(fall) metal reviews round-up

Despite the relative quiet around here the past few months, I've been pumping out a slow and steady stream of metal reviews (and the odd interview) elsewhere. Check them out if you're so inclined.

SEPTEMBER to NOVEMBER

• Korpiklaani / Moonsorrow / Tyr / Metsatoll live @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, August 30, 2012
• Stolen Babies - Naught (teaser: I thought it was awesome)
• Epic Kings and Idols tour: Devin Townsend Project / Katatonia / Paradise Lost / Stolen Babies @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, September 19, 2012
• The Gathering - Disclosure (it's pleasant but...)
• My Dying Bridge - A Map of All Our Failures (it's not the best MDB, but even average MDB is year-end list material)
• Daylight Dies - A Frail Becoming (don't know why I didn't give this the Exclaim 'mark of excellence' because it's well deserved)
• Killing Joke - MMXII (a strong album, but I didn't like it as much as Absolute Dissent)
• Cradle of Filth - The Manticore and Other Horrors (solid CofF but I was hoping for more)
• Tiamat - The Scarred People (Tiamat doing their thing, which is pretty enjoyable as always)
• Therion - Les Fleurs du mal (... hmm ...)

And an interview with Dark Forest for Hellbound.ca.


FROM EARLIER IN 2012 (some noted here already, some not)

• Evergrey - A Decade and a Half 
• Ghost, Blood Ceremony and Ancient VVisdom live in TO 
• The Eleventh Hour - Lacrima Mortis 
• Iced Earth, Symphony X and Warbringer live in TO 
• Megadeth, Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil live in Hamilton 
• Drudkh - Eternal Turn of the Wheel 
• Barren Earth - Devil's Resolve 
• Atoma - Skylight 
• Memorial Concert for David Gold 
• Woods of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Lights 
• Anathema - Weather Systems 
• Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol 
• Paradise Lost interview 
• Moonspell - Alpha Noir 
• Def Leppard, Poison and Lita Ford live in Hamilton
• Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper live in TO 
• Agalloch, Taurus and Musk Ox live in TO 
• Dark Forest - Land of the Evening Star 
• Schizoid interview 
• Nechochwen - OtO 
• HEAVY TO festival in TO 
• Forest of Stars - Shadowplay for Yesterdays 

benefit performance of "Sanctuary Song" (for the elephants)

(via Niagara Action for Animals)

Presented by Everyone Loves Elephants and Zoocheck Canada:

SANCTUARY SONG

Saturday February 11, 2012 7:00pm -10:30 pm (8pm Performance)
The Wychwood Theatre at the Barns
76 Wychwood Ave. Toronto, Ontario

• Pre-show silent auction offering unique items and cash bar
  
• Elephant Labyrinth creative display
• "Sanctuary Song" performance
• talk-back with the creative team
• post show reception

Tickets: $50
Patron: $100 ( includes program acknowledgement and tax receipt for maximum amount allowed)

Proceeds go toward moving the Toronto Zoo's elephants to PAWS Sanctuary and providing assistance for wild and captive elephants around the world.

For more information/tickets:
zoocheck@zoocheck.com
www.zoocheck.com
(416) 285-1744

November(+) recap and round-up

I usually tweet what I've been writing for other venues, but I may have missed an item or two this month... With that in mind, along with a nod to the non-twitter folks, a month-end review of reviews (and other stuff) seems in order.

This is a modest list, but probably the last of my reviewing for 2011. It's all year-end coverage from here on in! (and check the latest Exclaim in print for the beginnings of it)

My exclaim.ca contributions, ranging from late October throughout November:

• Opeth and Katatonia live in Guelph (quick summary: I loved the performances but not the audience)
  
• My Dying Bride The Barghest O'Whitby (a good fix, but not a full meal)
• Vallenfyre A Fragile King (part of my recent death metal appreciation bonanza - I also very highly recommend The Tomb Awaits by Entrails)
• Cradle of Filth Evermore Darkly (my experience of the visual component was delayed - fun stuff, British humour, solid live performance, but not an absolute must-have)

And for hellbound.ca:

• It's Kvlt to Eat Your Vegetables (a much delayed report of a group cooking effort inspired by Vegan Black Metal Chef)
  

Stay tuned for December liveliness, what with that aforementioned year-end coverage and other festive nonsense.

NAfA fundraiser: online art auction

Niagara artist Jan Yates is donating a portion of her proceeds from online art sales to Niagara Action for Animals this holiday season. If you want to bid (this is an auction rather than shopping cart-style deal), or even just see what's up for the bidding, check out her website.

