New/Old Video Uploads Related To Woods Of Ypres!!

Just a heads up for anyone who reads this post on the day it went up or shortly thereafter, but this was largely written during the great Facebook outage of October 4th, 2021, so I apologize if any of the links or photos in it are slightly awry. I did intentionally choose topics that aren't reliant on Facebook to write about, in the event that Facebook remained down, and while it was back at the time this post was published, it was still running sluggishly for me. In any event, this post is all about a long lamented local metal band via some recent YouTube uploads, so let's get this one rolling!

As some readers may recall, ex-Woods of Ypres drummer Evan Madden and late frontman David Gold's mom Esther were both interviewed a little over a year ago by metal singer, comedian. and NewMusicNation VJ Robbie Stevenson for his YouTube series Metal Health, with topics centering heavily on Woods of Ypres in both, as tinged with discussion on mental health, which Robbie is open about dealing with personally. If you liked those, then let's make it a trilogy, as Robbie interviewed Woods of Ypres' final lead guitarist Joel Violette for a 44 minute episode of Metal Health last week! Woods fans will recognize Joel from his 2010-2011 stint with the band, including appearing on the "Home" single, the Juno-winning "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light", and the "I Was Buried In Mount Pleasant Cemetery" music video, while also playing in both Woods' final local concert and 2012's Ypres Metal Fest.

Since the "Woods V" release, Joel has focused on his New Brunswick-based folk/black metal band Thrawsunblat, with him on lead vocals & guitar alongside the surviving members of Woods' never-debuted final lineup. No one in Thrawsunblat is from the Soo (let alone Ontario), so we don't cover them on the site day to day, but if you like Woods of Ypres, you will like Thrawsunblat for their doomy black metal sound and nature influences, and Joel is carrying their musical torch very well. Likewise, Robbie is a good candidate to interview anyone related to Woods of Ypres, as you can tell by his shirt, his albums, even the name of his cat! After opening with discussion of patches and the Metal Health set, Robbie asks Joel about Thrawsunblat's upcoming EPs, how he adapted during the early stages of the pandemic, how Joel connected with David musically & ultimately joined Woods of Ypres, ...

...his first tour with the band, Thrawsunblat's vinyl releases & their sole live concert, and Joel's day job outside of music, but after Robbie runs through Woods of Ypres' history in 2011, they kinda wrap things up and just talk about whatever for the last 10 minutes or so. Sault Ste. Marie does come up when Joel talks about working with Miguel Gauthier at Stereo Soul Studios, plus touring through Northern Ontario, including their ordeal over a broken windshield travelling from the Soo. It's also worth noting that Robbie said that he was planning to do a four part mini-series on David Gold's life and legacy for NewMusicNation (details are about halfway through the video), which would definitely be interesting to see! This was a likable interview, and Robbie is more casual & in the element, but this was almost to it's detriment as it felt like there was a lot of stuff Joel could have talked about if only he was asked.

I also was somewhat out of the loop as to Robbie's evasive references to Woods' old label Earache Records (are their people liable to complain if they're openly criticized?) Still, a fun watch featuring two guys who are clearly easy talkers about anything that comes to mind, complete with lots of jokes from Robbie, so give it a watch below!

We'll close today with a new-ish upload of 21+ minutes of Woods of Ypres at the inaugural Northern Lights Festival at Club Rockit in Toronto back in June 2003! If this sounds familiar, it's because David posted all of this to his YouTube channel in 2007 in three different uploads, but YouTube user HairpieceForDogs combined it all into one upload in August & stretched it to wide-screen. The Northern Lights Festival was (according to David) "the 1st ever black metal festival in North America", and it featured a few other recognizable names, including Lansing veterans Summon (who later featured Sault Michigan native Mikey Bishop on drums), Krankenhaus Records signees Vanquished, and "Heart of Gold" tribute album performers Eclipse Eternal, among others. That said, I am not 100% certain on the Woods of Ypres lineup here, but David was still just their drummer.

