BRUTAL YOUTH – Sanguine

Hailing from Toronto (via St. Johns, Newfoundland), Brutal Youth have shared stages with Sick of It All, Descendents and old-school UK shouters Cock Sparrer. This third release – mixed by the legendary Mass Giorgini – captures their aggressive and insanely focused sound on a studio disc without losing too much of the intensity you’d expect from a great live set. With a sound that fuses hardcore roots with a touch of skate punk, then combines that with a distinctly Canadian edge – as per Propagandhi and Ste. Catherines – ‘Sanguine’ is one hell of a punk record.

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BARROW WIGHT – Kings In Sauron’s Service

barrow-wight-lpOver the years, the Lord of the Rings trilogy has been a fairly popular inspiration for concept albums. Even before Peter Jackson’s world dominating, award winning film adaptations, rock bands were looking to Tolkien for lyrical themes. Magnum‘s Bob Catley released an entire album of Middle Earth based songs back at the turn of the millennium; Blind Guardian released a full album of Tolkien tales two years previously. It could be said that many prog, power metal and battle metal bands are obsessed, but few have taken Tolkien to heavier places than Barrow Wight.

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ALL THAT’S LEFT – All That’s Left EP

all that's left epFrom Ontario, All That’s Left are a five piece rock band who clearly carry within them a restless spirit. The three songs on their debut EP present the work of a very talented band, while simultaneously sounding like a bunch of guys whom haven’t quite found their niche. That said, all three songs are enjoyable if listened to in isolation – they just don’t necessarily belong together.

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