Some info about Yates:

For the past decade Jan Yates has been compelled to create work directly from the land. Inspired by Canada's Emily Carr, Yates paints almost entirely plein air, enabling her to engage in an intimate dialogue with our natural and agricultural world. She examines the correlation between her own practice and the cycle of harvest- each having faith in what the land will give. Protection and the importance of maintaining ecological integrity concerning protected land also informs her work.

opeth: heritage recorded and live (belatedly)

An exclaim.ca review recap (in case you missed the tweets or facebook posts):

• I like Opeth's new album, Heritage. Here's where I attempt to explain why.

• Both Katatonia and Opeth are on top of their live game (Heritage sounds nearly as good in concert as on record). If only the entire audience would shut up and listen...

skinny puppy + peta2 = free song download

News from SPV/Synthetic Symphony:

Animal rights organization peta2 has joined forces with industrial music legends SKINNY PUPPY to offer a free download of a new SKINNY PUPPY song. The song "Wavy" comes from their new release "hanDover" which is being released October 25^th via SPV/Synthetic Symphony. Get your free download of "Wavy" courtesy of peta2 HERE

peta2 is the more youth-oriented division of parent organization People for the Ethical Treatment of animals. The partnership with Skinny Puppy is a logical one, building on early associations between the band and animal rights activism, especially in relation to the anti-vivisection song "Testure."

My review of the new Skinny Puppy album should be up next week at exclaim.ca [edit: see comment below], but the site has some preview info plus a video you can check out in the meantime.

more animal advocacy in st. catharines

Another animal advocate is speaking at Brock - this time it's Nathan Runkle, founder and Executive Director of U.S. based Mercy for Animals. The talk is free, open to the public, and will take place in the Sankey Chamber at Brock University in St. Catharines from 12-2 p.m. on Tuesday, October 11th.

From the press release:

The presentation, titled "Inspiring Compassion: Putting Our Ethics on the Table", will focus on how industrial farming has changed the way cows, pigs and chickens are treated and how our food choices can become a powerful tool in preventing cruelty to animals. Nathan’s presentation at Brock is sponsored by the Department of Sociology.

Mercy for Animals is the fastest growing farm animal protection group in the United States, gaining international attention with their undercover investigations and powerful ad campaigns. Founded in 1999, Mercy for Animals has 75,000 members and a growing list celebrity supporters, including Ellen DeGeneres.

Again, thanks to Niagara Action for Animals for the information.

talk against animal experimentation in medical science: Sept 17 at Brock University

An announcement, courtesy of Niagara Action for Animals:

Dr. Ray Greek, MD and critic of animal research

• Friday, September 17, 7–9 p.m. @ Brock University, Pond Inlet

Sponsored by Brock's Department of Sociology

Teacher, author, and research, Dr. Gray is also president of the not-for-profit Americans For Medical Advancement.

able to foster a rabbit?

Back home and back to work... More of the usual posts to come, but in the meantime here is a request for help from a group called Rabbit Rescue. Get in touch with them if you can lend a hand.

Via Niagara Action for Animals:

Friends of Rabbit Rescue,

Many of you may have heard by now that we are involved in helping in a specific case with hundreds of rabbits that desperately need us! We have until Thursday to gather as many foster homes as we can to help these wonderful bunnies. Most of them are Holland lops or dwarfs, ranging in age from babies to adults, with every colour under the sun!

We are specifically concentrating on helping the adult bunnies. These rabbits have been through hell and back, and while we cannot share details on this specific case right now, we will be able to shortly. What we can tell you is that if we do not get enough foster homes for these bunnies, the outcome is not going to be positive for them. There are still about 70 rabbits that need foster homes.

If you can foster a bunny, please email us immediately! We will provide a cage with supplies, plus a bag of food kindly donated by Martin Mills!

If you cannot foster right now, or miss this Thursday deadline, please contact us when you can foster! As our current foster homes are going to be completely filled up, this means we will not be able to offer our help to the shelters that rely on us to take their rabbits in when they become full. The situation for them, will become dire quickly too.

We need your help, and the bunnies need your love. Please consider fostering or adopting today. If you can't foster, donations are greatly appreciated. We will be spaying/neutering every rabbit that comes in, plus providing them all with medical care. You can donate
here: http://www.rabbitrescue.ca/donate.html

Thank you for your support!
Haviva Lush
Executive Director, Rabbit Rescue Incorporated
www.rabbitrescue.ca
Finding Rabbits Loving Homes

april 9 is love a cat day

Here at the keew household I have declared April 9 annual Love A Cat day.

