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CJLO News - March 3 2014
Hosted by: Catline Spencer
Stories by: Saturn De Los Angeles, Catlin Spencer & Marilla Steuter-Martin
Produced by: Jenna Monney-Lupert
Chiodos @ La Tulipe
Let's get this out of the way, I love Chiodos. I know their limitations, and I realize that a lot of their songs aren't "metal enough," but frankly, I don't care. Out of the crop of generic, long since forgotten bands that were their brethren, I think they were the closest to metal that you could get, and I think they were a gateway for a lot of people to get into "real metal," and that this fact alone is enough to establish them as a band with a great legacy.
Now, with that out of the way, let's talk about the concert.
After assuming that the posted time of 7:00 PM meant doors (apparently we've entered a time when that is something that no one explains), I managed to miss Nodirectionhome, a band from Montreal, who I am actually sorry I missed after listening to their Bandcamp. For those who are curious, their EP is "Pay What You Want," so if you want to give it a listen, download it, strap it into your portable music machine and then go see them next time they do stuff.
Instead, I was able to be disgustingly treated to a generic band called Call Of Saints. I managed to hear three songs from them, and immediately judged them... harshly. So harshly in fact, that I'm going to do one of the worst things that I can do to a band, and not mention anything about them.
Next came a band called This Is Awesome, a five piece from Montreal who I do not get. First, I appreciate that they ingratiate themselves with their fans by throwing out free glow bracelets. I actually think that's a respectable thing for a band for a band to do, to give something the fans can take home and remember. However, do I think that a guy in a tuxedo body suit is the best way to do it? Not so much. It's also strange because this band seems like a hold over from a forgotten time when bands like Silverstein and the Starting Line were doing things on independent charts, also known as the heyday of Drive-Thru Records and Fueled By Ramen. Yet, they started in 2011. Initially, I found myself wondering what side projects the various members wished they were in because of their dull, lifeless looks. However, by the end of the set, I had changed my opinion, and all of them were actually working really well together and were putting out an energy that I really appreciated. Although I still think they were sucked in from a time warp, I don't mind.
Finally, Chiodos came out, and surprisingly starting with a song from Craig Owens' other band D.R.U.G.S. I find the history of this band interesting. After releasing two fantastic albums, the band broke up, with Owens splitting ways from the others. He went on to do D.R.UG.S (Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows) while Chiodos put out another album called Illuminaudio with a different lead singer. After what I can only imagine was a combination of terrible record sales from each and time, they announced that the two parties would reunite and would begin touring and writing music again. So, after seven years, a new album Devil is set to be released on Razor & Tie on April 1st.
It was always my firm belief that Chiodos was a band that was underrated in the way that they were able to bridge the gap between screamo and metal and be able to navigate that line so well and with great deft, and they showed that they can still do it. It was only after I got back to write this article that I was informed by the all-knowing Internet that the guitarist, who was doing some pretty great guitar work while being super high energy, was in fact the former lead singer and guitarist from Fall of Troy. So, in other words, while I wasn't looking, Chiodos became a super group.
Owens apologized after the first song, saying that he canceled the show the night before in Quebec City because he had lost his voice, and wasn't sure how he would perform. He then spent the next hour outshining every vocalist that had performed that night, and many other singers that I recall from concerts in recent memory. I don't understand how someone can have such a versatile breadth of vocal abilities and range and pre-empt that with, "I could do better if I wasn't sick."
After this, I still have reservations about the new album, but if they come by again, I will not miss it, and I recommend you also go see it because it will be well worth your money and time.
Deep From A-Z PARTY!!
Our cozy studio can't fit everyone, so we decided to meet up in the club and make another party for our friends, listeners, and for everyone who wants to discover house music. Also we will celebrate the launch of a new radio show about electronic music - "Deep from A to Z".
See you on the 6th of March at Habitat, just a couple blocks away from Concordia's Downtown Campus at 1458 de La Montagne!
The admission is FREE!!! Join us at the event page on Facebook.
CJLO News - February 28 2014
Hosted by Jocelyn Beaudet
Stories written by Marilla Steuter-Martin and Candice Yee
Produced by Saturn De Los Angeles
CJLO News - February 27 2014
Hosted by: Nate Mayer-Heft
Stories by: Kalina Laframboise, Sam Obrand & Marilla Steuter-Martin
Produced by John Toohey
CJLO News - February 26 2014
Hosted by Saturn De Los Angeles.
