Stained Class Records Is Giving the Gift of Heavy Metal Back to Toronto

Photos by the author Canada's heavy metal record stores have always been few and far between. In Western Canada there was Octopus Ink, a one-room bunker off Whyte Ave, which taught me that Pantera was originally power metal. It sadly closed in 2010. Vancouver had the excellent Scrape Records, which had outrageous prices– but that was before their eventual store closure in 2016—the store does still live on online. Winnipeg had War on Music, which I once attempted to visit on the way home from Montreal's Wings of Metal Festival, only to learn they too had closed, opting for online instead.

Eastern Canadian shops have weathered similar fates. Infamous Canadian label Banzai Records had their headquarters at the massive Rock en Stock, which closed after police successfully raided the location for bootlegged CDs in 1998. Great White North Records opened the Montreal shop Profusion: Le Metal Store, which eventually shuttered its doors alongside shops like Hits and Misses, Ragnarok, Freeson, and Eruptions from Below. Predictably, metal record stores in Canada are a rarity today; among them are Black Raven Records in Victoria, Le Noveau Soundcentral in Montreal, and Boutique Pentagram Inc. in Quebec City.

Cue Stained Class Records, which opened for business at the end of 2016.  It felt beyond opportune for the small shop to be officially opening a few weeks after yours truly moved to Canada's arts and commerce hub, particularly due to the challenges of surviving as an artist in this city. Soaring rent costs in Toronto have already resulted in the closure of seven venues this year; stories on the rent crisis frequently note that its driving artists and young people away. Simultaneously, record sales are reaching highs not seen since the '80s, giving physical stores a customer basis despite online options. It's unsurprising then, that the people who operate Stained Class know their customer base damn well, and have developed the personality of their store accordingly. It's a record store made by people who understand that the euphoric feeling of finding an actual goddamn gem. Thus far, Stained Class has resulted in multiple additions to my collection, among them Budgie's Never Turn Your Back on A Friend (1973), Italian spooky doom weirdos Black Hole's Land of Mystery (1985), Scorpions Virgin Killer (1976), and rare Italian speed metal gem Warning Games (1984) by Hocculta, a gift for my partner on Christmas.

Given the shop's lineage, it's never a surprise to find these records. Guitarist Ian Kilpatrick of Cauldron and Chainbreaker fame spearhead the store with business partner Inti Paredes. Paredes is no slouch; he plays guitar in Manacle and owns the label Hard and Heavy Records. The label has already released vinyl by Canadian acts Spell, Gatekrashör, Droid, Possessed Steel, Funeral Circle, and more. Copies of these Canadian heavy, trad, thrash, and doom metal gems are peppered throughout the shop. Situated in the back of the already established Parkdale Platters, an underrated store with rare records frequently spotting its walls, Stained Class has been open for almost four months. It's due to this business arrangement that the store can operate, growing organically and slowly. It's only through this arrangement that they could make it work at all. "There are only so many people around looking for the second Ostrogoth record," says Kilpatrick knowingly.

"It really helps sharing the space with Chris (operator of Parkdale Platters). Not only is there existing traffic, but there are people looking for metal records who also want new wave—like me—or punk. A lot of people who come to check out the shop will buy a record or two from us and then buy a couple records from Chris on the way out."

A product of numerous delays, Stained Class was percolating in the minds of its creators long before it opened. "We had the idea for the store kicking around for a couple years but eventually became discouraged with the ridiculous Toronto rent prices," explains Kilpatrick. In February 2016, a serious accident induced another delay: Cauldron collided with debris from a previous accident while on tour in the United States with Enforcer. It resulted in the vehicle flipping multiple times and left Kilpatrick with broken bones in his neck and back.

"I have to admit that lying in bed with the post-accident depression in full swing, the last thing on my mind was opening that fucking store! I felt like the dream was dead until October when Inti brought up the proposition of sharing space with Parkdale Platters," clarifies Kilpatrick.

Paredes elaborates, "I actually daydreamed of the idea of a metal shop before I started the label, and used the label as a stepping stone towards becoming a real shop. I much prefer working in a brick and mortar shop compared to running an online mail order, part of that might be because I always preferred going to shops looking for records than buying them online."

The store's creators have breathed their experience with classic heavy metal into the space. There's a ridiculous tribute to Krokus' Headhunter featuring numerous copies of the 1983 album. The VHS and book crate wall is stuffed with copies plucked from illustrious metal journalist Martin Popoff's lengthy bibliography.  A rolling t-shirt rack features an array of new and old shirts ranging from Trouble to Van Halen to Opeth.  Numerous pins fill the board to the left of the back counter; they are adorned with obscure album covers by bands like Lords of the Crimson Alliance, Blood Money, and Cirith Ungol. Another is simply the mustachioed mug shot of Leif Edling.

Since its inception, their inventory has turned over rapidly, due to the reasonable prices of their stock and general support from the Toronto scene, which is riding an upswing in popularity. While they have new stock from High Roller, Hell's Headbangers, Electric Assault Records, and Stygian Black Hand, they also carry a hefty supply of used records. The duo is also expanding their focus and working on distribution deals yet to be finalized. In particular, they are interested in integrating CDs, particularly with the impending closure of HMV's 102 locations. While Sunrise Records aims to take over 70 of the ailing chain's stores, the future of CDs and profitability of metal in Canada has seriously been thrown into question.   "Our main focus will always be vinyl, but we definitely will be expanding our CD selection significantly over time," says Paredes. "Originally we wanted to stay away from CDs, but the HMV closure is something that we think will be detrimental to the Canadian music industry and hope we can do our best to fill their void [metal wise.]"

With multiple plans for expansion and increasingly stronger sales, the future looks at the very least promising. That promise was shining brightly on the night of their official opening party, which took place mid-February. Organized by both Paredes and Kilpatrick, the party featured performances by Manacle and Chainbreaker. The event began around 6 p.m. on a Saturday evening, and the small shop quickly reached capacity as solos filled the air and cupcakes were passed around, courtesy of Paredes' supportive parents. The accompanying party harkened to metal's classic days as DJ's blasted tunes in a nearby pizza shop and attendees became overzealously intoxicated. It's this version of metal that Stained Class encapsulates and given the current upswing in traditional metal worship, it comes at a kismet time.  "The opening party was great for us, probably our most successful day so far since we opened. It really helps that people have been talking about us on online, posting pictures of records they've bought at our store and tagging us in them," says Kilpatrick. The store relies on this word of mouth and helps fuel it via a healthy social media presence, complete with tongue-in-cheek commentary. "I guess it all comes down to the store being fresh and a little bit different compared to every other record store in the city.  It helps that we have a bit of an underdog vibe going," he says.

Although this passion won't guarantee Stained Class' success, it does tell a compelling story of the upswing of the Toronto scene, which is further established by the continuing success of its metal only bar Coalition: T.O. Altogether, despite its many challenges, Toronto is filled with heavy metal loving folks who appear committed to the cities continuing success. After all, as Kilpatrick astutely observes, "Who doesn't love a feel-good underdog story?"

Sarah Kitteringham is a metal journalist living in Toronto. Follow her on Instagram.