Kill Matilda

Charged again with the task of clearing the nation of a spreading zombie epidemic after a life or death encounter one fateful night, Kill Matilda is rising to the challenge of zombie management. Specially trained to combat these unruly creatures, Kill Matilda is armed with two incomparable, indestructible, advantageous tools: With their bone-crushing music and front woman Dusty Exner’s famous cookies.

A tumor in a carotid artery and an ectopic pregnancy, not even these could hold back Kill Matilda for too long as next month sees the re-release of one bad-ass six track consisting of material from their 3rd album of 2011 I Want Revenge. Engineered & mixed By Wes Kennedy with exception to the Geisha acoustic which was done by James Wood, produced by Mykel Exner and mastered by Dave Sheldon at 4th Dimension Audio.

They’re currently on route to promote the release touring across the homeland of Canada and with plans for a follow up EP which is yet to be titled later this year and produced by Garth Richardson, 2014 looks very promising indeed.

Kill Matilda are renowned for their adrenaline-soaked power and energy, and this is on show throughout each track. Opening up with Pomegranate and through to I Want Revenge hints of The Misfits and The Cramps instantly emerge from this vigorous group. Zombie Apocalypse and Law Abiding Citizen continue the mayhem through to the penultimate track PBJ which typifies your current day zombie. What really caught my attention was the final track Geisha With A Switchblade, this is a powerful depictive of the ultimate in revenge to a bad guy whilst enjoying every last detail. Check below the new video for Law Abiding Citizen and enjoy, if you’re nearby any venues these guys are tearing u then get yourself down for a set of carnage!

Score 8 out of 10 - Ant Bower

First thing you have to know about Kill Matilda is they are going to rock the sh*t out of your skull. Either live or on I Want Revenge get ready for your head to explode with Heavy Riffs and Dusty’s ear piercing screams. But never overdoing the screams Dusty keeps the decibels in check.

I got lucky and saw Kill Matilda before I got to listen to I Want Revenge and their live show just blew me away by how in your face their music is. With Harding pounding Guitar Riffs and the pounding volume to match each venue they play shakes the buildings rafters and leaves cracks in the foundations. This album is only a touch of what you can expect live, but in no way am I harping on the album I just have to get the point across of you need to see this band live.

Right from the start of the album Kill Matilda doesn’t let up and give you the chance to catch your brain from rattling inside of your head. With a quick drum and a Dusty Count in Kill Matilda starts off the album with “Zombie Apocalypse” Oh how quickly does the album begin indeed, right away they hit your ears with one of many hard hitting guitar riffs. The vocals in this song and throughout still amaze me how Dusty can go from a rock but easy sounding vocal range to hit some of the harshest vocals I have heard in a long time, and how easily Dusty goes into the harsh raspy sounding vocals then quickly slips back into her normal Rock vocals. Timing becomes a crucial begging for the band between two guitars and the vocals they nail the timing on this track perfectly, especially during the part of “Look Out Behind You”, I still remember Dusty yelling this lyric out live.

Three tracks down the title track I Want Revenge finds its way onto the track list. A quick drumstick count in is all Kill Matilda gives your head a break for. I found myself not being able to stop myself from fisrt pumping a few time sin this song, as Dusty gives it her all vocally throughout the track. Again it is her vocal ability that makes this song so complacent for me within their massive control which they quickly place on me. Mykel’s bass gives the song quite a bit of backbone while it may be hard to hear your first couple of times through the song. The Bass really takes a hold during the “quieter” parts of the song and blends in fittingly behind Dusty’s vocals during a few key parts of the song. The ending of the song was a bit of a surprise for me the first time I thought they would have finished out the song strong and fast but they chose a quick fade out instead.

“Geisha With A Switchblade” is a song that is worth a mention because of the lyrical content over anything else, this is one of the songs where the vocals loose a little bit of strength but I have always found myself listening to the lyrics instead of focusing on the vocals. They put emphasize on the lyrics during the key lines as Mykel’s bass plays a deep riff throughout. To give you an idea of the lyrics here is a quick sample of one of the lines. Oh I love my knife, my friend’s got another friend his name is rope he likes to choke. To deepen the meaning of the lyrics they are written from the aspect of one of the sex trade workers who is out for revenge.

