First band was local Toronto outfit Out Of The Ruins. In all honesty, with a name like that and one look at their logo on their merch, I knew what to expect. They are pretty much your average core band with several breakdowns and screaming vocals. They tried to amp up the crowd, but they had a hard time as the crowd seemed half-asleep and small, but no complaints from the band as they just focused on performing. Crowd interaction was at a minimum, but vocalist Lisa Sinner's interactions with the crowd were quick. Their set included a cover of "Argh Fuck Kill" by Dayglo Abortions. The riffs of Thor Rune and Nicolas Fernandino complimented Sinner's screams very well.

Up next were Allegaeon, who really know how to have a good time. What better way to show that you're a band who is all about fun than having a clip of a soothing piano Sarah McLachlan song as an intro before blasting the crowd's ears with an explosive wall of sound, then starting the set. Before this tour started, vocalist Ezra Haynes announced his departure from the band, so vocalist Riley McShane is filling in for the tour, and something tells me that he may end up becoming the official new vocalist sometime after the tour, but I could be wrong. They started their set with "Accelerated Evolution". The precision of the harmonized high-speed solos between guitarists Greg Burgess and Michael Stancel is something that must be witnessed to believe. The band also had some strong mosh pits going during their set. Other songs performed include "Secrets Of The Sequence", "Dyson Sphere" and "Genocide For Praise: Vals For The Vitruvian Man". They also performed a new song titled "Grey Matter Mechanics". The P.A. seemed to have been turned up to the limit that night, and as a result, we would sometimes hear just a wall of sound and it became difficult to distinguish what was being played. Although, Allegaeon did put on a very energetic and amazing performance.

North American Coheadlining tour 2015
Act of Defiance, Allegaeon, Aepoch,
​& Out Of Ruins

Journalist: Alex Stojanovic 
Photographer: Navneet Johal 
​Published: December 4, 2015

@ The Mod Club 
Toronto, ON Canada
​November 8, 2015

We all know that Monday is not really a night to go out to a metal show, but a number of Torontonians gathered at the Mod Club to see a heavy double bill of two great Metal Blade bands: Act Of Defiance and Allegaeon. It seems that after playing several big venues with Megadeth over the last several years, Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover are ready to go back to the intimate venues with Act Of Defiance. I also had the great opportunity to conduct a video interview with Chris before the show and it was an absolute honour because he is one of my favourite guitar players ever and I've seen him (and Shawn) with Megadeth three times. Thank you Chris for a great interview. Let's get down to the festivities.

Next band was Aepoch, who were a trio. They had a slightly better sound than Out Of The Ruins because their sound was coming through the amps on stage instead of the P.A, and everything was audible. However, Brett MacIntosh's bass either drowned out Bobby Chounramany's guitar or vice-versa, depending on which side of the stage you were standing in front of. MacIntosh's vocals were barely audible throughout the entire set, and his mic was never turned up. You could only hear a little bit of his vocals. Aside from this flaw, the music was very good.

Last but not least was Act Of Defiance. An ominous rumbling began as the band entered the stage and kicked off their set with "Disastrophe" and "Legion Of Lies". Their whole set was their debut album Birth & The Burial played in its entirety. I thought they would have thrown in a cover song or two to extend the set a bit, but it was just the album. The only issue about their set was that Chris Broderick's guitar sounded a bit muffled, and they, like Aepoch were using the amps on stage rather than the P.A. I will say though, seeing Shawn Drover on a single-kick drum set was a little awkward because I'm still used to seeing him behind his double-bass kit, but after talking to him, he said that too many small stages in the venues on the tour was the reason for using the downsized single-kick set, but he said he will bring out the double-kick set for future tours. Since the crowd was pretty small, it was really weird to hear how silent the room would get whenever the crowd would finish cheering. Other highlights of the set included "Crimson Psalm", "Refrain & Re-Fracture", "Thy Lord Belial" and "Birth & The Burial". A pit fizzled during a part of the set, but then stopped. The band ended their set with "Throwback", which most people sang along to.

The only downside about the show was the turnout, and there's probably a number of factors that contributed to the poor turnout, 

probably the main one being that it was a Monday night. It was pretty disappointing that more people didn't show up, but because it was Monday, it was understandable. Both Allegaeon and Act Of Defiance played hour-long energetic sets, each consisting of ten songs, satisfying the small crowd, and they took time to hang out with everyone after their sets.

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ACT OF DEFIANCE

Henry Derek Bonner - Vocals
Chris Broderick -
Guitars & vocals
Matt Bachand - Bass & vocals
Shawn Drover - Drums

Label: Metal Blade Records
​
Website:
www.metalblade.com/actofdefiance/

ALLEGAEON

Riley McShane - Vocals
Greg Burgess - Guitars
Michael Stancel - Guitars
Corey Archuleta - Bass
Brandon Park - Drums

Label: Metal Blade Records
​
Website:
www.metalblade.com/allegaeon

AEPOCH

Brett MacIntosh - Bass & vocals
Bobby Chounramany - Guitars
Greg Carvalho - Drums

Label: Independent
​
Website:
https://aepochmetal.bandcamp.com

OUT OF THE RUINS

Lisa Sinner - Vocals
Ange Ruin - Drums
Grigor Avanesov - Bass
Thor Rune - Guitars
Nicolas Fernandino - Guitars

Label: Independent
​
Website:
​www.outoftheruins.com
​

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