Iron Tusk Explore New Depths On "Abyss"
The Indigenous punk quartet rip open a psychic chasm full of righteous doom.
by Christine Leonard
- Published on
Hailing from Siksika Nation, about an hour’s drive east of Calgary, punk quartet Iron Tusk have spent the past five years conjuring thrashy, doomy tracks that explore their supernatural surroundings.
Anchored by drummer and Band Council representative Carlin Blackrabbit (Sikoha’tsista), Iron Tusk has spun pandemic malaise into hard-rock gold with the arrival of their latest offspring, “Abyss.” A one-track minefield of chainsaw guitar riffs and pressurized percussion, “Abyss” rips open a psychic chasm that threatens to swallow the world.
Strident vocals and fiery lyrics drive the entire musical mechanism toward the precipice as guitarist/producer Craig Bear Chief, guitarist/vocalist Ty Maguire and bassist/vocalist Buddy Wolfleg detonate a galvanizing think bomb. Balancing light and darkness on a razor’s edge, the volatile depth of this single makes “Abyss” a fitting aftershock to the band’s soul-devouring 2020 EP, Iron Tusk III: Dream Eaters (Transistor 66).
By Glenn Alderson
To celebrate the release of Nouveaux Langages, we asked the artists who helped shape her new double album to ask the questions.
By Sofia Dawson
Daughter From Hell finds the songstress twisting the knife deeper.
By Sebastian Buzzalino
The Vernon quartet’s new album Rat Bastard is a fiercely alive mix of post-punk, dub, techno and basement-show energy.
By Kenna Clifford
Driven by the centuries-old sound of the shamisen, the Berlin-based quintet is deconstructing Japanese folk music and rebuilding it for new audiences around the world.
By Izzy Petraglia
The decade-spanning pop star held an immersive, phone-free experience for devout listeners to celebrate her new album, Music, Fashion, Film.
By Neil Jefferies
Alone Together finds the New York trio navigating grief, fatherhood and the uneasy distance between trust and suspicion.
By Sebastian Buzzalino
The Vancouver punk band bottle their chaotic live energy into a blistering black-and-white session filmed at Phony! Records.
By Cam Delisle
Paring alt-R&B back to its foundations, new avatar gives equal weight to songwriting, distance, and one of the genre's defining voices.
By Sophia Pan
Fire From the Hip finds the actor and musician taking control of his art – even if he can’t control who follows him there.
By Myles Tiessen
On Tell The Kids We Tried, the singer-songwriter wrestles with isolation and the quiet hope of feeling something at all.