To pick up your copy of their album Go see their live show pick it up if not you can visit their website at www.KillMatilda.com - n/a

By: Jenna Melanson

EP – #Punk#Zombie#Rocknroll
Release Date – March 4, 2014
EP Stream on Youtube – http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4FivrTDNjqxrUg2TkQz_pg7LyFVyCM85
Genre – Rock/ Metal

Kill Matilda is a rock/ metal band currently located in Vancouver. The band consists of Marcus Luk (Drums), Mykel Exner (Bass) and Dusty Exner (Vocals/ Guitar).

The band is set to release their new EP, “#Punk#Zombie#Rocknroll” on March 4. I was asked to do a pre-release review of the six song EP. The EP is a re-release that features tracks from their 2011 full-length album, “I Want Revenge”. The EP will be accompanied by a comic book created by vocalist/ guitarist Dusty Exner.

I sat down and had a listen to their EP, and was pleasantly suprised. The band does an amazing job of creating a unique sound. It’s the perfect mix of rock and metal. Anyone who is a fan of either genre, will most likely love it.

The third song on the EP is my favourite, entitled “Zombie Apocalypse”. It’s a very strong track with a lot of energy and for lack of a better word, angst. It’s great to hear such strong vocals from a woman, and I would love to see this song performed live.

“Geisha With a Switchblade” is the last song on the album, it’s an acoustic rendition of a previous release. The vocals are a lot softer, but still full of power and energy. It’s impressive how Dusty can nail each song perfectly, whether it’s the raw metal sound, or the acoustic more controlled vocals.

The EP is packed full of high energy, powerful tracks. I personally find that the band makes you feel like you are at their show, rocking out with them. It’s a mix of songs that gives you chills and makes you feel empowered by just listening. A powerful female lead is a nice addition for this band.

Rating: 4/5 - Jenna Melanson

Self Release- Available March 4th

Suzi H

Well now. The Southern Tower of Wyrd Ways Castle might have been a bit quiet of late but if there’s one thing thing guaranteed to wake the slumbering beast from the annual hibernation it’s some gravelly voiced and quite frankly excellent punk. If you like Hole, The Misfits or The Offspring (and Yeah, Yeah Yeahs,) and let’s face it who doesn’t, then these guys are right up your alley.

Kicking off with Pomegrante this EP is a collection of re-mastered tracks from previous releases that have been given a spit and polish and are now suitably ready to burst your ear drums. From the first bar to the last this is a release of pure aural pleasure.

I want Revenge manages to be a bit angry and quite melodic at the same time. Punk isn’t just screaming angrily into a microphone about politics/death/relationships, there’s a place for melody and hard drums and that’s what Kill Matilda are bringing you. Dusty on vocals also plays guitars and makes Karen O, Juliette Lewis and Courtney Love look like a collection of talentless wimps (words I do not say lightly). The track is a short punchy one, clocking in at 2:45, but gets points for having instant stompability.

Zombie Apocolypse reminds me of the days I used to listen to The Misfits on repeat. Couldn’t tell you why, but it has great riffs, the vocals are *perfect* and it is one of those tracks you want to just listen to on repeat. Lyrically it tells a pretty awesome story too (about the apocalypse. Unsurprisingly). The following track Law Abiding Citizen continues in the same vein and then all of a sudden the dark and twisted riffs disappear and you get flung down the rabbit hole into Geisha with A Switchblade which has, well, acoustic guitars and much cleaner vocals. It’s an interesting showcase of the bands talents though, and demonstrates that this is a band who I suspect are well worth seeing live.

Finally, the EP rounds out with the fantastically heavy PBJ and I have to say the whole things has left me wanting a full release album. Kill Matilda are touring in Canada from the end of February, so if you’re on that side of the pond do check them out. It’s hard to find enough to say about band when you’ve only got 6 tracks to go on, so I’ll say this – if you like some down and dirty punk with sexy riffs and a promise of blood, fists and stomping buy this on March 4th. You won’t regret it.

