I thought that this was going to be a typical afternoon for me, when I opened my pc and pressed the "play" button in order to listen to "Dark Ages" from BISON B.C.. Well it was, with one exception: This album made me think that there was a real bison in my room!

Born in 2006 in Vancouver Canada, BISON B.C.'s history is not a big one. They released their first EP in 2007 and after that they signed a contract with Metal Blade. Their debut full length album "Quiet Earth" was out in 2008, and made a very good impression. So now, two years later, their second full length "Dark Ages" will come out (in about ten days from the time I'm writing this review), to show us that this band was not a firework.

This dark, doom atmosphere in the beginning of "Stressed Elephant" is showing just a small piece of what's next to come. And in 2:28 of the same track you see that BISON B.C. is a band with many influences since from the doom rhythms the band is traveling us to hardcore fields and back (and is it just my idea or did I hear a BLACK SABBATH-like riff but faster somewhere in the song?). "Dark Ages" is an album that is difficult to make you get bored, with all the changes in rhythms and music styles. Here you will find Classic Rock, Punk, Thrash, Hardcore, Doom...almost anything. But the good thing is that they make that recipe work. This is not the first time that a band is trying something like that, but most of them fail to write music. But BISON B.C. didn't just put them there, but they combined all those different styles probably in the best way. It is obvious that they drink water in the name of MASTODON, HIGH ON FIRE and a whiff of 3 INCHES OF BLOOD here and there and we can say that they have familiar sound with BARONESS and PRIESTLESS. The whole album is not following a linear structure. But this is what makes it so good. James' voice is exactly what "Dark Ages" wants as an album. Harsh but able to understand what he is saying (well most of the times), and screaming vocals where a song needs them.

This is an album that even the ones that are not fans of the pre mentioned bands will say "this is a Hell of an album!". In "Dark Ages" you will find nice vocals, great works on the composing parts, rhythms that will make you have that expression that says "this is good stuff!" and surely fans of bands like HIGH ON FIRE will love it. Oh, and don't wait to distinguish any of the songs: this album will make you listen to it from start until the end.

P.S.: Is it my idea or 99% of the bands from Canada are fucking great? Maybe Getafix made a cauldron with the Metal magic potion for them.