Drawing from diverse inspirations, Netherward is an amalgamation of melodic death metal, thrash tempos, hardcore time switches, soaring guitarmonies, baritone growls, and jazz-funk bass grooves all built on a DIY punk-rock foundation. Although their musical backgrounds and careers are manifold, in Netherward there is no question that the sum of the members' disparate influences is distilled into pure, raw, unadulterated metal. Having shared the stage with bands such as Bison BC and Sojourner (Tacoma), Netherward forges a new direction with due diligence given to bands like Mastodon, Baroness, Kylesa, and The Absence; but the band remains conscious and committed to sounding like no one but themselves. Fastidious workhorses, Netherward's ethos is nothing's learned doing anything easy. Whether writing or performing, the band is constantly pushing each other's compositional, musical, technical and physical limits. If it's been done before the band finds little value in doing it again. Netherward hopes to grow and ultimately defy genre, transcend classification and embrace a future constructed from a new sound. Their metal is fast, aggressive, technical, and melodic, but their integrity comes from it being uniquely their own. Forgoing the static nature of the stereotypical live metal band, Netherward engages the crowd in a manner that can't be ignored. Headbanging gives way to erratic movements and lunges more akin to the stage antics of Dillinger Escape Plan, or At The Drive-In; vocalist Andrew Haggard is often and randomly as much a part of the audience as the band. One never forgets a performance that verges on terror. Netherward handily destroys the gap between observer and performer; the identity of musician and observer alike is lost in the beautiful violence of the moment. Having released their debut album BloodMeal in early 2012, Netherward plans to utilize the rest of the year aggressively promoting the material. The band plans to tour extensively but looks forward to entering the studio come fall to begin the production of Bloodmeal's already half-written full-length successor. Netherward's members hail from a variety of well-established Edmonton groups. Most notably, guitarist Mason Wilson was a long-standing member of the Morellos (playing alongside bandmates Eamon McGrath, and Michael Rault, who have also found musical successes of their own), and also as a founding member of the popular surf-punk act The Southside Riots. Drummer Taylor Schaerer is also known for his performances with groups such as the Red Hot Daggers (Edmonton skram/hardcore pioneers who toured Canada with friends the Gift Eaters), and the improvised noise-freak-out band Red Medicine (who along with bandmate Eamon McGrath is credited as starting the Edmonton noise scene in the documentary 'It's Just Noise': vimeo.com/14248790). Taylor also toured Western Canada with the Portraits (featuring notable producer Eric Cheng, Hills Like White Elephants' guitarist/vocalist Chris Blackmoore and Jom Comyn's Jim Cuming). Taylor is also well known as a co-founder of Champion City Records, as the producer of Eamon McGrath's breakout album 'Wild Dogs', and as tenant of the 'Castle Awesome' basement venue which featured numerous legendary performances from Gobble Gobble (now Born Gold) and Montral's BRAIDS. In fact, it was in the basement of Castle Awesome that Netherward played their first show. Andrew Haggard - Vocals Mason Wilson - Guitar Morgan Lambert - Guitar Taylor Schaerer - Drums Tom Carter - Bass.
