Posted in audiObelisk on November 5th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
Hey, it’s Friday. You want to let off a little steam at the office. All of a sudden, here comes your favorite stoner blog The Obelisk with two tracks from Bison B.C.‘s awesome Dark Ages, and next thing you know, you’ve got your little computer speakers turned up all the way, your shirt ripped open and you’re swinging your work chair around like a lion tamer to fend off security as they try to escort your wild-eyed ass out of the building. So it goes, my friends.
Dark Ages was released earlier this year on Metal Blade, and to support it, the Canuck four-piece has already toured with High on Fire, Black Cobra and Helmet, and on Sunday, they start a month-long European run with Coliseum that’s bound to be a blast. In honor of the tour and just because the record rules and needs sweet love, I’ve been authorized to stream the songs below. Dig ’em and try not to get too violent.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 22nd, 2010 by JJ Koczan
…Of course, they’re taking the scenic route, on a tour that will go up and down the West Coast and into Canada for a couple dates. I can only imagine good times will be had by all and that Bison B.C. will demolish audiences are they are apt to do.
As you peruse the PR wire info and tour dates below, make sure you get a look at the description of Helmet‘s sound. I never thought of them as being particularly Zeppelin-esque. Am I wrong on that one? Check it out:
The Vancouver-based band Bison B.C. have just confirmed a two-week plus tour with legendary alternative metal band Helmet, who are known for fusing Zeppelin-esque riffing with a vehement post-hardcore precision, augmented by dense chords and offbeat time signatures. Bison B.C. will join Helmet when the tour kicks off on Wednesday September 8th in Sacramento, CA at Harlow’sNightClub. The tour finishes up on Sunday September 26th at BriXton in Redondo Beach, CA.
Guitarist and vocalist James Farwell comments, “I first started listening to Helmet when I was doing bonelesses and acid drops wasted in back alleys with big pants and small wheels; a long fucking time ago. Now my body is a jerk, but I still think of them when I drop tune — it is a fucking god damn honor to tour with Helmet.”
Sept. 8 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s Night Club
Sept. 10 Oakland, CA The Uptown
Sept. 11 San Jose, CA The Blank Club
Sept. 13 Portland, OR Dante’s
Sept. 14 Seattle, WA Showbox at The Market
Sept. 16 Vancouver, BC Venue
Sept. 18 Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room
Sept. 19 Calgary, AB Dickens Pub
Sept. 21 Casper, WY Downtown Grill & Venue
Sept. 23 Tempe, AZ The Clubhouse
Sept. 24 Santa Ana, CA Galaxy Theatre
Sept. 25 San Diego, CA The Casbah
Sept. 26 Redondo Beach, CA BriXton
Dublin, Ireland‘s Primordial are nothing if they’re not hard to classify. The band, formed in 1987, could have been called black metal in their earliest work, but have long since transcended such easy genre-tagging. Because the lyrics of frontman Alan Averill come from a specifically Irish perspective and Ciáran MacUiliam (he and bassist Pól “Paul” MacAmlaigh are the remaining founding members of the band) has never been shy about incorporating Celtic influences, Primordial saw a major profile upgrade as part of the folk metal explosion in 2006-2008. In 2009, they toured the US for the first time as part of PaganFest.
Like many Americans, my first exposure to the band was 2005’s The Gathering Wilderness, which was their fifth album overall but first for Metal Blade Records, who also released To the Nameless Dead in 2007. By my judgment, To the Nameless Dead was the best album that came out that year, and though it would be two more years before I was able to catch the band live, I was still thrilled to do so. Likewise, now that Primordial have issued their first live DVD, All Empires Fall, I was equally excited to interview Alan Averill.
Averill is known for his opinions on a range of topics both music-related and not almost as much as his brash stage persona, and though All Empires Fall was the impetus for the conversation, there was more I wanted to get a sense of his feelings on social issues in his home country, where the Catholic church had at the time of our discussion just been in the news following more reports of sexual abuse by priests, and, by Averill‘s account, society has more or less collapsed.
