Artist: Varga, Album: Prototype, Song: Freeze Don't Move

"Nothing like a nice conviction...."  Varga was an industrial metal band from Hamilton that released their  full length debut entitled, Prototype, in 1993.  Their sound bridged hard rock and alternative and made them a saleable commodity during the grunge years.  A lot of metal bands nose dived during this time.  When you look back at the Juno nominations in 1995, they included a much different style of hard rock than in the year preceding it.  In 1994, the nominees were Rush, I Mother Earth, Tea Party, Doughboys and Wild T & The Spirit.  In 1995, they were Varga, Malhavoc, Front Line Assembly and Monster Voodoo Machine.  They didn't win but it shows how hard rock was getting progressively harder and darker.  With lyrics like, "You're gonna die in pain with a bullet in your brain", they weren't singing about wine, women and song anymore.  The band got some great video play for the single Freeze Don't Move on Much Music, but they would go on to only release one more album in 1996 before calling it quits.  The producer of this album was David Bendeth, who has a long list of credentials, both in Canadian music (Serena Ryder, Segarini, Teenage Head) as well as internationally (Kaiser Chiefs, Papa Roach).  Today, Varga's music is only available second hand.  At the time of this blog, there were copies trading on Amazon and Ebay between $5 and $50.  You can watch the video for Freeze Don't Move, on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEuvT83C8ik).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!