Artist Spotlight
Our Last Crusade
Prepare to have your speakers rattled as we shine a spotlight on Our Last Crusade, a powerhouse metalcore quintet hailing from the cold, hard streets of Calgary. Known for their intricate riff work, thunderous breakdowns, and a masterful blend of searing vocals and melodic hooks, this band has been steadily building a dedicated following across the Canadian scene. Since their formation, Our Last Crusade has consistently delivered high-octane performances and released compelling music that captures the raw energy and emotional complexity defining modern metalcore. Get ready to dive deep into the world of a band that proves the Canadian prairies are a hotbed for heavy, unforgettable sound.
- Adrian Parcioaga - Vocals & Manager
- Brady Schmidt - Guitar
- Kyle Prusky - Guitar & Production
- Keifer Hicks - Bass
- Adam Hensby - Drums
Tell us the story behind the name "Our Last Crusade"
Our founding guitarist, Brady, was a big fan of Indiana Jones, especially The Last Crusade, and it sort of turned into a mission statement when applied to a group of individuals. We want to play the music that we love for as many people as possible, this is our crusade. No bloodshed, just spreading our music to as many people as possible (as long as you're in the crowd; our vocalist tends to bleed and break one of his bones every other show).
Heatvision
Which song are you most proud of?
Purified, off our latest album, Death Wins. Sometimes you listen to a riff or demo and you can immediately see the entirety of its potential like a blueprint, which was the case here. It really just came together extremely fast, we took parts of a song our guitarist Kyle wrote and let our other guitarist Brady mold his ideas in for a few days, vocals were written in maybe an afternoon. That stroke of inspiration isn't as easy to come by with every song, sometimes you really have to work to make an idea sound good, or sometimes what you wanted just doesn't come together and it has to be abandoned. The song just told you what it needed, it was bursting with energy and intensity and infectious rhythm. It blends our unique frantic energy with raw emotion, anger, power, and purpose. Purified is unrelenting from start to finish and captures the ethos of our songwriting: pure, unadulterated will smacking you in the ears with so much unbridled force that you can't sit still.
Deathbound
What has been your favourite experience as a band?
We ran our very own festival, Gatorfest, here in Calgary for the first time in 2024 and it really was an experience like no other. We had chosen January 13th for our festival date and the week leading up to the event was gorgeous, +19 degrees. It felt like everything was lining up perfectly for us in the dead of winter. Then the day before the festival, we got hit with a cold snap that chilled you to your bones.
The day of the festival, it was -52 degrees out with the wind chill, road conditions were terrible, visibility was zero, and you couldn't stay outside for longer than a minute. We were absolutely distraught thinking it was over... then it happened. Calgary showed up in droves out of the blizzard. Outside it was an absolute ghost town, liminal and frozen, while inside the venue we had 300+ people forming their own little world sheltered from the cold and having the time of their lives in spite of everything going on outside. We had power outages throughout the city, with power from Saskatchewan keeping the lights on and the music going inside the venue. The sense of community and people coming together that night for an evening we had been dreaming of was nothing short of amazing and so incredibly gratifying!
The whole point of the festival was for us to give back to some of the bands in other towns who had given us such great welcomes in their own cities, we wanted to show them what a good show in Calgary can mean and why it's a city to make a must-stop on any tour. I think the resilience of our fans and metal community spoke volumes that night and it's something we'll never forget. Crowd surfing on inflatable gators, unbelievable energy from attendees, our friends in some of the best Canadian acts we know getting a platform on which to shine, nothing will ever compare to that first one!
Thulcandra
What is the meaning behind the album title Death Wins?
"Death Wins" is a compilation of parables, some original, some based on books and movies, in which humanity aims to defeat, overcome, or control Death, but in every case, Death ends up winning. Each story delves into a different theme of our fight against mortality and how futile it really is. In some stories we aim to eliminate bloodlines whose previous lineage has committed a murder, hoping to prevent more unnecessary death, resulting in us doing Death's job for it by killing innocent people who haven't committed a crime of their own, essentially still being puppeteered by Death. In other stories, we encounter new civilizations on other planets and do what we do best, kill what we don't understand, spreading death to the cosmos. The stories vary, but the outcome is always the same, death wins. The moral or key takeaway intended is to stop worrying about the inevitable and instead take solace in the time we have, make the most of the life we are given, and find purpose in the fact that things end. Life is not beautiful because it lasts, it is beautiful because it ends.
Purified
What's the key to maintaining your strong lineup chemistry?
We've always been really keen on creating a culture of camaraderie and collaboration. Every single album you listen to from Our Last Crusade sounds different than the one before, and every song has its own signature. We allow all of our ideas to be explored, whether you play an instrument or submit an acapella version of a riff you had in mind. We like to think we don't fit in a single genre or box, and instead aren't afraid of taking influences from anything our members listen to, trying out new sounds and not worrying about if it goes against what people expect from us.
I think as a group, we also all understand that we're doing this for fun, we're not saving lives, and we don't take ourselves too seriously. We're software developers, real estate agents, and nerds with different views and musical tastes. We never turn this into a chore or job, we leave ample time on tours between dates to explore new places and have fun, and we cherish our experiences off stage with new fans more than anything.
On stage, we put on the best performance we can and we want to just help people forget about what's going on in their daily lives instead of propagating our own ideals or beliefs. It creates a tightly knit group of individuals that feel respected and, above all else, just have a good time with their friends making angry music cathartic to our audience and members alike.
Nomad
What's next for Our Last Crusade?
Over the last 3 years, we have been hard at work shaping the next era of Our Last Crusade and the fruits of our labor will be landing very early next year. We've been working tirelessly doing nonstop touring and shows since Death Wins and it's almost time to show everyone the music we have been crafting behind the scenes. Once again, we think this will be another sound that pushes beyond what we've done before and explores an original story contemplating the consequences of a life never-ending in a new full-length concept album designed to be the mirror opposite to Death Wins. What does it mean to be immortal? What emotional consequences arise as a result? Where does the universe end and where does Time's grip weaken?
We're kicking things off in 2026 with several new shows in January, March, and our festival's return in April with Gatorfest III: Tokyo Deathroll. We're finally ready to begin the next chapter in our crusade.