Stories by Alexa Everett, John Toohey & Taisha Henry.
Produced by Marilla Steuter-Martin.
Skinny Puppy + Army of the Universe @ Club Soda
May 25th of 2014 will mark the 10-year anniversary of Skinny Puppy's Greater Wrong of the Right, the first album the band released since The Process in 1996. Due to this, and the release of last year's stellar album Weapon, the band is currently touring with an, of course, absurdly named "Shapes For Arms" tour.
Walking into Club Soda, I really didn't know what to expect from the whole thing. It's no big secret that industrial as a genre is only propped up on nostalgia from people like me, and is apparently, doing especially bad in Montreal. With very little industrial groups stopping through and Canada's (and possibly North America's) biggest industrial/dark wave festival, Kinetik, which is heading over to Toronto for what might be a permanent stay. With that in mind, what kind of people would I see? Would they be left over goths? Would there be any people at all, especially with tickets being an exorbitant 37 dollars.
I was in for some rare treats though, as Club Soda opened up their balcony for people to sit on, leaving me to believe that I'd probably be seeing my fair share of people, and I was certainly right. Before the first band even started, the place was packed, many opting to be lazy like me and get a seat on the balcony. But, the leftover goths I expected were in the minority, with the majority of people just being normal, straight-looking people, a fact that I still can't quite wrap my head around.
With the crowd in place, the first band came on. The Milan, Italy four-piece Army of the Universe was serviceable, and did manage to throw in some pretty simple things to liven up their show, such as a pair of laser pointer finger gloves and a FULL FUCKING KEYTAR OF AWESOMENESS. It still suffered from the same kind of problems that industrial bands seem to have. I've noticed after seeing a lot of them that they really seem almost soulless live, and to be honest, I don't know why. Maybe it's because they knew that they were merely a stepping stone in the way of what people were really there to see. As one other concert goer stated when asking me how they were, "They know what we're all doing here, and it's not to see them."
I also theorize that it has to do with the fact that there's very little room for improv when one of your band members is a pre-recorded track that you can't really stop or slow. It's like playing a video game that's on rails and takes you where it wants to go, rather than a mission-based story that lets you get to the objectives. And let's face it, no one has ever said that House of the Dead on Aerosmith-based Revolution X were the greatest games they ever played, regardless of how much fun they were. Either way, this was proven later to be a rather flawed theory.
Mentioning that they were going to "make enemies," the band played songs such as "The Hipster Sacrifice" and "Kill the DJ". The problem was that the vocals were so unclear that I'm sure no one had any idea what they were singing about. In the end, I was left feeling like I had seen a local band rather than a band that travelled across an ocean.
Then, after a short break, Skinny Puppy took the stage. Not only did three guys show that industrial could be entertaining, but they showed that it has room for showmanship and fire. Projections, radiation umbrellas, costume changes, including one where lead singer Nivek Ogre dressed like a dog... all managing to be bizarre and yet totally acceptable and understandable from a band that clearly knows what it's doing. Through all of this, three guys (I need to stress this again) were able to flawlessly play songs from Skinny Puppy's 32 years of work. Throughout the whole thing, I was transfixed by how effortlessly the band performed and how Ogre owned the stage.
After a brief intermission, the band came back out, sans all the weird props, and performed a bunch of older songs. Even without the help of a wide array of distractions, the band was still super entertaining and showed why they have survived for as long as they have as a musical entity.
All in all, the night was fantastic. I know the price is steep, but if this tour comes by you, you should seriously consider going to see it, just don't expect to buy much merch, because apparently, those straight, normal-looking people are buying a TON of merchandise to spruce up their wardrobe.
Silent Night, CJLO NIGHT!
CJLO and Steve’s Music Store are teaming up for Nuit Blanche, presented by Hydro Quebec.
CJLO will be live broadcasting a special event taking place at Steve’s Music Store on Saturday, March 1st, between 9PM and 1AM. Six musicians from LesMeutants will be performing a unique blend of Electro-Jazz, and feature special sets from DJ Max Hebert… SILENTLY! That’s right, the concert will be heard via 200 wireless Sennheiser headphones at the local, or you can stream the sounds right from your phone through CJLO’s killer apps for iPhone and Android!
