History Bushwhacker

Bushwhacker is a doom/progressive metal band from Vancouver, Canada. Originally from the Yukon, the band was once known as Minotaur. Their sound combines influences from many decades — from traditional death and black metal genres to 60s and 70s British prog and psychedelia, and even further to jazz and darker 1800s-era classical. The result is a complex and thoughtful arrangement that both challenges and pleases the ear — defying classification.

Though Bushwhacker now resides permanently in Vancouver, the stark wilderness and mountainous landscapes of their Yukon homeland still shine through in the power and intensity of their music. Formed in Whitehorse in 2008, Bushwhacker began with four high school friends that shared a love of old-school thrash metal. With Geoff Woods on guitar and vocals, Cavan Egan on guitar and vocals, Sean Komaromi on drums and Keenan Dennehy on bass, the quartet began to write and perform original music. They released their self-titled debut album in July 2011 and followed it with a tour through BC and Alberta.

After settling in Vancouver, the band parted ways with Dennehy and brought in another fellow Yukoner, Rory O'Brien, on bass and vocals in October 2012. With the addition of this new composer and vocalist, Bushwhacker began a new era of songwriting. Inspired by all the variety and opportunity the city had to offer, they began to explore new avenues and sounds.

August 2013 saw them in the studio at Rain City Recorders, putting the finishing touches on a one-song, 20-minute EP called Fish Guy. A shining example of evolution done right, Fish Guy features all the passionate metal fury of their earlier works, now carefully honed into driving riffs and passages, framed and punctuated by evocative psychedelic breaks and solos. Classic thrash vocals were expanded into a medley of layered harmonies, eerie growls, and epic choruses, carrying lyrics full of ancient nautical superstition.

In 2014, the band again entered Rain City Recorders in Vancouver to record what would become

a career-high watermark: The False Dilemma. Engineered by Stu McKillop and Mark McKitrick, and mixed/mastered by McKillop, The False Dilemma is a profound slab of Heavy that drips of Black and Death Metal whilst delving deep into the realms of psychedelia.

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