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Having been the frontman of one of Seattle’s most well-known rock bands, frontman of the second band in history to perform live in Cuba, and named as one of the godfathers of the grunge genre, Chris Cornell was a rare, unique, and special act in the rock & roll/grunge scene. In 1984, Cornell had formed the band Soundgarden back in his hometown Seattle with his friend Kim Thayil, who took role as the guitarist, Hiro Yamamoto, who took role as the bassist (but was later replaced by current bassist Ben Shepherd), and Cornell himself taking the roles of drummer and vocalist. It was until 1985 however, that Cornell was replaced by Scott Sundquist on drums, giving Cornell space to focus on vocals. Sundquist was later replaced by the band’s current drummer Matt Cameron.

During the time of Soundgarden, Cornell had formed rock group Temple of the Dog in 1990, as a tribute to his late friend and roommate Andrew Wood, who had passed due to heroin overdose. The band consisted of Cornell (vocals), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Matt Cameron on drums. The group released only one studio album, the self titled Temple of the Dog on April 16th, 1991 and were active only until 1992.

After the dismemberment of the band, Cornell resumed working with Soundgarden. Under the label SST Records, Soundgarden managed release their first full-length album titled Ultramaga OK released October 31st, 1989. After the release, the band signed with A&M Records, becoming the first grunge band to be signed to a major record label. Under A&M, Soundgarden released Louder Than Love in 1989, along with Badmotorfinger (1991), Superunknown (1994), and Down On The Upside (1996).

In 1997, Soundgarden split—resulting in Cornell releasing his first solo album Euphoria Morning on September 21st, 1999. After the band’s split and Cornell’s initial solo album release, Cornell formed the band Audioslave alongside the former members of the group Rage Against The Machine, (Tim Commerford, Brad Wilk, and Tom Morrello) in 2001. Audioslave released three studio albums in their short life span, the first being their self-titled debut album Audioslave, released November 19th, 2002. The album peaked at number 7 on the Billboard 200, and was later certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) within its first month of release. The second album being Out Of Exile released internationally on May 23rd, 2005, and their final album Revelations released on September 4th, 2006 internationally.

Audioslave was also nominated for “Best Hard Rock Performance” at the 46th Grammy Awards for their song “Like A Stone” from their Audioslave album. The group also got their debut album to be nominated for “Best Rock Album” at the same Grammy Awards show. Audioslave was also the second rock band to perform in Cuba on May 6th, 2005. The band played for free in front of 70,000 people. The event was also recorded and placed a DVD titled Live in Cuba. Cornell, however, left Audioslave in 2007 and progressed as a solo artist for a number of years, releasing three more studio albums: Carry On (2007), Scream (2009), and Higher Truth (2015).

On May 17th, 2017, Chris Cornell was found dead in his hotel room in Detroit after performing with Soundgarden while on tour, at age 52. According to medical examiners, his passing was due to suicide by hanging. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page noted the following on Twitter: “RIP Chris Cornell, Incredibly Talented, Incredibly Young, Incredibly Missed.” Sir Elton John posted, ”Shocked and saddened by the death of @chriscornell. A great singer, songwriter and the loveliest man.” His family members were both shocked and saddened by his sudden and unexpected death. Having been labelled as one of the godfathers of grunge, Chris Cornell made waves with his unique sound on the rock scene while competing with acts such as Alice in Chains, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam to name a few. Cornell with his group definitely made an impact which lasted for more than 20 years, and will never forgotten.

Christopher John Boyle (AKA Chris Cornell), aged 52

Birth - July 20th, 1964

Death - May 17th , 2017

Wednesday, May 17 brought us the return of Mellevon to the stage. After a year of being absent from touring, Mellevon brought some newer elements to the table, with their stage and presence.

Upon arriving on stage, it was obvious they changed their image is as a band, went going a more industrial metal look for showmanship, with black vests and corpse paint on their faces. The most interesting thing to note is their new stage setup where they had old-school CRT televisions displaying visual counterparts with the lyrics on them, which was pretty sick to see.

Even though there was no bassist nor drummer, it was interesting to see how they would perform live with a drum machine. It was flawless and well executed with the style they had, and how everything was on stage. The backgrounds really enhanced the atmosphere of the performance itself, though what was missing was a crazy light show, like Meshuggah's; that would have been crazy synced up with the music!

Overall, Mellevon's performance was absolutely astounding and interesting, with their new unique setup and how they play their shows. It's a good thing that will keep them going for a while.

The newer song "Cyberia" had a very catchy chorus and heavy breakdowns, unlike I have heard before, and had a feel for different seasons in the lyrics. "Horizons" was also another new song they played, and also has a unique spin towards metal music. Never had I heard such a unique and different sound in a song before.

