Sled Island presents: Primitive Man + guests

DOWNSTAIRS

Primitive Man

If you’re looking for a doom metal band that’s all in on sonic extremes, you’ve found it. Trio Primitive Man has released three albums since its formation in 2012 and is commonly called one of the most brutal and nihilist bands in metal. Latest release, 2020’s Immersion, saw the group at its tightest focus and most precisely weaponized yet. 

Mortiferum

Harnessing a sonically eclectic mix of death metal and doom, Mortiferum embraces a balance of brutalist death growls, machine-gun drumming and jarring guitar sequences. The band’s brand of slow burners are complemented by blistering solos and melodic exits, and their repertoire summons both atmospheric ambiance and menacing chaos.

Jarhead Fertilizer

Maryland's Jarhead Fertilizer crafts a visceral, thunderous take on death metal, with a clear grindcore influence. The 2021 LP O features fiendishly distorted guitars, rumbling bass and barbarous drumming. The LP clocks in at just over 20 minutes; the band trims off all the fat, leaving only the most primitive aspects remaining.

Elizabeth Colour Wheel

Elizabeth Colour Wheel is what you need if you’re looking for a heavy, haunting sound that crescendos into dark metal of extreme intensity. 2019’s Nocebo from experimental music label The Flenser was one of Rolling Stone’s Best Staff Picks of the year.

Trench 

One listen is all it takes to understand why Trench is one of the best bands in Calgary’s hardcore scene. Having honed their skills as performers opening for some of the biggest names in hardcore, the quintet’s live show is a must-see. With a recent signing to New Damage Records, it seems it won’t be long before the world finds out about Trench.

 

MAIN FLOOR

Body Void

Conjuring brutal, heavy riffs on a foundation of black sludge, Body Void delivers soul-crushing, low-and-slow doom straight from the Bay Area. Through its doom-and-gloom aesthetic, Body Void tackles lyrical themes such as death, gender identity and depression, juxtaposed by extraterrestrial leanings and cosmic dreams.

Wilt

Over the course of three albums, Wilt has become one of Canada’s most exciting bands in black metal. Based in Winnipeg but inspired by the “relentlessly ugly” American metal behemoths, latest album Ruin finds the band making punishing, atmospheric music that balances bleakness with beauty.

Everythingyoueverloved

“Our goal when writing music is for the listener to experience an emotional rollercoaster.” Well, as long as that rollercoaster is a one-way trip down, down, down, then yeah. It’s a ride you want to be on as these seasoned metal musicians, born from the ashes of hardcore crew Breakbeat, hit you with a guttural gut-punch — your stomach drops, your bowels rumble, you beg for mercy, but most importantly, you want more.

Isolato

Full-throttled and white-knuckled, each song by this gang of Dirty City scoundrels is a fast-paced journey of anger and energy going off madly in all directions. The band promises “harrowing and darkly comic tales of alienation, love, failure, triumph, and death in a world plunged headlong into the madness of a post-truth epoch,” and delivers with every second of sonic assault.

Exits

Combining the ferocious economy of hardcore with technically ambitious layers of guitar, Exits makes the kind of white-knuckled punk that grinds you into submission. This current moment sees the band — established in the early 2010s — looking both forward and backward: the band released three new singles and a remastered version of beloved 2018 album The Waste Class last year.

 

About Sled Island

The Sled Island Music & Arts Festival is a five-day, multi-venue festival taking place June 22 - 26, 2022. The full lineup and schedule is available at SledIsland.com. 

Everyone has the right to feel safe and included at Sled Island. All festival attendees agree to abide by Sled Island's safer spaces and inclusion policy, which can be found here.

Sled Island acknowledges Calgary as the traditional territory of the Blackfoot and the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai, the Tsuut’ina and the Ĩyãħé Nakoda First Nations, including the Chiniki, Bearspaw and Wesley First Nations. Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.

Please note: This is an 18+ event.