To quote Marty DiBergi, “I got that. I got more. A lot more.” In the following Q&A, Alan Averill talks about the state of Ireland, his feelings on nationalism, economic hardships and rails against venues in the US for taking a percentage of merch sales from bands (which I’d never heard of before), through it all showing every ounce of the passion he carries with him into shows and onto albums.
Vancouver bud metallers Bison B.C. show some shocking maturity on their sophomore outing for Metal Blade, Dark Ages. There’s still plenty of the hellraising atmosphere that so deeply permeated 2008’s Quiet Earth, but the band is beginning to sit back a little and feel out song dynamics, allowing tracks to develop more fully. They haven’t lost any of their heaviness (which I feel is unfortunately implied when discussing a band’s maturity), but they’re just starting to approach that heaviness in a new way, and Dark Ages captures the four-piece at this fascinating moment in their development.
Opener “Stressed Elephant” tops eight minutes, boasts complex melodies and arrangements and still somehow manages to leave a black eye when it’s done. It’s this duality that Dark Ages does such a good job of framing. Even when Bison B.C. are at their most Mastodon-ish, arguably the early moments of “Two-Day Booze,” they’ve begun to retain their own personality, and that comes through in the riffs and rhythms. The vocal tradeoffs between guitarists James Farwell and Dan And sound more plotted out in “Melody, This is for You” (after the three-minute heavy jam that precedes the vocals, anyway), but that only seems to enhance the overall affect of the song, which is a Dark Ages highlight.
Structured though it may be, Dark Ages is far from rigid. Humor and not taking itself too seriously was central to the success of Quiet Earth, and that remains true for the follow-up. In particular, “Take the Next Exit” gives the impression there’s definitely a story behind it, if only that the GPS in the tour van got a little too repetitive for the band’s tastes. And the doomiest song on the album is called “Fear Cave,” so you know Bison B.C. aren’t trying to include any kind of pomposity in their approach. Yes, that is as refreshing as it sounds.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 12th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
Vancouver riff mongers Bison B.C. are gearing up to release their new album, Dark Ages, next month, and as we all know, the new way to roll out singles and album highlight tracks is by putting them on websites that aren’t The Obelisk. It’s an important marketing move for any act looking to make themselves known.
Accordingly, the song “Stressed Elephant” premiered via something called ExploreMusic, whose standing in the heavy rock underground I’m sure is unquestionable and who make a wholly appropriate outlet for music as riffy and bastardly as that of Bison B.C.
“Bitter?” you ask? Yes. Here’s “Stressed Elephant,” because I can:
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 4th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
…Places like all over everywhere. The Canadian riffy stalwarts are heading out from their peaceful post-Olympic home in Vancouver and are set to take North America by storm in support of their new album, Dark Ages (not to be confused with the Soulfly album of the same name), which is out April 13. I haven’t heard the record yet, but if it’s half as destructive as was their Metal Blade debut, Quiet Earth, it’ll be well worth the time when I do.
Until then, speaketh the PR wire:
Vancouver‘s BisonB.C. is getting set to release their third album (second for Metal Blade), Dark Ages. This will hit streets on April 13, right in the middle of the biggest tour of the band’s career — High on Fire, Priestess, Black Cobra. Before that tour starts, BisonB.C. will be playing at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, NY on 3/13. If you haven’t seen this band live, this will be a great opportunity to see how these guys decimate crowds in a small club.
