For Those Aboot to Rock: A Countdown to Canada with Quebec's thriving black metal scene

By: Conor O’Dea

Not without irony, given the deeply separatist feelings of some in our belle province - for Canada Day, I want to celebrate the unique voice of Quebec's black metal scene by acknowledging the amazing talent behind some recent musical projects. Inarguably one of the best black metal scenes in the world, Quebec has given us the fury of black metallers such as Forteresse, Monarque, Gris and others. This is a quick list of some newer and perhaps slightly less well known bands that are doing amazing work in the genre.

Délétère

Around since 2009, though their first full length, “Les heures de la peste”, came out in 2015. Brutal, raw, arcane and haunting. Their 2017 EP, “Per Aspera ad Pestilentiam”, is a riff-intensive, vocally dynamic tour-de-force, and is out now via Sepulchral Productions:

Ossuaire

Fantastic band that I was lucky enough to see in April. “La Diatribe Infernale” came out late last year on Productions Haineuses and Morbid Moon. Traditionalist in all the right ways, occult-tinged, and dark as an unearthed tomb

Sanctuaire

Side project of the mastermind behind Monarque, Sanctuaire's music is an excellent hybrid of pagan-influenced black metal and nature-inspired ambient. 2016's “Le Sang sur L'acier”, released via Les Productions Hérétiques, is like the wild hunt incarnate; savage and soaring

Cantique Lépreux

Formed in 2014. Icy black metal with streams of epic melodicism. Their debut, “Cendres Célestes”, was released on Eisenwald in 2016 and is a masterpiece:

Tsar Tsangra

Probably a push to classify these guys under metal noir quebecois, but Slavic Quebecers Tsar Stangra just released their first full length in late May. Very different from the above, bringing in a wider range of orchestration, but well worth the listen: