SPREAD THE METAL - TORONTO EVENT
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LINE UP
2:00 - 2:30 Answer With Metal https://www.facebook.com/answerwithmetal Members: Dan Nielsen - Vocals Andrew Jarvis - Lead Guitar Jon Stallan - Bass Guitar Alejandro Gonzalez - Drums Giacomo Sangalli- Rhythm Guitar 2:45 - 3:15 Wretchedpain https://www.facebook.com/Wretchedpain http://www.wretchedpain.com Members: Joey Glacken - Vocals, Guitar Aaron Guthridge - Guitar Cale Costello - Drums Andrew Eckert - Bass 3:30 - 4:00 Deathpoint https://www.facebook.com/deathpoint.metal Members: Tom Emmans - Vocals Henry Joldersma- Guitars Tim Ross - Guitars Brad Gold - Bass/Vocals Mike Labate - Drums 4:15 - 4:45 Beheading of a King https://www.facebook.com/beheadingofaking https://myspace.com/beheadingofakingmusic Members: Fred Beaulieu - Vocals Simon-Pierre Renaud - Drums Pierre-Olivier Fortin - Guitar Clau Dubé - Guitar Benoit Coté - Bass 5:00 - 5:30 Vesperia http://vesperiametal.com https://www.facebook.com/VesperiaMetal Members: Morgan Rider- Vocals, Bass Casey Elliott- Guitar Frankie Caracci- Guitar Cory Hofing- Drums 5:45 - 6:30 Crimson Shadows http://www.reverbnation.com/crimsonshadows https://www.facebook.com/CrimsonShadowsBand Members: Jimi Maltais- Vocals Ryan Hofing- Guitar Greg Rounding- Guitar/ vocals Cory Hofing- Drums Morgan Rider- Bass 6:45 - 7:45 Augury http://www.augurymetal.com/ https://www.facebook.com/augury Members: Patrick Loisel - Vocals, Guitars Mathieu Marcotte - Guitars Dominic "Forest" Lapointe - Bass Étienne Gallo - Drums 8:00 - 9:00 Skull Fist http://www.skullfist.ca https://www.facebook.com/skullfisted Members: Jackie Slaughter- Vocals/guitar Jonny Nesta- Guitar Mystery- Drums Casey Slade- Bass 9:15 - 10:30 KITTIE http://www.kittierocks.com https://www.facebook.com/kittiepage Members: Morgan Lander – Vocals/Guitars Mercedes Lander – Drums/Vocals Tara McLeod – Guitars Trish Doan – Bass 10:45 - 00:00 SUFFOCATION https://www.facebook.com/suffocation https://myspace.com/suffocation Members: Frank Mullen - Vocals Terrance Hobbs - Guitars Guy Marchais - Guitars Derek Boyer - Bass Dave Culross - Drums |
Review of Spread The Metal Festival - Toronto, ON
September 7, 2013 - The Opera House Journalist: Kirsti Heitz Photograper: Navneet Johal Published September 12, 2013 
Matt Day - Spread the Metal Records video promo
Host of STM Festival in Toronto:
Andrew Epstein Host of The Governor's Ball - The "Mighty" and Metal Comedy Show Make up credit to: Laudanum FX |
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Spread the Metal Fest reared its head again this year with its second annual two day festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the premiere in Toronto, ON. In Toronto the festival that took place on September 7th 2013 at the Opera House got cut down to one day eliminating The Agonist amongst many other local talents from their line up. However Suffocation and the mighty Kittie were still confirmed as co-headliners amongst other great bands like Augury, Skullfist and the recent Battle for Wacken winners Crimson Shadows.
For a festival where the doors open at one PM and the last band ends around midnight with no in's and out's, I wasn't surprised that there was only a handful of us for the first band. Mostly other band members and their girlfriends, photographers and journalists. However this only gave the MC of the night, the hilarious host of The Governor's Ball: The "Mighty" Metal and Comedy Show, a more direct way at poking fun at people in his fake german accent. Answer With Metal was up first at the crack of two in the afternoon with more people drinking coffee than beer. A traditional heavy band that also incorporated elements from power metal with vocalist Dan Nielsen reaching for those high notes almost as good as Kai Hansen from Gamma Ray. I personally enjoyed the groovy beat on "Two Wrongs (Don't Make A Right)", but their sleepy enthusiasm didn't really inspire the handful of listeners to do much. On the good side they did receive a lot of attention from the photographers. Following Answer With Metal was the Canadian Death Metal band Wretchedpain who jumped right into their set. Their heavy, fast-paced sound competed with listeners' heart beats as the sound reverberated in the half-empty venue and definitely woke up a few of the audience members. Though their solos could have been a bit cleaner, the versatility of their beats definitely got people moving. Wretchedpain have some good mosh pit material in their songs "Hate"and the fast-paced "Whoregasm." You just gotta love the creativity behind that title. Up next was Deathpoint, a Melodic Groove Metal band from Hamilton. In previous articles I've made it pretty clear that I'm a bit of a bass snob and I was mightily impressed with Deathpoint's bassist Brad Gold as he popped and slapped his way through one of their tracks. Indeed, Melodic Groove Metal is the best way to describe this band. Vocalist Tom Emmans transitioned from clean vocals to growls in a way that fit perfectly with their sound. They switched their guitars and bass for the last track of their set, "For Your Eyes Only", which had a deceivingly melodic intro that gave way to heavy riffs. Though they had some technical difficulties with one of their guitars they pulled through it pretty well and had a good response. Following the Melodic Groove Metal was Montreal-based Beheading of a King. By this point the Opera House went to having a handful of people to a few hands full of people. A definite improvement but not by much. Their very dramatic intro backed by a melodic/electronic beat drew concert goers' attentions. However, the Metalcore band did not seem to draw much of a crowd despite vocalist Fred Beaulieu's attempts. Sadly this was probably due to the fact that they have a heavy Hardcore influence in their music. As soon as Beheading of a King hit that first breakdown, most listeners went for a smoke or a beer. They played a great set, hitting all their complex arrangements on key and even synchronizing their movements to the music. Not to mention the energy that they displayed as they constantly headbanged and jumped. At this point of the day there were noticeably more people walking the Opera House floor and the majority had cracked open their first beer. More than a few have resorted to eating at the Opera House's cafeteria which serves a $6 poutine or frozen nuggets as their main source of sustenance. Complaints were high and there was still a long day ahead of us. However, Vesperia came forth to quell our bubbling annoyance and brought together the largest crowd we had seen so far. Vesperia had a really good reception from the audience as they filled the Opera House with their chants. This Epic Viking Metal band brought forward people from the bar with their instrumental melodic arrangements and heavy riffs mixed with vocalist Morgan Rider's growls and chants. Finally! Headbangers were awakened at the front row as hair flew in rhythm to drummer Corey Hefing's versatile beats. A meager moshpit fizzled and died a couple of times throughout their set. But still, this seemed more like a metal concert and not the band rehearsal it was looking like. Vesperia's set ended and vocalist Morgan Rider introduced the next band which, ironically, is a band he is part of. Recent Battle for Wacken winners Crimson Shadows stormed the stage next. They topped Beheading of a King with their own dramatic entrance. Though the Opera House was still half empty, Crimson Shadows gave the show as if they were in front of thousands of fans. Crimson Shadows has a powerful stage presence that is only improved by their passionate energy. Constantly trading places and sharing the elevated platform, the continuous movement and interaction with each other made their set one you didn’t want to miss. Vocalist Jimi Maltais ensnared concert goers' attention as he interacted with the crowd, acted out to the rhythm of the music or explained the rules to the "Kingdom of Ale" drinking game (you drink every time they say "Kingdom of Ale.") All in all you can tell that this band is a compilation of great musicians that are prepared to conquer the world. |
Following Crimson Shadows was the band Augury, recently signed to Nuclear Blast. With vocalist Patrick Lousiel packing a set of pipes that I would have never expected, Augury was both heavy and incredibly melodic. The Montreal Progressive Death Metal band was an experience not to be missed. I loved that it was more instrumental than anything else. The progressive elements of their songs paired with insane drums and heavy growls was a perfect combination. Though the venue wasn’t even close to being full, what fans were there responded positively to Augury and made a pit half the size of the venue even if there were only five moshers. These guys are tapping masters, tapping away whilst whipping those long manes around or in Louisel's case whipping those glasses off his face. Even bassist Dominic Lapointe was bass tapping in unison and you can deduce just how happy that made me. Skullfist quite literally charged the stage following Augury's set. I was transported back in time to the 80's where Heavy Metal reigned all. Seriously, everything about this band screams 80's Heavy Metal. From their shaggy manes to their ripped vests, right down to their skin tight pants, Skullfist is the embodiment of 80's Heavy Metal. I don't know where they came from, but all of the sudden the crowd was full of fans with ripped jeans vests. But it's not only their image that is so old school, their music revived that good old heavy metal sound. It came to a point where some of the songs sounded like covers but that didn’t make me enjoy them any less. Vocalist Jackie Slaughter's glass-shattering voice reached those high notes and then some. For the most part he was on key but after a while those high screams made me go cross-eyed. Their set was one of the most entertaining ones with band members bending down to be fed beer by audience members and a lot of rhythmic axe-crossing. Finally, the moment has come. It's 9:15 PM and the venue isnt even half full. People who have been drinking since two are plastered, the bathrooms have begun their traditional clogging and leaking process and a few of us have found small refuge in limited seating options found in the venue. But it's all worth it because the metal maidens everyone has loved since they were 14 are on next. Without a doubt Kittie brought forth the biggest crowd of the night and that wasn't even half the venue. However they seemed unfazed by the lack of fans and were grateful for the amazing response they received. Though they may have had a more bad ass image when they toured with Slipknot, I loved the contrast they presented: three petite women dressed nicely with a powerful drummer backing them up. Vocalist/guitarist Morgan Lander smiled shyly to guitarist Tara McLeod as she in turn giggled back at Lander, and bassist Trish Doan smiled at the crowd, to proudly point her mom out to us. Then they disperse to allow their intro music to play. They return to their positions and in a heartbeat they ram into their first song with Lander screaming powerfully enough to make everyone stare for just a second. Just a second before the mosh pit broke out and the headbangers went crazy. Yes, I definitely understand why fans adore Kittie. Lander unflinchingly belts out those screams and just as easily switches to clean vocals which pack the same punch. Drummer Mercedes Lander is not to go unnoticed as she hits each beat with force and adds the lower growls and vocals to complement Morgan Lander's voice. Guitarist Tara McLeod can be down low playing a crazy heavy riff while headbanging or demanding more response from the crowd and then all the sudden turn to her bandmates and giggle. And Trish Doan stormed the stage, headbanging over her heavy bass lines. Their last show may have been a year and a half ago but Kittie still owned that stage as if they had never left it. Following Kittie's powerful perfomance was the reason I was there, Suffocation. Unfortunately because the event was so long, after Kittie many fans were either too drunk, hungry or tired to stick around. Even so, the New York Death Metal band played as if there was a riot in front of them. Vocalist Frank Mullen commands with his hands as he sets the pace for headbanging and moshing. It was a treat to have Suffocation play in Toronto for a second time this year. We were well-rewarded with all the Suffocation anthems like "Pierced From Within" and "Purgatorial Punishment." The hands full of fans that stuck it out to the end mustered up the last of their energy to go crazy as is befitting a Suffocation concert. It didn't take them much motivation except for the intro to "Thrones of Blood" to create havoc among fans. Considering the entire event, I believe there is much room for improvement. I don't believe that concert-goers or the bands were entirely happy with the outcome. However the ideas behind Spread The Metal Fest are good and there are obvious good intentions behind it as earnings were donated to Kiva and Doctors Without Borders. In the end, a full-day festival with mostly local bands and not being able to leave the venue really killed it for a lot of fans. I have hope for next year! |