Bison B.C. Tour w/ Shadows Fall, Baptized in Blood
03/04 Toronto, ON Opera House
03/05 London, ON Music Hall
03/07 Ottawa, ON Mavericks
03/08 Montreal, QC National
03/09 Quebec City, QC Imperial End Tour
3/13 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg w/Priestess
3/14 Greenville, SC Earshot
3/15 Atlanta, GA PS Warehouse
3/17 Austin, TX The Mohawk SXSW w/ High on Fire
3/24 St. Louis, MO The Fubar
3/25 Indianapolis, IN The Tip Top Tavern
3/26 Pittsburgh, PA 31st Street Pub
Tour w/ High on Fire, Priestess, Black Cobra
03/31 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock Social Club
04/01 Madison, WI High Noon Saloon
04/02 Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall
04/03 Columbus, OH Skully’s Music Diner
04/05 Morgantown, WV 123 Pleasant Street
04/06 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church
04/07 Cambridge, MA The Middle East
04/08 Milford, CT Daniel Street
04/09 New York, NY Gramercy Theater
04/11 Washington DC Black Cat
04/13 Charlotte, NC Tremont Music Hall
04/14 Atlanta, GA Masquerade
04/15 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks
04/16 Houston, TX Walters on Washington
04/17 Austin TX Emo’s
04/18 Dallas, TX The Loft
04/20 Boulder, CO Fox Theater
04/22 Tempe AZ The Clubhouse
04/23 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theater
04/24 Costa Mesa, CA Detroit Bar
04/25 San Diego, CA The Casbah
04/27 Fresno, CA Audies Olympic/Club Fred
04/28 Santa Cruz, CA Blue Lagoon
04/30 Boise, ID Neurolux Inc
05/01 Spokane, WA The Boulevard
05/02 Bellingham, WA The Nightclub
05/04 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
05/05 Portland, OR Dante’s
05/07 Eureka, CA Nocturnum
05/08 Oakland, CA The Fox Theater
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 10th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
You might remember the interview with Bison B.C.‘s James Farwell (aka Gnarwell) this site did toward the end of the last decade. Well, things are officially gearing up for the release of that anticipated second Metal Blade full-length, and it looks like as the band gets ready to hit the road, they’re helping out fans in their home and native land — true patriot love if e’er I saw it — by giving away tickets to their shows. The PR wire has the scoop:
Vancouver, British Columbia-based doom metal band Bison B.C. have teamed up with digital music download site LoudTrax.com for a contest on the bands upcoming tour with Shadows Fall throughout Canada. LoudTrax.com will be giving away two tickets for every show of the Shadows Fall, Bison B.C., Goatwhore and Baptized in Blood tour.
Participants will be able to select the date and city of the show they wish to win tickets for. Winners will be announced five days prior to each concert via email.
Feb. 23 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory*
Feb. 24 – Calgary, AB – Republik*
Feb. 25 – Edmonton, AB – Starlite*
Feb. 27 – Regina, SK – The District*
Mar. 01 – Winnipeg, MB – WECC*
Mar. 02 – Thunder Bay, ON – The Roxy*
Mar. 04 – Toronto, ON – Opera House
Mar. 05 – London, ON – Music Hall
Mar. 07 – Ottawa, ON – Mavericks
Mar. 08 – Montreal, QC – National
Mar. 09 – Quebec City, QC – Imperial
*With Goatwhore
Bison B.C. are gearing up to release their highly anticipated second album, Dark Ages, this spring on Metal Blade Records. The band will also be joining the High on Fire tour with Priestess and Black Cobra starting on March 31st in Minneapolis, MN.
Posted in Features on December 3rd, 2009 by JJ Koczan
As far as I’m concerned, one of the highlights of this year’s inaugural Planet Caravan festival was getting the chance to see Bison B.C. at what was essentially a club show. Just down the block at The Orange Peel was the main stage, but at Mo Daddy’s, the vibe was less festival and more killer bar night. Since Bison are from Vancouver, it’s not like they get to Jersey much, and after grooving on their 2008 Metal Blade debut, Quiet Earth, the tectonic riffage and beery/beardy good times were most welcome in Asheville.
A short while ago, it was brought to my attention that the four-piece — James Gnarwell and Dan And on vocals/guitar, Masa Anzai on bass and Brad MacKinnon on drums — are currently in the studio working on the follow up to Quiet Earth, and it seemed like a cool idea to check in with them to get some quick thoughts on the new material and how everything was/is coming together. Gnarwell was kind enough to field the email interview, and the resulting Q&A is after the jump. Enjoy.
Dark Ages, and next thing you know, you’ve got your little computer speakers turned up all the way, your shirt ripped open and you’re swinging your work chair around like a lion tamer to fend off security as they try to escort your wild-eyed ass out of the building. So it goes, my friends.