It's been one year since one of the awesomest cats ever, Xavier, passed away. Rather than being sad about it, I've decided to celebrate his memory by spreading and encouraging a little extra cat love. (though feel free to include in the affection any dogs or other critters you come across today as well)

Love A Cat day is also a good excuse to highlight some cats in particular need of love and some of the organizations making an effort to help them. (other recommendations welcome)

Close to home, the Burlington Humane Society is a no-kill shelter for cats and dogs. I happily volunteered there for a short time when I had the chance, and I can attest to the quality of care and attention the animals receive until they find humans to bond with and take them home. All the cats (and dogs) available for adoption are profiled on BHS's website, but you can also go and visit them in person during operating hours. Besides donating volunteer hours and cash, you can also help out BHS by shopping in or donating to either of their two volunteer-run second-hand stores.

A few years ago I worked in a Waterloo Pet Valu location where we regularly fostered cats and kittens who were looking for homes. The organization we partnered with is still in operation - a KW-based cat rescue and adoption group called Pet Patrol, though now they also have a website profiling all their adoptable felines. The cats that came into the store were always well cared for and I got a chance to visit Pet Patrol headquarters while profiling cat rescue groups for local alternative weekly Echo. Founding volunteer Jan rescued and adopted out numerous cats, providing clean and healthy accommodations for them in her own home or finding foster care with other caring volunteers.

While living in St. Catharines I also had a chance to get involved, in the tiniest of ways, with local organization Niagara Action for Animals. NAfA has a much broader animal protection mandate but their actions include adoption and spay-and-neuter programs for companion animals (as well as a monthly vegan potluck social). Checkout Petfinder for info on NAfA-connected adoption-ready animals.

Several years ago, through the yearly Vegetarian Food Fair in Toronto, I also discovered Toronto Cat Rescue, another volunteer-run, no-kill organization dedicated to finding homes for homeless cats. Like many similar groups, Toronto Cat Rescue features photos and descriptions on their website of cats who are up for adoption.

These are just a few of the groups in Southern Ontario that are involved in spreading a little cat love. I thank them for their hard work and encourage you to show them a little love and support too.

a tribute to dogs

I'm a cat person, not a dog person. But over the years I have encountered a few dogs who get past my defenses and nuzzle their way into my heart. Recently, I've found myself more susceptible than ever.

Today's post is a tribute to one dog in particular, an aptly named black and white darling (Flash) who recently lost his life.

Dogs, like many other animals, communicate without needing to resort to human speech. And we are capable of apprehending some of that message, partially through interpretation and translation, but affectively as well, without needing to frame that apprehension in recognizable words.

This potential for communication, its visual dimension at least, is captured in a poignant series of photos of dogs in cars, by Martin Usborne (thanks to Boing Boing for the link).

Dog-human, especially dog-woman, intimacy is the subject of a deeply-moving intellectual study by Alice Kuzniar – Melancholia's Dog: Reflections on our Animal Kinship. I recommend it.

Feb 5 is fundraising day: NAfA and Deaflympics (cont'd)

Two attention-worthy fundraising events going on this Saturday, February 5.

If you're in the Thorold, Ontario, area and you like karaoke, think about dropping by Niagara Action for Animals (NAFA) "Sing Your Heart Out for Animals" karaoke fundraiser. $10 gets you vegan snacks and prizes, starting 7:30pm at Brooklyn's restaurant.

In another corner of Ontario (Simcoe), Saturday's local fundraising has a more international goal: sending Dustin Wills and his snowboarding teammates to Slovakia for this year's Deaflympics. According to the Simcoe Reformer, "February Family Funfest (Help Send Dustin to Slovakia)" is planned as an afternoon-long winter carnival from noon till 4pm, including "street hockey on Sydenham Street and a snowboarding demonstration by Dustin in the Brick parking lot."

And then, if you're in need of something louder to reward your good deeds, you might head into Toronto on Sunday, February 6, where you'll find me checking out the Death Angel/Eluveitie show at the Opera House.

metallers and oil spills

Earlier this summer, after BP's catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster, a bunch of musicians made the choice to boycott BP products on their summer tours. An email from Soilwork's label was the first I heard of it, but according to this Blabbermouth story on the BP boycott, the list of artists involved was fairly large, including bands like Anthrax, Megadeth, Rob Zombie, Korn and the likes (which may partly explain Korn's oil rig stage set-up at Heavy MTL?).

