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Death core pumps live energy

A look at the heavy metal scene in Vancouver
By Julia Siedlanowska

fter seeing Argent Strand perform alongside Out
of The Ruins, Unicron and BATTLESHIP!, at the

Media Club last month, I was enchanted. As a

person who doesn’t automatically identify with music genres

like death core, heavy metal or grindcore, I was surprised
to note what a cathartic experience it was to attend a live
performance. While that may sound like witchcraft, there is
something in the idea of good spirited head thrashing and
unintelligible growls that just makes sense. My positive
reading of the performances was validated through my
interview with Caleb Schroeder, guitarist for Argent Strand.

When I saw you perform it was an extremely positive
experience and you had a great energy. Can you describe
the experience of performing?

Caleb Schroeder: The stereotype is that there’s a lot of
violence, negativity and hatred, we try not to promote that
at all. We try to promote everyone having a good time. For
me myself, I just have a blast. I’m having a good time; you
should have a good time. Just because our vocalist growls
doesn’t mean we have to have those negative connotations.
You don’t need to push that stereotype just because it’s out
there. You want to move around and have a good time, but it
doesn’t mean you need to hurt each other.

Describe your music in your choice of word count:

CS: What you could call us is a local progressive technical
death core band. I guess we’re also a melodic band. We’re
pretty heavy but we experiment in a lot of different modes
and experimental harmonies to really enrich our unique
tones.

What have been some of the greatest challenges you’ve
faced in being in a band?

CS: Trying to find a group of like minded people who have .
the same intents and goals. Trying to find five individuals
who are on the same page, and are able to all work within
each other. You can’t have five guys who just play together.
Before you can have that you have to create that family.

How do you feel about the metal music scene in
Vancouver?

CS: Coming into it Argent Strand did not have an initial
welcoming from any other bands. We’re kind of in the midst
of creating a music scene for our genre. We’ re trying to
create a scene where we can know each other personally.
It’s not just about being the best. We try and promote having
that large community of people and performers nationally
and locally. When I was a young kid going to local shows

it was really inspiring to me to see performers hanging out
before and after shows. It’s about creating that community
and culture.

Is there a good network of support for your genre of
music?

CS: There are not a lot of promoters that put on shows for
our genre. We just have to do a lot of the work ourselves.
We have to start it ourselves from the ground up. You look
at places like Calgary or Edmonton where the music scene is
strong and we’re trying to build something like that. It takes
a commitment from bands to create that kind of community
and I really enjoy being a part of it.

What are your upcoming projects and shows?

Argent Strand

CS: What I’m really excited about is that we have a
show out in Chilliwack, and we get to play to a whole
new crowd of people. It’s a great opportunity for

us to get new fans. We’re also playing a show with
Impending Doom and Crimson Armada, and we’re

really honoured and pleased to be opening for that show.

Our new EP is coming out recorded by Curt Wells
of Green Giant Productions. It’s going to be epic. Curt
is dead on, he’s in the genre and knows the sound. The
recording is going to emulate our music. He’s in a band
called Alpha Trion and GFAP!, two other local metal
bands. GFAP! are all great friends of ours, they’re like a
brother band.

What are your goals with where you want your band
to go?

 

 

CS: I like to give myself and my band intents rather
than goals. What we really intend to do is get a tour
happening this summer and keep pushing our name as
a band. We want to do a full length after our EP. We
just want to get that all out there for all the kids and the
people. I’m a working tattoo artist and I really want to
just live the dream. Be a tattoo artist and be in a band.
We'd like to be signed one day, that’d be awesome,
but we don’t need to be signed to gain popularity or

a following. We definitely want to be a touring band
throughout the year and playing shows, that’s what our
real goal was.

If you’d like to check out some of Argent Strands
music go to www.myspace.com/argentstrand