Let’s get right to it. Let me go for the throat. That way, you'll get a sense of the music on Nephelium’s latest release, Coils of Entropy. After just one listen, there's a sense that there’s no time to hesitate, no room for error. Instinct is essential. And like the aural assassins they are, the Nephelium boys get in, wreak havoc, and get the hell out -- damn the body count, the consequences.  

So yeah. I love this record. It packs a punch. Bonus: It’s made by a gang of cool Canadians, two of whom happen to be from Dubai (more on that in a second). Most of all, though, I love this record because it’s heavy, brutal and epic.

Heavy ’cause it’s gotta be. This is a Death Metal band, after all. No strings or keyboards here, thank Satan. 

It’s brutal and begs volume. This is not something you slip on at the coffee shop while Googling "silly cat" pics and installing tax-filing software. . . No. This is music for beating the barista to a pulp just for skimping on the cappuccino foam. No, no. No violence here. Love your Barista! Caffeine is a moshpit essential, after all, and you'll need to be on the city's coffee-grinding experts' good side.  

And this record is indeed epic. Two of the six tracks hit the six-minute mark while one goes over eight minutes and another surpasses the 10-minute mark. Too long for true Death Metal, you say? You are right, fellow headbanger. Thumbs up, kid. But minus one point for not allowing for the fact that every rule has an exception, and the title track for Coils of Entropy is that exception. Not only that, it is one of my new favourite tracks. Killer. A real work of art. 

And I do not use the A-word lightly. Forget the fact that you can only make out a word here or there. Forget that it is 10 minutes and seven seconds long. Just sit back and let your jaw drop as you realize the track never once loses your attention, never once removes its barbed meat-hooks. Accept it. You are defenseless. Enjoy the ride. 

Song length is just one way Nephelium screws with the DM recipe. The wild assortment of tempo changes and chugging riffs mashed with ear-searing solos and a bucket full of screams, wails, grunts and barks spill over the lip like so much guts. I’ve listened in at least 20 times just to savour the steaming smorgasbord. Yes, the nightmares were worth it. 

To get the scoop on how such an amazing record could even exist let alone be made in a country like Canada, I spoke with guitarist Alex Zubair at his Toronto-area home. Zubair and fellow founding-member and drummer Alan Madhavan now call Toronto home after emigrating from their native Dubai, a metropolis just south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. 

“Dubai is definitely one of the more cosmopolitan cities in that region, but Metal is still very underground,” says Zubair. “I remember a time in the 1990s when we had to smuggle music in, and my subscriptions to Metal Hammer and Terrorizer would sometimes make it to me, sometimes not. It depended on whether the authorities could sniff out this kind of contraband.” 

So how does a band so brutal and entrenched in the Death Metal ethos emerge from that part of the world? Zubair admits that making music in his native land was beyond challenging. “There was no internet access back then. Plus, we had to build our own rehearsal space from scratch. Like every other place, the neighbours complained and the cops shut us down.” 

But like any enterprising youth culture with a combination of rebelliousness and do-it-yourself gusto, the kids were all right. Dubai's Metal subculture found a way. “Luckily, there were a lot of underground shows with hundreds of kids. The shows would be advertised as a regular style battle of the bands, just to fool the authorities. Pretty soon the bands would attract thousands and, as usual, local investors and promoters saw the money potential. Everything changed after that. Now you walk into an HMV or Virgin Megastore in Dubai and the Metal section is huge.”  

In Canada for 10 years now, Zubair and his mates have encountered new challenges when it comes to the music they create and adore. “Toronto has a lot of bands, but there's not much support, there’s not as much unity compared to Quebec,” says Zubair, sighing. 

“Toronto is home for us now, we're based here, but we want to change things. We want unity and we want to create a support network for the scene. There are amazing musicians and bands positive energy is lacking. Bands will play for a while but, eventually, they give up,” he says, adding that Quebec is his favourite province for Metal attitude, and his bandmates look forward to playing here hopefully sooner than later. 

Perhaps another relocation is in order? Time will tell. In the meantime, check out this record. If you're a Death Metal fan and you don't like this album, it might be time to consider turning in your membership card. 

Montreal's Endast is hosting an Album Fundraiser Show this Saturday (February 11) at Piranha Bar (680 Ste-Catherine West). The bands Derelict, Obscurity Rising, Aeons Fall and Gunt pack in more bang for your buck. This is a great way to support local bands and help local Metalheads make their mark. It's about community, folks. The scene starts here. . . 

. . . with an official album launch from local Viking Metallers, Valfreya. The new record, Path To Eternity, is ready to enjoy. Make sure you and any fans of Norse mythology and Metal make it to Café Chaos (2031 St-Denis) this Saturday. Tickets cost less than a 12-pack. That's a bargain for sure. And according to the band's Facebook page, there are plenty of surprises in store. 

