Saturday the 30th: The Gorge - Thousand Year Fire

     The nature of your Saturday the 30th of January post is a bit of a challenge for me to pin down. At its core (ha, see what I'm doing there?) it's very 'core', but what you throw on the front of that is kind of up for debate. There's some progginess, and enough tech flavour (in the vein of Misery Signals or perhaps Straight Reads the Line) that just saying metalcore isn't nearly enough.

     I'm talking about The Gorge, and the opening and title track from their forthcoming new record Thousand Year Fire. "Thousand Year Fire" is, like I said, a very 'core' kind of song, but it's anything but one-dimensional. Pick an instrument and listen to just it for a while, and you're bound to hear a little something -- a variation at the end of a riff, a section with an interesting (bass) chord or two, that kind of thing. Those interesting touches, and a cool groove or two, help "Thousand Year Fire" do what any good opening track should: pique my interest for the rest of the album. See if it does the same for you.

Wednesday: The Parallel - Pendulum

     Finally, I can leave the shores of exotic locales like Australia and return to Canadian shores to ask the following terribly important question: is post-djent a thing yet? If it is, I would say the Canucks in The Parallel who're providing your Wednesday song might qualify as metalcore-meets-post-djent.

     The vocals, including those provided by Eric Almeida of Auras, have a very core feel to them; the riffing is both big and noodly; and the drums are likewise big and chock full of grooves and ghost notes. Your song for last Wednesday, a track called "Pendulum", isn't exactly going to blow your mind, but it is a great example of groovy, varied metalcore done really well. It even reminds me just a little of other (now-defunct) Canadian outfits like Kingdoms and Straight Reads the Line in its "melodic metalcore meets tech" sensibilities. Check it out.

Sunday: Straight Read the Line - Last Call

     For your Sunday song this week, it's another song from a band whose resurrection would be a really rad Christmas gift. I don't see it happening, but that wouldn't make it any less awesome.

     I've written about defunct Canadian post-hardcore band Straight Reads the Line before, but they're the kind of band I'm always keen to spread the word about, even if they are no more. It's too bad that the band only survived a single LP, but if you're going to burn out after just one record, there are worse records to do it after that Straight Reads the Line's The Author.

     If you've been a reader for a while you might have already seen a Song of the Day or two from The Author, but it's been a bit since I've done one so it's about time. That's why your Sunday song is "Last Call" from Straight Reads the Line's aforementioned single album The Author Listen to it and then clap your hands in the hopes that the band has something in common with Tinkerbell.

Song of the Day: Straight Reads the Line - The Jig is Up

     Since I did another Kingdoms song yesterday, I figure it's only right to attempt the same resurrection voodoo on another Canadian band I've mentioned before that expired before its time, in the admittedly vain hopes that exposing them to some new fans might somehow magically change the past. Sigh. At least we've got some great songs from bands like Straight Reads the Line.

Song of the Day: Straight Reads the Line - Pilgore

     Whether or not you knew it at the time, yesterday's song was the start of a them. Sure, it's a very niche theme, and one that only extends to yesterday's band and today's, but it's a segue between the two nonetheless. What's this theme, you ask? Awesome defunct Canadian metalcore bands you've never heard of. Yesterday it was Kitchener's Kingdoms, and today it's Stoney Creek's Straight Reads the Line.