Tag: live review

Helmet / Intronaut @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto ON, Oct 17, 2010

“I wondered though, if anyone else was visibly shocked when (Page) Hamilton entered the stage. He was not only thin, he was gaunt. If it wasn’t for his deft guitar playing and strong, clear and commanding voice, I would have expected him to crumple onto the floor at any second.” Laina Dawes caught up with…

October 21, 2010
Triptykon / 1349 / Yakuza / Sylvus @ the Wreckroom, Toronto ON, October 11 2010

“Visually the band’s performance style is understated, but the smaller venue allowed them to overwhelm the space. Alongside the expected Triptykon material, sounding much like it does on record, the set list was Celtic Frost-heavy, songs like “Procreation (of the Wicked)” snarled out with vicious intensity.” Laura Wiebe reviews the recent Toronto performance of Triptykon,…

October 18, 2010
Raven / Entropia / Magnus Rising / Striker @ The Red Room, Vancouver BC, Oct 2, 2010

“Raven hit the stage like an atom bomb about 9:30 and proceeded to remind the crowd that, even 35 years into their career, trial and tragedy besides, they still bring the athletic rock like nobody’s business. When I stopped to remind myself that Raven, alongside perhaps only Motörhead, pretty much invented the genre that became…

October 8, 2010
Melvins @ The Opera House, Toronto ON, September 1st, 2010

“The best part of the show outside of a really awesome 20-song setlist was watching drummers Coady Willis and Dale Crover play. I’d seen the band in Detroit last year and even though the duo has drummed together for almost four years, Willis seemed more confident on this stop. Crover was still in command, but…

September 7, 2010
Mares of Thrace/ Spitfist/ Drunk Hussy @ Rancho Relaxo, Toronto ON, August 14, 2010

Mares of Thrace played last on the bill, and brought the night to a thunderous close. I am profoundly interested in the aesthetics of constraint and the way art can be produced by limitation. Mares of Thrace plug directly into this particular obsession. Consisting only of vocals, baritone guitar and drums, this two-woman force of…

September 2, 2010
Exodus/ Holy Grail/ Bonded By Blood/ Fatality/ Black Elysium @ The Mod Club, Toronto ON, August 24, 2010

“Just as my energy level was reaching a crisis point, the audience’s had risen to a fever pitch, becoming positively explosive by the time Exodus took the stage. I made it about halfway through their 90-odd-minute set before throwing in the towel, but what I saw was absolutely spectacular. They are without a doubt a…

August 30, 2010
Ion Dissonance/ The Last Felony/ Starring Janet Leigh @ Club Absinthe, Hamilton ON, August 23, 2010

Holy Christ, the new songs Ion Dissonance played, which were about half their set, blew me away. Crazy, maniacal and with a heavy as an elephant low end, these guys use 8 string guitars and you can feel it in the stomach. Their performance was tight, to the point and they left it all on…

August 26, 2010
Deathmarch/ Esoteric Doctrine/ Hallows Die/ Twilight Child @ The Corktown Pub, Hamilton, ON, Aug. 18, 2010

“Next on the docket was Hamilton’s own Deathmarch. For reasons I’m not fully aware of they were without a drummer tonight, getting by with a drum track and Northern Storm Records label head Rob Cranny. By this I mean that Rob sat in the middle of the stage, shirtless with drum sticks in hand, phantom…

August 24, 2010
Volbeat/ The Sleeping/ Dommin @ the Mod Club, Toronto ON, August 17, 2010

“I have no bone to pick with VOLBEAT at all. Their heavy metal/rockabilly/early rock’n’roll gangster aesthetic is fantastic. They’re greasy, twangy and a hell of a lot of fun to see live. Michael Poulsen embodies their sound: lean, punchy muscles, the lines of his brow and cheekbone just a little haggard from hard living, slicked…

August 20, 2010
Fatality/ Terrorhorse/ Hallows Die @ El Mocambo, Toronto ON, August 6th 2010

Natalie Zed reviews the August 6th performance of FATALITY, TERRORHORSE and HALLOWS DIE at the El Mocambo in Toronto, ON

August 20, 2010