Death Kneel and Mother Mary at Initial Shock III

DEATH KNEEL is the primary recording outlet of Toronto based musician Max Klebanoff. His output is characterized by unyielding binaural manipulation and unapologetic octatrack abuse. Incidental sound and electoacoustic automatic drawings dismantled and deconstructed to be recycled, again and again. Since 2014, Klebanoff and featured on notable labels Chondritic Sound, Total Black and his own imprint Life of Sensation, with new releases forthcoming on Students of Decay and White Centipede Noise.

Mother Mary is noise about a people being abandoned by it’s creator. Utilizing the aesthetics of Christianity and preaching, Mother Mary screams from a dying planet to a god that is silent. Informed equally by power electronics, films like Winter Light, Silence and First Reformed, old radio broadcasts and preacher tapes, Mother Mary is a eucharist of feedback for a world with no God.

Tickets on sale now!

Anne-F Jacques and Lyndsie Alguire at Initial Shock III

Anne-F Jacques is a sound artist based in Montreal. She is interested in amplification, oblique interactions between materials and construction of various contraptions and idiosyncratic systems. Her particular focus is on low technology, trivial objects and unpolished sounds. Also a member of a.hop and involved with presses précaires.

Lyndsie Alguire is a Tiohtià:ke-based artist who likes things bittersweet.

Her work contains through-lines of stillness, vulnerability, and longing. Using piano, synthesizer, field recordings, and voice, her work evokes images and textures that are both ethereal and broken. Live performances incorporate improvisation that strives towards “pretty speaker abuse”.

Advanced tickets available now!

Mass Marriage and Eunuch God at Initial Shock III

The first of many artist profiles in anticipation of the third Initial Shock noise festival on July 5-6, 2026 in Montreal

MASS MARRIAGE is the sound project of Mel Paget. Working within the Power Electronics/Noise genre, texture, samples, loops and synthesizers are explored and distorted into original compositions and often accompanied by vocals (live and recorded) and spoken word.

EUNUCH GOD is a viscous compound of grinding noise, sci-fi soundscapes, strident shrieks and pummeling percussion. The project takes inspiration from every facet of human neglect, indifference and oppression. It crawled out of the muck and mire of Ottawa from sheer absence of human contact during the 2020 lockdown, and has now found its home in Montreal. Over five years and numerous self-released titles since its inception, Initial Shock will be the site of creator Louis Cyr’s first ever live performance under the Eunuch God banner.

Advanced tickets now available!

Initial Shock II Wrap

The dust has settled and another Initial Shock is in the books! Thanks to all the performers, volunteers, sponsors, venue staff and attendees for making it another great edition. Initial Shock III will take place July 5, 2025 – see you then!

– Taylor & Aaron

FACTOR sponsors Initial Shock

Countdown to Saturday! The fest draws near and we’re excited to see everyone.

Last but not least, we’d like to thank FACTOR Canada for being a sponsor. A foundation long-dedicated to helping Canadian artists develop their practice, we’re happy to be partnering with them and for their interest in supporting the festival. Three days away. Advanced tickets still available. See you soon.

Exuvie at After Shock

Our latest addition to the AFTER SHOCK matinee on Sunday, July 7 is Montreal-based EXUVIE.

EXUVIE is a newly formed noise duo that blends harmonious sample collage, abrasive high pitch frequencies and gnarly electronics to create a harsh ambient sonic landscape. This is not a process of disfigurement but rather one of magnification, the aim being to render what was once peaceful as now engaging and intense.

The After Shock matinee is $10 PWYC at the door.

Advanced tickets are available for the main night of Initial Shock: https://www.venuepilot.co/events/82671/orders/new#/

Pizza Bouquet Sponsors Initial Shock

We’re grateful to have Pizza Bouquet return as a sponsor for INITIAL SHOCK II. Locally-owned and operated in Montreal since 2018, @pizzabouquet is a spot favoured by many for their large slices, 16” pies and unique specials that make them arguably the best pizza joint in town. They’re open 12-9pm all week and located in Little Italy at 45 Rue Beaubien East, so you know where to go next time the craving strikes. Special thanks to Andre and the crew for taking care of us.

INITIAL SHOCK II kicks off at 2pm Saturday, July 6 @ La Sotterenea (4848 Boul. Saint-Laurent). Advanced tickets: https://www.venuepilot.co/events/82671/orders/new#/

Initial Shock on Met Radio

Aaron was invited by the More Noise Please program on Met Radio to curate a fest-related playlist.

The show airs tonight at 8PM on metradio.ca / AM 1280 in Toronto.

The playlist:

Richard Ramirez – Spinal Mutilation (Certain Cruelty, 1995, Slaughter Productions)
The Nausea – Ascension (Requiem, 2024, Absurd Exposition)
Slime Street – Cold Rushes (Séance, 2024, Disaster Sources)
Murmur – 1 (Balcony, 2023, Buried in slag and debris.)
Fowl – 2 (Balcony, 2023, Buried in slag and debris.)

Thanks to Jen Creagh for the invite.

Initial Shock on CJLO

Taylor was invited by the Psychic Ceremony program on CJLO to speak a bit about the fest and present tracks from a selection of the artists.

The show is archived for the next 4 weeks here: http://cjlo.com/shows/psychic-ceremony/episode-24062419

The playlist:

Richard Ramirez – Severe Retraction (The Japanese / American Noise Treaty, 1995, Release Entertainment)
Heat Signature – Shedding the Human Psyche (Dehumanization In Progress, 2019, Oxen)
Parasite Nurse – Clarity (Life Is Beautiful, 2023, Oxen)
Paxillus Succubus – Acte 3 – Scène Finale – Terres De Guerre (Paxillus Succubus x Splinter Assembly, 2023, self-released)
The Nausea – Ascension (Requiem, 2024, Absurd Exposition/Buried In Slag And Debris)
Death Glaze – Rend (Collapse, 2024, Absurd Exposition)
Primitive Isolation Tactics – Hazy Nightmare Reality (Time Hole, 2024, White Centipede Noise)

Thank you to Josh Dimakakos for the invite.