I find that Mellevon is always trying to break the boundaries of the metal genre with every new release. That being said, the new album title was also revealed that night, Covet, and what I can already gather from it is that it has different feel, and the theme feels like it could be different seasons for the songs of the album.

I am very happy I went to this show, and that I am looking forward to the new release that Mellevon is putting out hopefully soon.

Hosted by Patricia Petit Liang

Stories by Allison O'Reilly and Patricia Petit Liang

Produced by Patricia Petit Liang

It is the middle of the month of May, and this can only mean one thing for Japanese music nerds in Canada: it’s time for another edition of Next Music from Tokyo (NMFT).

In short, NMFT is a DIY tour organized by Steven Tanaka, funded entirely from his own pocket. It is a passion project driven entirely by the desire to expose Canada to the amazing indie music scene from Japan, and has been running annually (sometimes twice in a year) ever since 2010.

Here is a sampler of the bands that’ll be playing this year, on May 19 and 20 in Toronto, May 22 in Montreal, and May 24 in Vancouver.

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The Taupe

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Like all the other bands in the current lineup, The Taupe’s general sound is a little difficult to describe, in the sense that they do not stick to a single mood or sound. It’s easy to label them post-punk for their effortlessly cool college indie rock tracks, or shoegaze for their insanely loud walls of noise, or psychedelic for their dissonant chord progressions and trippy music videos.

And yet, they’re not any of that. The Taupe is all of that, and probably more—one can only extrapolate so much from low quality footage of live shows and studio recordings that supposedly don’t quite capture the essence of their performances. So really, the only way to find out what they are is to see them perform in person.

Recommended if you like (RIYL): post-punk, shoegaze, psychedelic, loud guitars

Yukueshirezutsurezure

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Yukueshirezutsurezure (abbreviated YSTZ) is an alt-idol group combining pop, hardcore, and even breakcore to make up a distinctive sound that is totally unlike what Canadians would think of when picturing a typical idol group.

For those unfamiliar with Japanese idol culture, they are female popstars, actresses, or even models, who are expected to be prim, proper, and above all, adorable. The interactions between the idols and their audience is also extremely important, both on stage and off stage. Alt-idols don’t like to play by the rules, and subvert their audiences’ expectations of their appearance, their music, or their behaviour with their fans.

YSTZ does that by being as loud and abrasive as possible in their music, and when they can’t be, you should expect some screaming and headbanging right around the corner. This is also reflected in their live performances, something that idol groups excel at.

RIYL: hardcore, pop, getting yelled at by cute girls, all at the same time

Yubisaki Nohaku

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There’s something quite strange about Japanese music—they have a disproportionate amount of all-female rock bands. Yubisaki Nohaku is one of those bands. As far as I know, there isn’t anything quite like the sound of Japanese all-female rock bands elsewhere in the world, with some of them reaching relative indie fame, like tricot.

Like NMFT alumni Akai Koen, Regal Lily, and Hitsuji Bungaku, Yubisaki Nohaku’s music displays a certain level of sophistication backed by distorted guitars and very precise and original songwriting. They’re arguably the “quietest” band of the bunch, but also the most accessible. Their music can be enjoyed at a concert just as well as it can be enjoyed chilling on your bed.

RIYL: Japanese all-female rock bands, great songwriting

Bakyun the Everyday

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Bakyun the Everyday’s music is definitely not the most provocative, nor the most original, but even on their album material, you can hear how this two-member unit—accompanied with their friends on bass and drums—is having a blast when they’re playing.

Considering that NMFT shows last around five hours (!) and are always chock-full of complex compositions, screaming, and mosh pits, that is totally fine. Bakyun the Everyday’s straightforward and energetic songs are sure to appeal to anyone who comes to the show with no knowledge of any of the bands, just looking to have a good time while enjoying a beer.

RIYL: pop punk, good vibes

Hyacca

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Hyacca (pronounced hyakka) comes back to the Canadian tour after their gigs on the 3rd edition of the tour, in 2011. Their albums are quite eclectic, jumping from dreamy shoegaze to Melt-Banana-style absolute mayhem. If The Taupe was hard to describe because they try to have different subgenres on different songs, Hyacca is even harder to describe, because they often don’t stick to a single genre in a one song. If I could describe them, it would be with these three words: precisely controlled chaos.

While YSTZ and The Taupe will rely on on-stage theatrics, aggressive performances, and just general loudness, Hyacca is sure to capture the audience with their sheer unpredictability and skilfully switching from one genre to another without losing any of their masterful playing.

RIYL: math rock, noise rock, shoegaze, mosh pits