"It's a fucking depressing album."

That's James Farwell, guitarist/vocalist with Bison B.C. Miserable metalheads should be pleased with Dark Ages, the Vancouver band's follow-up to 2008's Polaris Music Prize long-listed Quiet Earth, which will be released April 13 through Metal Blade Records.

"Whenever I listen to it I get really bummed out," Farwell says. "I get really uncomfortable but, personally speaking, that's what I was going for. I wanted something more emotionally affecting rather than just initially stimulating. Being loud and aggressive is great but we wanted something that touched a little deeper."

Lyrically speaking, Farwell says Dark Ages is more socially aware and reality-based than Bison B.C.'s previous material. That said, the new disc will have at least one fantastical track in Wendigo Pt. 3, a continuation of Wendigo Pt. 1 (Quest for Fire) and Wendigo Pt. 2 (Cursed to Roam) from Quiet Earth.

"It's based on Aboriginal folklore but it's multi-dimensional," says Farwell, who is joined in Bison B.C. by guitarist Dan And, bassist Masa Anzai and drummer Brad Mackinnon. "In all reality it's fantasy, but it's a story that has been passed on generations and generations and like all Aboriginal folklore there's lessons to be learned about humanity in it. For me that kind of fantasy writing in music is fine, because it is a direct reflection on humanity and human beings and how we are."

Produced by the band's long-time friend Jesse Gander, expect Dark Ages to sound like Bison B.C., meaning a monstrous mix of doom, thrash, sludge, punk and rock.

"I think we have definitely established somewhat of a sound, at least on a very base level," Farwell. "I think you'll listen to this and say 'Oh yeah, that sounds like Bison', but I think that we've stretched the boundaries a little bit and tried to be a little bit more interesting, especially with the arrangements. It's not a verse-chorus, verse-chorus kind of thing."

Getting back to the doom and gloom, Farwell admits to being a bit depressed and disillusioned himself, but there's still hope and positivity to be found in his lyrics. Take the song These Are My Dress Clothes from Quiet Earth, for example.

"No matter where you are in society, whether you're rich or poor, whether you have lots of love in your life or little love in your life, if you are fighting for survival and you go through your day and you make it in this world you should be proud of that," Farwell says. "I work with people in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, marginalized people who are pushed to the fringes of society, but they are still very proud of what they do and how they maintain and survive. It's like, 'These are my dress clothes, I may look like shit but I'm proud of it'. The world is a shit place and if you survive, good on you."

BISON B.C.
March 1, 8 p.m., West End Cultural Centre
w/ Shadows Fall