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| Flyer for the gig alongside the patch I got, Hooded Menace were out of CDs/LPs! Damn you MDF! |
Thanks to Stéphan Dagnelie for the pictures, much appreciated since I constantly forget to bring a cam.
Another great gig at Montréal's best metal venue, the Katacombes on Saint-Laurent. On this rainy spring night, I wore my usual attire and arrived early even though the place is quite known for never starting their gigs on time. I was wrong this time and I was glad to be since I managed to watch much of the set of the headliner, I missed the last track sadly but making my way back safe and sound mattered to me, that's not very metal, I'm aware! The crowd was a bit sparse but considering the gig was on a Monday, it was a good, dedicated one. Thanks to Black Dot for this great gig, Hooded Menace are probably back in Finland but I hope they enjoyed their short stay in Québec and North America.
9:30 to 10:00
Oath (not the most original name around...) from Sherbrooke started the evening. As far as I know, it was their first gig in the Quebec metropolis and they ripped the city a new asshole. The quartet plays a sort of primal, aggressive death metal with some grindcore, brutal death and even some sleazy doomy parts! They only have one guitarist but it doesn't matter at all since their music is not technical, it's greasy and it has no leads. It's instead relying on a heavy, crushing bass presence to make things interesting. The singer has a good stage presence and his vocals are deep & cavernous, they seemed to lack a bit of power though but it was perhaps due to the mix. They only have a two songs rehearsal demo digitally released for seven bucks on Bandcamp but due to the terrible sound quality, it's not worth hearing! I'm expecting a strong debut release from these guys, they were a good surprise to start the evening.
7,5/10
10:15 to approximately 11:00
Beast Within were the second opener and I was glad to see them since I've missed their set at the latest Wings of Metal (I was too busy filling my stomach with tasty dumplings since the Katacombes are located near the Chinese area of Montréal!). The quintet is composed of seasoned metal musicians (Thesyre, Utlagr, Akitsa...) so you know it's gonna be tight and professional. Alongside the two songs from their solid first EP released by Sepulchral back in March, they played three new ones and it was a damn good set. Their main inspiration is certainly Celtic Frost, the band has this sort of proto black metal vibe going on mixed with a lot of crushing groovy death/doom/thrash. The new songs were especially a bit more doomy than Adversity/Servitude and their two guitar attack crushed the crowd. Eric Syre is a good frontman and delivers a mix of semi raspy/gritty vocals. Interesting band with the right influences and the right, massive sound. I can't wait to hear a full length from these guys. Most of 'em had cool beards too so that's definitely a plus!
8,5/10
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| Speedwolf! |
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| Picture taken on Beast Within's Facebook page |
Hooded Menace only played three gigs in North America during this “tour” including the Maryland Death Fest so I guess I must warmly thank them their choice to visit Montreal. Some people (Tanya Sim and Kevin Campbell) who wrote a lot of lyrics for them were attended the gig. Probably the reason my city was picked! Anyway, I was pretty damn happy to see them and I've been expecting this concert for months since Hooded Menace are perhaps my favourite doom/death band. The quartet (two lead guitars!) wasted no time and opened with the title track from their three albums (Fulfill the Curse, Never Cross the Dead and Effigies of Evil) in chronological order! We were served eleven songs with a good diversity, three songs from each full length, “The Haunted Ossuary” from their excellent split with Coffins and a nine minutes song from their latest EP called “Chasm of the Wraith". My highlight of their set was certainly “Crumbling Insanity”, this song is so melodic and crushing at the same time that you want to pummel the ground while crying.
Lasse Pyykkö who usually do everything (the new EP features a full band for the first time)except the drums in the studio “only” plays the lead guitar live and he fucking destroys, the vocals are performed by Markus Makkonen and he's pretty much perfect at the deep, old school type of death growls. Their crushing riffs intertwined with mournful, intricate leads truly works live. The crowd was getting pretty small towards the end but the die hard metalheads present were enjoying themselves quite a lot, there was a small but fun pit and the band really enjoyed itself. Their sound was one of the best I've ever encountered at the Katacombes perhaps due to the SUNN O))) amp and the Gibson flying Vs!
9,5/10
Setlist:
Fulfill the Curse
Never Cross the Dead
Effigies of Evil
The Love Song of Gotho, Hunchback of the Morgue
Chasm of the Wraith
Beauty and the Feast
The House of Hammer
Curses Scribed in Gore
Crumbling Insanity
Night of the Deathcult
The Haunted Ossuary
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