Canadian metal bands emerge seemingly from out of nowhere; each one striving to make a name for themselves. Try as they might, very few succeed and are eventually swallowed up becoming just “another band”. All Else Fails however, are one of the few strong enough to have fought their way to the creation of their first full-length, Against The Darkening Sky.

When I used to drive for hours plowing, I would rely on the radio to keep me sane. During this mind-numbing task, one of my fave bands was Mother Mother and their song “The Stand.” Now, though my snow removal days are over, I still love my Mother Mother fix; so naturally I snagged their third album Eureka.

MaQLu is back with her second installment of the ‘Tales From The Black Heart’ cycle with the EP Black. This release is much like her Blood EP in that it contains slow deadly beats mixed with low vocals. Personally, I didn’t find Black to be as good as its predecessor. I found the vocal lines to be out of sync with the beats, giving the songs a plastic feel. This leaves me to believe this mini album was rushed.

John Falls, lead vocalist for the alternative metal band Egypt Central, recently spoke with me about the group’s newest release, White Rabbit. This is the band’s second full-length offering and their maturity is evident in the songwriting and playing. The band is currently winding their way around the U.S. on tour, so check them out live. Here’s what Falls had to say about White Rabbit.

I recently caught up with the Canadian metal act Endast to discuss their newest release, Black Cloud. James and Chris Arsenian, Pepe Poliquin, Ryan Miller and Blair Youngblut took turns answering questions about the band, the new album and what the future has in store for them. Here is how the conversation went.

It was a Tuesday night in downtown Toronto, and I met up with the guys from Toronto via Calgary-based band Inner City Elegance at a Tim Hortons to conduct my first interview. We thought that the Timmies would be too loud to host the interview, so we relocated into their tour van. I was a little nervous and didn’t know what to expect, but the guys were super-nice and hilarious. I was excited to learn about who Inner City Elegance really is and what they’re all about.

I caught up with Rebel Emergency vocalist Roddy Colmer for a quick chat on the phone, while they were in British Columbia for the first time. Roddy seemed pretty content with the Joint Venture tour, and the direction the band was heading in. Their new album Aphrodisiology consists of eleven tracks and comes out on June 24th.

Welcome to Awolnation. Over the last few months the solo project of Aaron Bruno, formerly of Under the Influence of Giants, has really taken off in the world of alternative rock. Fueled by the hit single “Sail,” Awolnation’s debut record Megalithic Symphony has become one of the summer’s surprise hits. The record goes all over the place in terms of its sound and style, ranging from indie rock to alt rock to electronica to even hip hop beats.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Ben Jaeger, guitarist and singer with the Wisconsin based rock band Sunspot. The group definitely has a unique sound that I feel sets them apart from others in the genre and Jaeger was more than happy to speak with me about how he achieves it. Here is what he had to say about his Fender Toronado with P-90 pickups.

The first few times I listened to this CD I couldn’t help but think of the pop-punk emo bands that were so popular when I was in high school, especially Taking Back Sunday. The album is full of heartbreak, loneliness and growing up.

Good thing I’m not a pretty boy or I may have been too scared to write this review. When I first heard A Bullet For Pretty Boy’s album Revision:Revise all I could take from it in the end were the kickdrums. Sure, the band had some gnarly breakdowns, aggressive shouting and high sung choruses, but in the end it was all generic sounding.

The tale behind “new” melodic death metal band World Under Blood has a sort of “long time coming” sentiment attached to it. Although the group is just set to release its debut record Tactical in July, World Under Blood formed all the way back in September 2006 in a chance meeting between CKY guitarist Deron Miller and drummer Tim Yeung at the Rainbow Room in Hollywood.

Grammy nominated guitar virtuoso Tony MacAlpine is back with his first solo disc in 10 years. As one might expect from MacAlpine this self-titled release is filled with some mind-boggling fretboard acrobatics and some of the best shredding you have ever heard.

As the originators of guitarcore, it’s no surprise that LoNero take their guitar sounds and tones seriously. The band has been hard at work in the studio putting the finishing touches on their newest release J.F.L. which is due in stores on May 24th. Recently we were able to catch up with lead guitarist Bill Lonero recently to ask him some questions about his equipment and the gear behind his signature sound.