Black Metal Across the Provinces and Territories of Canada
As one of the coldest countries in the world and thanks to its icy aesthetic – snowy forests, ice-covered ruins and a misanthropic view partly due to being locked away too long during the winter – black metal and Canada go together like maple syrup and pancakes.
Certain Canadian provinces have made a greater impact on the community as a whole, such as B.Quebec. As such, this list highlights one band from each Canadian province to show the breadth of this expression’s reach. There is of course an exception. Nunavut, Canada’s most north-western territory, is home to one band, Northern Haze, but they can’t really be described as black metal.
So trade in that thousand-dollar Canada Goose jacket for a leather jacket and discover black metal bands from every province of Canada.
Kafirun (British Columbia)
The total chaos of Vancouver’s Kafirun began in 2014 with the release of the Death Worship EP. A few more releases and the band was ready to release their full-length album, eschaton in 2017. Kafirun keep their tracks cryptic sounding and never monotonous. The band is more of a ritual listening experience compared to others and feels like the music should be played around a small fire in the woods. Australia-based Seance Records seems to be the only label with the guts to handle it.
REVENGE (Alberta)
Season of Mist saw something special in Edmonton’s Revenge, the band consisting of J. Read relentlessly smashing the skins and screaming bloody murders on the albums, along with Vermin and Hassiophis giving cloaked helping hands live. I am not blaming you. Formed from the ruins of Read’s former band Conqueror, Revenge is a chaotic beast – with songs about the downfall of mankind. Sonically, it’s as if Revenge already had black belts in black metal who started taking grindcore classes at night. Since 2001, Revenge have embarked on a concentrated attack, releasing six albums that only need three-word titles to get their point across. Blackened. grinding. Nihilism.
Night Terror (Saskatchewan)
The barren Saskatchewan prairie desert is the perfect somber backdrop for the production of a black metal masterpiece. The provincial town of Regina is home to Nachtterror, a five-piece symphonic black metal band that has weathered dreary winter days in opportunities to write songs that are complicated, inspiring, and often menacing. evaluation is their first full-length album, and judging the band by that, what comes next from them will be significant.
Wilt
Winnipeg’s Wilt deliver an overwhelming and almost suffocating sound that delves into the realm of atmospheric, but not quite depressing Black Metal. Her songs build up like an ocean slowly getting completely covered with black oil. They started in 2010 and a few years later released their self-titled EP through Winter Wolf Records.
Germany’s Vendetta Records are currently handling the Manitobans. But just because Wilt are part of the black metal subculture doesn’t mean they can’t be friends with bands of other genres – as evidenced by their recent shows with Conan or at the Sled Island festival. Swim around in the obsidian pool of their two full-length albums, Movable monoliths and ruin.
Not requested (Ontario)
Any band whose logo has been drawn by living legend Christophe Szpajdel is worth listening to, and Ottawa’s Unreqvited is no exception. A one-man project from musician 鬼 (Ghost, aka William Melsness), Unreqvited is a chilling post-black metal experience best heard when the snow is falling at midwinter twilight. The man was prolific, with several publications under his belt. A recommended listen is his latest album, the Haunting Beautiful ghosts Album.
Basalt (Quebec)
The province of Quebec has a rich history of black metal, and many of the bands from there deserve an article of their own. Instead of giving the obvious legends like Necronomicon for this Canadian list, an underdog was chosen in Basalte.
The mystery band from Montreal formed in 2013 and consists of members with the names L, N and S. The band takes a unique approach to Urban Decay. you dizziness The album cover evokes the same sentiment as the opening credits of the “Candyman” remake, which features upside-down skyscrapers and hints that it’ll focus on some sort of air-conditioned nightmare. Their two-guitar approach adds an extra layer of glass to this oppressive building. The suffocating nature of the urban jungle is best portrayed in tracks like “Éclat de verre” with the sombre lyrics “I keep falling into the limbo of my torment, condemned to this eternal cycle”.
Thrawsunblat (New Brunswick)
Ex-Woods of Ypres members Joel Violette, Brendan Hayter and Rae Amitay, along with violinist Keegan MC Fredricton, form New Brunswick’s Thrawsunblat. Fans of Ypres will have much to appreciate here, as the band play a folky form of black metal that sounds right at home by a fire on the provincial shores. Violette has said the band name is like a bastardized version of a European language. The name may contain traces of the words “Thrash, blast, raw, sun”. Bastardized European Metal or not, this band packs a punch. Listen to albums like Great Brunswick Forest to get a sense of nostalgia for the Maritimes, even if you’ve never been there.
WinterheartH (Newfoundland)
“Blackened metal from the hellish shores of eastern Canada.” St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, to be precise. The band has been around since 2008 and recently opened for the legends themselves, Necronomicon. On their latest album Riverbed Empirethe piano intro to ‘Marshlands’ lulls the listener into a false sense of calm before the gates of hell burst open with a sickeningly blackened thrash that would paint these shores of hell a lobster hue.
Tombs of the Abyss (Prince Edward Island)
There is a frost warning in Charlottetown. Graves of the Abyss hails from Prince Edward Island, known for world-class seafood and the classic Canadian novel and television series Anne of Green Gables. Now the lush green island has something darker to be known for – the three-piece band Graves of the Abyss. The band consists of members of the groove metal band Death Valley Driver who decided to try their hand at black metal and their efforts paid off. her only album burial is just wild and diverse enough to justify a trip to the island to see one of their gigs.
Ancient Thrones (Nova Scotia)
Trailer Park Boys and Hobo With a Shotgun aren’t the only mediums to emerge from Nova Scotia that should get you excited. Ancient Thrones are a blackened death metal band that emerged in Halifax in 2018 after spending a few years as Abysseral Throne in the neighboring province of New Brunswick. Your album 2020 The veil is an overlooked lobster in a supposedly empty trap set up by black metal artists in Nova Scotia. Guess that’s how she goes, boys. Next time you drop out drunk in downtown Halifax, make sure you make it to an Ancient Thrones concert before you pass out.
Archaic Earth (Yukon)
Finding black metal bands in Canada’s Northern Territories is difficult, though not impossible. Although the bands haven’t released much in recent years, it’s still worth mentioning them as examples of artists popping up in areas with the harshest weather conditions and sparse populations.
With that in mind, perhaps Archaic Earth’s one-man approach to black metal music-making was developed out of necessity. Dawson City, Yukon musician Shawn Veturlag has spent many snowy nights composing his personal take on atmospheric black metal with 2022’s Carnelian Moon the latest: “Born of dripping moss and burrowing roots, formed in the dark places beyond the veil and sung of by the fire and fury of creation itself.” Watch the northern lights turn red as you listen…
Antilife (Northwest Territories)
From the roughest, most unfriendly terrain of Canada comes perhaps the most misanthropic artist of the bunch, Anti-Life. Another one-man band – musician Acrimonia’s brainchild, Antileben only released a demo, Anti-Human Death Ship in 2007, which is as rugged and cavernous as the polar bear’s den.
The sole release was by Indonesian label Fatal Productions, which released albums by two other Canadian black metal bands. Acrimonia is also part of two London, Ontario-based black metal bands, so this album, originally from the Northwest Territories, is up for debate, but for now we’re confident it was cut with the Yellowknife.
