Special Ops to perform September 5 at the Dieppe Youth House.

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Ken Kelley

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Montreal heavy-metal band Special Ops are returning to the Moncton area for an all-ages show at the Dieppe Youth House on Saturday September 5.

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Special Ops says there’s a special vibe when performing on the East Coast.

The group is heading to the city in support of their fourth record (and third full-length release overall), Through The Heart Of The Infidel.

For their newest effort, Special Ops had the opportunity to work with producer Glen Robinson who has overseen records by groups such as Canadian metal pioneers Voivod, Queensryche and The Ramones, as well as dozens upon dozens of others.

Choosing Robinson to oversee their newest record was a matter of having the right person for the right job, as opposed to basing their producer selection solely on his past experience.

"His experience did grab some attention from us, but it wasn't only his resume that we looked at," Special Ops guitarist Akbar Johnson confirms. "For this record, we wanted to work with people who we were comfortable with; people who can get into your head and help you get the sound that you dreamt of at that moment that the song was conceived.

"Both Glen and Kevin (Jardine, the engineer for the new record) helped us with some preproduction and ultimately helped achieve that."

Coinciding with the band's new CD is a video for their song "Pressure," a teaser of which is currently available for preview on their website at www.opsmission.com.

"We shot the Pressure video quite some time ago. We shot it in this abandoned building that was literally falling apart. Interestingly, the building has been safely annihilated since we shot there," Johnson says.

"The video has been completed for a few weeks now. We had encountered some slowdowns with the animation aspect of the video, but it is now done."

The group's upcoming Moncton show is the only Maritime date on this current leg of the tour. And though it seems like a long drive for a one-off show, Johnson and the rest of Special Ops wouldn't have it any other way.

"Are you kidding me?!" he exclaims. "If we had it our way, we would move here! We travel the country constantly and every once in a while you hit a town that just appeals to you somehow. But with the east coast, rather than it just being one or two cities, it's the whole region.

"We can't quite explain it but every time we come out, we leave with great memories, we make great friends and it ends up being good times every time. The acceptance and support of the band has been amazing!"

Come out and catch Special Ops for yourself on Saturday September 5 at the Dieppe Youth House in the Greater Moncton area.