Back in January 2008, I also gave away a few copies of An Offering, the album release from Inner Surge at the time, a powerhouse of progressive metal out of Canada. From the album comes this track, Halliburton Piggies.

These guys are great. They’re catchy. They’re Canadian. I missed both bloody shows last summer when they hit Ireland as part of their Euro summer dates. Today’s track comes from The Most Serene Republic. I’ve featured them on the podcast a few times and keep going back to their tracks for more (well worthy of the repeat listen). The track itself, Present Of Future End, can be found on Playlist Mix 7 and also features in the intro/outro tune for the podcast.

Check them out on MySpace here and go buy their tunes! Click below to play / download Present Of Future End.

Back when the podcast was a brain fart on a Sunday night, almost two years ago now, I’d been doing some digging around for some podsafe music and came across this gem of a track.

It’s a long one, ringing up at the post six-minute mark but it’s got a great feel to it. Very Radiohead inspired, reminding me of some of the Pablo Honey releases. They’ve been quiet (on the web front) over the bulk of the past year but last month they got around to uploading a new track, We Won’t Let You Drown, on the Infotourist MySpace.

Headquartered in Kingston, Ontario, Canada you can also find them on Infotourist.org.

This gem, ‘Have I Gone Astray’ is your first of 46 tracks for lent and is taken from Infotourist’s ‘Selected Case Studies’

With the official release set for January 26th (launch party in Calgary, Alberta featuring Persepolis & Autobody), I’ve already picked up my copy of the album, listened to it over the weekend and really, really like it.

You can pick up ‘An Offering’ for just CA$10 from InnerSurge.com (including postage) and bag yourself 13 tracks of progressive and hardcore metal goodness or you can listen to this week’s Playlist Mix Podcast (show 18, available from Tuesday night) and try win yourself a copy.

Closing date for the giveaway will be Monday January 28th, answers on a postcard to podcast@playlistmix.com (email, obviously) and the question can only be found by listening to this weeks upcoming podcast!

Don’t forget that each week on Playlist Mix features a variety of tracks from six international acts, all wrapped into a bundle of joy 30 minutes long.

Well…. 30 minutes ish.

Keep an eye out for the download this week on iTunes and PlaylistMix.com

I bagged myself a copy of the CD today, or at least placed the order for the physical CD. My suggestion is order directly from InnerSurge.com – free shipping. If you’re not into the physical CD itself, you can still make a digital purchase of the album, but to get the 13 track CD, with free shipping, for only CA$10, you can’t go wrong!

Here’s the blurb from the band’s site…

“An Offering” is now available in the “Store” section. No shipping is charged from the official www.innersurge.com store. If you do not want a physical copy of the CD, tracks are available for digital purchase in the “Music” section. Information on the new CD is below.

INNER SURGE – “An Offering” (2008 Cyclone Records/Overthrow Promotions)

CD TRACKLISTING:
1) The Monroe Doctrine
2) The Empire
3) Maggots & Liars
4) From the Depths
5) Stimulus Response
6) Tamisra
7) Crossing the Line
Halliburton Piggies
9) A Great Distance
10) Tools for the Escape
11) Light a Fire
12) Interahamwe
13) Limb from Limb

CD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
To those who helped this album come to light; Our fans and everyone who has listened to or contacted us from across the globe, All of our families who have supported us, Shaun Friesen & Free Zen Design, Casey Lewis & Echo Base Studios, Chrys G, all radio shows, podcasts, magazines, websites and individuals who have supported and promoted this band – our heartfelt thanks goes out to you.

To those who resisted or ignored us, the radio who worship the mundane and call it “alternative”, the idol-style voting contests who promote shit music and waste everyone’s time, the bands who place more importance on makeup, choreography and personality cults than songwriting or meaning, the “scene over music” crowd who destroy the individual thinker and praise the mindless herd, and all those who strive to suck the lifeblood out of everything good, Enjoy.

So support independant acts! If you like the music you hear on the podcast, why not reach out and buy a band’s EP or CD. Nine times out of ten the quality is better and the price is cheaper!