Hey I was looking for any information (links etc) regarding how Canadian metal evolved from the early days up until now. Cheers!!

Probably going to get locked, but as far as I know the most notable per era of it pretty much goes:

60s Steppenwolf and Guess Who
70s Rush (2112), April Wine and Bachman Turner Overdrive,
80s Anvil > Exciter > Razor > Voivod > Annihilator / Infernal Majesty / Sentenced > Slaughter
90s Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, Quo Vadis, Strapping Young Lad, Blasphemy, Sons of Otis
00s Augury, Martyr, Neuraxis, Unexpect, Devin Townsend, Woods of Ypres, Gris,
10s(so far) Blood Ceremony, Skullfist, Fatality, Cauldron, Battlesoul, Skagos

Edit: Added Voivod.

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ ... eavy-metal

this is a start, but there are other important names such as Razor, Slaughter, Devin Townsend, Strapping Young Lad, Into Eternity, Thor and whatnot that aren't mentioned.

I don't really think bands that came out of Canada ever had much of a particular sound, our shit's been all over the place. If anything, the success of 3 Inches of Blood in the late 2000's inspired bands on the west coast to play fantasy power metal tinged with extreme metal stylings. Some bands that emerged include Archon Legion, First Reign and Unleash the Archers.

I should also mention that certain areas of Canada had a tight-knit black metal scene in the 90's and onwards, the foremost of these bands being Blasphemy. Other important bands would include Conqueror, Revenge, A.M.S.G, Rites of Thy Degringolade, Gloria Diaboli and quite a few others. I believe most of these were based in BC and Edmonton, Alberta. I'm not the most well-versed in this area, someone else could do a better job than myself.

Eastern Canada also has a prominent Death Metal scene with Crytopsy, Martyr, Kataklysm and so forth.

Some other early underground Canadiana to check out:
Exciter
Zions Abyss (prog/power)
Breaker
Lord Ryur
Black Knight
Bang
Reckless
Kraken
Piledriver
Thunder Rider

Some more modern stuff:
Cauldron
Striker
Tales of Medusa
Kobra and the Lotus (Shitty band, but been on the A-list festival circuit this past year)
Funeral Circle
Skull Fist
Scythia
Weapon
Begrime Exemious

That's all that comes to me off the top of my head

Absurder forgot Voivod, lol.

And I think you can safely replace "Eastern Canada" with Québec

Ohhhhhh no you don't, Antoine. Toronto has a lot of credible metal bands. You CAN, however, just forget the Maritimes and everything between Quebec city/Toronto.

Examples: Nuclearhammer, Into Oblivion, The Rough Boys, Demontage, Warlock Moon. We have a lot of really good bands, it's just that our scene sucks horribly.

There's a few good bands out of Nova Scotia. But the Maritimes are pretty sad otherwise.

I always felt a little saddened by the weak Canadian scene. On the surface, all the conditions to have a vibrant scene were there. Canadians had been big supporters of challenging forms of music such as prog rock. There were lots of musicians and there was less of that shitty funk-groovy influence. And fans really embraced metal. But as far as developing our own scene?

We had one truly groundbreaking and important act, Voivod. Thinking metal, unique sound. They had it all. And somehow, few people could comprehend that and instead, our local scene kept busy trying to replicate whatever trend was coming from elsewhere. Then by the 90s it was all about goofy death metal and it all went down the drain.

One thing that probably didn't help is geography and population. Canada is huge and is insanely sparsely populated. This made finding like-minded musicians, building a band, performing shows and doing local tours quite a feat. There aren't that many clubs and record stores. It's a fragile environment to develop a music scene. You compare that with the US, which can accomodate *several* scenes. Speaking of which, another factor is that our neighbors south tend to absorb a lot of Canadian talent. If you're truly gifted and driven as a Canadian artist, you're often tempted to jump south to make it. There are lots of US-CAN collaborations, which make the scene even more diluted. Just as an example, Devin Townsend who is cited on this thread got on the map in large part due to a guy from New-York (Steve Vai) and his projects often feature American and international talent.

Oh my god...

The examples he mentioned were all Québécois bands and to be honest and not chauvinist, is there a 90/00s band from Ontario that is as widely known as our bands (be it bad or good, see The Agonist :/ ). Ontario has a good heavy scene though with Cauldron (meh), Midnight Malice, Skull Fist, Axxion but these bands are all related.