*****/5 - Suzi H

Kill Matilda may be the best punk band you haven’t heard of. Based out of Canada and solely a DIY band, it’s very possible this female-fronted fist full of punk fury has flown under your radar. Not anymore, though.
Their latest release, the #Punk#Zombie#RocknRoll EP is a throwback to the classic punk movement with a little bit of horror rock mixed in, serving as an impressive tribute to The Misfits (not that new “Misfits” crap- the real Misfits).
The EP opens with “Pomegranate” and a slow, haunting guitar intro that builds up and kicks into a fast-paced punk guitar that rings “Zombie Ball” through and through and will beat you over the back of the head if you aren’t ready for it.
From here we go into “I Want Revenge” and lead single “Law Abiding Citizen,” which are your typical punk tracks and show the talent and potential Kill Matilda truly possess.
“Geisha Acoustic” is an insanely epic slowdown rendition of “Geisha with a Switchblade” off 2011’s LP I Want Revenge. “Geisha Acoustic” absolutely makes this album what it is and showcases the dark, twisted, fucked up side of drummer Marcus Luk, bassist Mykel Exner and vocalist/guitarist Dusty Exner.
In every way imaginable Kill Matilda cross every social line thinkable and, lyrically shows the genius the songwriters truly are. “Geisha Acoustic” is a beautiful, sexual acoustic number that could be taken straight out of a Rob Zombie film and makes the EP shine with the dark intensity the band is truly capable of and shows the gorgeous vocals Exner possesses.
It’s placed perfectly on the album too as it comes right before closing track “PBJ,” which finishes the album on another heavy punk level.
Rating: 9/10
-Reggie Edwards - Reggie Edwards

Vancouver B.C. punk rockers Kill Matilda recently embarked on a 5-month, 52-date North American tour. Forming in 2007, the band have been crisscrossing the country bringing their high energy dance-punk to fans across the land. Their latest release, 2014’s #Punk#Zombie#RocknRoll , an EP comprised of tunes from their 2007 full length I Want Revenge, is a solid collection of rollicking pop-informed punk tunes for fans of The Distillers, Tilt, and The Misfits. I shot Kill Matilda front-person / guitarist Dusty Exner a few questions to see how the road has treated them thus far.

You’ve recently hit the road on a pretty extensive tour. As an independent band, what sort of prep goes in to booking such an ambitious run?

Months and months of work. We do everything…from booking/routing the dates to making and mailing promotional materials, getting our merch in line and perfecting our live set and, in this case, launching and running a successful Indiegogo campaign to get a beast of a touring vehicle. At the beginning of the tour this time around, our new van, ‘Helga’, was at the shop while we played our Ontario dates. It’s our place to sleep so we had to find places to stay while it was being worked on, but now we are pretty experienced and successful at getting ladies to let us into their homes! Other than that, we store a ton of our personal stuff to lighten the load, donate old clothes, and get a few road staples – things like bungee cords, duct tape, and car chargers.

By month four, who will smell the worst?

Dusty, and she already smells the worst.

Do the members of Kill Matilda tend to keep to a pretty regimented diet on tour, or does it devolve into depraved 7-11 Gut-Buster Burrito desperation after a few weeks? If so, what are your favorite tour eats that you would never touch otherwise?

We do our best to make good food choices and buy groceries and fresh foods whenever we can, but I’d say it’s a mix. When McDonald’s is the only place to get wifi or is actually open to get some food, you have little choice… But, actually, we have to be pretty careful. Mykel and I are both lactose intolerant, so eating poorly can result not only in us physically suffering, but we also have to do quite a lot of strenuous work onstage so we try to avoid big greasy meals and coffee right before and after shows. I also can’t drink too much alcohol because it dries me out vocally.

Your latest release, #Punk#Zombie#RocknRoll, is a re-release of material from your last full length. What motivated you to revisit and re-release this material?

We simply didn’t do as much as we wanted to do with our “I Want Revenge” release of 2011. After our tour in late 2011, we were forced into a short hiatus while Mykel went through some medical issues, eventually resulting in him having a tumor removed from his carotid artery. It took time to heal, and by the time we were ready to get back on the road, so much time had passed since we’d done that release that it seemed silly to start promoting the material then, or releasing videos. The best course of action was to re-release our favourite tracks so that we could do them justice, do videos for them, get them charting, etc. The acoustic version of “Geisha” was a fan request! During our sporadic hiatus after the 2011 tour we had the opportunity between Mykel’s surgeries to work with and be produced and engineered by GGGarth Richardson. We caught his eye in 2009 with our DIY-produced EP and the two years of Canadian touring we did to support that release. After hearing these amazing recordings, we decided to go for it and began dreaming up our plan for touring across North America. We wanted to build our brand with #PUNK#ZOMBIE#ROCKNROLL so that when we drop the new singles recorded at Fader Mountain Studios, the audience and reception will be there to give this recording its proper due.

