The band’s sound has much more in common with the other members (Ehren Hill- guitars, Jeff DeMarco-vocals, Jim Gregory- guitars) other active project, Excrecor– that’s to say a more melodic take on death metal. But fear not this isn’t wimpy, wispy melo-death but a bigger bigger and meaner more of melodic death metal that has a strong Hypocrisy undercurrent that’s littered with a few expected Canadian flurries.

Big, robust, crunchy guitars, some mild atmospherics and riffs that alternate between precisely mid paced and some slower moodier moments  along with plenty of solos, and a mix of Tagtgren-ish mid range rasps and deeper growls make the Hypocrisy comparison come to life without being quite as obvious as say, Souldrainer. And I get a sense of the band’s geographical roots with some slight early 00s East Coast metal such as Beyond the Embrace and Beyond the Sixth Seal.  The balance of  stout chugs like “Corporeal Form”, very Hypocrisy-ish “Monolith Of Internecion” and the impressive closing title track (which has a little of everything)  and and bigger,  slower more developed songs like standout “An Asylum for Penitence” or “Corrupter” make for a very satisfying release. And a few moments of more expected speed spurt forth here and there such as “Contagion” and The Project Hate -ish throes of “Paths to Obliteration” give the album some bite.

Throw in a solid modern production, The Undying Season is a damn solid release and a good comeback for Galy Records, who went dark for a while. Let’s hope this jump starts them as it’s a quality release featuring some quality musicians, big name or otherwise.

Appearing live:

May 16: Sudbury, ON Townhouse Tavern (w/ Nefastus Dies)

May 17: Toronto, ON The Kathedral (w/ Nefastus Dies, Anaal Nathrakh)

May 18: Hamilton, ON Club Absinthe (w/ Cryptopsy)

May 31: Quebec, QC Cafe Bar L’agitée

June 07: Matane, QC BSL Underground Fest (w/ Quo Vadis)

August 16: Trois-Rivieres, QC Rock Cafe Le Stage – Grind Your Mind Fest

For more information and audio samples visit http://www.myspace.com/thelastfelony

This record combines a 1986 demo, To Be a Real Terrorist, with a performance recorded live in Montreal in April of 1987. While it’s not awful, it’s probably not something that needed to be dug up and offered again. The demo part, from start to finish, is a nice little exercise in early Slayer worship with the occasional Kill ‘Em All riff thrown in. The only standout track on the first half of the record is the final one, “Deadly Fear,” which features a nice, dark bass-driven bit that repeats throughout the song. The fast screaming part is actually distracting on that track.

The live portion of the disc, as you’d expect from a self-recorded live performance in the mid 1980s, sounds pretty rough, but there are actually some signs of promise scattered throughout it. The band reigns in the frantic pace on “Buzz Fly,” a performance heavily influenced by Metallica’s Ride the Lightning, but as on “Deadly Fear,” they just can’t seem to keep the tempo down. They have to launch into that sloppy, same-sounding, edging on out of control verse. They miss a point that a lot of would-be thrashers in the 1980s missed – speed isn’t everything.

Maybe if I’d heard this when it was originally recorded in 1986, it might have excited me a little more. All these years later, it sounds derivative and amateurish (as most demos do). This one’s probably only for collectors of closet demo tapes.

Either way, this is pretty dull stuff; a sort of Six Feet Under/Jungle Rot simplicity meets basic Floridian death metal and any number of uber chunky down tuned hardcore/deathcore bands. Generally mid paced with occasional blasting flourishes and Leblanc delivering a gruff roar/shout and its all pretty yawn worthy. Only the stout drumming of Julien Mercier (ex-Aphasia) is the only worthwhile element to this lifeless slab of metal.

The 8 tracks are the rudimentary opposite of Atheretic and Neuraxis, which I guess is the whole idea. 31 minutes of solo-less rumbling, bass heavy grooves and even the occasional blast beat doesn’t make it any more memorable. In fact, there’s not a single moment or riff I can recall except maybe the stop/start riff of “Blueprints to Depression” or promising opening rumble of the title track, but other wise it’s like Hatebreed and Malevolent Creation’s (during their lesser moments) had some sort of illegitimate child, and this one deserves to be put in a dumpster.

Along with the 21 tracks from their splits with Subcut, Sergent Slaughter, Feeble Minded Sylvester Staline and as well 2 unreleased cover tracks (including Death’s “Empty Words”), the album is an enhanced CD-ROM that features 19 tracks from splits with Conure, Manherringbone and P.O.T., a video for “Medicated like a Motherfucker” and a picture gallery. Pretty cool collection if you ask me.

