released by Conquer the World, under its short-lived subsidiary Conquer the World Black. However this time only a vinyl version of the album was made, as compared to almost all CTW releases which had a vinyl and cd version released. What was the story behind that and how was the involvement with the label by then? Mike Warden (of CTW) once told me he had plans to release this ep with bonus tracks of compilations and demos. Was this part of the original plan?

Around that time a lot of people were out to get Mike, like kill him. One time me and him were literally barricaded inside his loft in down town Detroit by these dudes from Florida that wanted to kill him. I think he tried to kill himself. It was crazy. His old loft used to be Funkadelic’s jam spot. Mike was going through some hard times then, he probably could not afford both vinyl and cd.  hahah

Rhythm of Sickness Records #3 - Chokehold/Left for Dead split 12", 1996

Rhythm of Sickness Records #3 – Chokehold/Left for Dead split 12″, July 1997

-What came next was one of the most notorious splits of Canada. I read that this split, Chokehold/Left For Dead, was originally meant to be a Shoulder/Chokehold split. The split did become huge and is now very hard to find, as everyone who has it, keeps it. How many copies were made of that split? Both bands had broken up by then but were doing reunion shows, or was this released before their breakups?

This was released while both bands were still active. 1000 were made. I sold most at some fest in Toronto in 97? I just remember absolutely fucking worshiping Chokehold, they could have mailed me a turd and I would have released it somehow. LFD were a bit different. I know it sounds crazy now but at the time they kinda seemed like some kind of throw back band, like to a different era. They were amazing though. I remember seeing DRI when i was 13. It was me and my friend Ben, and this huge native american guy and that was the pit. Just us 3. He would basically just crack me and Bens heads together but we loved it. “Thrash Zone” from Left For Dead had that vibe.

Rhythm of Sickness Records #4 - Wooden Stars "Rise Up & Get Down" LP 1998

Rhythm of Sickness Records #6 – Wooden Stars “Rise Up & Get Down” LP 1998

-Then occurred a total change in musical direction for the label. You worked with Wooden Stars first and then with Snailhouse, which both were bands by Mike Feuerstack. At the time the bands were residing in Ontario and not Quebec, but how did you hook up with them and decided to release material from indie bands rather than hardcore and emo you had been focusing on until then?

I just was tired with the bullshit hardcore scene in Ontario. I was 100% emo….!!!! And so were the Wooden Stars, in fact Bry still jams out with Mike. You have to be careful of what kind of barriers you put around you. I always though The Afghan Whigs were one of the greatest emo bands of all time…..

Rhythm of Sickness Records #5 - Snailhouse "The Radio Dances" CD 1998

Rhythm of Sickness Records #5 – Snailhouse “The Radio Dances” CD 1998

-Both of those releases were pretty well received from the reviews i read, but yet they were the final output for the label, which has been on hiatus since. How many copies of those CDs were made?

I made 1000. I changed the ROS label and record store into an art gallery. Still totally DIY.

-How do you look back on your days running the label?

Ya i miss all that shit. I still am exactly the same. Still totally DIY, hardcore, fuck everything and everyone. I still have never had a real job, never voted, never been to a strip club. hahah i have a lot of extreme bitterness and resentment towards the world. I bough a book on amazon the other day about emo.
We put out records and distributed them, booked tours, set up shows for bands from all over the place, started a  scene, no cell phones, no internet or computers. no email. I don’t know how we did it.

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This Day Forth Official Biography

January 4, 2010
Alexander Julien
Metalcore, Newfoundland/Labrador, Retrospective Band Biographies

This Day Forth is my first post about Newfie hardcore. These guys were from St. John’s, and they were really good. Similar to Ignorance Never Settles (stories connect as you will read later).

They formed under the name Fallen in August 1998 and I think they were the first hardcore band from the province. They recorded a three song demo, which the quality was pretty slim (this band’s only downfall was the slim production on most of their recordings). But right from the start they would gather kids to their shows to discover what hardcore was.

2000 must of been the most promising year from TDF. They recorded their Demo 2k, on their own record label, Hat Trick Records. It was at this time that they would started appearing on a variety of compilations. Using songs from their Demo 2k, they would be on United Edge Records’ “True Until Death” straight edge compilation, the Dirtneck Records local hard rock compilation, “Freedom Is…”, and on the fourth issue of the Moral Minority zine along with an interview. They were then supposed to do a split with Burden due out on United Edge Records, which very unfortunately never happened.

The band would occasionally cover Ignorance Never Settles live, and  they were actually asked by them to do an eastern Canadian tour together. Everything seemed to get ready quite nicely, until INS broke up and decided to leave TDF hanging without any news. The band broke up in November 2000.

In January 2003 they did a reunion show, which was covered by a guy who came from MuchMusic. I don’t know if the footage was ever aired though… This show was recorded and released as “Old Songs Ruined Again” and was only given to friends of the band.

This Day Forth Facebook
This Day Forth Discography

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Grace Like Winter Official Biography

December 18, 2009
Alexander Julien
Manitoba, Metalcore, Retrospective Band Biographies

Grace Like Winter was one of Winnipeg’s best band, in my opinion. So far i keep being blown away with bands from Manitoba, (a scene which I am still not too familiar with, but seems to be very religiously inclined, not that it would change my view on how good the music is). This band did an extremely melodic type of hardcore, with two female vocalists, and piano at some points.

They formed in 1998, originally planned as a one night stand band for a party. After playing some shows with original songs they did a six song demo cdr in August 1999. Later that year they would record four songs, which would become their split with From This Day Forth, entitled “Amongst Rusted Hearts” released on Raising the Roof Records in May 2000. This would also be the labels only release. This however did bring the attention of the band to a wider audience, and landed them a load of shows, including an eastern Canada tour. It was at this point that the band would also make their only two compilation appearances, both songs coming from the split. The first was “Songs from the Salad Bar, Volume 2” from Salad Dressing Records, and the last was the well known “Until the 9th Hour” from Flame Resistant magazine, which had a load of well known hardcore bands.

Grace Like Winter went under during the 2000-2001 winter, but did come back for the summer, and would record their final output, The Red EP in August 2001. The band switched some members but vanished naturally in September 2002. Their material is quite hard to find, and I don’t even know how many copies of their releases exist. I’d love to get my hands on physical copies though!

I don’t have their ’99 demo, so if any of you guys have it, I would be super happy if you could post a download link in a comment.

Grace Like Winter Myspace
Grace Like Winter Discography

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Upheaval Records Interview

December 16, 2009
Alexander Julien
Ontario, Record Label Interviews

This is the second interview in a series of Canadian record labels, and this is one of my all time favorite record labels! Everything released by this dude was amazing! And it definitely stands the test of time! Dan actually has copies left of the New Day Rising 7″, Lockjaw CD and Day of Mourning CD. You can email him to acquire some copies for your own.

The complete Upheaval Records discography includes:

  • UR-666 – New Day Rising double 7” (1996) – Less than 2000 copies
  • UP002CD – Ignorance Never Settles “Cycles of Consumption” (1996) – 1000 copies
  • UP003CD – Lockjaw “A Lesson in Hate” (1997) – Less than 1000
  • UP004CD – Day of Mourning “Reborn as the Enemy” (1998) – 1000 copies
UR-666 – New Day Rising double 7” (1996)
UP002CD – Ignorance Never Settles “Cycles of Consumption” (1996)
UP003CD – Lockjaw “A Lesson in Hate” (1997)
UP004CD – Day of Mourning “Reborn as the Enemy” (1998)
The first Upheaval Records logo as it appeared on the New Day Rising 7"

Instead of using the label logo, Upheaval Records used this definition on the outside of the New Day Rising 7″

-When was the label formed and where was it located originally?

The label was formed in 1996. I ran it out of Hamilton. At first, I would trade my releases with other labels from all over the world, so the whole room would be just packed with records. It was kind of neat where it was my fantasy equivalent to business people who dream of wanting to roll around in money. I didn’t actually want to roll around in records, but I loved having boxes of them everywhere. It was a great way to hear of some new record from somewhere else that was so good it would end up in my personal collection. You get enough records that end up being not so stellar as well, though.

-Why did you decide to form the label? Had you worked with labels before or did anyone help you out to start the label? And how old were you when you formed Upheaval?

I was really into collecting records ever since I was in my single digits. By high school, I was got into punk, hardcore, grindcore, etc. By 20, I thought it would be fun to put out records. So, I started to draw finds from my savings that I acquired from working an insane amount of hours at Zellers.
I didn’t know of anyone in relation to the scene. There was only one guy in high school who was also into hardcore. So I didn’t grow up with those who basically comprised the scene in Hamilton. They all went to different schools, so I had no scene related connections. Through the one friend in High School who actually liked the same stuff as me, I was led to a show at the House of Zack. Great night. Cease Fire (Bill from Lockjaw, Buffalo was in that band years before I ever met him), Mayday who were just phenomenal and Edgewise were also great.

Like I said, no connections, though. No clue what I was doing which was totally evident. Especially the social aspect which I find is similar to working in a corporate environment to this day.

The first Upheaval Records logo, as appears inside the New Day Rising 7" booklet and the Ignorance Never Settles CD

The first Upheaval Records logo, as appears inside the New Day Rising 7″ booklet and the Ignorance Never Settles CD

-Were you a musician yourself? Did you play in any bands?

I played drums. At the time, I played in a band called Drive By. The era when I was putting out records was overcome with a lot of screamy emo bands in Ontario. Drive By was great for me because they were heavy and not trying to do any of that. They were all relatively younger than I. I was in college, they were in high school. It was a band more influenced by Roadrunner bands and stuff like the Deftones etc. More metal and post hardcore I guess. It only lasted for a year. It would have been great to see how much better we would have gotten. Musically, I got to use my double pedal, so I was pretty happy. I really like the people in the band, especially looking back. I miss it, actually. The lot of them were great as far as human beings are concerned. It was pleasantly different from some of the DIY emo kids I would cross paths with when I started putting out records, truthfully. I later played in a power-violence band called Crossbow Zombie Attack Scene.

-Upheaval Records. What was the inspiration for the name?

The name Upheaval? A friend of mine actually came up with the name. I thought it was great. To this day, everything about this world is just wrong and is in need of being turned upside down in order to be fixed. I don’t only blame the powers that be, the general population doesn’t do anything about it, either.

UR-666 - New Day Rising double 7” (1996)

UR-666 – New Day Rising double 7” (1996)

-Your first release was New Day Rising’s double 7″. How did you choose to work with NDR as the label’s first release. What was your relation with the band?

Before I put out records, I started a distro to break the ice with people at shows. I remember bringing a box of records to sell at a show that was going on in a Church basement in Mississauga. It turned out that a member of New Day Rising was a family friend of mine. So naturally, we were talking and I said that I was interested in putting out their record. So he hooked me up with the powers that be in the band.

-A double 7″ isn’t something you see often, how did that happen, and what was the reason for it? How did it represent your label at the time, since NDR already have a few releases on Moo Cow that were doing very well. How many copies were pressed of this album?

It was only supposed to be a single 7”. Someone else was to put the other one out but they backed out. I think my release was their first post demo. Truthfully, I wasn’t a huge emo fan. It was my least favorite era of punk and hardcore. It was rather disappointing that there were not more faster bands. I like all the subgenres to some extent or another, but there was very little fast and heavy bands in the area and I had no connections to the bands in the US at the time. That is why I found myself crossing the border with whomever into Buffalo a lot to see bands like Snapcase, Sick Of It All, Agnostic Front, Spazz, etc. The show that was the true highlight in Ontario was when Catharsis played with Ascension and Morning Again in their original line up. Funny thing is, Rye Coalition ended up bailing on their location elsewhere to play that same show. This was probably back in 1996. I think it was 1998 when an early Converge did a show at the same location in Oakville. It was rare for the heavier US bands to come here at the time because the emo kids led by the more prominent emo bands often ridiculed the more heavy sounding bands, especially if they were not as popular, and to those who would want to dance to them at a show. They kind of acted like John Lithgow’s character in the movie Footloose when he made a law against dancing. I am being totally serious.

Back to New Day, despite not being an emo kid, I thought they were a great live band in the beginning. There are close to 2000 copies of the double 7”. Some still remain in boxes somewhere. Some were thrown out because of space.

UP002CD - Ignorance Never Settles "Cycles of Consumption" (1996)

UP002CD – Ignorance Never Settles “Cycles of Consumption” (1996)

-Second release, the Ignorance Never Settles CD. A band that even today, is recognized for its importance on the Ontario hardcore scene. How do you look back on that release? What can you tell us about that album? Can you also recall the pressing amount of this album?

INS were a lot closer to what I liked, musically. Despite not having fast parts to their music, they were heavy and really enjoyable in the studio and live. Because of their kind of sound, the label went CD as a lot of their audience were not in on the vinyl thing. That was an avenue I regret going down, especially because the planned vinyl release of the their album never came to fruition. Only 1000 copies on CD. Most sold to Germany and its surrounding countries. I tried to encourage Mike from the band to get INS to go there, but they weren’t too motivated to do much touring locally as it was. Too bad, I felt they would have had a better run if they put in the effort.

UP003CD - Lockjaw “A Lesson in Hate” (1997)

UP003CD – Lockjaw “A Lesson in Hate” (1997)

The second Upheaval Records logo, as appears inside on the Lockjaw CD

The second Upheaval Records logo, as appears inside on the Lockjaw CD

-Now in 1997 you decided to work with an out of Canada band, Lockjaw, from Buffalo, NY. How had you come in contact with this band? How was it working with a band from a different country (even if its was still pretty close). How did that album do? It seems to be the most obscure one of the releases by the label. How many copies of this cd exist?

Lockjaw was finally the kind of band that reflected what I enjoy listening to. Fast and heavy while not afraid to put in breakdown parts. They found their way to a show in Mississauga, so was I ever happy when they started playing. Unfortunately, it was still the tale end of the emo situation here, still. The heavier situation was in full swing States side, but unfortunately, the band broke up not long after the CD release, anyway. Notice a trend here? Needless to say, that album did poorly. Despite that, I ended off on a good enough note with the band. I still see Bill (vocals) from time to time. Good guy. It helps not caring about the financial loss of a release when the go to person from the band was good to you when everything was said and done.

UP004CD - Day of Mourning "Reborn as the Enemy" (1998)

UP004CD – Day of Mourning “Reborn as the Enemy” (1998)

-Finally you put out the debut Day of Mourning album, “Reborn as the Enemy”, which was a total masterpiece. What was your feeling towards working with DOM?

Day of Mourning. Overall, I really liked my release of their CD and they were pretty good to work with. Along with New Day Rising, they were the hardest working band as far as touring was concerned. They never caught on like they should have despite their efforts. I was going to release their next record as well, Your Future’s End. However, I was growing exhausted of my personal experience with the label-band dynamic as a whole, not specific to Day of Mourning, by this release. So I quietly just kind of fizzled out of site when it came to putting out any new records at all, anymore. Saying that, Your Future’s End wound up being released by Sounds of Revolution and is such a remarkable feat. Just unbelievable. I am happy to see that Domenic is now in the US doing his thing. That is where he belongs and hopefully he is happy where he is at with all is efforts. The last time I saw him was years back in Hamilton. The show line up was an early Fucked Up, Out To Win and Integrity who didn’t show up. Dom was in great spirit which really helped me get over some of the disappointment over the whole label experience.