Woods had a lot of membership turnover in their Windsor era, but this is late in Robin Cross' tenure as lead vocalist. The multi-camera footage features Woods playing their "Against The Seasons" cuts "The Shams of Optimism", "Crossing The 45th Parallel", "A Meeting Place & Time", and "Awaiting The Inevitable". Between the VHS camcorder quality (remember, 2003) and the unnecessarily stretched aspect ratio for the re-upload, this isn't a pristine way to witness Woods of Ypres, but live videos are scarce from their black metal era, and it's a very interesting & convenient way to see them at this primordial stage with a very receptive crowd! Give it a watch below!

That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site by Thursday! Thanks everyone!

Two New Woods Of Ypres-Centric Interviews From Metal Health!!

Single topic post today for this long weekend, as we're discussing some new interviews relating to a very prominent and dearly missed local metal band that popped up online in the last week. Here's what you should know!

Woods of Ypres fans will want to take notice, as two important figures in the local black/doom metal band's history were recently interviewed on the YouTube interview series Metal Health! Hosted by musician & stand-up comedian Robbie Stevenson (who is based out of Southern Ontario), he is self-described as "a schizophrenic recovering drug addict", and you can expect discussions in that realm alongside music discussion in his interviews with metal musicians and fans. Huge kudos to friend and long-time reader Mike Boychuk for letting me know about Metal Health, and he was actually interviewed by Robbie in this episode, which does include references to the local scene (the AlgomA shirt should give that away!) The two newest episodes relate to Woods of Ypres, starting with last week's interview with ex-drummer Evan Madden, who was behind the kit in their Sault Ste. Marie-based doom era from 2008-2011.

Readers will recall Evan from Woods' last three local dates, "Woods IV: The Green Album", and the "You Were The Light" sessions that led to the "Home" single & the unreleased EP that will allegedly be part of Earache Records' "Woods V" reissue (source here). As for the Metal Health episode, Robbie instantly proves his fandom by showing off his physical copies of "Woods IV" and "Home", so we're in good hands in this regard. The interview starts with Robbie and a now bald Evan discussing how he joined Woods of Ypres in 2008, their Gates of Winter-infused sextet lineup at the time (Robbie saw that lineup live in Toronto), Evan's current music projects like Drones For Queens, a memorable story from touring with Woods, how he heard about & reacted to frontman David Gold's death in December 2011, and his favourite bands. The audio quality on Evan's camera is somewhat abrasive, but this is a good interview that keeps things light!

Robbie has good questions, and while he still feels somewhat new to interviewing, he does come across as honest and as a true fan. His asides about his own mental health issues and personal experiences add a genuine touch, even if they sometimes veer off topic. Give Evan's interview a watch at this link or above! The second interview is embedded below, and it is actually with David's mother Esther Gold (a.k.a. Mama Gold) who has been heavily active with Woods of Ypres' fan community since his passing, as any member of the band's fan club Facebook group will know, and who accepted Woods' Juno Award in 2013 on David's behalf (as seen here). After elaborating on his Woods fandom, Robbie starts by talking to Esther about what music David listened to, his early experiences discovering music, switching from sports to music, and learning the drums, his teaching aspirations and ESL teaching stint in South Korea (including his joining Necramyth there.)

Afterwards, Esther reflects on learning about David's death (I admire her composure and candor), and she acknowledged that Woods of Ypres were planning a European tour in 2012, followed by David planning to return to teaching overseas in Dubai, and even to record a Nick Cave-inspired solo album. That's followed by Robbie and Esther discussing "Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light" and it's musical and personal impact, especially with fans contacting her to say how much Woods of Ypres and their music has affected them, and how she has became a mother figure for many fans in the past decade. This interview had less finite questions, but that was a good call, as Robbie let Esther reminisce about her son and what he brought to the world, and it's extremely clear that she loves and misses David, and I'm sure she has many more great stories to tell about his life and music than one 28 minute interview could contain. Really good interview, so give it a watch below, and see much more from Metal Health above!



That's all for today, but stay tuned for more news and notes on the site this week! Thanks everyone!