I couldn't disagree with Riffs more. We have vibrant death and black metal scenes and a bustling underground (shit, just ask Metantoine. He constantly goes to kvlt shows).

Maybe I'm just jaded, I don't know. Everyone I know in Quebec City is telling me the scene as dried out compared to the mid-00s. In Montreal, things are same old, same old. Which means unremarkable.

I'm not saying there isn't a local scene, BTW. You can go and watch cool metal shows. And there's ten times as many rehearsal spaces for bands as there was in the late 80s. I'm saying, there isn't a regional sound and there isn't enough quality to make it an exportable, recognizable and most of all, a regional style sought-after all over the world like certain other scenes. To break ground, kick ass and let people know all over the world: wow, these guys really dominate!

Personally, I think it takes a good amount of networking and a major boom to make that kind of stuff happen and I'm not seeing it. I don't think talent is an issue. It's the country. The scarcity of musician population per square mile is ridiculously low. This makes finding like-minded, driven individuals unlikely. It makes the whole structure around a cultural scene difficult (scarcity of clubs, specialty record stores, etc...) too. Americanization is also an issue. Then if you want to, say tour a single province, your mileage is through the roof and you will travel as much as you would if you toured Spain, Italy, France, Greece and other European countries. Not easy developing a following.

It's not getting any easier either because the scene is so fragmented. We had this opportunity with Voivod in the 80s, but other bands were too busy copying Motley Crue, Metallica and Iron Maiden to really build on that.

That was actually very interesting to read man. You're my favourite new poster, stick around! I'll agree that our bands don't really have a unique sound, but we were and still are very good at technical death metal (look at the classic Cryptopsy albums, then look at up and coming amazing bands like Beyond Creation.) I think part of the problem though is that there just aren't any new styles appearing anymore for us to exploit so we stick to what we're good at. Montréal could sure use some more innovation. Edit: oh and I definitely agree about the difficulty of forming a band here. I put that on the backburner for a while out of frustration and opted to join an international, Internet based project instead.

To add to the BC/Alberta death/black scene:
Mitochondrion
Antediluvian
Tyrants Blood
Auroch
Archspire
Dire Omen
Gyibaaw

Doom/sludge with a touch of black: Haggatha

There are a few top notch bands I'm reasonably happy with the scene around here.

Ah yes, that branch of the scene is pretty hot right now. Where you from, ld50? I'm in Edmonton.

Thanks for your kind words, brother! They are appreciated!

I hear you on internet collabs! I thought about doing this for a while but I really enjoy the live aspect of a bunch of people in a room and ears bleeding. Is the internet working for you? I guess it would be the ultimate way to find people who are exactly on same wavelength.

I used kijiji a few weeks ago when we were looking for a bassist. I got 15 answers, which isn't bad but man... they were scattered all over the place! I had specified we were located in Montreal but got people a long ways away. The person we picked has no car and is past L'Assomption. Takes her between 2 and 3 hours to make it here and the same time to go back. Crazy stuff! I got calls from Granby and even some dude from Trois-Rivières! WTF? It's just a shitty a garage metal band!

I'll PM you to know more about your project!

There's no regional sound? SAY WHAT! Sepulchral Productions is one of the best black metal labels in North America and the recent Messe des Morts edition proved that (they had a 30,000 bucks budget...). There's a good scene (also one of the best in North America) with Forteresse, Monarque, Neige et Noirceur, Brume d'automne, Neige Éternelle, Akitsa... And considering Forteresse toured in France and are known everywhere. I think there's a particular sound unifying these bands but some could say otherwise. I'm not saying it's metal's paradise though, it could be way bigger. Yes, we're not Norway but there's way worse than us.

Yeah, I agree with you with the obvious geographical facts, but to say there's no regional sound (both in death metal and black) is utter nonsense. Sweden and Norway have similar geographic realities but they're close to populous countries, but the fact is that they have regional scenes and that's our case too.

Necro: your international band project is shit, but the "leader" is a babe.

Do you consider these bands are leaving any kind of international mark? Because I might be wrong, but I don't. I'm just not seeing it, sorry.

Its impact pales in comparison with the 90s Canadian death metal scene (Cryptopsy, Obliveon, Kataklysm, Quo Vadis, Necronomicon, etc...) which itself was just over a bleep on the radar.

