‘It’s a big debut’: North Bay metal band records first album, gearing up to jam at the Capitol Centre

Step into Bryan Elsey’s basement on a Sunday morning and you’ll find the band ‘Children of Metal’ rehearsing and playing the music they rock out to.

“It just started to gain steam,” said Elsey, the band’s vocalist.

Elsey was relaxing on a beach in Cuba when the COVID-19 pandemic began. He was thinking if he would even be able to fly home as lockdowns were starting and the virus was spreading. He thought about what he would do in his spare time.

Cherishing his love of 80s metal music, he told CTV News he wanted to form his own band, write and record his own music.

“I’ve always wanted to write one. I’ve written lots of different things, but I have never written one of those,” Elsey said.

“I started writing it shortly thereafter.”

Through the recording process, which started in April 2021 and concluded that December. He met his future band members; Scott Aultman on bass, Mason Ladoucer on keyboard and vocals, Ryan Walsh on drums, along with Neil Malkin and Eric Luckett on guitar.

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The band recorded their eight song album titled ‘Resurrection’. The album is meant to revive and pay respect to some of the 80s heavy metal music the band all grew up listening, especially Ozzy Osbourne.

“We call it metal, but a lot of people think of us screaming and yelling,” said Elsey.

“We’re like ‘No it’s 80s metal.’ When you talk about 80s metal you talk about Ozzy, Def Leppard, Poison, Mötley Crüe, Anthrax and Metallica.”

Band members range in age from 20 to 50, but all have one thing in common; they love metal music. The album was released on vinyl and can be purchased at Callander Bay Records and also available on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music to stream.

“You can’t really describe the feeling. It’s like a rush. An instant rush,” said Luckett.

“Even if we’re just sitting in the basement practicing, you get that feeling of all the music coming together. It’s a pretty cool feeling.”

Now with the album out, the band is busy preparing for their first show together at the Capitol Centre on April 1 where they plan to play a few songs from their album but also perform a few tribute songs in honour of the music they grew up listening to.

“I’ve known Bryan. We grew up in the same neighbourhood and we had the same experience with the early metal scene,” said Walsh.

“To be able to have this platform of an album like this and a show at the Capitol Centre, it’s just great.”

Despite the recording process being a challenge due to the pandemic forcing separate band members to have to record their instruments at different times and on different days, Elsey said he wouldn’t change it for the world as he got to meet each band member individually and work with them to find the right sound and pitch for each song.

“It’s a big debut and it’s an ambitious debut that’s for sure,” he said smiling.

After the show, the band told CTV News they are looking ahead to the future together, saying the sky is the limit with potentially more shows and new music to come.

“We’re pretty sure we’re going to have Metallica and AC/DC open for us fairly soon,” Elsey said jokingly.

Tickets for the Capitol Centre show are available at the box office and online for $10, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross.

For more information on the bands’ upcoming releases and performances, visit their Facebook page.