Breaking down all 40 or so tracks would be useless, but in summation, this collection simply shows the band at their most free form and experimental with a surprising amount of melody (“Another Living Night”, “Fingers with Candy Tips”, “The Jaqiuo”) and experimentation from their full lengths. You also and programmed silliness (“Whisper Dependency (Video Game Version), “The Transformation”, “Merdarahta”) as well as their trademark grinding, caustic, spazz chaos (“No One Remembered Who Started”, “Medicated Like a Motherfucker”, “This Means Nothing”, “Terminal Skullet”) all featuring the furious femme fatale, Mel Mongeon.

In all, a must have for fans of the band to get all these hard to find and varied split tracks on one easy access release. Thanks Galy.

Yup. You red that right.

Musically, The Truckers are not too dissimilar from many of their Canadian peers, plying a sort of tight, complex, off kilter hardcore/grind/death metal (Ion Dissonance, Despised Icon, The End, Fuck The Facts, etc), but the whole thing is sung/growled/screamed in French, which makes the music even more jarring, and personally it’s a barrier that I really can’t overcome, despite the decent delivery of the music.

I hate to sound ‘language-ist’, but it’s true. Even with a glossy Yannick St Armand production (Despised Icon, Beneath The Massacre) and a pretty good grasp of the genres stuttering, blasting mechanics, I pretty much shut down when Patrick Bernier opens his mouth, particularly during the sort of semi spoken, growled, shouted parts (i.e. “Redneck and Ultra”, “No Man’s Land”). There are some styles that actually sound better in a foreign tongue (Viking Metal for example)-this isn’t one of them. But even with that element, I’ll admit The Truckers are far less annoying than some of their English speaking screamy, spazzy contemporaries, as The Truckers actually have some solid song writing chops. Tracks like “The Underground Armies”, “Truckspiracy” and “Speed” (Yes, I know the sing titles are in English), rumble, blast and stutter with ample heft and occasionally inject some grinding, thrashing melody (“Diesel”, “The Return of the King”).

I imagine this record will have more appeal if you are French Canadian or speak understand French, and I’ll be the first to admit I’d probably give the album more credence if it were in English, but I’m not one to question and artists language choice. Still, the more tolerant fans of this style will get some enjoyment out of this stout but lyrically offputting record.

With all sorts of Dimmu Borgir-isms from the synth use and mix of melodic blasting and slower more dramatic parts, Blinded By Faith are less spikes and leather and more real world in their themes and lyrics, but no less competent. Other comparisons can be made to early Children of Bodom (especially the guitar work of “Global Denial”), France’s Scars of Chaos as well as some of the more extreme melodic death metal acts like Detonation and Mors Principium Est, just with a blacker lean.

The concept based album is full of polish and varied songs to convey the story. Slower tracks like “The Dead Don’t Talk” and “Consortium Y2K” are tinged with more emotion and pacing (and in the latter song’s case, female vocals), mix it up with more appropriately urgent tracks like “Barcode Blindfold”, “Finger on the Trigger” with a smattering of clean vocals ala ICS Vortex (“An Ordinary Day (In North America)”. The band even utilize an interesting industrial approach for the chunky intro to the 7+ minute “Elite Insight”, an element that shows the band able to break the mold should they choose.

Professional, polished and confident without overstepping their boundaries or influences, Blinded By Faith bring a slight air of freshness to the Goth dominated symphonic black metal genre and I look forward to hearing more from them as they grow and develop as a band.

From the opening seconds of “Raising the Dead”, the Metallica influence is strongly felt, and is a mainstay throughout the album. Actually, when I first heard that beginning riff, I was instantly reminded of “Motorbreath”, to the point that I thought it sounded like they were ripping that song off, but then it starts to take on it’s own character. The vocals of Petrick Le Pirate come off like a cross between Kreator’s Mille Petrozza and Exodus’ Steve “Zetro” Souza, with a slight punkish vibe, which gives it just a bit of a crossover feel. All 5 other songs here, “Venom of the Beast”, “Roadkill”, “Breathless Birth”, “Black Bones” and “Stuck on the Shores of Hell” (excluding the 18 second “DC Pino” interlude) are played at break neck speeds, and at times, some really great thrash riffs, though the solos are just total shred lacking any variance, which brings Slayer to mind in with their approach to soloing.

