Cry Oh Crisis

The six members of Cry Oh Crisis positioned themselves into a tidy triangular formation. Abruptly, three guitars struck heavy notes, the bass thudded and the drums boomed.

The metal started to roar and hands began to bang. For the whole set the band hopped around like wild hares with guitar swinging tricks. Flashing lights darted across the faces of moshing students and one hyped-up judge/professor.

“They got up there and tore everyone’s face off with their super awesome set…everyone was having a great time, myself included,” said the hyped judge, Andrew Titus.

The Welcome Week Battle of the Bands was the metal group’s first campus show. For guitarist Aaron Malley and vocalist Jason McKnight, the show was more than a little competition.

“It was especially good for me and Jason because St. Thomas is our home and we love this school,” said Malley. “Even though we didn’t win it was one of the greatest shows I think we ever played.”

Vocalist and third-year student Jason McKnight has found balancing the books, music, and rugby to be a gruelling task at times, but says it pays off.

“We want to put on a show so bad that it’s worth the little bit of stress we go through.”

With graduation looming, fourth-year student Aaron Malley has been visualizing his future, and ditching the band for a shirt and tie career is not a part of it.

“I’d like to push farther and harder with the band, but if it seems like it’s idling or going slow then I’ll probably just take a fifth year,” said Malley. “It’s not just a weekend thing for us, we take it pretty seriously. We’d like to do this full time.”

As the school year chugs on, the band is planning to take a break from playing live gigs. The guys want to focus on writing new material.

“That’s half the battle,” said Mallet. “You spend half a year writing music and the other half promoting it. It’s an endless cycle.”

However, Cry Oh Crisis fiends won’t have to quiver with metal withdrawals as the band will play the occasional live show throughout the year.

“We try to play at a bar every weekend. We’ve played at the Capital a bunch of times and we’ve played Fusion Nightlife about a million times. So, for us having three shows in three months is a big drop from what we’re used to,” said McKnight.

The band members say although they love Fredericton, they are hoping to broaden their horizon and get their music into the hands of as many metal fans as possible. The guys went on a 10-day tour across the Maritimes and Quebec last summer and are itching to pack up the old mini-van and do it again.

“There’s for sure a scene in Fredericton, but I’m not sure if there’s an industry for metal here,” said Malley. “It’s a good place to start playing shows. There’s a lot of resources here, a lot of art students and recording studios. Fredericton is great for supporting local music and that’s what any band needs when they are starting up.”

The metal-heads are hoping to have a new CD released sometime next summer.

“We’re going to be applying for some recording grants and we’ve been looking at some studios in Toronto,” said Malley. “The next CD is going to be above and beyond.”

For more information on the band and their new E.P. “Training the Moths” visit www.cryohcrisis.com or scope out their Facebook page. - Kayla Byrne - The Aquinian

My first impression stepping inside The Guild was impressed. I had been to a few metal shows before but this was the first professional set up I had seen. Walking inside I knew it was perfect for this kind of show. It was a giant open room. All painted black and lights focused at the stage.



Azonei was the first to take the stage. With a confident swagger they yell “You guys like thrash metal!?”, and picked up their instruments. They blast into their first song “Colour Out Of Space” with some impressive vocals from Chalen MacPhail. They followed it up with a song written by bassist Walker MacDonald titled “Ice Wizard.” They finished their setlist off with a mosh song for the crowd “T-101.”