Reading your blog, it’s clear you’re rather passionate about feminism, sexuality and gender issues, especially how they relate to being a woman in the music industry. Punk rock likes to pat itself on the back for being progressive, especially with respect to racial and social equality. Do you feel the genre/sub-culture is as progressive when it comes to gender equality?

In the past, no – it’s predominantly a white male movement that has excluded the voices of people of color (notable exception: Bad Brains/Death) and women, but these days I do think it’s the platform for social equality. Bands like Rise Against and Anti-Flag are hugely popular big bands with very socio-political messages (at least Rise Against was in the past). There are a plethora of anarcho/political/feminist punk bands with very very strong ethos. When Against Me‘s Gender Dysphoria Blues that dropped earlier this year, a lot of positive messages of support for transgender issues came out of the punk scene, I think in a large part because of how much people love Against Me and how many people are inspired by Laura Jane Grace‘s story. When we played our first show as a “hometown” Toronto band at the Bovine Sex Club, she was actually at our show! It was so awesome to see her in the audience that night. The people there were open, supportive and also really encouraged by how the punk scene, in Toronto at least, stretched to include the voice of transgendered people and I think punk today is a lot more about inclusivity.

Your drummer Marcus Luk hits his drums really hard. Why is he so angry?

Because interviewers never direct questions at him, until now. Thanks Jesse.

Packing a group of people into a small motor vehicle for extended periods of time is always a recipe for conflict. Add in lack of sleep or decent food, the monetary stresses of keeping the party rolling, and one band member’s insistence that the Hall and Oates discography is the perfect driving soundtrack, and at some point the knives come out. With Kill Matilda, you share this experience with your husband. How do you guys navigate the personal/professional relationship? Any tips for youngsters about to pile into the family Toyota Prius for their first tour?

Mykel and I have a very strong relationship in terms of communication and we always have. He’s an excellent communicator and I’m really good at fixing problems, so we’re able to get through any roadblocks we come up against. At first, it was hard to balance work and life during personal time together – we were always fighting and butting heads about band issues, but we managed to fall into a pretty good working groove together and found a mutual respect.

To new bands out there… Really, there is no secret formula, just total honesty. Each member has to be completely honest with every other member about their needs and restrictions. Someone who seems easygoing and relaxed in real life could turn into a monster after a few weeks on the road if the other members of the band aren’t filled in about a particular need or sensitive to it. Maybe your drummer has a real problem with your smelly socks in his face in the middle of the night, so you have to change up your style of just flinging them wherever you want when its time to crash.

If you could kill any Matilda, which one would you kill?

All of them. Kill them all. Every single last motherfucking one of them. - Bucketlist Music Review

Today we are lucky to have the opportunity to sit down and talk with up and coming Canadian punk rockers Kill Matilda. The band is set to take the world by storm as well as start a North American tour and have been gracious enough to sit with lead singer Dusty Exner to give fans the latest information on the band.

Examiner (Keith Ashley): Thank you for doing this interview! For the casual fan or reader tell us a little about yourself?

Dusty Exner: We are Kill Matilda, a zombie hunting punk and roll band. By day we rid your towns and cities of the undead and by night we make you sweaty with our rockin' sexy stage show. We come from the northern wasteland of Canada and we have come to get you to party and make you move your body!

Examiner: What advice would you give to people just starting off in the entertainment & music business?

Dusty: Nobody owes you anything. It doesn't matter how great your music is. Work hard, bring people out, realize that you're one band in a sea of thousands of bands, drops in a bucket, all vying for the same small slice of the pie. If you're not willing to put time and money in, don't expect anyone else to do it for you. Being in a band is all about the grind and the only payoff is that you get to do what you love.

Examiner: You have a great sound &style, who has influenced you musically?