The latest bit of anti-oil spill news to come my way sounds a little more proactive, and involves the new band fronted by ex-Killswitch Engage singer Jess David Leach. Apparently The Empire Shall Fall are contributing some merch money to Gulf clean-up efforts. All proceeds from the sale of their latest t-shirt, designed by Matt Yezuita, are going to a group called Gulf Coast Wildlife Rescue. There's a short window for this charity-support shopping, but if you want a TSEF shirt and want to help out animals in the Gulf, you've got until August 29th at midnight to make your money do a little extra work.

TV looks at Canada's animal rights record tonight

via Niagara Action for Animals:

Tune into Global TV tonight, July 28, at 10pm, for "Revealed: No Country for Animals" as Kevin Newman takes a look at "Canada's Real Record on Animal Rights in Canada."

If you miss the initial broadcast, apparently it will be uploaded to Global's website tomorrow.

Here's one of several pr entries about the program for more info.

end of march events: for the music and for the animals

Of potential interest to the Southern Ontario folks...

For the animals:

OPIRG and BARC (Brock Animal Rights) are hosting a poetry reading / film screening event on March 29, 6-9 pm at OPIRG's downtown info shop, 10 Summer Street, St. Catharines. Poet James Strecker will be reading from his collection Beside the Hemlock Garden: On Life and Rights followed by a screening of the film Peaceable Kingdom by Tribe of Heart. Free event, everyone welcome, free vegan snacks provided.

Cats for convicts: not pet cats in the jail but a feral cat colony on Bath correctional institute property. Apparently the human–cat relationships involved here may be good for the inmates and for the cats. Read more (and/or sign a petition to keep the cats there).

And for the music:

In the mood for some theatrical, humorous but very frostbitten and grim black metal this weekend? The Iron Maiden of black metal - Immortal - hit the Opera House in Toronto on Saturday night, March 27.

And a pre-party of sorts: A FISTFUL OF METAL w/ DJ Miss Barbrafisch spinning all extreme metal all night, Friday, March 26 at Disgraceland, 965 Bloor St W of Ossington – "9pm till they kick us out!"

And if you want to start your weekend partying on Thursday, Nunslaughter and a bunch of other bands take over Sneaky Dee's Thursday night, March 25.

Plus Unearth close out the month at the Opera House on March 31.

If Hamilton's more your scene and you want to engage in a little community support, checkout Deathpoint, Subliminal Hate Machine, Aarsonist, and Rigorous Obliteration at Club Absinthe on March 26. The show (in collaboration with Social Service Worker students from Mohawk College) is a fundraiser for the It's My Dream scholarship program run through the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

And two more for my list (but far from the only events packed into the last week of March):

SONS OF BUTCHER CD Release Party with Paradox Hotel at Casbah in Hamilton, March 26 at 9 pm.

THE CREEPSHOW with The Barettas, Super Villains Exhumed, Die Standing, also at Casbah, March 31 starting at 8 pm.

and now for the good news...

A lost dog, trapped on a ledge, gets saved by firefighters in Port Hope, Ontario:

Dramatic rescue saves stranded dog: Husky stranded for at least two days on a CP Rail ledge.

Okay, yes, this is good news, but on a pretty small scale. So why am I repeating it? Well, partly because hearing about a real life happy ending for an animal never hurts, but also because of where I found the story – under the "Good News" heading on the CNEWS website.

I find it intriguing that they've had to create such a category. Are they suggesting that regular news is so overwhelmingly bad that we need a safe category to turn to when we'd rather not be depressed by what's going on in the world? Or are we all so numb to what's going on that we need to be told what's good news and what isn't? Oh, journalism, you are an endless source of entertainment...

virtual musicians: bringing back musical personalities from the dead

From Wired... this is a little neat and a little creepy – re-creations of a dead musician's distinctive performance style through computer technology:

Virtual Musicians, Real Performances: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Music

My tech geek side likes the idea of re-performances, the possibilities for hearing things that should have been performed and recorded, and so on. But the cynic (and paranoiac) in me cringes at the use of dead musicians' style as a cheesy gimmick or advertising hook, and the idea of copyrighting and licensing a performance flavour is really distasteful. If you read the Wired story, you'll see I'm not alone here. On top of it all, the dystopian sf fan in me imagines musicians being kept semi-/digitally alive like Dixie Flatline in Neuromancer and feels a little ill at the prospect.

