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Ministry’s newest album, the strangely titled The Squirrely Years Revisited has more or less been savaged online for being “unnecessary” or as an “Easy cash grab.” All of that may be true, but the fact of that matter, I liked this album a lot. The record finds Al Jourgensen re-recording material taken from the first Ministry single through the band’s second album. Of course, the earliest stuff is, or was, very synth poppy (albeit with a slight goth vibe). By the time they got to their second album, Twitch modern industrial Ministry was starting to take shape, but was not fully formed. Al himself has distanced himself particularly from Ministry’s first LP, With Sympathy where...

Pouzza Fest is an annual event held during Victoria Day weekend each May in downtown Montréal. It features bands playing at a variety of venues, ranging from a large outdoor stage to small nightclubs. This review highlights several artists from the 2025 edition of the festival, each with a photo and choice of favourite song from the setlist performed.Béton Armé @ Jardin des bièresAs the late afternoon thunderstorms finished rolling through the city, local Oi! band Béton Armé took to the festival’s outdoor stage in front of a few hundred freshly soaked audience members. Lead singer Danick only stayed on the stage for a few seconds of each song and made his way down to the pit repeated...

On May 7, Pacing and Cheekface played at the Axis Club in Toronto, Ontario. I had been looking forward to this show for months and couldn’t wait to make the trek into the city, grab my spot on the floor, and experience the joy of live music. I settled into my place on the floor and Pacing - Katie, Vonnie, and Ben - soon took the stage for their first Canadian show. The band came out and started into the “tortilla chip bag song” which commemorates the long description on the back of a bag of Las Fortunitas Tortilla Chips - we don’t have this kind of tortilla chip in Canada but the crowd was quickly won over by the energy and tongue-in-cheekness the song was delivered with. Lead singe...

As I sit in this sunny beer garden, listening to black metal, I can’t help but feel the incongruity. This is unquestionably not the peak time of year to be releasing a record of this ilk, but I’m going to do my best to put that to one side. Not least of all because I don’t actually have much in the way of preconceived notions about Ghost Bath, despite being aware of them for some time. So I want to be as close to completely objective as I can. And I was somewhat surprised when I listened to this record, I’ll admit. In some instances for better, though not without exception. My understanding, such as it was, was that Ghost Bath were basically a heavily emotive post-black metal outfit....

Very rarely am I compelled to write up an EP or a demo, but that;s what’s happening here. I had heard of XweaponX prior to listening to this demo, but hadn’t put together the pieces of information I’d accumulated properly, so was hitherto unaware of the fact that this relatively new, straight edge hc band featured not one, but two of the Garris brothers. Bryan (Knocked Loose) on bass, and his brother Trey (Gates To Hell) on drums. The band is completed by Isaac Hale and Amos, also from Knocked Loose, and vocalist Dave Baugher. Put simply, I’m not a straight edge guy, but those motherfuckers do have a tendency to make some of the most furious hc in the scene. I also respect the ideolo...