Norris EP Review, And The Free CD Giveaway Preview!!!

Guess what I got in the mail today? My Norris prize pack from the May contest held by Northern Rocks Magazine! Thanks again to Chris Rancourt for running the contest and doing such a great job with the magazine! So I now own a Norris button (blue with Norris in yellow writing), a white Norris sticker (now beside my Gates of Winter sticker on my computer monitor), a nice big Norris poster, and even a Northern Rocks Magazine button and no less than three business cards!

But the main drawing card of the package was free downloads of their new EP "Bonecrusher", as well as their 2005 release "Ladies & Gentlemen, We Regret to Inform You That Our Worldwide Anthem is an Explosion"! Nice to get the old EP as a bonus! And as I promised, once I recieved the album, I would review it, so, here we go! And stay tuned afterwards for your first info on this year's SMS Free CD Giveaway!

The first song on the EP is "Epic Failure", which opens with some extreme screaming by frontman Curtis Wilson, and continues into an assault of the senses. They're hard to pin down to one genre on first listen, it sounds like death metal in parts, and hardcore in other parts. It's by no means a typical cookie cutter metal album. If you prefer metal with predictable time signatures, this ain't it. It's also very technical, infusing a lot of different influences into their sound. This is just what I'm gathering off of a first listen, but you'd probably have to hear it to really understand!

The next song is the title track, which continues much in the same vein as the last song, but seems slightly heavier and faster! Its really hard to comment on, when the songs have such varying tempo changes and pounding instrumentation, but that's just a sign of the band's talent as a whole! More of the same on the next song, "King George The Third Would Be Turning In His Grave", which features some slow grooving guitar work, more high pitched growling from Wilson, and lots of headbangable riffage! Josh Hogan's drumming stands out as well, especially keeping up with all the changes in every song!

This is followed by "The Dirge", which opens with an interesting piano performance, which is almost ominous in tone. This is by the far the slowest and doomiest song on the EP, but still uses lots of technical stuff to make it their own. It's not my favourite song, but it's still effective in it's own way! Finally, the EP closes with "The Inevitable", which is standard Norris, death metal mayhem with tempo changes galore! Midway into the song, a quieter spoken word part pops in too, which seems a bit out of place, but the song is still pretty good! It ends with a lengthy solo-ish guitar part, which sounds like the same notes played over and over. Kinda repetitive, but an interesting end to the EP!

Overall, "Bonecrusher" won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like death and tech metal, you'll find this really interesting! These songs are all aural chaos from beginning to end, which is good! The music if very well played, the songs are easy to mosh to, and it should please any of you hardcore and death metal fans! I do wish there was more real "guitar solos", and their style of metal isn't the type I generally listen to, but it's definitely worth picking up if you have the cash! Check out three of the songs off of the EP, as well as their entire 2005 EP, at their official MySpace page! If you like what you hear, or if you liked them at their recent concert here with Today I Caught The Plague, buy "Bonecrusher" if you can get a chance!

Also, before we get to the Free CD Giveaway Preview, just gotta alert you to two things: One, Northern Rocks Magazine's July issue comes out tomorrow, so expect me to comment on that once I receive my copy! And two, Kiss voting is OVER. Now, it's up to Kiss to tabulate the results, so cross your fingers for a Sault Ontario stop on the fan routed tour, it's all we can do now! As a result, the Kiss widget is gone from the page, and a thanks again to all of you who've voted from The Sault Metal Scene in the last couple months!

Now, in preparation for our second anniversary on Saturday, it's time to give you guys the scoop on this year's Sault Metal Scene Free CD Giveaway! Last year's was a hit, and I knew that we'd be back this year with more free CDs! If you're not familiar with this giveaway, it goes like this: At metal concerts I attend on July 4th or after, I will have 5 or 10 hand-burned CDs featuring a sampling of the great local metal and hard rock bands in the Sault Ste. Marie area, absolutely free, to give to anyone interested! Why you may ask? Simple, there's lots of great local metal bands that should have some more exposure, and this is my little effort to help extend knowledge of them to the interested masses!

Keep in mind, I AM NOT INTENDING TO INFRINGE ON ANY COPYRIGHTS! I am simply spreading the word about local bands to help increase exposure for local bands and the SMS itself. It's FREE PROMOTION, GIVEN TO PEOPLE FOR FREE! I'M ONLY MAKING 50 CDS! NOTHING WILL BE SOLD, PLEASE DON'T SUE!!!

The CDs are hand-burned on Windows Media Player, recorded from the internet using Free Youtube to Mp3 Converter, Ask and Record Toolbar, or through existing CD rips. The labels (which will feature our new logo) will be compiled using Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Word. Audio quality depends on the original file, so no lynching me if you don't like how it sounds!

This year, I've tried to add in more local bands that weren't on last year's CDs, and make sure the audio quality is as good as possible! Song/band inclusion depended on sound quality, full band lineup, band activity, local recognition, and if I could even find an audio file. If your band, or a group you like, isn't on here, no offense is meant! Now, here is the official song lineup, with Sault Michigan bands in blue, Sault Ontario bands in red:

1. As It Stands - Three Rounds With Brock Lesnar

2. Bad Side - Let It Roll
3. Clownsack - Social Homicide
4. Detroit - Spiritual Autopsy
5. Dirty Virgin - She's Hot
6. Fitswitch - My Own Sickness
7. Garden of Bedlam - Sovereignty
8. Gates of Winter - Burning Kingdom II: Heavenly Insurgence
9. Integrated System of Machines - Apocalyptic Vision
10. Jager - Somewhere In Time
11. Lion Ride - Trust
12. Nixxon Dixxon - Paranoid (Black Sabbath cover)
13. No Arrow - The Pissing Song
14. Sense of Truth - Closing Doors
15. Stillbroke - Sick and Tired
16. Sue Inside - Burned Tilant
17. Sykotyk Rampage - Drinking On The Weekend
18. The Issues - He's Got The Pills
19. Woods of Ypres - Your Ontario Town Is A Burial Ground

This is subject to change, and hopefully the songs I picked are altogether more impressive than last year's! AGAIN, NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED!!! Now, I will have at least 5, maybe 10, free CDs at this Friday's Garden of Bedlam concert at The Canadian, but I ain't giving out nothing until after midnight (I promised I'd wait til July 4th, remember?) So if you want one, hit me up then! And if you don't get one at this show, don't worry, I'll have at least five CDs at each metal show I hit until all 50 I make are gone! And yes, I can make special orders if you want one at any old time!

Thanks everyone, stay tuned for more SMS 2nd anniversary news, as well as continuing Garden of Bedlam show updates, and even more! Oh, and remember to ASK FOR YOUR FREE CD AT THE SHOW!