Heavy rock gets its due in Winnipeg this weekend

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/07/2003 (8145 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

IN a city renowned across the country for the diversity of its music scene, metal rarely gets its due.

The heaviest of all rock genres has only became heavier in the 15 years since spandex-clad neo-glam rockers hijacked the sound. Today, most metal bands are just as gritty and down-to-earth as early punk bands — only more obsessed with technical proficiency and personal hygiene.

This weekend, two of Winnipeg’s heavy rock stalwarts — neither of which even like to use the term ‘metal’ — are holding CD release parties for new recordings.

They are about to rock, and we salute them.

FIGURE FOUR

Self-described style: Hardcore.

New disc: Suffering the Loss, the hard-working Winnipeg band’s third album and its first for Seattle’s Solid State Records.

Little-known fact: In a rare instance of a rock band putting music before self-promotion, Figure Four has quietly become one of Winnipeg’s top-selling independent acts.

This very heavy quintet has sold more than 10,000 records, thanks to incessant touring in Canada as a support act for Hatebreed and also through the U.S., Puerto Rico, Europe and, most momentously, Brazil.

“The band who invited us down for a few weeks ran out of money, so we were left on our own,” says guitarist Jeremy Hiebert, who was born in Portage la Prairie but spent time growing up in Belize. “We found we couldn’t make much on our own down there, because kids in Brazil don’t have a lot of money to buy merch.”

Possible explanation for Figure Four’s incredibly low local profile: Some people think the four-year-old group is a Christian rock band.

“We have our beliefs but we’re not into preaching them,” Hiebert says. “We don’t like to be known as a ‘Christian band’ because that pigeonholes you and people make assumptions about what you’re all about.”

The CD release party: Sunday, July 27, at Broadway Community Centre, 185 Young St. The all-ages hardcore show also features Idaho’s Modern Life Is War, Minneapolis band The Good Fight, Boston’s Dragnet and Winnipeg’s Comeback Kid, Rogue Nation, Dead Stock Crusher and soccer.

Admission: $10 at the door.

MALEFACTION

Self-described style: Grindcore.

New disc: Where There is Power, There is Always Resistance, this is the 12-year-old Winnipeg band’s fourth CD and second for political-minded Winnipeg record label G7 Welcoming Committee.

Well-known fact: This quartet does not mince words. Album No. 4 features singer Travis Tomchuk’s most pointed lyrics yet. You don’t need an English Lit degree to figure out what’s going on in songs like Fighting the National Security State and The New American Century.

“This is the least subtle album we’ve ever done. We get straight to the point,” says drummer Cory Koss. “It’s easy to be angry if you look at what’s been going on in the world over the last couple of years.”

How do you stick together for 12 straight years? “We’re just into this for the music. Any band sitting around waiting to get signed would have given up a long time ago,” Koss says. “A lot of bands get caught up in this flavour-of-the-month thing, get big really quick and then find themselves in a different kind of band than they intended. After that, you have to quit.”

The CD release party: Friday, July 25 at the Collective Cabaret. With Winnipeg’s Electro Quarterstaff, Deadstock Crusher and KenMode, “all great local bands which tend to get overlooked,” Koss says.

Admission: $6 at the door.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca