Meet Apple of Basilisk, a new band Toronto, Ontario featuring musicians from the hardcore community there.
"Liam (vocals) and Peter (guitar) were in Peter’s brother Geoff’s wedding party," the group wrote us about their formation. "Geoff played guitar in Cold Shoulder, Peter was in Cohezion, and Liam was in Die Hexe. Liam had started writing for a new project with Brendan from Strange Limbs, but unfortunately, Brendan had to step back from the project.
"Peter and Liam continued, finding Turner (bass) and Josh (drums) to flesh things out. Turner and Liam had been friends for a while. Josh was the wild card addition- his friend shopped at Peter’s work, and a co-worker asked about knowing any available drummers randomly."
In terms of their sound, Apple of Basilisk said: "Liam challenged Peter to write some heavy parts without 'chugging.' which is very tempting to do when you’re in drop A tuning. Our resulting sound is pretty heavy and doomy, but also has some blast beats and tremolo-picked melodies."
Apple of Basilisk just dropped their debut track, "Crowned Sloth," and here's what they told us about it: "It's an imagistic call to eat the rich. It’s a violent yet poetic condemnation of theocratic and oligarchic excess."
What's next for the gentlemen in Apple of Basilisk? "We have a 5-song EP finished by the inimitable Davis Maxwell, which we will be rolling out this spring. We might drop one more single first. The EP is called His Crowned Skull Raised to the Sun. It deals with greed, selfishness, class warfare, death acceptance, and revolution.
"Our first show will be Sunday, February 9th, at Seescape in Toronto with Phantom Lung, Deadly Game, and Iodine. Then we’ll play as many shows as we can locally this spring and then we’re aiming to do an east coast Canada tour this summer- maritime promoters email [email protected] please! Eventually we’ll play Kimmel too [laughs]."
Per usual, No Echo asked Apple of Basilisk what else is worth our attention around their neck of the woods. "There are so many incredible and diverse bands around Ontario, so instead let’s highlight 2 exceptionally well-curated labels, where your readers can find more stuff.
"No Funeral release tapes and vinyl, often skewing towards screamo or sludgier sounds. Recent highlights include Blind Girls, Basque, and Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead.
"Wormwood’s releases include some of the best ONHC bands like Reality Denied and Mile End, and also our shoegazey best friends Seventh Dose."
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Apple of Basilisk on social media: Instagram
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