#canadian doom

[doomanddead]

The Morbid World of Heliophage

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a spotlight on small-time doom, drone, and psych acts that deserve more attention. Our favorite release this month came from Canadian doom trio Heliophage.

Occult doom outfit Heliophage hails from Victoria, British Columbia. Their new EP, A Cult of Weird, Horrible People, is a spiritous serving of campy horror with just enough real world suffering to make the songs relatable. A glance at the album notes makes it clear that the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Each member is identified with their own malady; schizophrenia for the guitar player, Munchausen syndrome for the bassist, and, of course, Parkinson’s for the drummer. The EP was recorded in a “mold-ridden dungeon” and mixed in an “ivory tower.” Fun (and fungal) references aside, this EP has a diabolical way of getting under your skin. The weighty riffs and heinous melodies are toothsome enough to satisfy even the most discerning doom wizards. So hit play with me, and let’s get this dungeon crawl started. 

The intro track, The Sacrifice, sets the mood with B-movie dialogue laid over a bed of fuzz. Bring on the Satanic panic!

Gallows Raised rocks the stockades and rattles your manacles with fuzz-drenched grooves. The song pairs clean vocals with riffs so nasty they’ll turn your eyelids inside out. The lyrics tell the tale of an accused murderer with a monstrous surprise. This jam is sure to get every skull in the oubliette bobbing. Gallows Raised is a raucous good time stacked to the stalactites with heavy riffs, spooky imagery, and an impending sense of dread.

The band slows things down to a crawl with the lumbering tune, Disciple of Death. This vile bass line commandeers the senses, corrupts virgins, and converts the unwary to Heliophage’s black coven. A eely guitar solo reaches out through the darkness, slithering into every hole and crevice it can find. This track is temptation incarnate, a glimmering shard of doom metal in the blackness. Evil can never be fully eradicated, kids. So embrace it and be merry.

One thing I love about this EP is that Heliophage isn’t afraid to mix things up. Thirteen Against One features fast beats and growled vocals straight from the goblin’s den. The band rips through a vicious punk anthem, oozing their dank, mossy doom sensibilities all over it.

The EP closes on Malignant Hydra. This chugging brute explores medical terror and the depths of physical suffering. Dizzying riffs construct a hallucinatory nightmare. Clean and blackened vocals reflect the brutality of bodily destruction. A putrid guitar solo rips through the fabric of reality between life and death. The drum work in the final minute of the song is a thing of terrible beauty. 

Fans of Electric Wizard, Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats, and Black Capricorn will find themselves drawn this unholy offering. Ghouls, nerds, devil worshipers, acid freaks, and necromancers of all stripes should also take note. The band claims to have planted a bit of cordyceps fungus in this EP to bend listeners to their will. However, their fiendish plot won’t work on m… m… … yesssss, masters. 

[tmos-time]

All I got is a couple of dollars and uh a piece of gum would that be good for a small erisol doodle

crawls out of the hectic week woodwork to accept the toonie and gum. here have them both being stupid <3

[rosered-schneeweisschens-sis]

as an American, I hope this works.

[bumbldee]

Campster is one of the best part of psychonauts i go there and find out new shit

Like how Chops and JT have photos they've taken together on their pages where it's their renders awkwardly edited into irl photos and that Elka has JT's photo but she cropped Chops out.

I've been sitting here cackling

best friends <3

[lylawrites]

BRING MY GIRL RUBY GLOOM BACK

This show and this girl are a Halloween classic, idc. I have loved this show since the moment I saw it (like years ago). I also remember her always during this time of the year, but I never see anyone talk about her.

LOOK AT MY GIRL.

She is an icon.

She is the it girl.

This show is so criminally underrated, I swear.

Like, look at these silly little guys. If you haven't seen Ruby Gloom, you're missing out. It's such a good show you'll swear it was a fever dream

[fake-married-my-dead-fiance]

All this time I thought Kevin the Canadian was just an amusing joke/a way to make Dong-gyung's aunt both alive and inaccessible because she moved to a far away country, BUT NO, it's a metaphor for the relationship between Doom and Dong-gyung.

Kevin cannot communicate very well or understand Dong-gyung when she starts to describe her crazy situation, but he still offers love and support as best he can.

Which mirrors how Doom can't understand Dong-gyung because he can't read her mind and how Dong-gyung can't completely understand Doom because she isn't the living personification of destruction. And yet, they are still able to love and provide meaningful support to each other.

It's not just comic relief that Kevin can't speak Korean very well! It's deep!!!

[heavy-nfld]

Fog Coffin kept the doomy vibes going with their low down Sabbathian riffage for our Winter Solstice show at Erin’s Pub.

[astartesnutz]

I'm trying so hard not to fall into the gag of referring to Cadians as Canadians because I know once I do I will never be able to properly call them Cadians again.

But also for the Emperor, eh? O' Cadia?

[dreamsofconsciousnessmetal]

Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 383 features an interview with Peter Turik and Myles Deck of Witchrot.

Watch on Youtube Listen on Youtube Music Listen on Apple Podcasts (IOS) Direct Download [right click + "Save As"]

My thanks again to Peter and Myles for speaking with me, and to you for listening.

Music In This Episode:

"Colder Hands" "Devil in Your Eyes" taken from the album Hollow

"Spineless" "Tombstone" taken from the album Soul Cellar Witchrot on Facebook

Witchrot on Bandcamp Witchrot on IG

Soul Cellar on the Majestic Mountain Records webstore

fuzzedandbuzzed.com

[mistwalker-official]

‘Mouth of the World’ is a fantastic record, so it was an honour to share the stage with both Ashbreather and Serpentine Cerberus as they performed the whole thing live front to back at Piranha Bar a few weeks back.

[scrumptiousartisanheart]

KIMI PODIUM!!!

Aaaaaaand that's the only thing I can take of positive from this race. Yet another episode of "Ferrari does not listen to their drivers" is really frustrating...

[lordofthecheese]

I'm gonna come out of this race devastated, I just know it

[redlettermediathings]

[stylized-corpse]

The next Blackened Tuesday karaoke night will actually be a Blackened Monday because I'm fucking off to Newfoundland for the latter half of the month. It's this coming Monday, so if you're in Montreal, come out!

[nellarw95]

Happy Birthday Brendan +55 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

Buon Compleanno 🥳🎂🎈🎁🎉

[proasailor]

Cool Aircraft