Local Releases

Greathunter – Prey

November 3rd, 2017  |  by  |  published in Features, Local Releases

Greathunter - Prey

On their debut full length album Prey, Ottawa’s own Greathunter strikes a wonderful balance between ambition and subtly. The seven tracks on this album all have wonderfully nuanced production and dense compositions, but they are definitely not making noise for the sake of being heard. Every added layer of instrumentation feels so purposeful and vibrant […]

Ty Hall – Nothing But Time

September 27th, 2017  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

Ty Hall - Nothing But Time

Nothing but Time is the latest release from Ty Hall. I’ve been listening to it often over the last month or so. Ty has been making music for a long time. Nothing But Time is my favourite release to date. It’s a great mesh of the musical influences he has built up over the years, […]

Album Review: Onionface’s “Roll over Dog… And run!”

June 15th, 2017  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

Album Review: Onionface’s “Roll over Dog… And run!”

Onionface, a three-piece band from Ottawa, is a tour de force. That phrase isn’t meant to be taken lightly. Go to one of their shows. You’ll see them battling it out on stage and giving it everything they’ve got to put on an entertaining show. They keep the energy high live, and they bring that […]

All Day Breakfast Never Stops Sounding Good

April 5th, 2017  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

All Day Breakfast Never Stops Sounding Good

All Day Breakfast is a small band with a big sound. Guitarist Stefan Jurewicz and drummer Alan Tweedley both share vocal responsibilities in this garage rock ball of energy that’s had a shave and a shower. Their debut EP All The Rage mashes heavy fuzz and brow-beating drums with catchy and never-a-dull-moment songwriting. The EP […]

Inire – Cauchemar

November 24th, 2016  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

Inire - Cauchemar

Inire recently dropped Cauchemar, their followup to 2009’s debut Born The Wicked, The Fallen, The Damned. Cauchemar opens with a mellow and melodic instrumental, reminiscent of some of the tracks from Corrosion of Conformity’s Deliverance album. Similarly, Into the Labyrinth is one other such track. When it comes to the rest of the album, your […]

Sophisticated Surrealism : Contemplating The Music Of The Haig

August 29th, 2016  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

Sophisticated Surrealism : Contemplating The Music Of The Haig

In two and a half years The Haig have released two albums, the enigmatic Template For Disaster and its equally cryptic sibling, Tales of Wisdom and Might. Then, they tempted us recently with Turnbull Suit 7″, a prelude their new creation, Ghost of Nuclear Future, due to be released September 24th. In light of this […]

Prayer Wheels Debut Choir-Rock EP ‘Spring’

June 24th, 2016  |  by  |  published in Local Releases, New Music

Prayer Wheels Debut Choir-Rock EP 'Spring'

Self-described “choir-rock” band Prayer Wheels increases their presence on the Ottawa music scene with Spring, their four-song debut EP to be released by Ringbill Records on June 27, 2016. Featuring four vocalists in harmony, this quintet has the potential to carve an impressive niche locally and beyond. Selected from songs Pierce McKennirey (bass/guitar/vocals) had been […]

A Caliginous Allegory – The Night Watch : Boundaries

June 15th, 2016  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

A Caliginous Allegory - The Night Watch : Boundaries

A single deep resounding tom-strike introduces Boundaries, the latest composition by The Night Watch, entering it into the annals of Progressive Rock/Metal with an intensity and ferocity that borders the realms of Symphonic Rock by its sheer lyrical imagination and impassioned dramatic scope which pulsates through an ardent spectrum from the perilously grim to the […]

To Be Savoured : Smoke Lake by Kaleigh Watts

June 2nd, 2016  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

To Be Savoured : Smoke Lake by Kaleigh Watts

The rare poetic orchids of Smoke Lake, conceived of memory and dream, birthed in solitude and sanctuary, nurtured by bone and breath and blood and soul surrounded by nature and ancestry, are set before us by Kaleigh Watts as gentle dona spiritus naturae to breathe in and …to savour. Having been taken in by Kaleigh’s […]

The Road Less Travelled – Ali McCormick’s New Album : Clean Water

May 25th, 2016  |  by  |  published in Local Releases

The Road Less Travelled – Ali McCormick’s New Album : Clean Water

In 1920, Robert Frost wrote The Road Less Travelled whose last two lines are… I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. The truth is that we all, every single one of us, walk a ‘road less travelled’ because every road/path is singular. We are the only ones travelling […]