Allison Balcetis, Witchtrip, and blunderspublik
Allison Balcetis
Relay. Launch. // Self-Released
Allison Balcetis is an experimental saxophonist from Edmonton. Relay. Launch. is 10 compositions reinterpreted from various composers, and it plays like a mid-afternoon exploration of the local used bookstore, packed floor to ceiling with charms and oddities. The album opens like the creaking door of the shop, a gust of wind flutters the posters of bygone theatre performances and lawn care adverts tacked to the wall.
The door closes, and in the ensuing silence, tryst and mischief is magnified. Frequencies flutter, like the bickering of some winged insects around an exposed bulb, zap with a shock and spiral to the floor with a soft pap.
A sneeze, and then another.
Long, drawn out notes, like sighs of the few patrons, hunched over, immersed in their respective worlds, broken with a crash when a book falls off the shelf, its papers shuffling, startling. A shift, the floorboards creak, and then lay still once more.
Piano joins the saxophone, and the two conduct a frenzied dance-mice scurrying through a labyrinth of books toward a crack in the floor.
Silence again.
Upon a well-worn love seat in the back of the shop, a man with a dirty beard has fallen asleep, snoring loudly with a picture book of famous nautical disasters splayed on his stomach. The sun blazes in through the patterned glass window. A hulking figure in a ripped pleather jacket who hasn’t budged from a comic book in quite some time, is totally unaware of his giant shadow cast all the way up the opposing bookshelf. Two patrons see this at the same moment and exchange a knowing glance of appreciation at the visual.
A slender woman with a mustard coloured beret balks at an astronomically priced Kraftwerk album. Next to her, a man scrutinizes a Vivaldi CD for scratches, and a man next to him fidgets impatiently, eyeing the stacks of adult magazines on the floor.
The door blows open again, and an older woman shuffles up the steps, a plastic bag in her hands, and puts it on the counter.
“Thank you, dear,” the man behind the counter says, as she shuffles back down the stairs without responding. He opens the bag, and pulls out a thermos from inside, and cracks the lid. Steam billows out from the container. He plunges a spoon in and draws a chunky goulash to his lips with a loud slurp, and repeats, the slurps penetrating through every nook and cranny of the store. These sounds infiltrate the worlds of the patrons inside the book shop, and summon them out of their trances. The snoring man at the back wakes up with a start, and heaves himself out of the chair. The woman in the beret settles on a $4 Wings record, pays and heads outside, past a stack of music periodicals yellowing by the door, smiling at the veritable maelstrom of activity contained within the shop. These musings float with her all the way home.
- JD Ormond
Witchtrip
SLEDMETAL // Possessed Records
Witchtrip is a band that spawned from the ice cold Winnipeg metal and hardcore scene, and have been batting a thousand with their releases since 2017! The fierce five piece consists of vocalist Josh Buors (Locked In), guitarist Josh Bedry (El Diablo), guitarist, and man of a thousand bands, Sean Kaye (Locked In, Elder Abuse, Nice Cops, Ceilings, Louser etc.), bassist Tyler Devlin, and last but not least, drummer Adrian Meijn (Golden God). This stacked lineup is the gang responsible for creating the certified slapper that is 2021’s SLEDMETAL. If you know Josh Buors for his work in Locked In, you might be quite surprised to hear that his vocal abilities go far beyond hardcore vocals, and he can also rock black metal like howls and screams! This five track EP is suitable for any climate, but it feels especially fitting for the frozen landscape that Witchtrip hail from. The chilly sonic atmosphere that SLEDMETAL creates is perfectly represented in the stunning, colourful cover art made by Barcelona’s Josep Picón Diéguez. All of these factors make for an EP that is equal parts fun and evil, meaning it can be enjoyed by a wide variety of people!.
SLEDMETAL starts off with a soft, ominous guitar part, which quickly turns into a menacing metal tune that will have you feeling the “Frozen Steel”. This track gives off Ice Viking vibes with the harsh whispered, Bathory-like vocals and lyrics. “Psycho Kid” is next, and the deranged sounding chants at the beginning really fits the title. I also love the slow, blackened melodic riffs along with the chunky and chugging drums! An interlude by the name of “Godblender" follows, filled with electronic noises that makes the listener feel as if they were trapped in a blizzard. My personal favourite, “Reptile Lords” crashes the party, with a drum build up that leads to a dark howl, bringing on the heaviest riffs on the EP. I perceive the lyrics to be about being beaten down from work, and working your body to the bone to please the higher ups. The closing track for SLEDMETAL is fast and deadly (pun intended) and it goes by “Rigor Mortis”. The lyrics along with delivery make this song sound as if it’s coming from the Grim Reaper himself, giving it an eerily intimidating quality. This is also my favourite track on SLEDMETAL when it comes to drum work, as I feel it stands out here a little more than the rest.
SLEDMETAL is under 20 minutes, and only five songs, but it is still packed with highlight moments that make every song repeat worthy. The EP is great as pump-up jams, but can just as easily be enjoyed by sitting down and giving it your full attention. I am excited to see what comes next for this band, as well as the numerous projects that members of Witchtrip are working on. Keep an eye out for them, and make sure to never miss a shot to see them live if they ever come to a venue near you!
- Justin Olson
blunderspublik
Tracker’s Trails // Self-Released
Tracker’s Trails is the newest release from Ontario based musician Blunderspublik. This is his first full length album since 2012’s Barren Immensity. His sound is defined through quick beats, strange time signatures, and muddled synthesizers, a staple indicative of ambient EDM. The album cover is a beautiful celluloid photograph of Wintershell Provincial Park.
Blunderspublik describes Tracker’s Trails as a “genreless” album, and it certainly fits the bill. It’s a versatile listen with songs that change tone and tempo so often that it’s hard to describe any single song in a few sentences. Each song is meticulously crafted, utilizing the power behind digital production while blending it with, say, picking fingers on an acoustic guitar, or through the use of vocals rather than samples. The addition of traditional instruments sets this album apart from its contemporaries. It creates a structure that may be a little too orthodox for the hardcore ambient fans, but this structure is fragmented throughout its hard percussion and variety of synths, giving a sound that’s both traditional yet entirely unpredictable.
Every track stands independent from each other in terms of sound, yet they still serve the collective role of contributing to the album's narrative which gives a little something to everyone depending on your niche. If you prefer overdrive-laden synths with an industrial beat, you’ll want to listen to the album's 10th track, “Juda”. If you like the more classic ambient vignette, you’d enjoy track 7, “Orioleander”, a song which is – in my opinion – way too short. With so many auditory flavours to choose from, you’re bound to discover an hors d'oeuvre on this smorgasbord of sound that satisfies the craving in your ears.
Like the albums namesake, Tracker’s Trails offers the listener a branching path into an ever changing land as you explore the layers behind each of the albums 11 tracks. For the enjoyers of the experimental and those who want a break from predictable song structure, Tracker’s Trails is an album that you’ll find most appealing.
- Brandon Kruze