Dusty: Early on grunge really influenced our music with bands like Hole and Alice in Chains. Later, very much owing to the influence of our guitarist Dave Roberts (retired from the band), our sound evolved into the bluesy punk that it is today. It is still laced with some hard-rock elements but he brought a lot more of the so-Cal punk and rock and roll guitar sound to our music in his riffs. I'd say that our newer stuff is a blend of the Misfits, KISS and proto-punk bands like Death and The Stooges. Vocally I'm most influenced by Danzig and Brody Dalle, but I think we all love the classic sounds of Chuck Berry, Wanda Jackson, Buddy Holly and Elvis. The simplicity of that music has always helped us to stay true to the path of rock and roll.

Examiner: What can fans expect from you in 2014, any tours, albums what can the fans expect?

Dusty: We released #PUNK#ZOMBIE#ROCKNROLL in 2014 which people can download for free on our Reverbnation page. September we are setting out on a 6-Month North American tour that will see us visit almost every US state. We are putting out a limited-release vinyl with 4 new tracks produced by GG Garth Richardson of Rise Against and Rage Against the Machine fame. We will ship the 4 songs as singles to radio as well. We also have a music video in post-production for one of those new tracks. Expect to see us a lot USA!

Examiner: What band or musician would you have loved tour with from the past & why?

Dusty: I would have loved to have been able to open up for the Distillers in their heyday, because they were very influential in the alt-punk scene and Brody Dalle is an institution unto herself. It also would have been pretty sweet to tour with the Offspring as they released "Smash" - it would have been so amazing to be there at the time they broke with an independent record and got worldwide. I think any historic group would have been awesome to tour with - the Clash, the Sex Pistols, the Runaways, and Nirvana. Except that I'm not much for all night partying and drugs, I'm pretty tame that way, and I think in the 70s, 80s and 90s bands on tour had a lot less responsibility and a lot more money, so there was probably more time and space to get really messed up. I wouldn't have been super stoked on that so much; I try to do a lot of sleeping and healthy eating on the road, ha-ha-ha!

Examiner: Are there any current bands you would like to tour or do a song with?

Dusty: Against Me! ... Also we'd love to tour with Monster Truck or Sumo Cyco from Canada. They're both cool bands doing a lot of stuff we like. I'd love to open for the Pretty Reckless or Billy Talent especially. And of course, the Misfits. I'd love to do a song with Care Failure from Die Mannequin; I love that chick's musical style, and again, Billy Talent. Other than that, I think it'd be pretty rad to do a song with Yo-Landi from Die Antwoord, OMG I'D DIE. She blows my mind. Tour-wise we are very excited to be hitting the road for our September dates with our friends from Louisville, KY, Uh Huh Baby Yeah. Check them out, they are awesome.

Examiner: Great choices, Sumo are good friends of the site for years! Do you have any crazy or really cool tour stories you may want to share?

Dusty: Too many! On our very first tour this really HUGE MMA fighter was super messed up and smashed a beer bottle over his own head. He was bleeding all over the place so I took him into the bathroom to pick the glass shards out of his scalp. That was pretty intense. We could have died on our 2011 tour - while parked on a side street in Montreal, a car came around the corner and hit our van so hard that the car itself was flipped on its side. Amazingly enough, the van only had a bit of a peeled door and some scratches on the back passenger wheel. We took it to a body shop and they inspected the damage while it was parked on the street, and DID NOT put it on a lift or anything. We had driven thousands of miles on a very dangerously compromised axle, towing about 2,000 lbs. in our trailer. If it had snapped while we'd been driving 60 mph an hour we would be dead but we were in stop and go traffic in the city. When we told the tow-truck driver who hauled away the van how far we'd driven on it he went as white as a sheet and told us we had an angel looking out for us for sure. We then had two days before our next show to procure money to buy a new tour van. We wrangled all our friends to lend us money until my insurance money for the totaled van came through, found a van on Craigslist, bought it the very next day and were on the way to our next date without even skipping a beat!

Examiner: Great stuff! Nothing like tour life! We know you’re rather busy so thanks for your time, is there anything else you want to tell the readers?

Dusty: Thank you!!! We have an early Halloween treat for everyone. A "Night of the Living Dead" video remix lyric video on YouTube. Speaking of vans, we need a new one to be our home till March. Please check out our indiegogo fundraiser -you can check it out here and get your chance at our limited release vinyl.Come to our shows, watch our videos, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!! Also our website!

For all things related to Kill Matilda please check out their official pages and catch them when they are on the road on their upcoming tour! - Examiner.com