The third and last Upheaval Records logo, as appears inside on the Day of Mourning CD

The third and last Upheaval Records logo, as appears inside on the Day of Mourning CD

-I’m sure the record did really well even back then, because it is still the most easy to find release from your label to this day. How many copies were pressed?

Only 1000 copies of my Day of Mourning CD were made. I still have about 40. None of my CD releases went beyond 1000. The extra pressing of the New Day double 7”s wasn’t necessary, either.

-Did you ever tour with the bands on Upheaval?

I would only venture out with a band the odd time for a single show in a single city. For example, I went with New Day Rising was scheduled to play the Clevo Hardcore Fest back in 1996. We went up with one of the members in my car, the rest of the band in another vehicle. I remember walking in to the place. Catharsis was playing. I just got in a few copies of their first 7” released by Endless Fight earlier that same week and was really into them. So I already felt at home. Emo bands were the minority there, not the majority. Plenty of hard dancing without emo kids and emo bands standing off to the side, making fun of the heavier bands and the kids having a good time on the dance floor during their set. The same evening, Integrity did a kick ass set. It was a Clevo fest, and they were a Clevo band. Needless to say, they owned the place. Once their set was done, they brought One Life Crew on stage, uninvited by the girl putting on the fest to what I recall. That was the night OLC went barreling through the audience to beat up a kid who was giving them the finger as they began Pure Disgust.

To give you an idea as to how busy I was, I was playing in a band, going to school, and have to find the time to get records pressed or whatever. I would literally be falling asleep at the wheel while driving around, from city to city, to get things done.
So typically, I would go to shows across the border with whomever, but never toured with the bands. Hell, two of the bands never really toured, anyway.
Consequently, that was THE detriment to the label. See next question for further explanation.

-How did you distribute the releases throughout Canada and the States back then?

I was distributed in Canada through FAB and relied heavily on the bands taking the releases on the road, which was the reason I’d never see much of my share of the money from sales. There was always a reason with certain members of some of the bands as to why they did not have my cut when they came back from a tour or out of town show. I’d get mad, so some would try to make me out to be a capitalist which is a no-no in the scene. In reality, my cut was only to cover the manufacturing costs of the releases. My releases were beyond the quality of photocopied covers, after all. So every new release was more out of my savings from working at Zellers because I could never recuperate financially from the previous release. I couldn’t tour with bands to really supervise the sales of the CDs. So I actually had to trust people. Big mistake. Now I won’t even give to a charity.

Ironically, Kyle from Grade took a bunch of my INS CDs with Grade to a Florida gig, once. Get this, he actually sold all the stuff of mine he took there and actually gave me the money when he returned. I couldn’t believe it considering doing anything for me would be of no benefit to him as I had nothing really to offer a band of Grade’s status. I will never forget that as some of my own bands were not that honorable. There is some good in the world.

In the US, my releases were carried by Very Distro and Ebullition, to name a few. Then there was Green Hell out of Germany.

Day of Mourning stickers by Upheaval Records

Day of Mourning stickers by Upheaval Records

-Did you ever press other merch for bands, other than the albums? If so, what?

I had shirts made for Ignorance Never Settles. The first incarnation were terribly made and faded after the first wash. The second incarnation was done by someone else and looked slick. Half sold in Canada, the other half was sent to Europe. I was told that bands touring Europe couldn’t help but notice kids wearing them from one town to another.
Free bumper stickers for Lockjaw. Stickers for Day of Mourning.

-What were some of the planned releases that never happened or releases that you talked about doing but didn’t happen?

Planned releases that never came to? There were some bands I was casually talking about a possible release with. I only lasted for four releases, however.

-What was the story with the Blake/Gates of Dawn split 7″? It was even advertised in the HeartattaCk zine as UP003.

The Blake/Gates of Dawn 7”. I remember putting that in an ad. Blake ended up not being part of it for whatever reason I cannot remember. No drama there. However, we were still on for a full Gates of Dawn 7”. I was pretty excited. I really liked them and it was a chance to get back to releasing vinyl. So I went to the studio with them to record the tracks. Later that week I think it was, a third party tells me the band decided to do the release with someone else who did not even have a label [Gorilla Warfare Records]. The last I heard about that Gates recording, one of the songs from that recording session appeared on a compilation because the 7”, of course, never happened with the other party. I know this sounds lame but I was really disappointed in them. The couple of them that I knew somewhat did at least put some effort into leaving off on a good note, which I did appreciate.

Upheaval Records ad from the HeartattaCk fanzine, May 1996
Upheaval Records ad from the HeartattaCk fanzine, November 1997

-What was the story with the Crossbow Zombie Attack Scene/Coalition Against Shane split 7″? Apparently it was to be co-released with Overlord Records? I read the titled was going to be “The Pepsi Challenge” and cataloged as UP005 in 1999.

Unfortunately, there is nothing much to say about Crossbow Zombie Attack Scene. We had a bunch of songs (I was the drummer) but the band did not last long enough to do a show. It was my kind of stuff from a drumming standpoint: Power Violence with double kick, so it was too bad.

-When and why did the label fold? Have you worked with any other labels since? Is there any future plans for Upheaval, or with the already released material, which is now pretty hard to find?

The label basically folded in 1998. At this point, you can tell why. No plans for any new releases. With the exception of Ignorance Never Settles, I have spare copies of everything else, so they are not as rare as you would think.
It is highly unlikely I will ever put out another release again. If I were to put out more records, it would be under a different name, much more limited runs and far less involvement in funding the studio recording. That way, if a band wants to bail for any reason, I have so little invested I could care less.
Finally, thanks for your kind remarks, Alexandre. I really appreciate your interest in the label as it was a really tough go. All the best.

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The Republic of Freedom Fighters

December 10, 2009
Alexander Julien
British Columbia, Emo, Retrospective Band Biographies

I found it pretty hard to find information on the band, other than the actual releases. It seems they were only around for a year or two, all their releases occurred in 1996.I found them incredibly melodic, and sort of experimental type of emo. I guess another way to describe experimental emo would be to say it had post-rock influences… It was very atmospheric.

I’m not sure which order these came, but their self-titled full-length came out on The Mountain Cooperative Records, and they had 3 splits. One 7″ with Render Useless on Buddy System Records, one 7″ with Twenty Seven Hours on Fall Empire Records, and finally a 8.5″ vinyl split with Third World Planet on Diminutive Records.

I’d love to hear some new stories about these guys. Hit me up!

The Republic of Freedom Fighters Discography

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M Blanket

November 28, 2009
Alexander Julien
British Columbia, Emo, Retrospective Band Biographies

M Blanket was one of the earliest BC emo bands. Sometimes more punk, sometimes some ska thrown in (i know this doesn’t sound to their advantage, but I assure you, you will fall in love with them).I’m not sure why they always labelled their albums as just M Blanket, but in a live set I once heard them say “We’re Morphine Blanket”.

They formed in 1992, and had a four song demo. Their early material was more chaotic. They appeared on a few compilations and put out their first 7″ on Spinout 360 Records. I heard this was a split with Slinky, but after seeing the artwork, I don’t think it was. Someone could clarify this for me? Did this split exist? They then hooked up with Slow to Burn Records, BC’s leading emo label at the time. The first of these collaborations is the “Seen it Coming” 7″. The last of these, which is also their final ep, and my favorite release of theirs, “Safety”. The band’s last output was released on “Attending the Supreme” compilation in 1995. They changed drummers and became Ache Hour Credo (which would itself change drummers and become Daddy’s Hands).

M Blanket Discography pt1
M Blanket Discography pt2

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The Wolfnote

November 27, 2009
Alexander Julien
Alberta, Post-Hardcore, Retrospective Band Biographies

The Wolfnote doesn’t seem like it much fits in with the bands on this blog, but it totally does! These guys are my first Alberta band on here. Great post-hardcore. These guys were pretty intense.

After some home burnt compilation demos they self released “Dancing to a Rhythm”, their first ep. They would also self release their next two eps, “Check the Lungs for Water” and “SI! SI! SI! SI!”. The later would be the first with their new vocalist Travis Sargent. After selling out the initial pressing on tour, Farway Records re-issued it in digipak. They were then signed to BlackBox Recordings, and would release their two albums on the label. “This is the Getdown” and “Sacred Bodies”.

The Wolfnote Myspace
The Wolfnote Discography

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Render Useless

November 22, 2009
Alexander Julien
British Columbia, Screamo

This is what i like! Something I just discovered, that I didn’t think existed in Canada. New Jersey type screamo, all the way out in Victoria, BC. This three piece was around from 1995 to 1998. At the time the band was formed, Paul was still doing Benchwarmer, but not for much longer.

Their first release was a self titled 7″ on Slow to Burn Records in 1995 (I think this may also have been their demo, but I’m not sure). Next year they put out a split with The Republic of Freedom Fighters on Buddy System Records. In 1997, came their big break for out of Canada fans. They recorded a 10 song demo tape, which some songs would end up being released on their second 7″ “The Relationship Between a 1/4 Note and a 1/8 Note” on The Mountain Cooperative. I think the other songs were used for their split with Miracle of 86 (but I’m not sure when that came out), on City Lights Records.
The whole works was compiled into a discography CD in 2007 in Clue #2 Records. This compilation is really amazing. Great digipak with stickers and booklets, etc. I really suggest buying it, even if I posted it here. Totally worth it.

Render Useless Myspace
Render Useless Discography

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Officer Down

November 17, 2009
Alexander Julien
Manitoba, Metalcore, Retrospective Band Biographies

This is my first post on a band from Manitoba. These guys were from Steinbach. And I love them! They had these incredibly melodic parts on their hardcore, something I can’t seem to pin point in any other band.

The band formed in 1997 and recorded a demo, which was already well talked about. They were contacted by Goodfellow Records, which would be the labels very first release, a split 7″ with Puritan in 1997. Later that year they also appeared on the labels compilation “The Difference Between Us”. The song would also appear on the bands only album “Subversive Paradigm”. A total masterpiece.

They were set to record an ep in late 1999, but I don’t think they got that far. If anyone knows if the recordings are around… I don’t have the pleasure of having the demo, so if you know where I could get a copy of it, or even just mp3s, I would be super thrilled!

Officer Down Discography

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Burden

November 13, 2009
Alexander Julien
British Columbia, Hardcore, Retrospective Band Biographies

Burden was Vancouver’s first straight-edge band, and probably one of the first to bring a hint of new school hardcore into the local scene. At the time, there really wasn’t much to brag about in the western Canadian hardcore. All the attention was given to Ontario. But Burden was one of the bands who changed that.

Burden’s first demo, “Chosen Path”, came out in 1997, in various pressings and covers. Their first ep “Strength of Conviction” came out in 1999 on Faith, Hope and Charity Records. This ep would be re-released in 2000 by Spawner Records (in Canada) and also on Bad Man Records (in Europe). This re-issue would contain the demo as bonus tracks. In 1999 the band also had it’s only exclusive song on a compilation, which would be a cover of The Misfits, We Bite.

In 2001, the band would finally come in contact with Dead Serious Recordings, who would release everything from the band forth. The band took two songs from their upcoming LP and one song from their ep, to do a split release with Automatic from Kentucky. Their first and only full length, “If You Don’t Stand for Something, You’ll Fall for Anything”, was released in 2001 on Spawner Records (Canada) and Dead Serious (Europe). This got them to tour western Europe. And the band did tour for the next few years. Upon their final time in Europe, Dead Serious would release the bands final ep “With Every Step Forward”. This would never get to see the light in North America however. The band played a final show on March 13th, 2004 in Vancouver.

Burden on Myspace
Burden Discography

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The Black Hand

November 11, 2009
Alexander Julien
Metalcore, Quebec, Retrospective Band Biographies

I can’t find too much original information on this band. Pretty much this is what half of Ire became. This was a lot more thrash/crust oriented, and its pretty strong.

They first did a cassette demo, which was re-issued by Scorched Earth Policy as the “Pulling Your Strings” vinyl in 2000. They then had a song on the “Seven Deadly Sins” compilation from Hater of God Records. Their final output was their full length “War Monger” on Chainsaw Safety Records (CD) and Scorched Earth Policy (12″).

The Black Hand Discography

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Blue Monday

November 3, 2009
Alexander Julien
British Columbia, Hardcore, Retrospective Band Biographies

I’m trying to expand to other provinces rather quickly. And one band i already knew of from Vancouver was Blue Monday (since Jason Kehoe from Day of Mourning played drums with them). They are very similar to the type of hardcore that bands like Terror, Bishop and Still Crossed played. I don’t know what you call this type of hardcore. Youth Crew? Hints, guys this would be appreciated!

These guys formed in 2001 and recorded a demo which was self released in early 2002. They changed some members and recorded their first ep “War Wounds” 7″ which was released on For the Core Records in early 2003. Later that year they put out “What’s Done is Done” on Stab and Kill Records. The CD version had the previous ep as bonus tracks. This got them to the attention of Bridge 9 Records which released their second album “Rewritten” in 2005. Their final output was a split with Go It Alone in 2006, before breaking up.

Blue Monday on Myspace
Blue Monday Discography

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In Dying Days

November 2, 2009
Alexander Julien
Metalcore, Quebec, Retrospective Band Biographies

In Dying Days were one of the few bands in Quebec doing the really metallic style of hardcore which was big in Florida. They were often compared to Poison the Well and Morning Again, but personally I would compare them to This Day Forward.

They would record a demo tape in 1998 after forming, with their original vocalist Olivier, and would build up a good following right away. They then switched vocalists and ended up with Mike Doucet. They recorded a second demo “To Forget Yesterday”, and  would come in contact with James Hamilton who was working on his new record label, Re-Define Records. He decided to officially release the demo as their first ep. James decided to press a limited run of a single song from it on tape, to see if the product was marketable. Indeed it was because the ep would come out as the labels’ first output.

The band band was then approached by Good Life Recordings, and would be featured on their VHS “Good Life T.V.” (which had Morning Again and As Friends Rust on it) as well as a compilation, which featured their song “Once Were Warriors”, from their debut ep. They would however sign a contract deal with One Day Savior instead.

The band recorded some demos for their second ep, “Life as a Balancing Act” in 2002, which would be released by ODS. The year after, “After the Fire” would be released on the same label. Both would do really well for the band. They would also appear on the “True Until Death” compilation by United Edge Records.

In Dying Days – EPs

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Searchingforchin

November 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Mathcore, Metalcore, Ontario, Retrospective Band Biographies

Searchingforchin (or sometimes Searching For Chin) was awesome!!!! And I’ve been wanting to post this band for a while. Only it took me forever to collect what I could find from them. When they started in 1999 they were a lot more metalcore, but pretty quickly progressed into a mathcore outfit. Really great stuff.