Maybe I'm demanding, but I felt Canadians could have left more of a mark on the metal world in the last three decades.

\m/

Also come on, the death metal scene was more than a bleep on the radar (Gorguts needs a mention). I was perhaps too enthusiastic but you're the opposite!

I didn't know we had a leader. I thought we were an autonomous collective.

OK, OK... I'm a fucking pessimist

I wasn't aware of that Darktrhrone song... it's pretty cool! I can't believe this dude cited DBC... that's amazing!

Good call on Gorguts! Probably forgot a few others.

Ecky,ecky,ecky,ecky,pkaang zooom poooing,zwaozlj

Motherfucking SACRED BLADE anyone??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp-bD2zrAb4

Just awesome stuff.

Also have to give a special mention to Kingsbane which is one of my favourite progressive metal bands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv5_07Prz2M

Several other bands from Canada are among my favourite ones. Good metal scene.

I'm in Vancouver. If anyone is interesting in checking live videos from local and semi-local bands like Mitochondrion, Antediluvian, Infernal Majesty, Tyrants Blood, Haggatha, Bison, Weapon, Radioactive Vomit, Burial Cult, Galdra, and many more...you can check them out on this youtube channel.

How is the metal scene in Edmonton? Any bands apart from Antediluvian, Weapon, Begrime Exemious, Dire Omen that I should know about it?

Not a single mention of Revenge?

Iskra deserve a mention as well.

ld50: Well I'm more into traditional-styled metal and there's only a couple bands in Edmonton doing that, Calgary is more suited to me. For Black metal... the obvious one would be Revenge if you don't know them already, there's a few others like A.M.S.G., Rites of Thy Degringolade. The guys from Revenge also did this album with Alan from Primordial, Blood Revolt.

Revenge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73qFYeajDvQ

A.M.S.G.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idtO7QQsTqw

Rites of Thy Degringolade:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm4wp49IWk8

Blood Revolt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmbFSy7zJvs

Seems this has become a "name your favourite Canadian metal band" thread.

A sad lack of western Canadian appreciation in here. Quite a few fledgling scenes have developed out west, including in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and even Regina and Winnipeg. For a country of just a little over 30 million people, we're doing fairly well for heavy metal.

Uhhh.... Antoine... Nuclearhammer and Into Oblivion are from Toronto, not Quebec.

The point isn't scene supremacy, it's that there is a scene at all. I think we should all put our dicks away and stop comparing size.

Are you slow? I was referring to this part of the post. I know these bands are from Toronto, thank you very much, Mark.


I was merely stating that the examples he used for "Eastern Canada" were all actually from Québec and that if he wanted to use this as an example, he should specify bands from every eastern provinces. It's like saying "Yeah, Eastern Canada has great breweries like Unibroue, Dieu du Ciel or L'Alchimiste" you know what I mean? Give credit where it's due, the fact remains that La Belle Province was (is) the motor of the Eastern Canadian metal scene. Ask most metalheads if they heard of the Ontarian bands you mentioned, it's not being chauvinist, it's being realistic. We're talking about Canadian metal and yes, comparing the scenes with each other is part of the discussion, comparing dicks is fun and saying "woooo, let's be strong together like metal brethrens!" is quite Manowar-esque. Québec has a big scene, doesn't mean it's the best scene, I don't like much tech death personally. Ontario had Razor and Exciter, both legendary bands. I simply think that comparing the strength of each scenes is fun, that's perhaps my scientific approach though. I'm not like "Québec's metal is better, wooooooo! fuck you". No, not at all. My favorite Canadian band right now is probably Adversarial.

And yeah, Derigin, props to Antediluvian and Mitochondrion!

LOL, well, it would have helped to quote.

No need for hostility man, I don't have a problem with you or anything.

no mention of the mighty thor? i suppose using jon mikl thor's name and evolution in the same sentence probably shouldn't happen (aside from right there). but still,

THERES THUNDER ON THE TUNDRA!

....which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since all the on-topic posts are basically about how Canadian Metal never made it, so a bit of free advertising isn't gonna hurt

70's - you have your classic rock, progressive rock and trad heavy metal across the country. Mostly Ontario-based bands garner any recognition.

