In our last anticipated news post of the week, we're tackling big CD release news from two local metal bands (one immediate, one in a few weeks, but all positive), and leading off with a big concert preview in terms of a beloved local store's milestone and the return of touring punk favourites, so here's what you need to know!
A very anticipated hardcore punk concert goes down TOMORROW NIGHT at The Algonquin Pub that will double as the 30th anniversary bash for Wellington Square Mall's resident music/skate shop
The Rad Zone! Hard to believe that Paul Muncaster and crew have been running shop since 1984 in the Radical Records days, and what better way to celebrate the occasion then by taking in the local return of
The Ripcordz? The Montreal punk favourites will be making their first local stop since headlining promoter J.D. Pearce's Halloween party last year, and will mark their second gig at The Algonquin following their show in April 2013. It's great to have Paul Gott and company back for another face melting night of hardcore punk intensity, so don't miss their return! Local support will come via both of the bands that opened for The Ripcordz last October, those being local punk/metal quintet
Jack Spades and local hardcore punk veterans
Destroilet (both fresh off of Hardcore Homecoming), while
DJ Seith was added as a late notice opener on Monday, so if you're up for some fresh turntable mixes, come early!
Admission will be $18 at the door, but if you buy early at The Algonquin (or know the password), you'll get in for $13, so keep that in mind! DJ Seith will kick off the night at 10:00 PM, and you must be 19 to attend. As well, given the Rad Zone birthday angle, this show is being sponsored by Vans, and there will be free giveaways planned, and possibly more, so diehard fans of The Rad Zone won't want to miss out! I had to miss The Rad Zone's 2012 birthday bash with Garden of Bedlam, but no such absence will occur tomorrow, so I'll see you guys there to mark the occasion! Visit
the Facebook event page for more info, and here's The Ripcordz live in Toronto!
Next up, here's a slightly overdue new album announcement to touch on, as local doom/sludge metal trio
AlgomA's debut CD "Reclaimed By The Forest" was released on Wednesday! Despite prior indications that
Deadbeat Media would be first putting out physical copies overseas given their home base, AlgomA have since confirmed that copies are now at the aforementioned Rad Zone and are also available through physical contact with band members, and we can confirm that copies cost $10 if bought locally. Online, you can buy the album at
AlgomA's Bandcamp page for $8 (or more), and CDs can be ordered via
their new BigCartel page for $11, with other sites' availability not announced yet, at the very least. Through these postings, we can now confirm that the album has 6 songs, including (in order) "Bedsores", "Fell Down A Well", the title track, "Tertiary Syphillis", "Go On, Git!", and "Extinct Volcanoes", with newer songs like "The Electric Fence" not featured.
Most of the band appear to have dropped their stage names too, with Kevin Campbell and "JV" (Jamie Vincent) credited rather than Marty Chase and Geezer D'Artagnan, though Darby Wigwaus is still going strong. Going along with the actual CD release (coinciding with the hyped "blood moon" on Wednesday), there are some new reviews of the CD online, so what are other media outlets saying? One came via Matt Baggins from the blog
Two Guys Metal Reviews, who called "Reclaimed By The Forest" "loud, vicious, and strangely perverse" and "entertaining & strangely beautiful" in a very positive (if brief) review that you can read at
this link! Another review came from user "OccultBlackMetal" of the blog
Extreme Underground Music Zine, who gave the album an 8/10, calling them "a very great sounding sludge/doom metal band", but did admit that they can sound similar to other bands at times.
One more came from Stu Tovell at
Stu's Music Reviews, who called AlgomA "devastating" & "crushingly heavy", but didn't really elaborate on why the CD only got 7 out of 10. As for our review, when is that coming? Given The Bear Hunters' delay for their new CD, we will tentatively confirm that "Reclaimed By The Forest" will be the subject of this month's review at the SMS, so look for it later this month, and go get your copies A.S.A.P.!
We'll close today with info on the aforementioned
Bear Hunters' album "Eternal Hibernation", so when can we expect the release of that and it's attached CD release party? The new date for both will be Saturday, November 29th, a postponement of six weeks from the now-cancelled release that was to occur next weekend. The venue for the new date has yet to be confirmed, and while it was to have been The Algonquin Pub, it's not guaranteed to return there next month. Out of town openers
Livid & The Bloodthirsty (and Bear Hunters rhythm guitarist Josh Stephney) will both still be able to make the trip from Brampton for the show next month, though like before, the local openers are still to be announced. Tickets remain $5 in advance or $7 at the door, purchases enter you for the door prize draws, and extra packs will be added for every 10 tickets sold, which will include CDs, new shirts, posters, and stickers (Mitch Sirie has even indicated that "Squirrel Buddy" shirts might be available to buy!)
As you can see above, The Bear Hunters have also revealed the final artwork for "Eternal Hibernation", which now features the band's logo and album title. I expected both, but I would have shrunk the logo a bit and put the title in the bottom right.
The band's cover photo on Facebook also indicates that their teased single release will come on October 25th, and it will feature the studio version of "Collapse The Sun" in limited physical copies, but further details and a larger copy of the artwork aren't out yet. There's big news afoot, and hopefully everyone can come out at the end of November to take in some death metal brutality! Stay tuned for updates!
That's all for now, but stay tuned for this month's Defunct Local Band Profiles either tonight or early tomorrow! Thanks everyone!
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