A Victoria-based band will expand their reach to Okanagan metalheads as they’re set to belt out songs of existential struggle from the Armstrong Metal Festival stage on Saturday (July 15).
The three-piece extreme metal band Liminal Shroud features frontman Aidan Crossley on guitar and vocals, bassist and backup vocalist Rich Taylor and drummer Drew Davidson. After forming in 2017, the trio was on a roll before hitting a performance pause during the pandemic, but have re-emerged with their first two albums since late 2020.
“We’ve all been metalheads since we were teenagers, so it’s part of who we are and part of our musical and personal identities,” Taylor said in an interview.
He and Crossley do the band’s songwriting as their records focus on existential themes covering internal, psychological and elemental struggles.
“There’s a lot of allegory in there about the destruction of the self, transformation and rebirth, and getting through personal and existential challenges,” the bassist said.
Their cathartic sound also draws inspiration from the natural environment of Vancouver Island, especially the elemental force of the ocean and landscapes.
“Natural themes work their way into music in a way that is reflective of the regenerative power that nature can have and nature as a source of solace,” Taylor said.
The band focusing on those themes has allowed them to use music as a vehicle to navigate, express and work through personal struggles and internal conflicts.
“The chaos and destruction and dislocation that people can feel just getting about in the world today, I think a lot of that inspires and is inherent in how we’re thinking and feeling – and that is translated musically,” the bass player said.
This will be their first time playing the Armstrong festival, which Taylor said is respected across B.C. The event is a great opportunity for the band to get their music to that part of the province, but also brings metal to Okanagan fans who may not have to opportunity to see shows in Metro Vancouver or on the Island, he said.
This year’s festival comes after the 2022 event saw the highest attendance on record – following two years when it was on hiatus due to the pandemic.
“It’s a great community for the metal scene out there and it’s our first time so we’re looking forward to it,” Taylor said. “To be able to play to new audiences that may be outside of the typical people that show up to the shows we play, it’s meaningful and going to be a great experience to reach people in that way.”
Beyond the festival, Liminal Shroud’s eastward trip gives them the chance to play in Alberta for the first time as they’ll be in Edmonton and Calgary on June 13 and 14, respectively.
“It’s going to be the first time we’ve got out of Victoria, Vancouver and southern B.C. so we really appreciate the chance to do that and playing Armstrong is going to be the final show on a little run for us, so it feels like a big step,” Taylor said. “Just being able to connect to a new community of metalheads in that area is going to be great for us.”
Island fans will be able to see Liminal Shroud back home when the band plays in Nanaimo on Aug. 25 and Victoria’s Wicket Hall on Aug. 26. In the meantime, Taylor hopes locals will check out Victoria’s metal-backing organizations like the CAVITY Curiosity Shop and Wretched Toll Productions.
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