I’ve had a lot of trouble tracing some of this stuff around, and same goes for the information. I know they had a few line up changes, but Jim Meloche was always the vocalist and Jesse Martinez was always the main guitarist (both of them would later form Orphan Choir together). The band was formed under the name Provoked.  They released a demo in 1999, and then again another demo in 2000 (but I think this later was just a compilation of already released stuff, or stuff that would be released on their self-titled album).

Then came their self-titled full length out on their local scene’s most important label, Sounds of Revolution. The year after, they put out a split 7″ with The Wake on One Eye Records, the year after that a split with Recension on Sounds of Revolution (which for some reason also included the songs from the previous split) and finally in 2004, a split with The Wolfnote on Jim’s own label, Tragicomedy Records. All the while, they had a series of tour compilations made from these splits and occasionally a few new songs.

I’m not too certain of the compilations this band appeared on, but the ones I did read about didn’t have any exclusive songs. In 2005 they released their final album, ” Context”, also on Tragicomedy. The band had decided to breakup, and would openly announce it with a last tour. Their last release was supposed to be a split with Back When but that never happened.

Searchingforchin Myspace
Searchingforchin Discography

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Ire Official Biography

October 30, 2009
Alexander Julien
Mathcore, Metalcore, Quebec, Retrospective Band Biographies

And here it finally is. The first post about a Québec band. This band is a bit hard to classify. I’ve read people call it emo (Yannick Lorrain’s description from a 1996 review of the band, and while maybe back in 1994, 1995 the music could could of been considered part of the emo scene), mathcore (it definitely has math parts in its later material), and plain old metallic hardcore. Personally I left it as hardcore because in entirety, that’s what it is. However it has elements of sludge and extremely atmospheric moments (What Seed, What Root? will give you that immediate reflection, as well as an immediate love for the band).

Ire playing in Quebec city

Ire playing in Quebec city

 

The band formed in February of 1994, apparently from members of Foreground (a band which I still couldn’t find information on). The band likely recorded some demos, but I haven’t the chance to find any yet. The band’s first release was their self-titled 7″ on Schema Records in 1996. It was soon followed by their split with Seized which was co-released by Spineless Records and Fetus Records. Both of these were compiled into “Adversity Into Triumph” on Ellington Records.

After that they released “I Discern an Overtone of Tragedy in Your Voice” on The Mountain Cooperative. They were getting more mathcore by this time. The band broke up in 1999, and posthumously released their final album “What Seed, What Root?” on CrimethInc Records/Scorched Earth Policy.

I talked to Radwan about the band, and he told me everything the band ever recorded was released. So what you’re getting here is their total discography. No chance of a reunion, despite the new trend.

Ire Discography

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13th Day Recordings Interview

October 29, 2009
Alexander Julien
Ontario, Record Label Interviews

This interview with Domenic Romeo was the first record label interview posted on the blog. It focuses solely on his first record label, x13th Dayx Recordings.

The complete discography on 13th Day includes:

  • Day Of Mourning – Guilty Innocence Roaming Demo Tape, 1998
  • Coalition Against Shane – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold My Cack Demo Tape, 1998
  • Day of Mourning / Red Sky – A Move Towards Ascension~Forsaking Redemption CD, 1999
  • Coalition Against Shane – Down with the King Tape, 1999
  • A Death for Every Sin – God’s Final Descent CD, 1999 (split with Sounds of Revolution)
  • Coalition Against Shane / THOR – Keeping the Dogs Away CD (split w/Carmichael Records), 1999
  • Day Of Mourning / Clenched Fist – Split CD, 2000

-When was the label formed and where was it located originally?

Hmm if I remember correctly I’m going to say 1997.  So many bands, shows and records have happened since then, it’s totally a blur.  But I’m going to pin-point it to around the time when Day of Mourning started.  It was always located out of Malton, Ontario which is where I lived at the time.  A small suburb sandwiched walking distance between the airport and the railroad.

-Why did you decide to form the label? Had you worked with labels before or did anyone help you out to start the label?

I just liked the idea of being able to put out whatever I want, nothing more than that really.  It’s still the same reason why I release records to this day.  My friend Dan who did Upheaval Records helped me get set in the right direction as did James Hardtime who used to do Sounds Of Revolution.  We all kinda figured things out together and would help each other along.

-The label bared the straight-edge symbol (x13th Dayx). Was it a straight edge only label? Did it have any other affiliations such as vegan or militant ideals? In general, what was the label about?

Just a nod to things I loved at the time.  At 20 I was all about being SXE and horror movies.  Not much has changed I guess, although the edge definitely got dull over time and violent horror movies kinda weird me out nowadays.  I credit Baltimore City on both accounts.

-You decided to release your own band’s material on the label. What made you decide to do this? What did it bring the bands as compared to staying with Sounds of Revolution or Upheaval which had released your prior albums for Day of Mourning?

Once again, just not having to answer to anyone/anything and do things as I pleased.  SOR and Upheaval were both run by friends of mine who wanted to do records for Day of Mourning and help the band out.  It was great having records on so many labels and having them all work together and not be competitive or whatever.

-What were some of the planned releases that never happened and why (if you recall)?

Coalition Against Shane had a 7″ worth of music laid out that never saw the light of day.  It was going to be called ‘Turban Discipline’  Day of Mourning had a full length laid out that would have probably ended up on there as well.  Other than that, I don’t think so.

-How did you come to work with Thor, which even at the time was a pretty old band.

Everyone in XCASX were THOR fanatics. I remember there was a first song on the demo about how much Mike hated this dude John Moran who was the Q-107 DJ at the time. He would get on the mic at hardcore shows and try to like pump up the crowd, and throw free CDs out etc…Mike hated that guy sooo much haha. So, somehow the middle of the song turned into a parody of ‘Keep The Dogs Away’ by Thor.
Fast forward to one of the most amazing concert experiences of my life. THOR at some weird mob type bar in Scarborough. He rocked us all senseless, and even took the time to hang out with us afterwards (as well as these two weird twin brothers that kept staring at Pantera’s boobs). We gave him a demo, and somehow managed to get in touch with him/got him to agree to do the split.
I’ve run into him randomly over the years, including when Mike XCASX and I were in Vancouver for Jay’s (Day of Mourning) wedding last year. Funny enough, he will be flying to Baltimore for my birthday this year and performing a set of all my favorite THOR hits with Pulling Teeth as his backing band. Should be wild.

-When and why did the label fold? You then founded A389 Recordings after being relocated to Baltimore, Maryland. Was their any other label involvement in between this and x13th Dayx, as A389 was founded in 2005 i believe?

Yes, that sounds about right. X13DX folded around 1999 when I decided I wasn’t going to do a label or bands for a while. Day of Mourning and XCASX were both on their last legs, so I kinda had to re-assess everything that I was doing.  So I moved away, started new bands and a new record label.

-Thanks for taking your time to answer all this Dom, and i hope you continue on with A389 for a long time, and i hope to see that Day of Mourning compilation soon!!!

Thanks for the interview Alex.  Long live the goat.  I miss that guy.
D

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Rosesdead Official Biography

October 22, 2009
Alexander Julien
Metalcore, Ontario, Retrospective Band Biographies

Ok this band is pretty new to me, but I cannot tell you how severe of an impact it had on me. This band has got to be one of the best things to ever happen to recent metalcore. Unfortunately they decided to break up in 2008, so I wont ever get to see them. This band could have seriously been as huge as Killswitch Engage had they stuck around longer.

Rosesdead was formed in Oakville in 2000 by Jason Mante and Dave Alexander (guitars), Cole Stephenson (bass) and Dave (drums). I’m not aware of any demos by the early line-up, but they soon recruited Adam Szeminski on vocals. Apparently there were a number of demos then, but the only one I am aware of was their first 4 song ep, which was self titled in 2002, and had by then Brett Diederichs on guitar (replacing Dave Alexander) and Shane McIntosh on drums.

The band quickly signed to the brand new record label, BlackBox Recordings (now going under BlackBox Music, due to another label from New York with the same name). The labels second release would be the bands first official release, “The Relationship Between Music and Numbers” ep in June 2004. Now by this time the band was almost touring full time, and were announcing a full length album to be released in mid-2005. The band did in fact begin writing, however in early 2005 the band was faced with the problem of a leaving vocalist just a few months prior to the already booked studio time. The band continued to write material while looking for a replacement. It wasn’t until the album was fully written that they came across Matt Wedge who was at the time in the band Fordirelifesake. Matt and Jason wrote lyrics over the written songs, and headed in the studio to record the album.

In March 2006 “Stages ” was released on BlackBox in Canada while OneDaySavior released in in the states. They had an insane record release party at the tail end of the month where they played the entire record live, but only to end up facing another dilemma in the month after. One of their guitarists, Brett Diederichs, would leave the band less than a month after the album was released. They immediately started advertising for a replacement on their myspace and quickly found Todd McDonald. The band would finally go back to tour full time throughout the entire summer.

Once again they were then expecting another tragedy. Shane McIntosh announced he was going back to school at the end of the summer, so they had to find a replacement for the already booked tour which was to last until late November. Kyle Clark would filled in, but Matt would also then announced he could not commit to the rest of the tour for external obligations. James would be taking his place temporarily.

Now when the band got back from touring and the two temporary members went back to their regular lives, it would seem the band would be over, because of such a set back. And it would seem so for an entire year! It wasn’t until November 2007 that the band decided to play another show, after all the members did end up back together again. This would be a sort of reunion show, as the line up would be almost identical to the one of Stages (minus Brett). Well after those few comeback shows, the band realized they actually couldn’t continue the band because everyone had so many external obligations. So they all set themselves to do a farewell mini-tour.

In June 2008 Rosesdead would headline a total of six final shows in Ontario, and would present to the fans a super limited (200 hand numbered copies) DVD, entitled “Faith in Dreams” which had a load of live material recorded during their comeback shows in 2007, as well as a multitude of additional live following.

So that was Rosesdead. I seriously urge you to check out Stages. It’s included in the discography bellow, along with the two eps and the live dvd.

Rosesdead on Myspace
Rosesdead – Discography
Rosesdead – Faith in Dreams

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The Abandoned Hearts Club

October 20, 2009
Alexander Julien
Noisecore, Ontario, Retrospective Band Biographies

The Abandoned Hearts Club was a band that unfortunately never got to release as much as planned. The band was formed out of most members from Karenza, which evolved into Spread the Disease, and continued along the same lines as The Sheer Force of Inertia was going, continuing to lose the black metal influences as they went on, and opting for a more math-metal approach, and becoming The Abandoned Hearts Club. Nevertheless super chaotic and amazing!

TAHC released their first demo/ep “The Initial Confession of The Abandoned Hearts Club” in late 2001 themselves which featured four songs. It didn’t take very long for them to get recognized, and they went on tour with The End (which was in the hype of their debut release with Re-Define and would sign with Relapse after the tour). Needless to say, this got the band the attention they deserved, and a crowd of renowned labels approached them to collaborate.

The band played a small five song set on CIUT radio station on April 7th, 2002. The show was recorded, but only two songs from that session were ever released, on their ep “Live on CIUT 89.5” that the band gave out with all buyers of their “Initial…” self-released ep. This was strictly limited to 20 copies. I wish I myself had one of them…

They decided to release two songs to the public digitally; “The Enthusiast”, with Aaron Wolff (at the time in The End) on guest vocals, and “Metropolitan Sentences” with Chris Colohan (at the time in Cursed) on guest vocals. Both songs were meant to be on their upcoming album, which had been in the works already. Hydra Head Records beat everyone to it and were the first to release a song officially by the band, on their two disc compilation “Where Is My Robotic Boot?”. Not long after Robotic Empire released another exclusive song on their compilation “Mutation”, and a song from the bands ep was selected to be on The Communion Records’ compilation “Transfiguration Songs”. By this time TAHC had inked an album deal with Abacus Recordings, and were set to release their debut album “Aloha Cocksuckers” in 2004. Somewhere around here Dave Buschmeyer left to play in a similar sounding band, Raise Them and Eat Them.

As if that wasn’t enough, the band was approached by Init Records to re-issue their debut ep on CD/7″ with brand new artwork, and fully remastered songs. The band was also set to be on a tribute to Chokehold compilation that Genet Records ended up never finishing up.

Sometime during the very late season of 2004, they lost their drummer, which I haven’t come across the reason why, but the band just couldn’t find a good enough replacement. So they decided to break up in February of 2005, yet they were willing to play one final show during the summer of 2005 and release the final album to coincide with that show. The final album as they had it said, was not entirely finished, but was to be comprised of 7 pre-production demos (including the two featuring guest vocalists). Neither the show nor the album ever happened. The only thing that surfaced would be songs posted on the bands myspace from the pre-production session an entire year later in 2006.

Download The Abandoned Hearts Club discography

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Upcoming releases

October 17, 2009
Alexander Julien
Abridged Pause News
Abridged Pause Recordings Banner 2008

Our website is under construction, so our Myspace is our main output for the moment. We have two releases out at the moment, but a load more are to come. Now that APR1 – “Diluvian Temperals” compilation and APR2 – “Sea of Abandoned Polaroids” split EP with Phlegma and Stagnant Waters, are out we can announced the plans for our next releases. Our first three releases are digital, but then, we go all vinyl!

APR3 will be “Witches in the Air“, the debut full length by Sveta Istina Vještica. An amazing post-grindcore release that’s filled with passion and energy. This thing will make you awe. This release will be sold digitally for $1 with the entire profit going straight to the eventual pressing of a 10″ vinyl of the album. All buyers of the digital version will receive a discount when the vinyl comes out and will be privileged to special content from other upcoming Abridged Pause Recordings releases.

APR4 will be “Past Changing Fast“. Kailash‘s second album. After the hype of the first one, we were impatiently waiting to get our chance at releasing this second one. It’s a beautiful math-metal album with intelligence written all over it. This will be released on a colored 12″ vinyl with an exclusive artwork, different from the CD version.

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The Zyphoid Process & Great White North

September 18, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists, Metalcore, Post-Hardcore, Quebec, Retrospective Band Biographies

The Zyphoid Process (sometimes stylized as The Zyphoïd Process) was probably the only band from Quebec that I truly adored. This melodic, chaotic, post-metalcore band featured members who lived in various locations of the West Island of Montreal, but they practiced in bassist Pierre-Charles Payer’s house’s studio on L’Île-Perrot, Quebec.

Meeting from attending the same high school, College Charlemagne in Pierrefonds, Quebec, most of The Zyphoid Process’ members had crossed paths in previous bands. One of these, Deadly Awakening, featured Simon Talbot on vocals, Pierre-Charles Payer (aka PCP) on bass, Laurent Shaker and Eric Lapierre on guitars and Dave Powell on drums. Deadly Awakening played its only show in early August 2007 at The Vault in Pierrefonds. The set consisted solely of covers: As I Lay Dying’s “Meaning in Tragedy”, Atreyu’s “Lip Gloss and Black”, Alexisonfire’s “Waterwings” and Killswitch Engage’s “My Last Serenade”. Shaker had also been jamming with another group of friends, which included Shaker on bass, Lapierre on guitar and Raphael Sous-Leblanc on guitar.