So how do we use this technological potential without turning it into another tool for corporate control over creativity? Or use it respectfully without turning dead artists into caricatures of themselves? Any ideas?

---

side note: If you share your life with a pet or six, unless it's as long-lived as a tortoise, you're going to have to deal with animal mortality sooner or later – preferably later. I was hoping our next encounter with later was still a long ways away, but these things always loom sooner than you'd ever want.

If this blog is inspired, in part, by the seven cats I have shared my life with – four living with us now, two passed on, and one moved on to another family – this post is dedicated to one sick little cat who is very close to my heart. This AI stuff makes me wonder, would I hang onto him as a virtual kitty if I could? And I think no, that wouldn't be hanging on but starting a new relationship with a new different kind of cat, however closely he was related to the furry critter that was.

animals in Haiti

Since the earthquake(s) in Haiti I've been receiving reminders from various animal aid groups that the humans aren't the only ones suffering.

Humane Society International is one of the groups involved in getting aid not just to human people but to nonhumans in Haiti as well. Their website has reports on their findings and progress.

And from Niagara Action for Animals:

WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) are leading the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti (ARCH), apparently in response to an official invitation from the Haiti government.

HSI and ARCH are both collecting donations for the care and treatment of animals in Haiti.

Veggie Superfriends event in St Catharines

Passing along an announcement disseminated by Niagara Action for Animals:

"Veggie Superfriends" will be coming together to raise funds for the AETA 4, 4 animal rights activists from the U.S. who are currently facing terrorism charges (10 years) for things like chalking sidewalks, wearing balaclavas at demonstrations to conceal their identities, etc. Although these charges are all frivolous, they are up against a major piece of legislation, the AETA Animal Enterprises Terrorism Act, and legal fees are mounting. Let's all get together to help all our jailed activists and show the world that unjust legislation like this will not stop the call for an end to animal cruelty. All proceeds from ticket sales are going to the legal fund for the AETA 4. The day starts at 1:00 pm and includes the following:

• Cooking Demo with Vegan Chocolate Goddess Suie Moffat. Author of "Lickin' The Beaters" and owner/operator of Boardwalk Chocolates (http://boardwalkchocolates.com/), 2pm.
• Guest lecture from Brock University Professor and former host of Animal Voices, Lauren Corman, 2:50pm.
• Tabling from local AR organizations as well as Sea Shepherd.
• Film Showing: The Cove, 3:30pm.
• Free vegan food, 5:30pm.
• Bands, starting 6:30pm:

I Refuse (Ottawa Hardcore) - http://www.myspace.com/irefusehc
Black Faxes (Toronto Hardcore) - http://www.myspace.com/blackfaxes
Class War (Niagara Hardcore Reunion!) - http://www.myspace.com/classwarhc
Northern Primitive (Niagara Rockers) - http://www.myspace.com/northernprimitive

Tickets can be had by emailing theveganpoliceradio@gmail.com or at 73 St. Paul St in the near future. There will be two separate colour tickets, one for those who are attending, and one for those who support the cause but will not be attending (blue). For those we are not in the area but want to support this cause, please donate online by paypal or email support@aeta4.org.

More info on the cause and the activists can be found here:
http://aeta4.org/ or http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/.

I don't know much about the case they're raising money for here, or even about the speakers and bands scheduled for the event, but I can say with a great deal of certainty that I'm against labelling animal activists as terrorists. Herbivore magazine had a story on the issue a couple of years ago. If that issue is no longer available I'll see about getting permission to scan and post the article.

factory farms and disease

Scanning the science headlines today I came across a CNN opinion piece by novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, whose latest book – Eating Animals (Little, Brown and Co.) – is a nonfiction commentary on the implications and complications of consuming animal products.

(that I can even call on the commodity-oriented rhetoric of referring to meat, eggs, and dairy as "animal products" is, perhaps, a commentary in itself)

This particular article must be a promotional intro to his book, and focuses on food-related illnesses. There are two main threads to this here:

1. diseases that we get from the food we eat, whether that's food poisoning or flus that originate in food-animal populations;
2. the increased risk of human illness from antibiotic-resistant microbes caused by feeding food-animals antibiotics on a preventative basis.

Worth reading if you're concerned about these kinds of issues.

In one of those common but slightly odd coincidences, Safran Froer's focus on poultry farms is somewhat in tune with an old episode of the tv show Bones that aired last night. I didn't catch all the nuances of the episode (I was doing other things at the time) but I gather one of the threads involved the health hazards of industrial poultry farming.