PRESS


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“razor sharp poetry against sliding bass bombs and shrill, air-raid-style tremolo picking. Shit is nasty…” – Noisey

“The tube screamer pounds out a surf-punk riff worthy of early Man…Or Astro-Man? and breaks into some finger-wagging sass…it’ll bash some skulls.” – NPR.org

“For their latest release Success, the group capitalize on melodic subtleties with directed and near flawlessly executed purpose.” – SPIN Magazine

Bio of sorts:

  • Season of Mist/New Damage recording artists KEN mode is a JUNO award winning independent indie rock/metal/hardcore band from Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
  • The band was formed in 1999 by Royal Conservatory of Music trained musicians Jesse Matthewson, B.Comm (Hons) and Shane Matthewson, CPA, CA, B. Comm (Hons) and has been actively touring Canada, the United States and Europe since 2002 with such acts as Russian Circles, Torche, Deafheaven, Norma Jean, Kylesa, Pelican, Daughters, Revocation, and Today is the Day, maintaining an unrelenting schedule for the past 5 years. Through their relentless touring they have additionally shared the stage with a multitude of gigantic acts as part of SXSW 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015 in Austin, TX.  Hellfest Open Air 2011 in Clisson, France. Pitchfork Festival Chicago 2013. Northside Festival 2013 in New York, NY. Halifax Pop Explosion 2013. Hopscotch Festival 2014 in Raleigh, NC. Housecore Horror Festival 2014. Roadburn Festival 2015 in Tilburg, Netherlands. Temples Festival 2015 in Bristol, UK. OTB Festival 2015 in Paris, France.
  • In 2012, KEN mode won the inaugural JUNO for best Heavy Metal/Hard album of the year for their Venerable LP as nominated by the The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS), and in 2013 they won the inaugural WCMA for best Heavy Metal/Hard album of the year for their Entrench LP, which was also nominated for a Juno in 2014, and long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize in 2013.  The band awaits the JUNO awards in 2016 to find out if their ‘Success’ LP will see them winning their 2nd Juno award under the Heavy Metal/Hard album of the year category.
  • KEN mode has released six internationally distributed full length albums: Mongrel (2003), Reprisal (2006), Mennonite (2008), the Kurt Ballou (Converge, High on Fire, Kvelertak) produced Venerable (2011), the Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Botch, Minus the Bear) produced Entrench (2013), and the Steve Albini (Nirvana, PJ Harvey, the Pixies) recorded Success (2015). Success, Entrench, and Venerable made several year-end critics lists over the past several years including #1 metal album at Exclaim! Magazine, Pitchfork Media, Stereogum, Loudwire, New Noise, Buzzfeed, Allmusic.com and others.
  • The band’s press and media and coverage runs as diverse as Forbes Magazine, Major League Baseball, Pitchfork Media, NPR,Vice Media, CBC, Converse, Spin Magazine, Pop Matters, Rolling Stone Magazine, AXS TV Inside MMA, SB Nation, Exclaim! Magazine, to the Winnipeg Free Press.
  • In 2013 the group was invited to record a session for world renowned BBC Radio 1 in London, UK.