So far so good. Twenty-six days into the year to end all years, and here I am still banging my head, banging at the keys. And hey! There you are, still reading. Good to see you. Somehow, we've managed to avoid the Four Horsemen's ghoulish gallop. The riders of the Apocalypse (Conquest, War, Famine & Death) seem to be attending to other matters. But how long before we feel their steeds' hot breath blasting down our necks? 

As Metal fans, whenever the final curtain closes, we'll be more prepared than most. . . at least mentally. Listen to Metal long enough and you inevitably build a lengthy list of lyrics steeped in prophecies of peril, divinations of doom. Of course, the general rants and ravings of so-called soothsayers can be found on the shelves of any book store. Mystics musings alluding to mysterious Mayan calendars and city-sized asteroids hurtling toward Earth are just a mouse-click away. But don't take their word for it. See the signs for your self. Clues to the human race's eventual eradication are written in plain ink, right there on every single U.S. dollar bill. All true!

I mean, there as many theories of the End of Days as there are Metal bands. All I know for sure is, I'm ready. Oh I'm not building a bomb shelter or stockpiling bottled water and cans of yellowfin. But if I had to mark the beginning of the end with one suitable tune, give me Metallica's "Four Horsemen". 

And therein lies my long-winded attempt at a segue. . . 

When I first started writing on a regular basis, I was 16 and very much what the kinder kids called a dork. I loved playing Dungeons & Dragons. I read anything to do with hobgoblins and trolls lurking in the mists of Middle Earth. And like many Metal fans living through the late 1980s, I was a Metallica fan. 

It was the lyrics to "The Four Horsemen", off Metallica's debut, Kill 'Em All, that inspired my first attempt at poetry. Looking back, the poem, like the lyrics that inspired it, are a tad purple and would probably make Tolkien cringe or crack. But to a dopey teenager with very little going for him except words and music, the potent combo of intense lyrics and aggressive riffs made for an early epiphany.  

Four lifetimes and 1,001 bad poems later, I'm excited to bring to your attention the really good work of David Brock. The Toronto playwright and librettist has combined his passion for poetry and Metal to create Black Metal Melody (Ferno House Press). The collection of poems is an ode to youth, Metal and love in the big city. 

If you enjoy word play and the way certain phrases rock and roll around your mouth, then you probably like to mix it up in your listening and reading habits. And you'll probably enjoy Brock's poems. Each one is a sort of chapter in the life of a teen experiencing a long list of firsts: kiss, riff, Opeth concert . . . 

Subject and story aside, Brock's love of music, words and placing images on the page is what makes this a worthy read, and not just for Metal fans or fans of poetry. So after absorbing the chapbook's 30 or so poems, I wanted to know more about the poet. 

"My hope with writing about metal is fairly broad, fairly ambitious, and possibly naive: Get the 99.9% of literate metalheads reading a poem or two, get the 99.9% of literate poets listening to a metal song or two. I'm not after full conversion for all, but for me, there is a shared mystery, excitement, and surrender needed to create and be a fan of either metal or poetry. I'm not saying reading poems isn't challenging, but so is listening to metal. There are rewards in those types of challenges."

Here's another reward for you literate Metal fans and poets who've stumbled upon this deep, dark corner of cyberspace by accident:

With the Black Metal poetry project behind him, Brock is now hard at work on a Black Metal novel. "There are obvious challenges in convincing publishers that there is an audience of people who want to read about semi-fictional metal subjects. At the moment, I'm just trying to do the work of writing a good story, one I would like to read, confident that I am not that unique and thus, if I build it, they will come."

Brock says his book of poems has been getting positive feedback and so his goal is to keep using it as a sort of a demo. "I want to advance the idea that metal writing can supplement the music. The whole poetry-metal thing sort of culminates in my work in contemporary opera, and I'm also working on text for a metal opera."

Metal opera???? 

"I know bands like Avantasia and Haggard have done these, but generally those are concept albums and not intended for performance. I'm talking about a real, living and breathing opera on a stage. Black metal band as orchestra, sopranos in a forest, maybe a baritone Viking or two....actually, probably no Vikings. But definitely a baritone."

Cool! 

In the movie based on his life, Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister says that without The Who, there'd be no punk rock. Looking one step ahead, it's not that great of a leap to say that without Pete Townsend, there'd be no Marshall stacks lining the stage of just about every Rock and Metal show since the '60s. 

Lemmy and his stack have busted more ear drums than any combo in music. 