By the fall of 2007, a new band had formed featuring Talbot and Sous-Leblanc on guitars and dual vocals, and Payer on bass. Talbot was responsible for naming the new band: The Zyphoid Process; an alteration of xiphoid process, a term he had come across during a first aid course. Musical influences came from Poison the Well, Norma Jean, The Chariot and other emocore and metalcore bands of the era.

*A recent find has rendered the chronology of the band’s formation questionable. A listing was located advertising a show on January 20, 2007, featuring The Zyphoïd Process, Deadly Awakening, Trigger Effect and A Scream From The Sky. Founding band member Talbot believes that the incarnation of Deadly Awakening listed on that show was prior to his joining that band, and that The Zyphoïd Process listed may have been a short-lived project he had started with different members, including Payer, Sous-Leblanc and drummer Julien Dubois, but that neither band ended up playing the show.

The first Zyphoid Process artwork ever created. October 2007, Nicolas Kudeljian

The first Zyphoid Process artwork ever created. October 2007, Nicolas Kudeljian

Initially, the band continued jamming with Powell on drums but this did not last very long. He was living in the complete opposite end of Montreal Island, in Pointe-Aux-Trembles, and was not available for jams often enough. Before the winter, he was replaced by Marc-André Lemyre. Lemyre had been introduced to Payer by his friend Jason at a party, and although Lemyre and Payer had played hockey together, they had yet to initiate a conversation. That very night, The Zyphoid Process setup a jam to try him out. Lemyre was by far the most talented drummer they had met and with him, they secured a stable rhythm section. Sous-Leblanc was also starting to have commitment issues, apparently due to winter sports. He was consistently training or working out while the band wanted to practice. So Talbot and Payer asked Shaker to come back into the line-up, as a temporary fill-in to continue writing dual guitar songs.

The Zyphoid Process demo/EP "Are You Processed?". Artwork by Nicolas Kudeljian

The Zyphoid Process demo/EP “Are You Processed?”. Artwork by Nicolas Kudeljian

In November The Zyphoid Process started recording at Payer’s home studio. Four songs were recorded for their planned demo/EP, Are You Processed?. After tracking “Le Visage de Juliana”, “Dirty Fingernails”, “The Human Machine Gun” and “Wrath of the King of Apes”, Payer asked his friend Nicolas Kudeljian to design the artwork.

A Myspace page was created in December 2007, and in January 2008, the band’s first show was booked at Cafe L’Inconditionnel. Through the Myspace page, Talbot had met Kevin Fernendes who operated Wreck Your Face Productions, a concert booking and promoting agency. Fernendes would go on to book the band more than a dozen times during the next two years. The Zyphoid Process’ first show took place on January 11, 2008, with A Wasted Sacrifice, Madeline, Terracide, Systematic Denial of All, Avery’s Decent, Camalus and End of Crisis. During the show, Shaker remained on guitar, while Talbot and Sous-Leblanc altered between vocals and guitar. For this event, Talbot asked a college friend and fan, Maxance Vassart, to handle the venues’ light effects. Vassart had grown up with Talbot and Payer in the West Island and had been attending local hardcore concerts with them for the past couple of years. Vassart had also attended Deadly Awakening’s concert and knew the band well-enough to handle the lighting job.

The band’s Are You Processed? demo was no sold at the show, however. Apart from a few very close friends who had home-burnt copies of the four songs, the band wasn’t distributing the recordings. New songs were continuously being written and the band wanted to wait until a lengthier release could be released on CD. Throughout the early months of 2008, three more songs were recorded at Payer’s home studio, and added progressively to Are You Processed?: “Motorpsycho”, “I Hope Your Attitude Is As Positive As These Results” and “Every Hole Has a Little Glory in It”. Ultimately though, this demo was never properly released as the band moved on to completely new material later in the year.

The Zyphoid Process live at CEGEP Gerald-Godin, February 8th 2008. Photos courtesy of Stephanie Lepage.
Simon Talbot in the dressing room of the Gerald-Godin talent show. February 8th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephany Lepage
Marc-Andrew Lemyre and Nicolas-Patrick Therien in the dressing room of the Gerald-Godin talent show. February 8th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephany Lepage
Pierre-Charles Payer in the dressing room of the Gerald-Godin talent show. February 8th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephany Lepage
Raphael Sous-Leblanc in the dressing room of the Gerald-Godin talent show. February 8th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephany Lepage
Pierre-Charles Payer, Nicolas-Patrick Therien, Laurent Shaker and Maxance Vassart (mirror) in the dressing room of the Gerald-Godin talent show. February 8th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephany Lepage

Talbot and Payer were then attending CEGEP Gérald-Godin in Sainte-Geneviève. The college put up a talent show on February 8, 2008 and Talbot booked the band to play as the main musical act. After hearing samples of the band’s recordings, the school administrators asked that the music to be toned down with less screaming vocals, and for the lyrics to be translated and sung in French for their performance; they were up for a surprise. Talbot dressed up in booty shorts and their friends Vassart and Nicolas-Patrick Therien put on costumes. Vassart was dressed in a clown mask and outfit, while Therien put on a Furby suit with a werewolf mask. During the show, the two of them moshed all over the stage before disappearing. By then, not only was Sous-Leblanc’s contribution to the band extremely limited, but he was also struck by laryngitis and could therefore only provide limited vocals.

After completing the three new songs for Are You Processed?, The Zyphoid Process played its third show on March 22, 2008. Once again booked by Wreck Your Face Productions at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, this time the show was played with Darkness Rites, Shock Therapy, Terracide, Realizing Our Fatal Lies, WDNFRA and Systematic Denial of All.

With the spring came a new evolution for The Zyphoid Process. Sous-Leblanc’s dedication was still in conflict with his interest in sports, and Talbot wanted to focus on guitar. This meant finding a new lead vocalist to sing the clean melodies. Thankfully, Therien knew someone, who happened to be dating Talbot’s ex-girlfriend. Mathieu Callocchia, who had previous sung in Sin Silencer, was asked to come try out at their next rehearsal.

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, April 18th 2008. Photos courtesy of Stephanie Lepage.
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage
The Zyphoid Process at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Lepage

Callocchia’s first show was on April 18, 2008 at Cafe L’Inconditionnel. This time, The Zyphoid Process shared the stage with As the World Fades, Azriel’s Curse, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Gone by Nightfall, No Hero for Today and Peroxide. Before Callocchia had come into the fold, the band was already working on a new demo, having officially abandoned Are You Processed?. The seven songs from the unreleased first EP were gradually dropped from their setlists, making room for the newly recorded “A Design in Decadence”. Planning to record a new demo/EP during the summer of 2008, The Zyphoid Process asked Kudeljian to start designing a new artwork.

In May 2008, after new songs were fully written without his input, Sous-Leblanc was officially kicked out of the band. But his departure was on good terms, as he later handled lighting duties for the band. On June 14, 2008, The Zyphoid Process played a show with IWrestledABearOnce, As the World Fades, Kissyface Fashion Faux Pas, Discordiance, Realizing Our Fatal Lies, Lenore and Demogoron at Cafe L’Inconditionnel.

The Zyphoid Process summer 2008 demo. Artwork by Nicolas Kudeljian

The Zyphoid Process’ “Summer 2008 Demo”. Artwork by Nicolas Kudeljian

While recording the second song for the Summer 2008 Demo, Talbot asked Vassart to officially join the band as their new screaming vocalist. With Vassart screaming and Callocchia signing, Talbot could then dedicate himself fully to playing guitar. “Stunning Facial Features” was the first-recorded song to feature Vassart, followed shortly after by “Nobody Wins in Gangster’s Bowls”. The band quickly posted the three new songs (including “A Design in Decadence”) on Myspace, just in time for Wreck Your Face Fest 2, a three-day festival booked by Fernandes.

The event celebrated the two-year anniversary of Wreck Your Face Productions and took place at Cafe L’Inconditionnel featuring twenty-one bands that had previously played shows for the promoter. The Zyphoid Process got to play on Friday, July 4, 2008, with These Silhouettes, Sydney, Haniston, As the World Fades, From Man in Ghost, Everlea, Syracuse Me and Lenore. The other two days featured GOB, Shock Therapy, The Divided Line, Old School Politics, Peroxide, Blind Witness, Come Clarity, Discordiance, Magellan, Realizing Our Fatal Lies, The Breaking Downfall and Business Window. A pretty amazing event welcoming Vassart’s first show with the band.

The Zyphoid Process t-shirts, July 2008. Artwork designed by Nicolas Kudeljian

The Zyphoid Process t-shirts, July 2008. Artwork designed by Nicolas Kudeljian

With a solid full band and the Summer 2008 Demo CD finally out, though distributed mainly digitally, The Zyphoid Process decided that it was time to get some apparel made. Kudeljian was once again asked to create the design. Talbot’s vision truly came to light with this t-shirt art. Kudeljian had already created a new band logo, and found a black and white picture of a woman screaming, as per Talbot’s request. One day in July 2008, before going to see the new Batman film The Dark Knight, Talbot and Payer, feeling a sudden and peculiar rush of inspiration, showed up at Kudeljian’s house to make some impromptu and final changes to the t-shirt design. A few effects were added to the woman screaming and the words “Get Freaky” were added in a cartoon balloon. Fifty t-shirts were then printed and sold for 15$, beginning at their August 9, 2008 show at Cafe L’Inconditionnel with Dead and Devine, Emarosa, These Silhouettes, Arise & Ruin, The Breaking Downfall and Here for the Crime.

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photos courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, August 9th 2008. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Scodras.

After being critically underpaid for each and every event booked by Wreck Your Face Productions, things seemed to be looking up for The Zyphoid Process. In late July 2008, the band was invited to join the roster of massive concert promoters, Supernova. With a promise of bigger and better things, Supernova started off by offering the band an opening spot for Metro Station at the Metropolis on August 14, 2008. The band quickly wrote a parody song to perform in front of this new audience: “Hannah Montana” (Metro Station included band member Trace Cyrus, brother of Miley Cyrus who starred in the television series Hannah Montana). But the promoters’ promises fell through and the show went on without The Zyphoid Process.

Supernova then booked the band at Club T.N.T. Concept Rock on Crescent Street in Montreal. This was The Zyphoid Process’ first chance at headlining their own show. September 4, 2008 was also the birthday of one of their friends, Alexandre Drouin, and they made plans to reserve the venue’s bar for an after-show birthday party, making sure that all of their friends could be present and have a good time. The evening as a whole was a success; playing for the first and only time their cover of Paramore’s “Crushcrushcrush”. But after the show, Supernova refused to pay the band, even though the members had each gone to extensive lengths to promote the event, and without help from the agency. This marked the end of the band’s collaboration with Supernova.

A few rehearsals later, Callocchia announced that he was no longer happy in the band. Since the release of the Summer 2008 Demo, Talbot had already written two new songs: “Predator’s Handshake” and “The End’s Not Near, It’s Here”. Both of these were a lot heavier and featured more screaming vocals for Vassart, leading Callocchia to feel somewhat out of place in a band that was, to him, obviously no longer “post-hardcore”.

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L'Inconditionnel, Montreal. September 26th 2008, with Gone By Nightfall, Today I Caught the Plague, Here for the Crime, KidIcarus, Camalus and Unbeing

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. September 26th 2008, with Gone By Nightfall, Today I Caught the Plague, Here for the Crime, KidIcarus, Camalus and Unbeing

Back with Wreck Your Face Productions, out of desperation due to lack of better offers, the band started playing at Cafe L’Inconditionnel again. On September 26, 2008, The Zyphoid Process played with Gone By Nightfall, Today I Caught the Plague, Here for the Crime, KidIcarus, Camalus and Unbeing. As only a few songs required clean vocals during their concerts, Talbot multitasked as vocalist. It was also around this time that Talbot joined another Montreal band, Polish Mi Yaya, featuring other students from CEGEP Gérald-Godin.

In early October 2008, Bird Wazo Studio contacted Wreck Your Face Productions to offer a free recording session. Fernendes compiled a list of bands which he felt could benefit from this studio time and put up a battle of bands. But this contest had nothing to do with talent or passion; it had to do with money. Fernendes decided that the band which sold the most tickets for him would “earn” (or rather “buy”) this free studio time.

The Zyphoid Process did not sell the most tickets. But it didn’t matter because the band was already recording new demos at Payer’s home studio. “Predator’s Handshake” and “The End’s Not Near, It’s Here” were finally recorded and Callocchia was invited to contribute clean vocals to the latter song. A third song was also recorded that year: “Everything We Know Is About to Change”. The band played their final show of 2008 on November 22nd, with These Silhouettes, Escape for Glory, Magellan, Skepsis, Edessa and Selana.

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L'Inconditionnel, Montreal. January 17th 2009, with Sydney, Lifestory Monologue, This is Gravity, Kinsley, Fannie and Modern Ghost

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. January 17th 2009, with Sydney, Lifestory Monologue, This is Gravity, Kinsley, Fannie and Modern Ghost

In 2009, the band started playing more shows in a short period of time. The first was on January 17, 2009, celebrating Sydney’s final appearance. Wreck Your Face Productions had of course booked this at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, along with These Silhouettes, Escape for Glory, Magellan, Skepsis, Edessa and Selana.

Less than a month later, CEGEP Gérald-Godin put together another yearly talent show. But this time the rules had changed. The school only allowed the band to play if every one of its members were its own students. This wasn’t the case for The Zyphoid Process, and the band wasn’t willing to rewrite all the recent songs’ lyrics in French. So Talbot and Payer created a one-off band, Le Projet. It featured one third of The Zyphoid Process: Talbot on guitar and Payer on bass; one third of Polish Mi Yaya: Laurent Ouellette on keyboards and Charles Blondeau on drums; and one third of Erewhon: Philippe Paquin on piano.

Le Project quickly wrote a single instrumental song and played its only show on February 12, 2009. Although the band technically won by receiving the most student votes, the judges chose to push them down to second place. The very next day, Wreck Your Face Productions had The Zyphoid Process play at the all too familiar Cafe L’Inconditionnel with Abandon All Ships, These Silhouettes, Hometown Beatdown, Bigger & Better Things, Skepsis and I Used to Pass Out Everyday.

Abandon All Ships, These Silhouettes, Hometown Beatdown, Bigger & Better Things, Skepsis, I Used to Pass Out Everyday

Abandon All Ships, These Silhouettes, Hometown Beatdown, Bigger & Better Things, Skepsis, I Used to Pass Out Everyday

Having built up a small following in the Montreal hardcore scene, Talbot received interest from Phil Worthy and Dave Boucher, who operated one of Montreal’s most successful independent concert booking and promotion agency, Extensive Enterprise. The Zyphoid Process’ first show for Extensive Enterprise was the D-Tox Band War II on March 27, 2009. Booked at CEGEP du Vieux-Montreal, The Zyphoid Process competed against Overend (featuring Polish Mi Yaya’s drummer Michael Guglia), Here We Stand, Best Regards and Die in Vain. Unfortunately, The Zyphoid Process did not win.

