Yob’s latest album, Our Raw Heart, is a comparatively lighter, more melodic effort–but that doesn’t make it any less crushing live. Paired with the superior soundsystem and extremely overpriced beers of the Mod Club, and backed by a couple of solid supporting acts, this was one of the best concerts I’ve seen in Toronto so far this year.
Hamilton’s Vile Creature were a solid local(ish) support act. Their raw, sludgy, dual-vocal attack reminded me of The Body…albeit with fewer amps. (They also brought up a guest vocalist at one point.)
I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not a big fan of Bell Witch. I’ve never made it more than 20 minutes into their 85-minute opus Mirror Reaper, and I walked out halfway through their set with Primitive Man last year. Although I stuck around for their full performance, it just proved that their music is too slow and plodding for my tastes–there was a pretty decent doomy section somewhere around the 40-minute mark, but for the most part I found myself standing with my arms crossed.
Man, Yob simply crushed it. Mike Scheidt looked and sounded great, the rhythm section was on point…and the band just washed over us with a wave of heavy cosmic doom for nearly 90 minutes. No complaints whatsoever.
