On
this warm Sunday evening, the metal fans of Montréal and its
surrounding all met on Jean-Talon boulevard for a night of doom of
epic proportions. It was my second evening in a row at this cool
venue after the excellent gig of Chilean psychedelic rockers
Follakzoid but this time, it was jam packed. The Farnham and Trou du
Diable beers were cold as ice and managed to put everyone in a good
mood. Even though it would had been nice to get Sons of Otis on the
lineup (they played the Toronto gig the night before), we got two
legit Montréal based openers.
Show
of Bedlam are one of the favorite local opener for metal
gigs in Montréal these days, I've seen them several times including
a great performance back in March when they opened for Enslaved and
Yob but it's always cool to see them again. Their debut full length
(initially released in 2012) was recently reissued by PRC so I
grabbed a copy (5 bucks!). The band is working on a new album and
their live performances got tighter and better than before, their
blend of stoner, sludge, doom, noise or post-hardcore is interesting,
intense and original. It's like a mix of Neurosis and Swans!
Paulina's stage antics are always frivolous, spastic and insane,
she's a pretty cool frontwoman. They always use some strange
projections (including some grinding teeth or weird nature images)
and this is really adding another layer to their live presentation.
Kudos to the many promoters putting them on their bills, they're
always worth it.
8
/10
Check
them out: Facebook
Tunguska
Mammoth were the second local openers and their name was
more than adequate to be on this bill! I've seen them before so I
know what to expect. The quartet plays a form of stoner/sludge with
semi harsh vocals. They mix Mastodon and High On Fire into a coherent
and catchy mix and are somewhat similar to bands like Red Fang. They
played a new composition and it sounded better than their debut
album, a bit more original too. I think they rely a bit too much on
simple riff progression to unnecessarily stretch some of their songs
but overall, it's enjoyable and groovy enough to keep the ball
rolling. It's not a style I really dig these days but it's well done
and there's not a lot of Montréal bands playing these styles so
they're definitely an appreciable bonus when they open for
international bands.
6,5/10
Check
them out: Mammothbook
Usnea from
Portland, Oregon is currently touring North America with Ufomammut
and they were an appropriate choice since they're crushingly heavy.
Their blend of funeral doom, doom/stoner, doom/deathwith some slight
black metal overtones (especially in the vocals) is quite good and
even though they're all over the place musically, their long
compositions work fine. The band also slight psych and spacey
influences and it gives them an entrancing atmosphere. Their dual
vocal approach is also quite fun, Justin Cory (guitars) handles the
high, screeching black metal ones while Joel Williams (bass) handles
the deep, cavernous ones typically used by funeral doom bands.
Excellent band.
8/10
 |
Picture
taken on Ufomammut's Facebook page.
|
Ufomammut were the
definite “pièce de résistance” of the evening. I've been
following these guys for a while and I was anxious to see them for
their first Montréal gig. The band played Victoriaville (the FIMAV
festival) last year as their sole North American gig and being a
broke soul, I couldn't attend this show. I was expecting the band to
be truly heavy but damn, they exceeded my expectations. The
Italian trio are masters of psychedelic doom/stoner, they're the real
deal. Massive riffs, an elephantine bass tone, slow but thundering
drums and buried but fuzzy and hallucinatory vocals.
Bands often use a projector as a way to add something to their performance, the aforementioned Show of Bedlam do it and I really liked The Ocean's videos. Ufomammut, on the other hand, integrates the projector so effortlessly that it's like a fourth member. The band is also a visual art collective under the name Malleus (they handle all their artwork) and it shows. They have a perfect control on how they present themselves and that's yet another proof that they're a terrific band. During their ninety minutes set (??? I've lost track of time, to be fair), they used a wide variety of psychedelic visualizations ranging from stalactites to mysterious priests and intense volcanic flames. It's really well done and fits their heavier than thou music like a glove.
The trio played their whole new album “Ecate”, it was enjoyable and mesmerizing. They have a pretty good discography without any truly flawed albums but it's fun to hear a veteran band play their new material so convincingly. They came back from a short break after the album and played some older material like Stigma from “Idolum”. I'm not quite of the other trackssure since I was completely out of energy near the end, they really drained me in the best way possible.
Ufomammut were one of the most spectacular bands I've ever seen, this set goes directly in my top five of all time. I doubt I'll see a heavier band this year.
11/10
Bands often use a projector as a way to add something to their performance, the aforementioned Show of Bedlam do it and I really liked The Ocean's videos. Ufomammut, on the other hand, integrates the projector so effortlessly that it's like a fourth member. The band is also a visual art collective under the name Malleus (they handle all their artwork) and it shows. They have a perfect control on how they present themselves and that's yet another proof that they're a terrific band. During their ninety minutes set (??? I've lost track of time, to be fair), they used a wide variety of psychedelic visualizations ranging from stalactites to mysterious priests and intense volcanic flames. It's really well done and fits their heavier than thou music like a glove.
The trio played their whole new album “Ecate”, it was enjoyable and mesmerizing. They have a pretty good discography without any truly flawed albums but it's fun to hear a veteran band play their new material so convincingly. They came back from a short break after the album and played some older material like Stigma from “Idolum”. I'm not quite of the other trackssure since I was completely out of energy near the end, they really drained me in the best way possible.
Ufomammut were one of the most spectacular bands I've ever seen, this set goes directly in my top five of all time. I doubt I'll see a heavier band this year.
11/10
Since
I don't have a great camera and can't call myself a great photograph,
you can use these two wonderful articles.
2 pictures, credit goes to Amarilys Way:
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| Vita of Ufommamut |
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| Urlo, Ufomammut |
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