Reanimator have released a decent debut EP which will satisfy many a thrasher, but if originality is what your after, you’ll have to look elsewhere, as it seems the only thing these guys want to do is resurrect pure, old school thrash, which is certainly not a bad thing.

With only and EP and a debut under their belt, Blinded By Faith released these two separate efforts as a pre-emptive strike for their forthcoming Weapons of Mass Distraction album, and both the DVD and CD contain a new track from that album, so fans get little glimpse of the new material. However, what really impressed me about this young band how damn good they sound live on the CD. Quite honestly, this is so crisp and clean, if it wasn’t in the title, the crowd noise or for the French in-between song banter, I may have not known this was a live effort, particularly singer Tommy Demers, drummer Julien Marcotte and keyboardist Danny Émond. Demers screams and growls with out barely missing a breath, while Marcotte and Émond tightly carry the music.

For those unfamiliar with the band the music is a very familiar yet well done styled of Cradle of Filth/ Dimmu Borgir/Anorexia Nervosa/Stormlord –ish symphonic black metal/melodic death metal. So that means lots of sweeping synths, bombastic riffs and atmospherics. Most of the material is from the Under An Occult Sun release, but two of the better tracks “Behind the Placid Mask of the Starlit Cosmos” and “Reptilian Shudders” from the Veiled Hideousness EP are rendered with perfect live intensity. An unreleased track (“The Dead Don’t Talk”) and an impressive new track (“Finger on the Trigger”) flesh out the well played and, as I said, superbly rendered material that’s above average for the genre.

The DVD is a as high quality as the CD, as it’s the same show, so has the same 11 songs and same sound. The picture quality is good and there’s the usual array of bonus features like behind the scenes, extra live footage and such, amounting to about 140 minutes. Not a must have, but a nice little packages where you can see the bands tight live show, as well as hear it.

Personally, this would have made a nice CD/DVD combo deal, rather than two separate releases, with maybe the DVD as a bonus disc as it doesn’t offer anything more than visual accompaniment of the show. Still, both should appeal to fans of the band as well as well done live offerings.

If you, like me were disappointed with Misery Index’s Discordia, grab this tasty little (literally) release and strap in for a 7 minute hellride of crusty, grinding intensity.

Featuring Misery Index’s Own Jason Netherton, as well as Ruiner?s Danny Porter and ex-Swarm of the Lotus drummer Chris Csar, Quills could almost be termed a grindcore supergroup, but would probably have no such thing. The eight super short tracks of blasting power chord fusion and incredibly deft and acidic harmonies give Quills a level of biting yet catchy, intensity I haven’t heard since Terrorizer. The clever pinch harmonics of “In the Flickering Light”, “Your Own Reality” and “Flight 19” are just downright illegal while the riotous “Placing the Blame” is utterly nasty as is opener ,”I Sank Your Battleship”, while the misleading restraint of “Held By a Broken Hand” opener is the calm before the storm.

The gritty production and Porter’s caustic vocals give this a ‘modern’ (kiddie spastics/spurts i.e Daughters, Robinson, Hewhocorrupts, Ed Gien, The Number 12 Looks Like You. etc) grind sort of feel, but the sheer velocity and tenacity of the music makes this head and shoulders above today so called grind kids.

I got this free to review, but you will have to justify if 7 minutes of brillaince is worth your hard earned cash or if you want to wait for a hopefully forthcoming full length.

Lying somewhere between the crushing, head in a cement mixer ballistics of Cryptopsy and the staccato technical prowess of Theory In Practice and the mindfuckery of Gorguts, Beneath the Massacre, in this mere five song EP, deliver a stunning display of music that makes me salivate for a full length album.

With all their intricacy, BTM still are brutal as shit, with some monolithic breakdowns littered around the shredding that may put of those fans frightened of the “H” word (hardcore), but when surrounded by such a vortex of sheer embolism inducing complexity, it’s impossible not to get swept away. EIlliot Desgagnes has a deep formidable roar that keeps things brutal and not too frivolous, while Justin Rouselle’s manic drums, while at time a little to programmed sounding (Canadian super producer Yannick St-Amand overdid them slightly), provide a hectic backdrop.

“Profitable Kill Count” and “Regurgitated Lullaby for the Born Dead” leap off this EP as standout cuts of immense depth and girth with “Regurgitated Lullaby for the Born Dead” having one of the most oppressive breakdowns I’ve heard in years as its bowel shuddering climax. The other three tracks are equally as tight, visceral and entertaining, but seem to cower in the shadows of the other two mighty tracks with a more intricate lean.

