Ufomammut, Usnea + Tunguska Mammoth and Show of Bedlam, May 17th 2015 @Bar Le Ritz PDB in Montréal

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

Usnea on Facebook

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

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Since I don't have a great camera and can't call myself a great photograph, you can use these two wonderful articles.

A bunch of pics and a microreview in French on Voir

Beautiful black and white pictures by Myriam Francoeur

2 pictures, credit goes to Amarilys Way:

Vita of Ufommamut

Urlo, Ufomammut

Demon Head – Ride the Wilderness (2015) 74%

Ride the Sheep

Denmark's Demon Head full length is a bit late to the vintage doom metal or hard rock party but it's nonetheless quite enjoyable. This whole European scene is known for often blurring the line between metal and rock and these guys are a good example of this phenomenon (if I may call it one). Sweden's Witchcraft were one of the instigators of the movement and Rise Above Records and Demon Head is certainly a disciple of this doctrine.

The mastering was done by Kadavar's drummer Christoph "Tiger" Bartelt and you can definitely feel his beardy touch as the sound is quite similar to what the German rockers are playing (awesome live band) but with more doom metal influences as they're heavier and riffier but no less intense. The sound is natural with a very vintage and old school tonality as it was expected, this fits their compositions very well. They sound like a mix of old Danzig with Sabbath and Pentagram but also a big helping of psych rock. The dual guitars attack is only to create added intricacies since you usually only need to play this genre and Demon Head are not into complexities. There's still some legit fuzzy solos or simple leads intertwined with the hard hittin' traditional riffs.

Their singer, Ferreira Larsen, tries to channel Glenn Danzig and it's not a bad attempt, really but he's nowhere near as virile and Jimmorrisonesque as the ex singer of Misfits. The effects on the vocals give them an ancient mystic vibe and this works in the context of their music. The vocals are catchy, often using melodic choruses with simple hooks. The dude is also the drummer of Alucarda, another Danish band who released a pretty cool full length on Caligari Records (the label releasing Ride the Wilderness on tape) but they're pretty far from the horror inspired doom/punk and probably not as interesting either.

The songs are pretty tight and dense even the longer ones like “Worthless” (it's not exactly worthless). The album is devoid of filler, it's groovy and dynamic and the songs are well written but it's not quite memorable and I don't think I'll go back to it often. Nonetheless, their influences (from traditional doom to hard rock and so forth) are well balanced.

While it's good stuff and there's nothing intrinsically bad or truly mediocre about them, I really feel they missed their boat, this style of music has been done to death since the early 2000s by better bands. Still, if you dig Graveyard, Kadavar and the likes but want their sound to be a bit more metallic, check 'em out. They will not become the leader of their sheep flock with their music but they're an apt and talented trend follower.

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Pendulous - A Palpable Sense of Love & Loss (2015) / 85%

An enjoyable sense of doom and death

I was recommended this band by a friend and I judged them perhaps too hastely because of the cover art but also the title of their album. I thought it was a bit corny and I expected the music to be some sort of pseudo depressive metal/rock à la Katatonia. But eh, I was wrong. While it's certainly sad, it's serious, well written and not sappy at all. The LA quintet's debut album is an excellent album and it's already showcasing some serious songwriting skills. They understood how to thoroughly mix genres very well, even though it's their debut full length, these dudes are certainly experienced musicians and this record is a proof of it.

It's clearly an extreme doom metal album with nods to both doom/death and funeral doom, there's even some post rock elements. It's all wonderfully mixed together in long intricate songs. A track like “Hibernal Sun” is including some really lovely post rock moments and it fits very well. Furthermore, the transitions between the genres are done effortlessly and the ten plus minutes tracks formula works for them. The Metal Archives classifies them as a doom/death metal band and, for the most part, it's accurate but they're much more than that. They're one of those bands that are hard to classify since they're largely original. I guess tags like “dark metal” or “atmospheric doom metal” are also accurate for Pendulous. One thing that's pretty obvious is that you will not find any happiness here!

