Alright, in my tradition this week of writing reviews immediately after the show while slightly intoxicated I will say this, The Haunted fucking rule. And it’s not just the beer.
Craig and I arrived at the venue around 8. We were thinking we were gonna be late because there were no openers listed for this gig at all. Napalm Death opened the last show, someone else the one after this, but no listing for Toronto, so we’re like “Maybe it’s just gonna be the Haunted?”. Not fucking likely. We show up and there’s a band already on. It’s Deathcore. Immediately recognizable (for me) as soon as I enter the venue. (dugguhduhdunduhdugga… Roar Roar Roar Roar Roar… dugguhduhdunduhdugga etc.) It’s was “The Bloodshot Eye”. Female vocalist no less. I must say, she had a decent growl. The music left a lot to be desired though, maybe I just don’t get the Deathcore genre? What is so musical and creative about sounding like a formal metal genre? I know it’s not-traditional by any sense (yet) but it’s still templated around specific pre-conceived musical ideas in metal. So many Deathcore singers sound alike. There are techniques that they use when growling which might as well be straight out of a Deathcore vocal theory textbook. It’s just ridiculous and scenesterish sometimes. Try something else, please. This was only the beginning.
Our backs were getting tired leaning against this railing so I ask Craig “Wanna go up to the balcony?” and his eyes lit up with glee. We soon find out the balcony is closed. Due to what you may ask? You motherfuckers not knowing about the fucking Haunted and not buying fucking a ticket to this show! It was undersold, so they closed off upstairs to keep everyone packed together on the floor. Makes the club seem fuller. Makes sense. So I continue to drink while The Agonist is setting up. Woe is me.
The Agonist is another Deathcore band from Montreal. However, they add melodic vocals for the majority of the chorus’. How original. They were fairly tight, I maybe remembered 3 of their songs. But the majority of the set seemed like they were going through the motions a bit, and the singer (another female vocalist), did the Deathcore thing, just like the last band, but seemed to have a built in switch for going into melodic singing. She immediately transitioned growling into melody, which is quite difficult. But I noticed she seemed to be tiring toward the end of the set, losing key a few times. Also the growling almost always over-powered her singing parts. I hope she can find her proper technique so she doesn’t lose her voice or damage her chords by blowing too much air on the growls, it can be fatal for a singer like that over time. The Agonist has potential, I wish them well.
Craig and I had migrated to a table and hoped for the best with the next band. Merauder are the culprits. The New York natives blasted through their set with little issues, their music doesn’t really do it for me, but they were dialed in. Anyone into the genre should check them out.
I predicted that my friend John would show up just as The Haunted were coming on stage, and he almost proved me right by appearing about 3/4’s of the way through Merauder. We all shot the shit about Zombies for a while and then all of a sudden, the stage went dark. It’s now time for The Haunted. What we had agonized in anticipation over for the last two hours.
All guns blazing, the Haunted blasted through the openers masterfully. I couldn’t help headbanging to pretty much everything. The beer helped with that. After a few tunes, John and I headed down to the pit, or just outside of it. We were chuckling about this guy in a camo shirt who was just shit-faced. We had seen him air guitaring like crazy in front of our table near the back earlier, his girlfriend having nothing to do with him. He had now made it to the pit with us and was attempting to cause human destruction anyway he could. I imagine he was quite unsuccessful, other than the damage he had inflicted upon himself I’m sure, but at least this amused John and I. All the while the Haunted were just ripping it up. They interacted with audience members at the front of the stage, cracking jokes and generally just easing the tension in the room. They really harnessed the energy from the crowd (cliche I know). But they really did, they looked like veterans of the stage. They made the night worthwhile.
Towards the end of the show we encountered an unfortunate incident where John got blindsided by some drunk idiot from the pit and split his lip, but he sucked it up. It’s the price you pay sometimes for decent metal. It makes people crazy. Maybe that’s a sub-conscious reason for me starting to do Muay Thai? Who knows 😉 This kind of marked the end of the evening for us, we went home wounded but grateful. John even reminded me of his show coming up next Wednesday! I can’t miss that gig, his band Ball Harness is playing with Bison BC at the Annex Wreckroom and it is gonna be the shit! I urge all of my readers to come check out some nice Canadian good o’l dirty Rock n Roll in downtown Toronto, and you will not be disappointed!
Until my next musical expedition, I’m going to fucking bed.
Jon
Infinity Basement 