One has to wonder if a full length album can retain the intensity for 40 or so minutes or if it will repeat itself and bury the material in needless technicality. But god-damn I look forward to finding out.

Self Inflicted Hell is 36 minutes of American thrash metal. Distinctively American thrash metal, so no real surprises there. The album starts out somewhat slow – with faster mosh parts evenly thrown into the songs while singer and guitarist Samuel Landry shouts his way through the riffing like the Tom Araya. Unfortunately – even if I used the word “riffing” – deep down it’s quite basic and I was secretly hoping for something much more adventurous. You know, those fist-fuck-guitar-orgies where the use of two guitarists really start to shine like the sleeveless Golden Gym T-shirt on a mullet wearing virtuoso (with a capital V). Of course, since most bands who roam on similar grounds don’t have such guitar dueling either, I guess it’s unfair to complain. Especially when at times on this Horfixion output, there’s at least some parts with more interesting twists and turns.

I must say, I wasn’t too keen on the album after the first half. The album starts out rather normally with faster tempo but just when they should be increasing the fury, the tempo and the delivery of the punches – they take out the fire extinguisher and put out the flame that just a moment ago seemed to be ready to expand and explode. Argh! It’s almost like banging seven chicks at the same time only to wake up and realize that it was a dream and your life still sucks. But just about when the half has passed, it seems like they remembered what they were doing and pick up the pace and start delivering the safe, but always nice, thrash metal that they were supposed to deliver from the very beginning.

Part of the grime I’ve got with Self Inflicted Hell is the production. It just lacks that force which has made weak songs on other albums worth of at least a couple of nods. For example the album’s best track (no question about it), Thoughtless, would have been a grand anthem of rage for me if it wasn’t for the lifeless production. It’s a shame as it really would have shook the shit out of my neighbors if only given the treatment the song deserves. Last but not least, Rendez-vous avec la Mort, is – as the name suggests – a song sung in French. I’m tempted to quote S.O.D’s legendaric album (something about speaking something), but since the song is rather nice and puts a deserving end to this album of mixed emotions and feelings, I guess I’ll let it slide away this time… no – I must say it. In this particular case, the delicate language of French just doesn’t work. But that’s okay, since in all honesty the ending part is almost perfect: starting out with a short acoustic part and then transforming into a pure mosh fest. Where was this stuff 30 minutes ago?

All in all, I wouldn’t lose my sleep over Self Inflicted Hell as it promises more than it’s able to deliver. Hopefully I won’t have to copy and paste this review when the next album comes out.

The pure groove has been changed with more hints of melody that are further emphasized with more acoustic parts and most notably, with clean singing. Don’t falter into despair, as it’s quite a different from the clean singing of Anders Friden and it’s used quite tastefully; it never really arises to the top of the game but rather plays as an construction element in the background. Production is clean but deep, as the bass plays quite dominantly in the overall mix. At times the image of Tourniquet’s Microscopic View Of A Telescopic Realm pushed into my mind and not always solely on production’s behalf.

I was rather skeptical about the album after the first song, “Unmade”, as it seemed to start dragging somewhere in the middle and it appeared to become one of those songs that have little to offer. Luckily, it turned out that it was the only bullet that missed its mark as the following songs didn’t make me cringe in agony. I almost feared of the crime repeating when the first notes of the third song, “Cast Aside”, appeared from the speakers as the song starts out in the fashion in which countless of other ‘starting bands’ have started their ‘more rock’ -songs in the past. I can almost swear the notes played at the beginning are part of some example in the book “How to become a Rock Star ABC”. For the band’s own benefit, they quickly lose those notes and steer the song the other way. While the track is probably the lightest sounding of ’em all on the album, with almost cheerful tones playing through most of it, it also breathes freshness to rest of the songs. Alone, I’d probably detest it but in context it works like a charm. Truly confusing. After that, the gear gets locked down to the meaner thrashtastic gear where things rock and roll without problems. Just like they should — although, the breakdown part halfway through the album on the song “Ultimatum” was memorably pleasing. One thing I would have changed though, was the ending. The track before last, “To The Pain” features a part at the end of it that could have been put on repeat for a couple of minutes and to which it would have been perfect to fade out the album. But since the piano outro works also quite well (should have been longer though!) – I guess I shouldn’t really complain. Ah well.

While I wouldn’t give these guys any awards or nominations, I didn’t go out and pour gasoline and throw fire over the album either. Good album, nothing more – nothing less. Hopefully the next time we’ll hear something that people can really get excited about.