Eric Rezső Mendoza (also stellar in his former band Dona Eis Requiem) has to be the highlight of this album, the duality of his vocals is quite interesting. Ranging from deep, harsh vocals borrowing from both death and black metal (but mostly funeral doom) to profound cleans reminding me of Aaron Stainthorpe or the emotional traditional doom voice of Patrick Walker. E.R.M. has a very versatile voice and it helps to create the same vocal combo present in Mourning Beloveth, a band that I could identify as their nearest peer.
The album starts and ends with spoken word over some gloomy music and I thought they were a bit too much and unnecessary, that's almost ten minutes out of a hour album but, at least, he has an intriguing voice so it's not completely useless. I have a tendency not to skip any tracks but I guess I will when I'll listen to this album again. These spoken vocals are also included in the bulk of the album and it adds to the varied atmosphere. It's still something I'd personally remove as they're already able to convey many emotions just with their musicality and it's frankly a bit grating. It's a personal thing, really, someone might like what they done with this. Nonetheless, that's the only negative thing I have to point out about as it's very strong otherwise.

From what I said, it's safe to imply that the material present here is quite slow but they keep things interesting with a lot of dynamism and many atmosphere variations like some super heavy riffing and slow moments full of shadows. While it's obviously a “technical” band and there's no shred or the likes, the musicians all subtly shine. The drums are a mix of some blastbeats and more traditional percussions while the bass (sometimes noisy and thundering) is apt at filling the void when the two guitars are at their softest. The guitars are really great when they play with textures and try their hand at atmospheric post rock and the likes. There's also some supplementary instruments like cello and piano (listen to “Memoirs” and they add a welcome classical background to the music.

A Palpable Sense of Love & Loss (that's a mouthful) is excellent at mixing moods, the despair is present in both the doom/death metal attacks and their reflective and rich side. Their lyrics are poetic and melancholic with an added sense of dread and sorrow to them as we could expect from a band evolving in those genres but it's totally evocative and romantically somber.

The band sounds more like something found in Northern Europe than a bunch of dudes from the Los Angeles area. They channel their aggression in a classy, solemn manner unlike the Bay Area thrash metal, that's for sure. Highly recommended. 

Pendulous on Bandcamp
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Moros Nyx - Rite of Rebellion (2015) / 77%

I discovered this band due to their presence on the awesome American true metal festival Ragnarokkr (that I'd like to attend one day) and due to their awesome artwork, I decided to give them a chance. The cover art of this demo (released digitally, on vinyl, on tape and on CD) is pure trad metal pushed to its cheesy apex. It looks like a scene out of a corny (but so enjoyable) fantasy/science fiction roleplaying game (don't forget to notice the pistol at the side of the knight) and I'd like to print the cover and color it! It reminds me of the amateurish charm of fellow Americans Realmbuilder, in any case it's much better than CGI/computerized art.

Musically, the Chicago natives are uncompromising in their revival nature. It's a mix of virile speed metal with heavy metal, power metal and even hard rock goodness. They preach at the altars of Dio (see both his solo career and his involvement with Rainbow), Helloween but also the old school attacks of US based Savage Grace or Brocas Helm. It's raw, melodic stuff but it's not sugary like modern power metal, it's fast, aggressive with high pitched vocals with some added venom to them. Some vocal melodies are straight from the Ronnie James book of wonders and Matt Papai (also guitars) is an apt vocalist and there's even an extra epic feel with some chanted background vocals (see the excellent track Child of the Dream)

After a short instrumental introduction with sorrowful leads and a horn preceding the battle, we get three blistering rippers full of catchy guitar leads and riffs. It's pretty well produced for a demo, it's groovy, the bass is present and enjoyable but the drums could be a bit more metallic and heavy. It's not adventurous, it's carefully written trad metal for the true fans of the genre. They shouldn't be expected to release some avant garde fuckery anyway. Even though it's called “Rite of Rebellion”, they're not rebelling against the old ways, they're embracing them. It's perfectly fine since their influences are solid.

The band has a lot of potential based on this demo, it was released more than a year ago so I bet they're working hard on a their debut full length.  Anyhow, this is an impressive first release from Moros Nyx and y'all should listen to it.

Bandcamp - Free download
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