Overend and The Zyphoid Process would play another show together on May 2, 2009 at The Vault in Pierrefonds. Booked by Matthew Savage, the event featured his own band, Breaking the Fourth Wall, as well as Authors, Deadwalk and Chryses. In the spring of 2009, two new songs were written and demoed: “Diploma” and “Tonight’s Top Ten”.

The summer of 2009 was an uneventful period for the band. In June and July, Vassart and Shaker each went off to visit Europe (separately), while Talbot started touring with Polish Mi Yaya. The Zyphoid Process was constantly missing one of its member during a three-month period.

Back on track and refreshed after the summer vacation, the band played at Cafe L’Inconditionnel on August 14, 2009 with Abandon All Ships, Colossus Of Rhodes, Broken on Site, Sins Under City Lights, Four Feet & Fur and Skepsis. Somehow, after twelve shows for the agency, Wreck Your Face Productions managed to misspell the band’s name on the flyer…

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L'Inconditionnel, Montreal. August 14th 2009, with Abandon All Ships, Colossus Of Rhodes, Broken On Site, Sins Under City Lights, Four Feet & Fur and Skepsis.

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. August 14th 2009, with Abandon All Ships, Colossus Of Rhodes, Broken On Site, Sins Under City Lights, Four Feet & Fur and Skepsis.

The Zyphoid Process was then working on a new release; a concept EP titled Scandalmonger. Three new songs had been composed during the late summer and early fall of 2009: “Snuff”, “Gossip Girl” and “Winston Churchill”. Throughout the year, bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Botch, Isis, Converge, Coalesce, Every Time I Die, Fear Before, Glassjaw and The Bled had become major influences for the band and helped to shape a new sound in the music being composed. Early in its existence, The Zyphoid Process’ lyrics were mainly inside jokes that weren’t meant to be taken seriously. But with the writing of Scandalmonger, the band took a more serious approach with a darker and prevalent conceptual theme revolving around psychopathy, violence and sex. Although enough material had been written and demoed for a full-length album, the band held off of a release again.

The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, September 18th 2009. Photos courtesy of Marina Polak.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, September 18th 2009. Photos courtesy of Marina Polak.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, September 18th 2009. Photos courtesy of Marina Polak.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, September 18th 2009. Photos courtesy of Marina Polak.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, September 18th 2009. Photos courtesy of Marina Polak.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, September 18th 2009. Photos courtesy of Marina Polak.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionel, September 18th 2009. Photos courtesy of Marina Polak.

On September 18, 2009, The Zyphoid Process played at Cafe L’Inconditionnel for the thirteenth and final time. The show featured Fear Before, Baptized in Blood, Trophy Scars, Noble Scale and The Fierce. It was at this show that The Zyphoid Process was approached by Abridged Pause Recordings, a record label operated by Alexandre Julien, one of Vassart’s childhood friends. Julien had taken an immediate liking to The Zyphoid Process after hearing them on Myspace earlier that month and brought along his roomate and label photographer, Marina Polak, to take some new live shots of the band. After hearing them play live, and liking them even more, Julien offered to release whatever the band was willing to put together through Abridged Pause Recordings.

The Zyphoid Process live at Cabaret Underworld, Montreal. October 18th 2009, with It Dies Today, Arsonists Get All the Girls, Awaken Demons, A Wasted Sacrifice, The Dresto and From Glory to Failure

The Zyphoid Process live at Cabaret Underworld, Montreal. October 18th 2009, with It Dies Today, Arsonists Get All the Girls, Awaken Demons, A Wasted Sacrifice, The Dresto and From Glory to Failure

In early October 2009, the band decided that it was time for a name change, reflecting the different music being created. Talbot was a huge fan of Botch and suggested  the name Great White North, after the song “To Our Friends in the Great White North”. However, Extensive Enterprise had already booked the band as The Zyphoid Process for an upcoming show on October 18, 2009 at Cabaret Underworld. This was going to be band’s biggest show yet, playing with It Dies Today, Arsonists Get All the Girls, Awaken Demons, A Wasted Sacrifice, The Dresto and From Glory to Failure. Unfortunately, It Dies Today was refused entry into Canada from the American border and this considerably reduced the show’s turnout. During the concert, The Zyphoid Process announced to everyone that this was their final appearance under the old name, revealing that they would from then on officially be known as Great White North.

The Zyphoid Process at the Underworld, October 18th 2009. Photo courtesy of Marina Polak

The Zyphoid Process at the Underworld, October 18th 2009. Photo courtesy of Marina Polak

Shortly after the Cabaret Underworld show, Payer moved out of his parents’ house on L’Île-Perrot. He was attending the Polytechnique of Montreal University and found an apartment closer to the school in the city. Because of this, and with limited access to the studio and rehearsal room, the band practices greatly diminished.

Talbot nevertheless continued writing new songs with the same passion. “Dead Horse”, “1930”, “Sex Fiend” and “Life Lessons in Exotic Dancing” were all written before the end of 2009 and were demoed shortly afterwards at Payer’s home studio. Great White North planned to finish Scandalmonger at the start of the new year and book the its first shows, offering completely new material to its fans. Nearly fifteen songs had been composed and demoed for the release, but the band was unable to agree on a concept or direction; they had difficulty chosing which songs would appear on the EP. Things delayed during the winter and spring of 2010. Furthermore, some of the recorded songs were never completed with vocal tracks because Vassart went off to Europe for the second time, from May to July 2010.

Great White North promotional band picture from the Abridged Pause Recordings website, circa 2010

Great White North promotional band picture from the Abridged Pause Recordings website, circa 2010

Great White North rehearsed less and less during the summer of 2010, as everyone started following different lifestyles. Julien at Abridged Pause Recordings wanted the band to finish up Scandalmonger, so in an attempt to motivate them, he created a Great White North Myspace page in August 2010. This design once again penetrated Talbot’s mind. The imagery featured 1930s-1960s era photography of morbid, avant-garde and costume-wearing debauchery.

Great White North logo by Alexandre Julien, August 2010

Great White North logo by Alexandre Julien, August 2010

Great White North Myspace background by Alexandre Julien, August 2010

Great White North Myspace background by Alexandre Julien, August 2010

When Vassart came back from Europe, his interest in Great White North and hardcore music had vanished and he quit the band. The rest of 2010 proved extremely slow, and by January 2011, everyone’s schedules were clashing. Lemyre had started a new band, Skip the Foreplay, and was extremely busy with them, ultimately forcing him to quit Great White North in March 2011.

In April 2011, Talbot asked ex-Polish Mi Yaya bandmate, Michael Guglia to join Great White North. Guglia had been a long-time fan of the band and immediately agreed, prompting Talbot to send him two songs to practice to before they met up. A first rehearsal was scheduled at Guglia’s parents’ house on L’Ile-Bizard, with Talbot and Payer.

The band continued practising at Guglia’s house for the next ten months. But within this time, they also slowed down drastically. They weren’t jamming in a studio anymore so demos could not be recorded as easily. No shows were booked as multiple attempts at finding a new vocalist failed miserably. Vassart was constantly asked to come back but his schedule was always too hectic to make it work.

Eventually, Great White North moved into Marsonic Studio, a rehearsal space in Montreal on the corner of Park Avenue and Cremazie Street. By then, it was 2012 and Payer had also stopped coming to practices. One day after writing a new song, Talbot, Shaker and Guglia looked at each other and realized that it wasn’t The Zyphoid Process nor Great White North anymore. This was an all new band with an all new sound. Great White North was dead and Colours/Shapes was born. It was then that Callocchia was asked to come back as the vocalist for this new band, which is still active to this day.

Click here to download a form of discography, collecting all the songs that have survived.

-Complete Show Listing:

The first Zyphoid Process show on January 11th 2008, at Cafe L’Inconditionnel in Montreal. With A Wasted Sacrifice, Madeline, Terracide, Systematic Denial of All, Avery’s Descent, Camalus and End of Crisis.
The Zyphoid Process show. March 22nd 2008, at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. With Darkness Rites, Shock Therapy, Terracide, Realizing Our Fatal Lies and WDNFRA.
The Zyphoid Process show. March 22nd 2008, at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. With Darkness Rites, Shock Therapy, Terracide, Realizing Our Fatal Lies and WDNFRA.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. April 18th 2008, with As the World Fades, Azriel’s Curse, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Gone By Nightfall, No Hero for Today and Peroxyde.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. June 14th 2008, with IWrestledABearOnce, As the World Fades, Kissyface Fashion Faux Pas, Discordiance, Realizing Our Fatal Lies, Lenore and Demogoron.
Wreck Your Face Fest 2, July 3-5 2008.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. June 14th 2008, with Dead and Devine, Emarosa, These Silhouettes, Arise & Ruin, The Breaking Downfal and Here for the Crime
The Zyphoid Process live at Club T.N.T. Concept Rock, September 4th 2008
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. September 26th 2008, with Gone By Nightfall, Today I Caught the Plague, Here for the Crime, KidIcarus, Camalus and Unbeing
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. October 11th 2008, with A Devil May Cry, Sins Under City Lights, Untold, Amongst the Shadows, Our Own Justice and Insanity Takes Two
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. November 22nd 2008, with These Silhouettes, Escape for Glory, Magellan, Skepsis, Edessa and Selana
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. January 17th 2009, with Sydney, Lifestory Monologue, This is Gravity, Kinsley, Fannie and Modern Ghost
Abandon All Ships, These Silhouettes, Hometown Beatdown, Bigger & Better Things, Skepsis, I Used to Pass Out Everyday
The Zyphoid Process live at CEGEP du Vieux-Montreal for the D-Tox Band War II. March 27th 2009, with Here We Stand, Overend, Best Regards and Die in Vain
The Zyphoid Process live at The Vault, Pierrefonds. May 5th 2009, with Breaking the Fourth Wall, Authors, Deadwalk, Chryses and Overend
The Zyphoid Process live at Cafe L’Inconditionnel, Montreal. August 14th 2009, with Abandon All Ships, Colossus Of Rhodes, Broken On Site, Sins Under City Lights, Four Feet & Fur and Skepsis.
The Zyphoid Process live at Cabaret Underworld, Montreal. October 18th 2009, with It Dies Today, Arsonists Get All the Girls, Awaken Demons, A Wasted Sacrifice, The Dresto and From Glory to Failure
  1. 2008-01-11 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) A Wasted Sacrifice, Madeline, Terracide, Systematic Denial of All, Avery’s Descent, Camalus, End of Crisis
  2. 2008-02-08 CEGEP Gérald-Godin (Sainte-Geneviève, QC)
  3. 2008-03-22 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) Darkness Rites, Shock Therapy, Terracide, Realizing Our Fatal Lies, WDNFRA, Systematic Denial of All
  4. 2008-04-18 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) As the World Fades, Azriel’s Curse, Breaking the Fourth Wall, Gone by Nightfall, No Hero for Today, Peroxide
  5. 2008-06-14 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) IWrestledABearOnce, As the World Fades, Kissyface Fashion Faux Pas, Discordiance, Realizing Our Fatal Lies, Lenore, Demogoron
  6. 2008-07-04 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) These Silhouettes, Sydney, Haniston, As the World Fades, From Man in Ghost, Everlea, Syracuse Me, Lenore
  7. 2008-08-09 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) Dead and Devine, Emarosa, These Silhouettes, Arise & Ruin, The Breaking Downfall, Here for the Crime
  8. 2008-09-04 Club T.N.T. (Montreal, QC)
  9. 2008-09-26 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) Gone By Nightfall, Today I Caught the Plague, Here for the Crime, KidIcarus, Camalus, Unbeing
  10. 2008-10-11 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) A Devil May Cry, Sins Under City Lights, Untold, Amongst the Shadows, Our Own Justice, Insanity Takes Two
  11. 2008-11-22 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) These Silhouettes, Escape for Glory, Magellan, Skepsis, Edessa, Selana
  12. 2009-01-17 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) Sydney, Lifestory Monologue, This is Gravity, Kinsley, Fannie, Modern Ghost
  13. 2009-02-13 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) Abandon All Ships, These Silhouettes, Hometown Beatdown, Bigger & Better Things, Skepsis, I Used to Pass Out Everyday
  14. 2009-03-27 CEGEP du Vieux-Montreal (Montreal, QC) Here We Stand, Overend, Best Regards, Die in Vain
  15. 2009-05-02 The Vault (Pierrefonds, QC) Breaking the Fourth Wall, Authors, Deadwalk, Chryses, Overend
  16. 2009-08-14 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) Abandon All Ships, Colossus Of Rhodes, Broken On Site, Sins Under City Lights, Four Feet & Fur, Skepsis
  17. 2009-09-18 Cafe L’Inconditionnel (Montreal, QC) Fear Before, Baptized in Blood, Trophy Scars, Noble Scale, The Fierce
  18. 2009-10-18 Cabaret Underworld (Montreal, QC) It Dies Today, Arsonists Get All the Girls, Awaken Demons, A Wasted Sacrifice, The Destro, From Glory to Failure
Read More

Platform & Roosevelt Interview

September 15, 2009
Alexander Julien
Band Interviews, Blog, Emo, Florida

Editor’s Note: This interview was initially sent to Tim Kirkpatrick, James Glayat and Chris Irving at the same time back in September of 2009. Each member responded with their own version of the story. Bellow the interview, Tim Shaner offered a retrospective view on Platform, Roosevelt and his other bands. This interview was initially conducted to be posted on a 90’s hardcore webzine (I don’t have to tell you which one, I’m sure you can guess which one it is) but they thought it was beneath them to publish it. So here it is on the Abridged Pause Blog instead!

-Hey Tim, I was wondering if you would have some time to answer these few questions concerning Roosevelt?

Tim: Wow! A Roosevelt interview 15 years after the fact. Sure, I’ll try and answer your questions as good as my memory serves me from that time.

Platform demo, 1993

Platform demo, May 1993

-So Roosevelt formed in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida in October 1994. How did the band come about? Had any of you guys played together in a band before? I’ve heard on forums that Roosevelt was connected to a band named Platform, any relation?

Tim: Roosevelt was formed out of the ashes of like 10 other bands. Justin and Tim Shaner (brothers, guitar and vocals) and Chris Irving (bass) were in a band called Platform together. Platform broke up and those three formed Roosevelt with Chris’s brother Jeff Irving on drums. So the band was made up of 2 pairs of brothers at the beginning. After a few months, tension was high with Jeff, so he left and I joined and James Glayat came in as a 2nd guitarist. James and I were formerly in a scrappy little punk band called “Shaft” (our 1st band ever). The members of Roosevelt were Justin Shaner, Timothy Shaner, Timothy James Kirkpatrick, James Thomas Glayat and Thomas Christopher Irving.

