Gyibaaw

I drove up to Saskatoon a few days ago to see the mighty Inquisition play. Before Inquisition destroyed the handful of prairie shitheads that bothered to show up, we were pre-destroyed by Gyibaaw. Hailing from Prince George, B.C. and playing "Tsimshian War Metal" (their term), these guys play a vicious form of black metal with most lyrics in "S'malygax", a traditional language of the Tsimshian people. There's killer atmospheric bits peppered throughout this recording using traditional instruments, and live, the dude busted out an awesome wooden flute.
You can pick up their debut Ancestral War Hymns at shows, obviously, as well as from Ross Bay Cult, The Basar N.A., and various other distros. But for the hesitant, have a listen:

HERE

Balls to the Wall

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Prince of the Poverty Line

Before folk metal was all accordions, flutes, trolls and doughy white guys in medieval armour, there was Skyclad. Think more along the lines of British thrash with fiddles rather than the jaunty black metal-lite that's all the rage. Former Sabbat (UK) vocalist Martin Walkyier delivers surprisingly literate lyrics in a snarly, yet lispy manner that suits the whole package somehow. 1994's Prince of the Poverty Line is considered by most to be one of their best. I also included a bonus disc that contained a measley three songs that came with my copy because y'know, why not? Aaaand here it is:

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An Ode to Sin

Hey hey, it's Canada Day and I'm legally required to post some cancon. Don't worry, no Bryan Adams or Barenaked Ladies or Nickleback or Anne Murray.
Edmonton's Rites of thy Degringolade (no idea what that means) played a chaotic style of death/black metal similar to stuff like Conqueror, Axis of Advance, and maybe a pinch of Blasphemy. Really fucking good though, one of the best example of the style. The drumming is stellar and captivating and some interesting riffing make this album much more than the typical blast-o-thon put out by the average "war metal" band nowadays. This is 2005's An Ode to Sin, the last album they released before breaking up.

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