This cool event will be hosted by the super rad dudes from CJLO’s Cued For Thought, which airs every Wednesday at 2PM.
Whatever you do, tune in to this cool concept in new music!
CJLO News - February 25 2014
Hosted By: Danny Aubry
Stories By: Sam Obrand, Kalina Laframboise & Milos Kovacevic
Produced by Sam Obrand & Marilla Steuter-Martin
Behemoth's Nergal
In honour of Poland's prodigal metal sons Behemoth releasing their new album entitled The Satanist on February 3rd, and its debut at number 34 on the Billboard top 200 (a feat that seems frankly insane for any metal band), we're going back to the days of yore to retrieve an interview with the band's lead singer, Nergal. The interview took place at Foufounes Électriques on October 30, 2003 for the show No Sleep 'Til Bedtime (hosted by former CJLO station manager/metal director David Caporicci-Urovitch and former CJLO program director Alex Rabot), and appeared on theold CJLO metal site "Sulfur & Brimstone" the following month.
Behemoth's Nergal
Last week the CJLO metal crew had an incredible opportunity to see quite the metal show here in Montreal. This was the Unnatural Born Killers tour, featuring the likes of As I Lay Dying, Skinless, Six Feet Under, and the mighty Behemoth! While only being an opening band for Skinless and Six Feet Under, Behemoth was the biggest draw of the night, with fans going insane in a maelstrom of intense metal. Shortly after their stellar set, Alex and myself got to spend some time with Nergal and find out what's going on in the Behemoth camp. We congratulated him on an incredible show, and found out about the upcoming band changes before the next album will be recorded. We also learned about the Behemoth box set, Historica, put out by their former label—sadly, the band had no control over the release of the box set, nor did they get a penny from it. Bad label troubles aside, Nergal said he is more than pleased with their current label Olympic, part of Century Media family, alongside other bands like Immolation, Vital Remains, and Diabolic. Behemoth's up-coming album and their awesome new EP, Conjuration (which features 40 minutes of covers, live songs, and a brand new track from the Zos Kia Cultus sessions) were also topics of discussion.
Below is our interview with Behemoth, which took place shortly after their show in Montreal, a performance that Nergal has already said "was absolutely the highlight of this tour." We pick up this interview just as Nergal is explaining the creative process of making music.
Nergal: Music can be... music has to come from the heart.
Alex: Right...
So you have to feel like playing, and creating music. You can't force yourself to do this or that, so... (Trails off)
And you're saying there's definitely gonna be another album soon... is it going to be recorded right away, as soon as you get off the tour?
We've got some stuff started now, we have the tour until late December, then we go back home, take a rest from each other about 2 or 3 weeks, then we have the new line-up... we have to complete it, because [guitarist] Havoc's leaving the band soon, and we have to find a new guitarist, which we are doing now.
So then there's going to be an audition process?
Kind of, we might just have a session member for this [the new record], we have a permanent bassist right now, but he couldn't come over [to North America] because of some visa problems... well, not problems, but we didn't have time to fix a visa for him. But anyways, we have a new line-up, we're working on new songs, we have a new deal signed with Century Media here, and in Europe, and a new Polish deal.
Do you guys record on the road at all, or...?
No, no, I prefer to focus only on this, you know, I'm doing shows. When I get home, I focus on writing. But, there as SOME exemptions, we did one really cool riff, when rehearsing in Tampa with our bassist for this tour.
Right.
We just came up with this really cool riff in Tampa, so we just call this 'Tampa Song' now. (Laughs) Occasionally I write riffs here and there, but I write mostly at home.
Then, how do you spend your free time on tour?
Waiting! (Laughs) Touring is about waiting! Waiting all the time, and getting bored! (Laughs) Nah, it's cool, when we're driving we're watching movies or listening to music, the same old bullshit.
What do you guys listen to?
Each of us is different, we all like different stuff...
I often hear in interviews that metal heads don't listen to a lot of metal...
We listen to metal...
Exclusively?
Ninety percent metal. We are metal to the core. (Laughs) I'm pretty much into everything...
You mentioned Danzig before.
Today I was sitting in a cafe, close to the venue, listening to this new Madonna song, which is cool as well. If something's good, it's good, you know what I mean? That's how I categorize music
So it's not about being extreme, it's about creative, or...?