James: That’s right. Sunny Palm Beach County. If I had to give it an exact birth place I’d have to say Palm Beach Gardens High School, somewhere between second and third period, when Justin Shaner asked Tim Kirkpatrick and I to come out and play with him. Justin, his older brother Tim Shaner, and Chris Irving from Platform were looking to replace their drummer, add a guitar player, and change names. This was a typical Shaner maneuver. Replace one member, change names, write new songs. I don’t mean that in a bad way, of course, I just mean Justin never stopped moving. Tim K. and I had been in a band together in the past and since we were huge Platform fans, it just all sort of fell into place. Platform was, as far as I know, Palm Beach Gardens’ only hardcore band at the time. Before that I think there was Deal With It, but that was Tim Shaner and Justin Shaner too.

Chris: Yeah 1994 prior to that Justin [Shaner] (guitar) and Tim [Shaner] (vocals) brothers always had something going on. I was playing bass in a typical South Florida Death Metal band, so Justin and Tim and a few other local hardcore kids asked me to mess around with them. At the time I hated it, hardcore seemed so basic, but because we were all best friends I tucked my long hair under a hat and we started a band called “Deal With It”. DWI, had songs about unity, fighting, some straight edge. At the time Justin, Tim and Aaron were straight edge, I wasn’t yet. Tim played drums in DWI but wanted to sing, so we found a drummer, Mason (a skinny little sxe punk rock kid with a kit) and started Platform. Platform was a bit different because, we added another singer to the mix, Derek Warren. By this point I drank my last beer and took the lifelong vow of straight edge. Platform was Tim Shaner on vocals, Derrek Warren on vocals, Chris Irving on bass, Justin Shaner on guitar and Mason Youell on Drums.

James Glayat provided me the following pictures of Platform.

Platform, circa 1994
Platform, circa 1994
Platform, circa 1994
Platform, circa 1994
Platform, circa 1994
Platform, circa 1994

-Who came up with the name, and why?

Tim: I think that one of the Shaner bros. came up with the name, or maybe Chris did. Not too much thought behind it I don’t think. Maybe Chris liked Pres. FDR and his wife, or maybe we just wanted to be like the bands Lincoln and Hoover.

James: Hmmm…. I think it was Tim Shaner. And no we didn’t know there was a band out there called “Roosevelt’s Inaugural Parade”. Why? To be honest, I have no idea. You could blame it on the fact that we were all big Lincoln and Hoover fans. But that sounds so fucking lame… Could be true though, I honestly don’t remember. That would be the embarrassing version.

Chris: At about this time bands like Culture and other harder metal hardcore bands hit the South Florida scene. Platform dropped the second singer and changed the name to Roosevelt (most environmentally sensitive US president and he had a cool name, I wish it were deeper.

-In the booklet of the EP, it is mentioned to be printed on soy/vegetable oil. Was the band vegan? Were any members straight-edge?

Tim: When you say “EP”, I’m not sure if you’re referring to our demo-tape or our 7″ but… Our friend Derek Warren put out the demo for us and printed everything. He was probably just going for the sustainable option with the ink and such. A couple of us were straight edge and vegan, some smoked weed and were vegan, and some ate doughnuts and smoked weed. Our friend Andrew Chadwick put out our 7″.

James: There’s no simple answer there. At that period in my life, the world around me, the music scene based world, was always subject to so much change that from one week to another it’s hard to say who was what when. That being said, yes there were times when I think everyone was both drug free and vegetarian/vegan and times when people were eating and doing all sorts of shit. I know Tim Kirkpatrick is still to this day vegan, and Chris is to this day still straight edge. The soy ink thing? I’d ask Damien [Moyal] about that or John Philips. That might have been his call. I don’t think I would have cared one way or the other back then.

Chris: Yeah. Justin, Tim S. and I were edge but after some time Justin and Tim S. felt it wasn’t for them anymore. I still was VERY edge so I felt compelled to leave.

Roosevelt playing live, circa 1995. Notice Damien Moyal in front row
Roosevelt playing live, circa 1995

-Your first release was a (5-6) songs cassette demo. How many of these copies were made and did all these songs eventually make it on your other releases? Did you work with Jeremy Staska from the start on the production?

Tim: I don’t remember how many demos we made, probably around 200 or so. We would just kinda make like 25 per show and bring them in a shoebox. None of those songs ever made it further than the demo. We actually wrote songs rather quickly, as Justin Shaner is a riff-machine, so I feel like every few months we had 4 new songs that would phase out the old ones.That demo was recorded by this dude Will that played in an awesome band called “Drop” from West Palm Beach. Probably one of my favorite bands from south Florida. We recorded it in Justin’s bedroom. We hooked up with Jeremy for the stuff we recorded after the demo [April 1995]. It was a big step up for us cause he had an actual studio with a live room and isolation booths.

James: The demo, holy shit. I have no idea. I’m racking my brain right now and I can’t even remember what songs where on that thing. From the start? No. Only on the stuff that came out on the Culture split and the 7”. I don’t really remember who recorded the demo, only that we did it in Justin’s bedroom and that I played like shit.

Chris: The demo was actually recorded in my apartment by some recording engineer students on a 4 track. I think I dubbed 50 copies on my home stereo (DIY). Fortunately, the demo got out and people liked it. Because we were all really close with the Culture (Miami) scene we joked about a split with the wimpy emo-Roosevelt and ubber tough guy Culture. In my mind it made sense because it was a good representation of what was going on in the South Florida scene. We all walked and rocked together. Culture worked exclusively with Jeremy Staska in Fort Lauderdale. It was a dope studio for a decent price so we went with him!

-You then released a split with Culture on Intention Records. How did that come about? It was the labels first release. Was Jon Philips active in the local hardcore scene?

Tim: At first that split was supposed to be a comp with tons of FL bands on it [including Roosevelt, Culture, Tension, Afterall]. Long story short, us and Culture were the only bands that actually recorded a song for it so it became a split 7″. I don’t think that we would have done it had it originally been proposed to us as a split w/ Culture. Not because we had anything against them, but we recorded 3 other songs in the session for the comp and we would of rather just had our own 7″ out. It ended up working out really well, though, because it was 2 drastically different bands on one single. We met Jon from playing a bunch of shows up in Melbourne. He played in other bands that we played with and he was just starting his label at that time.

James: Good old John Philips. John had played guitar in (a guitar I now own mind you) in this band Afterall and this other band Uplipht. I loved his guitar playing. As much as I loved Justin’s. Also in those bands, on drums, Dave Lablue from The Mercury Program and Textural. He also went on to play bass in the band that came after Roosevelt, Burgundy [Burgundy and “The Burgundy Romance” were different bands, although both Dave Lebleu and Justin Shaner part of them]. I wasn’t in that one. I got “Shanered” out of it. I don’t recall who offered who or what at the time but I was a big Culture fan and they were our friends. I was just stoked to be putting out a record, of any length, with anyone.

Chris: Jon Phillips kinda came out of nowhere. He hung out with the Culture entourage. At that point he wanted to start his label so he asked us to do a split. We agreed and it happened.

Culture / Roosevelt split 7″ (First press, May 1995, Intention Records)
Culture / Roosevelt split 7″ (Second press, 1996, Intention Records)

-That split had two different versions. One of them had a picture of a flower on white paper, while the other had a picture on young miners on beige paper. Can you recall why this was so and how many copies of each were made?

Tim: The one with the miners was the 1st pressing (or maybe just the 1st pressing of just the cover). No idea how many copies were made of each.

James: I don’t have my records with me right now so I can’t look and tell you, but I really don’t even know if that would help. I don’t really remember, sorry.

-The split mentions the song was recorded in April 1994, yet on the EP, it says the band was formed in October 1994. Who handled the artwork?

James: Probably pressing error. Probably my fault. I think I did the layout for that thing in the front seat of my car at a show at the Old School House in Vero Beach. I think I had to turn it in that night and glue sticking everything together by dashboard light and fucked something up. I’m sorry history, my bad.

-Did you tour for the split, or played any shows with Culture? Did the band have any merch at the time?

Tim: We played a bunch of shows all over Florida, which back then driving over to Tampa to play a show was a big deal to us. We played lots of shows with Culture and also with other great bands from Florida and beyond, including Reversal of Man, Strongarm, Falling Forward and Split Lip. We made some patches and stickers here and there, but never any shirts.

James: I think we had patches. I think Tim K. and I silk-screened patches. Maybe stickers? We didn’t tour. But there was a period of time when we were playing so many shows up and down the east coast of Florida that it felt like it. Pretty much every town within 100 miles of Palm Beach Gardens got a Roosevelt show if it had more than ten punk rock kids in it. We loved playing with Culture. They brought out the crazy hardcore kids from Miami.

Chris: In South Florida we were very fortunate to have a club called the Foundation which basically let us (the hardcore scene) do as we pleased. As a result Roosevelt, Culture, played every week-end. Our scene grew huge, suddenly this little garage band from Palm Beach Gardens, merged with the larger Miami scene. As a result, we ended up playing a lot and recorded a demo in my living room. Deal With It, Platform, Roosevelt, The Porchfront Chat and Burgundy- all were basically the three of us Justin, Tim and Chris.

Roosevelt EP, Boxcar Records, 1996

Roosevelt EP, Boxcar Records, January 1996

-You then hooked up with Andy from Boxcar Records to release your self-titled 7″ EP. This was released in 1996 I believe, and the band had already broken up, as stated in the booklet. How was the release and reception of the EP at the time of its release? It was actually pressed twice, so I assume it sold rather well even if the band was not doing any shows or promotion.

Tim: Yeah, I think he planned on pressing that before we broke up and it just took way longer than expected to get pressed. We were young and stupid so of course we broke up. I don’t even remember why. By the time the record came out most of the band had moved all over the place and at the time there was no music scene in our town so it’s hard to say how the reception was.

James: Andrew Chadwick had been friends with us for a long time by then, just from going to shows and whatnot. He’s a great guy. Haven’t seen him in a few years, but we stay in touch. By 1996 Roosevelt was long since dead. Tim K., Justin and I were graduating from High School, Chris had gotten married (still together too!). Like I said earlier, at that point of time in our lives, everything was subject to such rapid change. We had all moved on to other bands that had burned themselves out as well. As far as how many copies were made? How many were sold to who? I haven’t the foggiest.

Chris: Boxcar! Yeah, we were really into Split Lip, Unbroken, Texas Is The Reason and Boxcar was the only label interested in not doing the trendy chunk chunk metal hardcore. So we signed with him and he really believed in the band. But the band’s differences in direction was getting the best of us. I was really getting politically motivated in straight edge while Justin, Tim S., Little Tim K. (drummer) and James were almost against it-being punk against punk? So I think I was voted out. But Boxcar wanted to release it anyway.

-Who wrote the lyrics to the songs? How was the song writing process? Were some more involved in composing then others?

Tim: Tim Shaner wrote all the lyrics. Justin was kinda the riff monster. He would come in with tons of stuff and we’d all kinda just arrange it together. I would say that Justin probably did 50% of the writing, James and Chris would bring a bunch of stuff to the table, too.

James: Tim Shaner wrote the lyrics, maybe Justin did too, not sure. I know I didn’t, Tim K. didn’t. As far as the composing of the songs, I’d say it was 60/40 Justin to James ratio with heavy editing by Tim K. Tim K. and I have been in a lot of bands together over the years (As Friends Rust, Moments In Grace) and aside from being one of the best drummers on earth, he’s a great song-smith. Justin was one of my favorite guitar players at the time. I loved Platform and was super flattered that he wanted to play with me. He was the first in a long line of guitar players that I’ve played with that were FAR better than me, and in turn, forced me to be better.

Chris: Justin wrote all the guitar riffs, I wrote most melodies on bass and Tim S. exclusively wrote lyrics. I think it worked because we were all so different that when it synthesized it was music. Essentially Justin would show up at a practice with some riffs, he would play them over and over, the drummer and I would improvise along with him while Tim recorded it all on a boom box, take it home and write the lyrics. Next practice we had a song!

-A lot of the pictures from the releases are about blue collar works and young miners. What was the bands view on this, or the point trying to be made?

Tim: I mean, I’d like to give you a great explanation, but really were were just a grungy kinda band and the artwork on the few things we released kinda reflected what the music sounded like. We would pretty much just give the recording to whoever was designing the cover and tell them to make what comes to mind by listening to the songs.

James: I don’t think there was any message there. We weren’t a political band, we were more personal. I think Tim Shaner was trying to write about experiences personal to him that he felt others could identify with. But you’d have to ask him. I don’t think I picked out that photo.

January 13th 1995 at The Brothel in Florida. Roosevelt, After All, Strongarm and Soulstice.
April 1st 1995 at The Brothel, Roosevelt played with Sense Field, Falling Forward and Discount

-What led the band to break up or move on in September 1995? It was so short lived, but yet still to this day people discovering your music are impressed. How do you look back on your music?

Tim: I seriously don’t remember why we broke up. We were young and constantly evolving musically in different ways. People butted heads and were difficult with each other. We broke up and split into 2 other bands: “Burgundy” and “Flat Earth”.

James: I’m sure it was related to either some inter-band politics or something. I just remember being told “we’d broken up” after a show at the Old School House and at that moment the handle on my guitar case broke off and my guitar fell in the dirt. Within two months I was in some band called Flat Earth with Chris’ brother [Jeff] and we were playing shows with Burgundy. Whatever the reasons were for the break up, it never affected my friendship with any of the other guys. I live in NY now, in Brooklyn. Dave Lablue, who also lives up here, said he just saw a copy of the Culture split in some record store in Williamsburg. That makes me happy. It was all so long ago, and had I any idea that that recording would still be floating around today, I would have tried to play better. But it makes me happy that something I did so long ago is still out there. Somewhere. It might me fodder for the record bin, but its proof that I was.

Chris: After I was voted out, everyone kinda started there own projects. Burgundy started with Justin and Tim S. I rejoined them in The Porchfront Chat. I love the music, it was honest, raw and sincere. I listen too it from time to time however, it is a bit dated now. To be honest, we are surprised of the recent interest in the band.

-Was the band featured on any compilations, or had any merch made during its lifespan?

Tim: As far as I know we just have the demo, the split, and the 7″.

James: I think we may have been on some comp that Andrew Chadwick put out. I’d ask him. As far as other merch? Nope. Patches, I think Tim K might have one still.

-Was there ever any planned releases that didn’t happen?

Tim: No. We had a good amount of songs but no $ to put them out. I think had we been around longer we would have released more stuff.

James: We might have written a few songs that never saw the light of day, but they’re long since lost.

-Finally, would you be able to recall all the bands you’ve done before and after Roosevelt?

Tim: Damn, I’ve played in a bunch. I’ll give you the ones that I actually played more than 1 show with (that I can remember): Shaft, Roosevelt, As Friends Rust, Argentina, Ithaca, Swayze, Keith Welsh and Moments in Grace.

James: As Friends Rust (with Tim Kirkpatrick and Damien Moyal from Culture), Moments In Grace (with Tim K. again), GATORS! (my current band, oddly enough with Dave Lablue and Peter Bartsocas from Bird of Ill Omen, another Damien Moyal band).