Foresters exploded onto the stage next. After listening to them warm up with AC\DC, I knew we were in for a show. It was confirmed after they played their first song “A+H.” The energy definitely comes from members Steve and Justin. Steve Frizzell is the vocalist and easily controls the energy of the crowd. During “Shotgun Symphony” he holds the mic out to the crowd and they swarm to chant the lyrics. Justin Collins is one of the guitarists as well as doing vocals. Making guitar look easy and amazing at the same time. He plants his foot on an amp and plays to the heavens. Steve yells “Let’s wreck this place!” and the crowd responds immediatley in a moshing frenzy. Keeping the amazing rythm were bassist Curtis MacDonald and drummer Jordan Ward. Shredding on the other guitar was Adam W. Rooke. After a sick setlist they finished off the night with “Open Endings.”
To top off the last performance In The Ground takes the stage. They waste no time with petty introductions and just break right into the song “Dark Bringer.” The crowd cheers in appreciation. Guitarist Curtis MacDonald confidently rips up those riffs. Alex Myers heads off the drumkit wearing shades. It doesn’t stop him from feeding the beats. At one point the band takes the edge of the stage and headbangs while they play. Other band members include vocalist Stephen MacAdam, bassist Ian Gill, and guitarist Colin MacDonald. They finished off a five song setlist with “Dead Of Winter.” The crowd roars for more.
Cry Oh Crisis and Death Valley Driver were the next two acts to follow. They did not stop the intense energy of the crowd but only fed into it. Cry Oh Crisis owned the audience from “Training The Moths” to “Illusions.” Death Valley Driver polished off the night with a nine song setlist that left the crowd headbanging and cheering. If you get a chance to see any of these bands live, I suggest you do. - Christopher Ryan - Charlottetown "The Scene" Magazine

It’s not easy being green – no more than it is to be a metal band in a city as full of hipsters as Fredericton.

For Cry Oh Crisis, it’s a hard scene to stick to, but it’s the best, most fun and most worthwhile scene they could imagine.

Jason McKnight, Aaron Malley, Mike Allain, Mike Hachey, Theo Levi, and Rob McFarlane played their first show in April last year. Almost a year later, they’re preparing to go on a nine-day tour with stops in New Brunswick, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

“[Our music] is very hard-hitting. It’s energetic. It’s non-stop, meant for the live atmosphere. We’ve had shows where people mosh, shows where people jump, and shows where people dance,” said McKnight.

The dream is to one day play music together full time. Allain is studying music business through a distance education program offered by Berkely while he teaches at the Centre for Arts and Technology in downtown Fredericton. McKnight is studying psychology and criminology at St. Thomas University, and hopes to become an RCMP officer “if the music thing doesn’t work out.” For Malley, there is no back-up plan.

The band started two years ago with Malley, guitar, and Hachey, bass, writing songs together. Hachey already knew Allain, drums, and McFarlane was found jamming on a guitar at a party.

McKnight auditioned for lead vocals, and Levi was added over the summer to play the synthesizer and the guitar.

“We spent two years basically just writing,” said Malley, who writes most of the lyrics. “I have stacks and stacks of poetry just sitting around.”
The group writes rhythms and riffs to go with the words, and rewrites and rewrites until it sounds just right. When that happens, said Allain, “it feels great. It feels like we’re actually doing something worthwhile.”

When asked to describe the moment when they know a song is just right, Allain, Malley and McKnight all looked at each other, grinning.
“Everyone stops what they’re doing…that look on each other’s faces,” said McKnight.

That moment was repeated again and again for every song on their upcoming EP Training the Moths. The album will have five songs, including the title track, which is about imperfections and unmet expectations.

And expectations are on the rise, just like the crowds coming out to see Cry Oh Crisis.

“The crowds have been growing. There’s different people coming out. We’re starting to get people that are coming out to see us – they’re not just there because it’s a metal show,” said Allain.

According to Malley, the other big shift has been people starting to come to shows who already know the lyrics to their songs.

Cry Oh Crisis picks up fans and followers and shares their own by playing shows with other bands, whether they’re making a stop in Fredericton on tour or local acts like Mandrill Attack, Pharoahs, and Voices. Events like Metal Mondays at The Capital are another way in which bands get exposure.

“The nice thing about the metal community is that it’s so tight-knit and everyone is so supportive of everyone else,” said Malley.

Cry Oh Crisis play Saturday at Beacon Church in Yarmouth, N.S. and Sunday at Gus’ Pub in Halifax, N.S. - Meredith Gillis - The Aquinian

In your face melodic guitars, heavy crunching drums and commanding power vocals are just some of the aspects that Fredericton, New Brunswicks metal act Cry Oh Crisis brings to the table on their upcoming EP ‘Training The Moths’. Put that with their captivating live show and you have a receipt for a sore neck after a night a head banging. - Justin Somers - The Outlook Agency