80's - Anvil and Exciter got an early start with speed/thrash in the 70s and this defines the Ontario scene, with bands like Annihilator, Razor, Sacrifice, Voivod, Dead Brain Cels, etc, gaining widespread recognition. Trad metal like Kick Axe, Sword, Fist and Thor were still going strong. By the late 80s, metal is catching up to the heavier trends that have been forming, with bands like Infernäl Mäjesty, Disciples of Power and Slaughter

90's - Blasphemy bring in the 90s with probably the most extreme Canadian metal recordings to date and by 99' Conqueror is already following in their footsteps, giving us the well-known Canadian war metal scene. Back to the early 90s, the Quebec DM scene explodes, with Obliveon, Gorguts, Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, and more. On the West Coast, Strapping Young Lad straddle the mid-90s with their debut. Mid-late 90s the next generation of Quebec DM begins, with Quo Vadis, Neuraxis, Martyr. Horde of Worms from Ontario make their debut, one of the more extreme black/death/grind bands out there. Into Eternity from Saskatchewan make their debut.

I'm gonna leave it at that, and maybe add some stuff to the 90s sections and do the 2000's later. This is where we start to see a TON of bands form and release material; it's a lot to go through.

cheers,
--N

It seems that there is a strong hard rock and metal scene in Québec / Ontario as well as in Alberta / British Columbia. I've realized this kind of dualism not only in connection to metal music but also concerning cinema, foods, literature and other cultural stuff. I don't want to sound harsh or closed minded but sometimes, I'm about to ask myself if provinces such as Manitoba and especially Saskatchewan even have something one could call culture. I've recently done a few well elaborated radio shows about Canadian music from 1930 up to 2012, touching all genres from folk over jazz and from La Bolduc over Art Scimmel, Guy Lombardo, Rush, Saga, Kashtin, Jerry Alfred, GrimSkunk up to Justin Bieber. It was easier to find bands from Newfoundland or even Prince Edward Island than from New Brunswick or Saskatchewan for example. If you could just tell me one worthy metal band from these places or anything cultural in general, I would be glad to check it out.

I think you'll be ok. I just picked the first three bands that came to mind.

Yeah, yeah and I was joking until Det Morket took it too literally.

Kluseba, you sound like Lord Durham (aka like a piece of shit)

First, Lord Durham has nothing to do with this at all. Your comment shows that you don't have a balanced knowledge of your own country's history. Second, this man had a couple of solid ideas (if you take into consideration where he comes from and when he lived of course - without him, what happened in 1867 wouldn't have been possible) and even some revolutionary thoughts in United Kingdom as he was a very present member of the Whigs. He was even sent to Canada because people wanted to get rid of him in the UK as he was considered being "too progressive". Third, hate is the most valuable form of recognition and honour. If you compare me to such a famous figure in European and North American history, it almost honours me. Fourth, you didn't answer my question what would have been the easiest thing to do: Tell me something about culture and music from Saskatchewan for example. I have studied many years in Canadian culture and history, talked to many people from all kind of places in Canada and traveled quite a lot but I have never heard of any popular traditions, music or movies from Saskatchewan for example as if there was an absence of culture.

Sask's biggest metal export is Into Eternity and Manitoba has Propagandhi (not really metal) and Evil Survives. Many of my friends are Saskie escapees and the culture they've shared with me includes "Eh bud, throw me a Pil?" and "Minus 40 with the wind chill today".

I'm actually from Manitoba. There's this sort of weird thing where lots of people believe that civilization ends west of Toronto, only to resume once you cross the mountains. This is not so.

Manitoba (by this extent, largely Winnipeg, with some other projects in smaller towns & Brandon) has a great metal scene which can trace its roots in heavy music back to 80s hardcore and the incredibly small metal scene at the time (trad metal, thrash and a power metal band or two). In the 90s, there was an infamous grind scene, and death metal really rose to prominence during this period. By the new millennium, there was a huge thrash scene AND a huge death metal scene (and a metric shitton of nu metal and, soon enough, metalcore), and largely the past decade death and/or thrash has been the the best spawning ground for local talent. That being said, by the mid-late 00s you could find a band of any style here in Winnipeg (I'm pretty certain the internet has helped in this regard), and just over the past few years black metal has spawned some quality projects.