Chris: Since the split, I moved to Gainesville and played in Red Roses For A Blue Lady (the favorite of all my bands). Today I live in Asheville, NC. I am a graduate student studying to be a special education teacher. In 2003 I suffered a massive stroke that destroyed my left hand. So NO Roosevelt or Red Roses reunions until stem cell to repair brain damage. But that’s another diatribe.

-I had the chance to speak with Tim Shaner about the history of Platform and Roosevelt as well as the other bands him and his brother were in. Here is what he had to say

“Deal With It” didn’t turn into “Platform”. Deal With It was formed in 1991. The line up for the band consisted of Aaron? on vocals, Justin [Shaner] on guitar, Chris [Irving] on bass and Tim [Shaner] on drums. Deal With It was old school hardcore. We would do covers of Youth of Today, No For An Answer and Judge. We started to become more influenced by newer 90’s hardcore and changed the name of the band to “Omission”. Omission didn’t really go anywhere and we split up. Some of the later Deal With It /Omission songs ended up on the Platform demo.

Sometime around 1992 or early 1993 Justin [Shaner] and Chris [Irving] formed a band called “Strapdown”. This band consisted of Justin Shaner on guitar, Chris Irving on bass, Derek Warren on vocals and Mason Youell on drums. At this time I wasn’t doing anything musically. My memory is a little fuzzy on this part but at some point I joined Strapdown as a second singer. So I think Strapdown played one or two shows with Derek and I on vocals. Derek left the band and that’s when Platform was born. In May of 1993 we recorded the Platform demo with a friend of ours on a 4 track recorder. Platform played it’s last show in March of 1994.

Shortly after this we started a new band with myself on vocals, Justin [Shaner] on guitar, Chris [Irving] on bass and Jeff [Irving] on drums. We went by the name of “Bench Warmer” and played one show with this line up. Jeff left the band and this is when James [Glayat] and Tim [Kirkpatrick] joined. Shortly after this line up was in place, I came up with the name “Roosevelt”. Roosevelt recorded the demo in December of 1994 on a 4 track in our rehearsal space, my bedroom. I think we played our first show in January of 1995. We were approached by Intention Records about contributing a song to a Florida compilation 7″ record. The bands on the comp were going to be Roosevelt, Culture, Afterall and Tension. I am not sure what happened next, only that the comp turned into the Roosevelt/Culture split seven inch. We recorded four songs. The remaining 3 songs came out on the Roosevelt seven inch on Boxcar Records in January of 1996.

“Burgundy” was formed shortly after Roosevelt disbanded. The line up for Burgundy was Justin Shaner on guitar, Tim O’Donnell on drums, Tim Shaner on vocals and Dave Lebleu on bass. We recorded a 6 song demo sometime in late 1995 or early 1996, not quite sure. This band did not last very long. The next thing that we did was “The Porchfront Chat” the line up was Justin Shaner on guitar, Chris Irving on bass, Tim Shaner on vocals and Dave Lebleu on drums and trumpet. This band never officially recorded anything, though there are some recordings. This band broke up around January of 1997.

Download the full Platform and Roosevelt discography The Shaner brothers now play in Blood in a Box: listen here

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Phlegma / Stagnant Waters – Sea Of Abandoned Polaroids

August 24, 2009
Alexander Julien
Releases
Phlegma & Stagnant Waters "Sea of Abandoned Polaroids" split. Released August 24th 2009 on Abridged Pause Recordings (APR2).

We all know of the great Smohalla. Well when its divided in two, there’s Phlegma on one side and Stagnant Waters on the other side. Phlegma was a solo project by Slo which was created before the formation of Smohalla, and Stagnant Waters was started by Camille some time in 2007. These are the very first demos written by each band.

Original press release post:

Phlegma and Stagnant Waters bring you an amazing split ep, “Sea of Abandoned Polaroids”. Now you may be asking yourself, who are these bands? How come I’ve never heard of them before and they are so good! Well that’s because the guys from both bands are now doing Smohalla together!

Lets take it back a bit. Slo was doing a project before Smohalla entitled Slore. A great number of songs were written during this period, but two of them ended up too different from the majority of the stuff. They were put aside as Phlegma. Since 2003, those gems have been unheard! Then in 2007, Camille, who was was taking a break from composing Smohalla, created some totally different material. He named it Stagnant Water. The first two demos written are the ones we are presenting to you. Later, he was joined by Aymeric and renamed the band Stagnant Waters. They are currently writing a full-length to be released on Paradigms Recordings.

01 Phlegma – Orpheline
02 Phlegma – Évolution
03 Stagnant Waters – Algae
04 Stagnant Waters – Willpower

Album credits:
Phlegma is Slo (Vincent Casar) on vocals, guitar, bass, drums, samples, engineering and production
Stagnant Waters is Camille Giraudeau on guitar, bass, drums, samples, engineering and production
Artwork by Vincent Casar at Unreal Visions
Mastered by Adam Kennedy at Vital Philosophy
APR2 – August 24th, 2009
All songs released exclusive to Abridged Pause Recordings and registered to Abridged Pause Publishing

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“Sea of Abandoned Polaroids” is out now

August 24, 2009
Alexander Julien
Abridged Pause News, Blog

Phlegma and Stagnant Waters bring you an amazing split EP, “Sea of Abandoned Polaroids“. Now you may be asking yourself, “Who are these bands? How come I’ve never heard of them before and yet they are so good!” Well that’s because the guys from each of those bands are now doing Smohalla together!

Let’s take it back a bit. Slo was doing a project before Smohalla entitled Slore. A great number of songs were written during this period but two of them ended up being far too different from the rest of the stuff. They were put aside as Phlegma. Since 2003, these gems have been unreleased and unheard! In 2007, Camille, who was was taking a break from composing Smohalla material, created some totally different material. He named it “Stagnant Water” (in the singular form). The first two demos that were written and recorded in 2007 are the ones which we are presenting to you on this split EP. Later, Camille was joined by Aymeric and renamed the band “Stagnant Waters” (in plural form). Stagnant Waters are currently writing a full-length to be released either on Paradigms Recordings or on Abridged Pause Recordings.

You can download the split for free on our Myspace page.

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Various Artists – Diluvian Temperals

August 24, 2009
Alexander Julien
Releases
Various artist "Diluvian Temperals" compilation. Released August 24th 2009 on Abridged Pause Recordings (APR1).

“Diluvian Temperals”. This is the first release by Abridged Pause Recordings, and its a great pleasure to introduce these 13 bands which we will be working with in the future, with 13 exclusive songs, never heard or released before. Released totally free to make sure that as many people get the most out of it. You may however make a donation to support the record label, but you don’t have to. Simply click the “Buy” button and enter “0” for the amount and it will be downloaded free.

Original press release post:

Well, it’s finally here! The very first release by Abridged Pause Recordings! It took months to put together, but I’ll tell you, it was worth it! It was worth the wait, the pain, and the struggle.

What we’ve got here to offer is a 13 songs digital compilation featuring 13 exclusive songs by various post-metal, post-rock, post-black metal and ambient bands. All these songs were either recorded or pulled out from the shadows especially for this release. So were damn honored to offer these to you.

Now this idea originally started out in late 2008, when I had decided to close down my last label Mortification Records and focus on a new label. Thus came Abridged Pause Recordings, and the first band to be signed was Dreams of the Drowned. However their album would not be ready for almost a year, so I had to find a way to get something out until then. I thought about putting together a compilation for a couple months and finally settled that the idea could be good, considering everything would be exclusive. So I put together a roster of bands, which was completed in February of 2009. I sent it to a friend who was supposed to master the whole works, and he told me some of the tracks were not top notch material. So those songs were scraped, and I must admit I ended up keeping only about 1/4 of the stuff I was sent. So I set out again to find better bands who really represented the vision that APR whad. Finally in April 2009 a new roster was completed and this time I sent it to Adam Kennedy to get them mastered. He right away fell in love with the whole work, so I knew I had something good. The works was ready by June, but I was attacked by delays on the website, and the compilation ended up not coming out until late August. Well I must say that I am extremely proud that this is now out to the public and I cannot stress enough how much I want everyone to hear this stuff.

01 Pet Slimmers of the Year – Brujas
02 Black Sand and Starless Nights – 5/8th’s Perfection
03 Somnam – In the Woods of Silence
04 Tower – They Sculpt Eyes and You
05 Omega Centauri – Battle of Öland
06 Parabstruse – Turning Back
07 Black Autumn – Metatron
08 Dying Sun – Sleep Unending
09 Smohalla – Une Longue Marche
10 Kailash – Past Changing Fast
11 Feos – Le Fin Absolute Du Monde
12 Last Minute to Jaffna – Chapter XII
13 Semiosis – Holy Nothing / Nothing Holy

Album credits:
Mastered by Adam Kennedy at Vital Philosophy
Artwork by Vicent Casar at Unreal Visions
Compilation compiled by Alexandre Julien
APR1 – August 24th, 2009
All songs released exclusive to Abridged Pause Recordings and registered to Abridged Pause Publishing

Song credits:

  1. Music by Pet Slimmers of the Year
    Guitar by Scott Gowan
    Bass and guitar by Steve McKenna
    Drums and percussions by Dale Vinten
    Recorded at Jigsaw Studios, Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, UK by Tom Savage in September 2008
  2. Music by Black Sand and Starless Nights
    Guitar and bass by William Kachersky
    Drums by Mike Vassallo
    Keyboards, engineered and produced by Patrick Poblete at Frozenn Studio, New Jersey in 2005
  3. Music by Somnam
    Piano, samples, engineered and produced by Antti Vaheri
  4. Music by Tower
    Guitars by Sébastien “Seb” Mollo and Antoine Babino
    Bass by Florent “Flo” Tabouret
    Drums by Guillaume “Guim’s” Quere
    Engineered and mixed by Jean Louis Esvan at Capricorn’s Studio, Lorient, France in August 2008
  5. Music by Omega Centauri
    Vocals, guitar, bass, drums, samples, engineered and produced by Thomas Vallely
  6. Music by Parabstruse
    Guitar, samples, engineered and produced by Garry Brents at GAB Recordings, Texas in January 2009
  7. Music by Black Autumn
    Vocals, guitar, bass, drums, sampling, engineered and produced by Michael Krall at The Lair, Germany in 2009.
  8. Music by Dying Sun
    Vocals and lyrics by Bryan Chew and Dan Dillon
    Guitars by Bryan Chew
    Bass by Dan Dillon
    Drums by Matt Day
    Recorded and mixed by Bryan Chew, in Frederick, Maryland in winter 2009
  9. Music by Smohalla
    Vocals, guitar and drums by Vincent Cassar
    Bass and backing vocals by Camille Giraudeau
    Programming and samples by Antoine Luc
    Engineered by Camille Giraudeau and Vincent Cassar
    Produced by Vincent Cassar
  10. Music by Kailash
    Guitar and bass by Marco Basili
    Drums by Andrea Basili
    Mixed by Damiano Minghetti at Hombrelobo Studio, Rome, Italy in January 2009
  11. Music by Feos
    Guitar, drums, engineered and produced by Iason Roumkos
  12. Music by Last Minute to Jaffna
    Vocals and lyrics by Valerio Damiano
    Guitars by Valerio Damiano and Danilo Battocchio
    Bass by Paolo Fazio
    Drums by Andrea Pellegrino
    Engineered by Danilo Battocchio at Deepest Sea Studio, Turin, Italy in May 2009
    Mixed by Lorenzo Stecconi at Locomotore Studio, Rome, Italy in May 2009
  13. Music by Semiosis
    Noise by Alexandru Seidiu
    Guitar by Şerban Ilicevici
    Drums by Alexandru Seidiu and Şerban Ilicevici
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“Diluvian Temperals” is out now

August 24, 2009
Alexander Julien
Abridged Pause News, Blog

Well, it’s finally here! The very first release by Abridged Pause Recordings! “Diluvian Temperals” took months to put together but I’ll tell you, it was worth it! It was worth the wait, the pain and the struggle.

What we’re offering here with “Diluvian Temperals” is a 13 band digital compilation featuring 13 exclusive songs by various post-metal, post-rock, post-black metal and ambient artists. All of these songs were either recorded or pulled out from the shadows especially for this release. So we’re damned honored to offer these to you.

This idea originally started out in late 2008, when I decided to close down my last record label Mortification Records and focus on a new record label. Thus came Abridged Pause Recordings, and the first band to be signed was Dreams of the Drowned. However, their album would not be ready for almost a year, so I had to find a way to get something out until then. I thought about putting together a compilation for a couple months and finally decided that this idea could work, considering that everything would have to be exclusive. So I put together a roster of bands which was completed in February of 2009. I sent this original version of the compilation to a friend who was supposed to master the whole thing, but he told me that some of the tracks were not top notch material. I ended up only keeping about 1/4 of the stuff that I was sent, the other songs were scrapped. So I set out again to find better bands who really represented the vision that Abridged Pause Recordings had. Finally, in April of 2009, a new roster was completed and this time I sent it to Adam Kennedy to get them mastered. He immediately fell in love with the whole release, so I knew that I had something good. The works was ready by June, but I was attacked by delays on the website and the compilation ended up not coming out until late August.

Well, I must say that I am extremely proud that this is now out to the public and I cannot stress enough how much I want everyone to hear this stuff. Come listen to exclusive songs by Last Minute to Jaffna, Smohalla, Kailash, Parabstruse, Black Autumn, Somnam, Pet Slimmers of the Year, Tower, Feos, Dying Sun, Semiosis, Black Sand and Starless Nights and Omega Centauri.

You can download the compilation for free on our Myspace page.

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FaceDown

August 9, 2009
Alexander Julien
Metalcore, Ontario, Retrospective Band Biographies

Ok, there are at least half a dozen bands named “Facedown” in the hardcore genre alone. I must admit that I really like the Belgian one as well. But this one, from Canada of course, is probably the heaviest of them all. If the sub-genre “moshcore” or “chugga chugga metalcore” ever were used, this would be the case. Just the record labels they were on speak for themselves…

FaceDown was formed in 1996 with Rob Garland on vocals, Jim Dawes on guitar, Russ Bondy on bass and Brian Dawes on drums. After an early demo, their first release was a split 7″ with God In A Headlock on Sounds of Revolution. In around 1999 Rob was replaced with Ozzy Eren and the tape ep “A Life Wasted in Fear” was self released. Lear Mason would join on second guitar and “Forgetting the Constant Fear” would be released on Tribunal Records. The band would tour extensively and went in to record their final album “Blinded by Delusions”. During the recording session they would change drummers to John Bellon. Both drummers played on the album. After touring started, Russ quit and Mac Hall would be the final addition. The band then stated that they would outlive all other bands of the same name, but I think they went under not long after…

FaceDown – EPs

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Left for Dead

August 5, 2009
Alexander Julien
Grindcore, Hardcore, Ontario, Retrospective Band Biographies

Left for Dead was a short lived power-hardcore/violence-hardcore or whatever you want to call it band from Hamilton in the mid-late 90s. They were fierce and fell like a punch in the face. They released a live split with Chokehold in 1996 on Rhythm of Sickness Records, a split with Ochre on Phyte Records and a split with Acrid on No Idea Records in 1997. Somewhere I read they also had their own 7″ ep but I haven’t heard it. All this stuff was compiled on a discography CD by No Idea Records in 1999 under the name “Splitting Heads”. In 2004 they did a brief reunion and recorded their live set which was released on LP by Deranged Records.