As the story goes, all of that loudness began in 1962. Jim Marshall, owner of J&T Marshall Musical Instruments, had the serendipitous good fortune to set up shop in West London, the center of a booming music scene that included heavy music pioneers like The Who, Kinks and Small Faces. Marshall was already offering a 45-watt head, but for Pete Townsend's needs (The Who guitarist), that simply wasn’t loud enough to “drown out" the audience or play louder than the wallop delivered by the madman behind the drums, Keith Moon. 

With Townsend's constant prodding, Jim Marshall agreed to build the first 100-watt amplifier. "Guitarists spoke to me about what guitars they wanted and the qualities they were looking for in a guitar amplifier. Qualities, I hasten to add, that they couldn't find elsewhere at that time," recalls Mr. Marshall on his now-famous brand's website. Without a doubt, the Marshall amp is synonymous with not only the Heavy Metal sound but its chest-rattling power. A wall of Marshall stacks is to the Metal guitarist what a mantle lined with golden Oscars is to Meryl Streep: You've made it, baby!  

"Jim Marshall was the first guy to really understand the need for VOLUME when it came to rock 'n' roll," says self-described music geek, DJ and industry expert Alan Cross in a recent chat with ( BTH ). "The Marshall stack became the thing that every guitarist wanted to have. Nothing looked cooler than a couple of stacks on stage."

Cross says that if you took Marshall out of the early equation in Metal's evolution, the musical genre would have developed anyway, but it may have been delayed a few years. He also says Marshall's heyday was the late '70s through the '80s. "Today, amps and cabinets don't have to be as big or expensive."

Still, Slayer's Kerry King likes nothing better than to stand in front of his Marshall stacks and let rip. "If my nuts ain't shaking, then I ain't satisfied . . . and the only stuff that can do that is my Marshalls!" King's buddy and fellow guitar-slinger agrees: "A Marshall sounds like strength, warmth, commitment, beauty and destruction all wrapped up in a giant wrecking ball."

Happy Birthday, Marshall. Thanks for the pleasure and the pain. 

A Montreal winter can be a cold and heartless bitch. Why not jam some hot, local Metal into your soul come February 8 at the Katacombes? Four bands representing the Thrash genre will take to the stage and battle it out for a chance to win one of two prized spots in the HEAVY MTL 2012 line-up this summer. 

Tickets are only $12. Pitchers are cheap. The atmosphere is perfect for any meeting of the Metal minds. Whether you're a regular or you've never been to Katacombes at the corner of St-Laurent and Ontario, make it your mission to get out there and raise some horns with like-minded ne'er-do-wells. Support local talent 3 Mile Scream, Aeon's Fall, Ashes of Eden and Sykode. 

Bonus: The panel of guest judges includes Glen Drover of Megadeth, King Diamond and Testament fame. Doors open at 8:30 PM

Lucky me. Two of the most anticipated releases for 2012 have already made it on to my desk: Lamb of God's Resolution (Epic) and Goatwhore's Blood For The Master (Metal Blade; February 14). For the record, I think Lamb of God is a great band and a big reason American Metal is as strong as it is today. As a live act, they have few peers. Both vocalist Randy Blythe and drummer Chris Adler are forces to be reckoned with in their respective disciplines. 

But, I have to admit, I like little ol' Goatwhore's record just a little more. Sure, it's only been three or four listens for each, and there's no denying both albums sound great and will make many Metal Maniacs, well. . . maniacal with ear-blistering bliss. . . But if Lamb of God socks you in the gut, Goatwhore finishes you with a roundhouse to the chin. 

Blood For The Master is everything good, modern Metal should be: aggressive, heavy, mean and capable of standing on its own without easy placement in any one sub-genre. That said, both of these albums have officially entered the race for the ( BTH ) Top 12 Albums of 2012. It's just that, right now, Goatwhore is quickest off the starting blocks. 

    

Speaking of lists listing top albums of the year, you may or may not know I really got behind Black Well's debut record, The Human Condition. I dug up this diamond of Death Metal via a cyberspace expedition to the sands of Kuwait. I mentioned it a few times on these pages, claiming it was one of the best records I heard in 2011. Turns out Adam Benobaid, the guitarist and vocalist for Black Well, was paying attention. 

Just last week, Benobaid sent an email to ( BTH ) HQ. I thought it was a pretty cool gesture:  

"Hi, my name's Adam Benobaid and I'm in the band Black Well from Kuwait. I just recently noticed that on one of your articles you mentioned us, and I would just like to thank you. You were very kind with your words and it was much appreciated. It is awesome to see that music from a tiny country that prohibits metal is still heard on the other side of the planet. Cheers!" 

Thanks, Mr. Benobaid. And yes, let us drink to Metal bridging all of those gaps, cultural or otherwise.