In any case, here's a taste of some of the best of Manitoba Metal:

ALPHAKILL - Unmitigated Disaster
[technical prog-thrash for fans of Coroner, Testament, Forbidden, Megadeth]

ANTIKATHERA - Sunspot Effigy EP
[instrumental progressive technical death metal for fans of Nasum, Gorguts, Origin, Quebec DM]

ARCHAGATHUS - any of their numerous releases
[mincecore/grindcore for fans of Agathocles]
-have toured Europe, have releases under numerous labels

ARCTIC CIRCLE - Cult Weapons demo LP, Forcing the Astral
[black/thrash/grind from Brandon, for fans of early Bathory, Razor, Impaled Nazarene]
-Forcing the Astral was released by Profound Lore Records

BESIEGED - Victims Beyond All Help
[brutal thrash for fans of early Sepultura, Kreator, Morbid Saint]

DAMASCUS - Damascus s/t
[progressive melodic death metal for fans of Into Eternity, At the Gates, Dark Tranquility]

Dissolution - Dying. Dead. Undead.
[death metal for fans of Death, Carcass, Obscura]

EYAM - Eyam EP
[black/death/progressive metal for fans of early Opeth, later Behemoth, Morbid Angel]

GRAND MASTER - The Dream Alive
[progressive heavy metal for fans of Rush, Iron Maiden, Dream Theatre, Blind Guardian]

HEAD HITS CONCRETE - Thy Kingdom Come Undone compilation
[technical grindcore for fans of Nasum, Demilich, Gorguts, Origin]

JAW - Swings Humans
[experimental groove/sludge metal for fans of Neurosis, Meshuggah, Tool, Isis]

NOIR - Shadows Rise demo EP (new full length is coming next year and is probably my most anticipated local album of 2013)
[melodic black metal for fans of Dissection, Emperor, Satyricon]

PSYCHOTIC GARDENING - Humanitorium
[dark/death/doom metal for fans of My Dying Bride, Morbid Angel, Celtic Frost/Triptykon]

PUTRESCENCE - any of their numerous releases
[deathgrind/goregrind for fans of Impaled, Exhumed, Napalm Death]
-have played Maryland Deathfest, toured Europe, are signed to No Escape Records

TYRANTS DEMISE - Tyrants Demise EP
[melodic death metal/deathcore for fans of Arsis, The Black Dahlia Murder, Quo Vadis]

ZOMBIE ASSAULT!! - Zombie Assault!! demo LP
[d-beat death/grind for fans of Entombed, Dismember, classic Stockholm DM]

There are numerous other bands of note as well...


We're also host to Folkorama, "the largest and longest-running multicultural festival in the world" which is always excellent, no matter what pavilion(s) you attend. http://www.folklorama.ca/

I'll admit it was an inflammatory call, I simply thought it was a bit ironic to see the opposite of what Durham did and I can assure you I know my history very well, hard to judge based on one sentence, eh? Don't give yourself too much credit, I don't hate you. While I agree that Manitoba and Saskatchewan have no clear cultural identities at least they don't seem to transcend outside of their borders, the specter of Americanization is pretty strong everywhere in Canada and the fact that these two provinces are in the middle of the two cultural regions of the country creates some kind of a cultural desert (I bet it's the same in many American states like North Dakota). Cultural exodus is a real thing, be it inside a province or on national scale.

Not familier with much before the 80s, but my take on the Canadian scene (and its probably biased on what i listened to at the time) we

Mid 80s - early 90s: alot of hard aggressive thrash bands (Slaughter, Razor, Infernal Majesty) with a few other thrash bands like Annihilator or soothsayer...and of course Voivod, but they are almost their own category

early 90s - early 00s: it seemed like this was the birth of death metal in Quebec and really dominated the more well known releases in Canada (cryptopsy, Katkalysm, Martyr, Gorguts, etc..)

post 00s: I think there has been more of a variety of bands, quebec death metal bands Augury, Quo Vadis, Neuraxis, Obtenebris to Devin Townsend/Strapping young Lad to a pretty good Quebec BM scene right now (Sorcier Des Glaces, Forteresse) and some good Western Canadian bands too (Dark Forest, Bison BC, Nebucadnezzer, Into Eternity, Divinity)

So, I think now there are quite a few good bands in Canada of almost all genres...but just maybe not "superstar" band that rocks out to stadiums