I don’t have the final live set, so if anyone wants to hook me up…

Left for Dead on Myspace
Left for Dead – Splitting Heads

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Union of Uranus

August 3, 2009
Alexander Julien
Grindcore, Ontario, Retrospective Band Biographies

This great grindcore band has been distributed over and over again throughout North America and Europe. There is so much to be found on this band all over the net, so I’ll be straight to the point. Their discography, “To This Bearer of Truth” was released in 2004 by Stonehenge Records and The Great American Steak Religion (the labels final release before changing name). This includes their demo Backhand from 1993, which was also used as their side of the split with His Hero is Gone on a 12″ on TGASR. They then did a split 7″ with Immortal Squad, and released a double 7″ ep “Disaster by Design” also on TGASR, which was later repressed as a 12″ record on Farewell Records. They also had a Negative Approach cover on a tribute album.

Union of Uranus on Myspace
Union of Uranus – To This Bearer of Truth

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Day of Mourning

July 19, 2009
Alexander Julien
Metalcore, Ontario, Retrospective Band Biographies

So I had to follow with a third great band (not that there is a lack of them here) so I chose the ultimate metalcore band from Ontario. At least in the 90s they were the ultimate.

Day of Mourning was this supper powerful metalcore band that would just rip the front off houses like a wolf. Fudd Bokhari’s vocals were just madd! And Dom Romeo (who now runs A389 Recordings) was one of the best guitarists of the genre.

Their first demo in 1998 “Guilty Innocence Roaming” was pressed in a variety of covers for different tours, but was soon after accompanied by their debut “Reborn as the Enemy” put out by Upheaval Records (a label that I has released few but important things). It didn’t take long until the split with Hardtime “Penitence Towards the False Prophet” came out on 7″ (Sounds of Revolution), then their immense 2nd album, “Your Future’s End”. That album is massive and withstands the shakedowns of time! It was followed by “A Move Towards Ascension ~ Forsaking Redemption” (split with Red Sky), and a split with Clenched Fist, both issued on CD on Domenic’s own 13th Day Recordings. The split with Clenched Fist was originally supposed to also include xCoalition Against Shanex, Pitboss 2000 and Empire Falls and to be released in 1999 on Use Your Head Records. Only two of the bands were left and it was released on Domenic’s own label a year later. So you can assume what happened.

They were on a shitload of compilations, too many to mentioned, but I’ve compiled a few. At the time the band broke up in 2001, they were working on their third album to be titled “Onwards to Tragedy and Contempt” as well as a split with Leval Blessing. Unfortunately, we never had the chance to hear those.

This is actually a good time for this post because A389 just re-issued “Your Future’s End” on 12″ colored vinyl. This is the first time that the album is on vinyl, and its super limited, so if you’re a fan, get it fast!

Day of Mourning – Demos & Albums
Day of Mourning – Splits and Comps

Leval Blessing
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Vision Éternel Interview for CenZu Zine

June 10, 2009
Alexander Julien
Ambient, Band Interviews, Blog, Post-Rock, Quebec

Editor’s Note: This interview was published on June 10th 2009 for CenZu magazine. 

-Hey there, how has the year begun for you? Have you had a lot of time developing material Vision Éternel?

The year has been great so far. Not only for Vision Éternel, but also for a lot of my favorite bands getting back together this year. But its also a year of re-issuing for Vision Éternel. In February the two EPs were released together under the compilation “An Anthology of Past Misfortune” on Frozen Veins Records, and now this summer each EP is getting a re-issue on cassette tape on Winterreich Records. Other than that, I have been working out ideas for a load of upcoming releases, but these actually have to do with collaborations. The only one I have officially announced was the split 7″ with Ethereal Beauty, that’s been in the works for nearly a year. That will come out on Abridged Pause Recordings.

-First off, I need to say your material reminds me of bands like Dark Sanctuary, Raison D’être and like some parts of my own band [ówt krì]. How would you describe your own music and what do you think of these comparisons?

Well to tell you the truth I had never heard of these bands until you mentioned them. For the sake of answering your question fully, I checked them out. Honestly I see no resemblance in the music. I would describe Vision Éternel as an emotional ambient concept. Some may go further and say its shoegaze, some may say its post-rock, and personally when I set out to find what it was I was doing, I stumbled on the term “ethereal”.

-Another thing that sprang into mind is: why this style of music?

As I started to mention in the previous answer, when I started out doing Vision Éternel in January of 2007, I was still really into my black metal phase. So I wasnt aware of most of the effects that were used in studios. When I was working on new Vision Lunar songs (that’s my other band, very atmospheric black metal type of thing), I came across the reverb effect on Sonar. I had never used it, and I loved it from the first try. So I ended up jamming what would become Love within Beauty, and writing an EPs worth of material. I still didn’t know what kind of music I was doing, I was just calling it “ambient” since it was the only thing I knew came close to it. Then I did some research to try to find out what exactly was this thing I was doing. Of course I landed on the entire roster of Projekt Records… But I dont think Vision Éternel is necessarily a shoegaze or ethereal band…

-On that note I’m also interested in what bands you see as influences to your music and what do you listen to normally? Are there any records that you always return to?

As far as music that has influence Vision Éternel, there is none. I have never been influenced to compose any Vision Éternel songs after listening to anyone elses’ music, in fact to prepare myself for recording Vision Éternel, I listen to Vision Éternel beforehand. The only true influence for Eternel, is a series of heartbreaks. My favorite bands are very far off from what my musical genre and compositions are. My all time favorite band is Faith No More, then I would have to say Chamberlain comes in second and Elton John in third. Those are very alternative bands, yet I mostly listen to hardcore, post-metal and black metal. So I couldn’t tell you that those musical influence are there for Vision Éternel. My other bands, that’s another story.

-So, there are some Canadian bands I’m really interested in hearing your opinion on, so if you would be kind enough to rate them from 1-10 and give some explanations: Devin Townsend, Dream Theatre (aren’t they from canada?), Unexpect, Vision Éternel.

Devin Townsend and Unexpect, I couldnt careless. I used to really like Dream Theatre back in high school, but they’re not from Canada. Vision Éternel of course gets a 10.

-I have to be honest and let you know I don’t know a whole lot about your band. Could you tell me a little about Triskalyon and how it turned into Vision Éternel, but also a little about the differences in these two bands.

Triskalyon is hard to explain, and I haven’t found the exact explanation for it. It wasnt a band, it was a regroupment of bands. It was a very French thing to do then, like “Les Legions Noire”, “Team Nowhere” and “H8000”. What it was was just all of my bands and all the bands of my close friends regrouped together under the Triskalyon banner. Vision Éternel was just part of the group. Triskalyon broke up and Vision Éternel was the only serious band to come out of it, so I kept the Myspace page for it.

-I really need to ask you where the band name Vision Éternel comes from. In some way it is very suitable for this type of music, but also it seems somewhat predictable.

Since I have already explained Triskalyon, it will be easier to explain this. All the solo projects that were in Triskalyon were named Vision something. I named this one Vision Éternel because it was with an obsession I had on one of my ex girlfriend. I couldnt get over her. Anyway, the spelling is intended to be like that because its neither french nor english, somewhere in between.

-You’ve been working with a few labels, can you tell me how this came about? What would you see as the positive and negative sides in your co-operations?

VE started out under Mortification Records, which was a net label that I ran back then (it since folded). The two EPs were released on that label because back then I felt no one would be interested in investing in Vision Éternel, not a label, not any fans. And I also just wanted it to stay very personal. I was then offered to re-issue those releases on CDs by various labels but wasnt interested. The only one that I could come up with an idea about was Frozen Veins Records. We put out the compilation of both EPs with some unreleased material on it. Really awesome guy and I hope the label will go far. Recently I was given the chance to work with Winterreich Records. Its a pretty big label for the black metal scene, having re-issued many important albums on cassette tape. I just hope that Eternel will someday fit in that roster of important bands. The latest label I have been working with is Abridged Pause Recordings. That’s my new label, and it will be putting out the split 7″ vinyl with Ethereal Beauty. I would have to say that I really enjoy having worked with many labels. It gets you a lot of new exposure, and each label takes your band to new places.

-What would you see as the greatest advantages with the Internet for a young band? How have you utilized the World Wide Web in your career?

I think mp3s are both one of the best and worst things for a band. Of course I am a strong believer in the mp3 download. It’s so great, but it kills the artists in the end. I know that a few years back many bigger labels didnt have respect for digital labels, and some people still feel this way. but some of those net labels are really getting somewhere, and not to make publicity for them or anything since I havent worked with that label at all, but Lost Children is one of the bigger and best ones out there. As I mentioned earlier, the first two EPs were released digitally, so it got us a lot of good exposure. But it takes non stop work in promotion.

-One thing I’ve noticed myself is that by only dealing on the internet as band, you get very little feedback. Have you received much feedback on your music? How has the public reaction been?

I’ve had a decent amount of feedback about the music, but I cant say that it has been that much. Most people dont really bother to leave comments or reviews or even a quick star rating… And anyone spending their days downloading music that says “im too busy, I dont have the time for that” is a fucking liar and a lazy bum! I think people should have more respect for the bands that let you get their shit for free. It used to be you needed a ride to get to the store to get the album, and you needed money to buy that, and while you obtained those things you did more word of mouth promotion, than you are doing now sitting in your little computer room getting free music and isolating yourself. That’s enough philosophy for now.

-Now last but not least, I want to thank you for your patience and wish you all the best for the future. Do you have any final words, requests etc.?

If you like the bands, give feedback! It’s important. And now my promo slot: check out my label, Abridged Pause Recordings. Thanks a lot for the interview, it was a pleasure answering it!

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Stagnant Waters

June 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists

Stagnant Waters is the experimental side of Dreams of the Drowned. Inspired by Dodheismgard, Mr. Bungle, Atomsmasher and such, Camille created the band in 2007, and was later joined by Aymeric (of Pryapisme). The early demos were released as a split with Phlegma on Abridged Pause, and now the band is finishing their debut album due out on Paradigms Recordings in late 2009.

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Phlegma

June 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists

Before their was Smohalla…their was Phlegma. Early form of post/blackened screamo, this short lived idea created just what it was intended for. Any word of praise would still be an understatement about this.

Collaborating with Stagnant Waters, Phlegma brings you a welcomed split in this scene that needs constant evolution to survive. This is where it started.

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“Diluvian Temperals” is almost here

May 29, 2009
Alexander Julien
Abridged Pause News, Blog
Abridged Pause Recordings Banner 2008

Changes are slowly occurring to this website. What we mean by slowly is that most of it is done, as you can see, but about 25% of it has yet to be finished. Our graphic designer Jeremy Roux assures us that it will be done in June though. Additionally, Abridged Pause Recordings’ very first release is coming out that month; “Diluvian Temperals“. Clicking that link will take you to the Releases page so that you can check out more of Abridged Pause Recordings’ upcoming plans.

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Omega Centauri

May 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists

In a world where black metal has become extremely overdone, and simply unoriginal in any possible phase that may come forth, certain bands manage to stand out and make you wonder, this new phase could actually be good. Omega Centauri is a prime example of what a “special black metal” band can do and be. Something fascinating.

After introducing Omega Centauri to the world on the “Diluvian Temperals” compilation in 2009, we are pleased to continue to bring you material by this unforgettable band. 2012 ought to be a good year!

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Semiosis

April 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists

Post-rock is already in a new level. It has evolved into a more electronic based theme, and Semiosis is one of Western Europes first to do it. And they set the bar high enough for other artists to make it hard to match.

After an incredible first album, this band is welcomed in the arms of APR to bring you what has to be heard out loud. With a song featured on our compilation, it is only the beginning of a fruitful relationship between beauty and intelligence.

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Pet Slimmers of the Year

March 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists
Pet Slimmers Of The Year

Pet Slimmers of the Year’s extremely atmospheric sound of metal has been an ear catcher from the moment they released their EP in early 2009 and the band quickly gathered international attention. This trio from England intelligently put out their debut digitally for free, and the three tracks were immensely appreciated. It is with great pleasure that we introduce PSOTY with a brand new song for our compilation.

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Kailash

March 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists
Kailash

Kailash is a well known name in the post-black metal community. Their music has been turning heads since their earliest inception as Krom in 2002. After reducing members, they changed name to Kailash in 2006, and their first self-titled album  (which was a compilation of the last two Krom demos) was issued 3 times, and each sold out. Kailash’s fanbase grew rapidly and everyone was impatiently waiting for a second album. Finally in 2009 they unveiled “Past Changing Fast”, by this time the band was down to its core members with the Basili twins (Marco and Andrea). Everyone seemed to like the new album, but the band wasn’t please with the outcome. A year later they went back to the studio to completely remix the album, and Abridged Pause Recordings is proud to bring you this output! Do not miss out on what these twins have to offer.

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Smohalla

March 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists
Smohalla

The genre “post-black metal” has often been mislabeled. Smohalla represents one of the few occasions when it can be used appropriately. Incredibly well-composed music with an intelligent progression.

Smohalla began in 2006 with their demo and was immediately well-received. Less then a year later, their first EP was the talk of the critics corner and it sold out within half a year. Over the next two years the band released various covers on compilations and tribute albums, while preparing their debut full-length. This seems to be the most promising black metal act to come out of France since Blut Aus Nord. You don’t want to miss out on this one!

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Ancestral

March 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists
Ancestral

Ancestral is an atmospheric black metal from San Diego, California, United States, founded by songwriter Brendan Shaouna. Since its inception in 2007 (after changing name from Ancient Moonlight), Ancestral has been kept busy with releases. Those include the six-song demo “Curse” in January of 2008, an EP of unreleased material in April of 2008, another EP “Avowal” in May of 2008, a split with Njiqahdda and Merankorii in May of 2008 and another split with Wedard in June of 2008.

Hard at work since then on a debut full-length album, Ancestral will be contributing an exclusive song to Abridged Pause Recordings’ first release, a Various Artists compilation due out in 2009.

 

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Black Sand and Starless Nights

January 1, 2009
Alexander Julien
Artists
Black Sand And Starless Nights

When Starless came out with “Good Question” in 2005, people couldn’t stop talking about it all around their local town of Metuchen, New Jersey. It really isn’t hard to see why either. The duo Bill Kachersky and Mike Vassallo) would continue to collaborate with producer Patrick from Frozenn Studios, who was partly responsible for their distinct sound. After extending to a full band line-up in 2007, the band went under hiatus, and later, stating they had broken up. One of the tragedies of the year…

Abridged Pause is here to bring their music where it belongs! And you can be sure we will fulfill that goal some day.

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