I mean... extremity, for me... I mean, Nine Inch Nails is extreme. Everyone's idea of extreme is different. For me, different bands might be extreme, but not necessarily for you. Good music is something I can relate to, or pick something interesting, to myself, out of... that's what cool, good music is. Everything from Morbid Angel, which I totally adore, to... Johnny Cash, which I like as well.
Ok. Is there a new, up-and-coming band, that you see as being a future "star", from Poland or wherever, that's come out in the last little while?
There's a few... in Poland there's some really good bands like Vasania. That's a great band, they just put out one record, it's a really good record. I'm not sure if they can be heard in North America, sometimes it takes a while to get an album out here! I'm not sure they're signed.
There's lots of stuff I like, things I listen to... it's hard to say.
OK, fair enough... I'd like to discuss Behemoth's philosophy for a second. You obviously put a lot of work into lyrics...
Well, it's hard to explain, I mean...
In the liner notes, though, you do try... Is Behemoth trying to teach people things, or...?
No, no, what I'm trying to do is help people make up their minds [for themselves]. I will never say "Do this!" or "Hate Christians!", because you must always do what you WANT to do, you know what I mean?
Then doing as you want is the message...
What we want to teach people is to think for themselves, keep your eyes open, never be narrow-minded and just to SEARCH, all the time, search. That's what Behemoth is all about. Not giving answers.
Right.
How to search for answers. Simple as that.
You collaborate with [Krzystof Azarewicz] on your lyrics...
Yeah.
What is the your relationships with him?
Just an old friend. We've known each other for years. His knowledge is greater than mine, in the occult, and we kind of influence each other, and he just fits the band so well. He understands the overall philosophy. He created it, somehow. [Now] I can't imagine the band without him. It's cool, he does half of the stuff, I do my half.
There's, sometimes, a lot of historical or ancient, themes of mysticism that you dig into...
We deal with everything. People ask "What are your lyrics about?", and they're about everything, about life. I know this answer means nothing, but we can't give everything away, we try to stimulate your mind! (Claps hands together) I'm not saying you HAVE to understand all our lyrics, all the translations, the greek, the latin, and whatever languages and [historical] names... It's all about creating mood, and making atmosphere, and stimulating people's minds. That's what we're all about.
When you listen to Rammstein, you don't necessarily need to understand what he sings about, because you KNOW what he sings about, it's in the music, their language of sound and voice, and everything. It's not about reading, but understanding...
So then the live show plays a big role, obviously...
Yeah! We are a live beast. (Laughs) We love it.
To spread the word?
To spread good music! To meet people, to get better, to improve. It's very challenging for us, it feels great. I like being on tour.
And you want to push yourself.
Definitely. I'm one of the most demanding guys I know, so I can never stop. That's THE truth behind this band.
Alright, I have only a few things left to ask you... When this tour ends, you're not planning on heading back out, you're gonna focus on new...
No. We got offers. We got offers to do a Russian, tour, I just got offered today to go to Greece but we have no time. We will do one show in Israel, because we've postponed this for so long, so many times, that I think if we don't do it now, we'll never do it. So we're gonna [go] back home, and concentrate on writing new stuff, and just take a few days off, fly over to Israel, and come right back. (Snaps fingers)
Ok, so next year we can expect a new album, and you hinted at a second release?
We might do an official DVD, of live stuff and backstage, parties and the most crazy stuff you can imagine.
Do you guys have any videos for songs?
We've got a couple of videos, one from the last album, for 'As Above So Below', which will be on it [the DVD], but there's so much stuff, better stuff, to put on the DVD too.
The more spontaneous things...
Yes. Occasionally we do some crazy stuff, so I hope to put some of this on. You'll see. You never know. Still, the most important thing is the next album...
Demigod.
That's the working title of the next album.
Should we expect any differences?
We've created our style, so far, people know what we sound like.
But none of your albums sound the same...
Well, there's always new things, but you can see the line, the music, the cover artwork, and photos, and everything. We develop, but you can see it's the same band. The same drumming... only better. Same vocals... more developed. And better guitar.
So it'll be another continuation.
For sure, with a some surprises. I think it's gonna be the most intense and varied record we've come up with... we'll see! It's hard to tell until it's done. It's going to be high quality music!
Cool. I'm sure you can top yourselves again...
Thank you!
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