 | Written by: Alex Mrkonjic Photography: Navneet Johal @ The Opera House Toronto, ON Canada June 11, 2016 |
The 2016 edition of Wacken Metal Battle Canada is officially complete and the one band that will represent our great country in Germany at Wacken Open Air this summer has been determined. On a warm Saturday night in June, a crowd of devoted metalheads gathered at the Opera House in Toronto to witness five talented bands from across the country compete for this huge opportunity. Upon seeing all the talent, I can imagine the judges had their work cut out for them in deciding who deserves the shot at playing in Germany. Let's get down to the festivities.
| First band to bring the noise were Distorthead from Montreal. Their image seemed awkward a bit because they were all wearing lumberjack uniforms, but they brought some serious ferocity to the stage and they were able to get the sparse crowd headbanging and moshing. Their music was filled with adrenaline-pumping riffs, Greg Puciato-esque vocals and deep gutterals in the vein of Frank Mullen from Suffocation. The synchronized headbangs helped raise the energy in the room even more. However, due to the acoustics at the Opera House, there were points where it was hard to distinguish what the band was playing, but they were a great taste of the talent that was to come throughout the night. (C)2016 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Navneet Johal After some progressive metal, the energy was raised back up to eleven with Vancouver's own The Mountain Man. They were the first band of the night that used 7-string guitars and they unleashed some pretty chunky riffs which were easy to headbang to. I don't listen to a lot of bands with extreme vocals, but The Mountain Man was one of those bands that stood out to me because Parker Lane's vocals are in the vein of Randy Blythe, which is enough to make any metalhead headbang hard. As far as energy goes, The Mountain Man set the bar high for the following bands. (C)2016 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Navneet Johal Last but not least was Edmonton's Tales Of The Tomb. Vocally, they had the perfect combination of high and low gutterals with frontman Connor Adams handling the highs and bassist Byrn Herbert handling the lows. With two vocalists handling two different styles, it made them stand out. More impressive to me was guitarist Tres Thomas' eight-string, headstock-less guitar. The lighting fit their sound very well in the fact that their music was fast and the lighting was chaotic. They were a perfect way to end the night. After all the rounds of metal, it was time to announce the winner. After several thank-you's and announcing Distorthead as second place winners, the band chosen to represent Canada in Germany at Wacken this summer was Profaner. Congratulations to them! Go make us proud boys! | (C)2016 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Navneet Johal Next up was our homeboys Pyramid Theorem, whose music was progressive heavy rock in the vein of Dream Theater, Rush, and a bit of Fates Warning. This band was my personal favourite of the night because they brought a change of pace with the tight musicianship and complex compositions that would make the bands I mentioned above proud. Drummer Vic Dee was particularly animated with the constant twirling and flipping of his sticks and he often stood up on his kit like Mike Portnoy would. Sam Ermellini's guitar work was very impressive with technical and melodic solos and riffs that stuck with me throughout the night. He also had a bit of the classic Images & Words John Petrucci look. Pyramid Theorem also played the least amount of songs because their songs were lengthy, but they filled in their given set time without going over. Listening to the Di Mambro brothers (Stephan and Christian) on synths and bass respectively, made the sound of "Tom Sawyer" by Rush immediately pop into my head. (C)2016 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Navneet Johal Fourth band was Hamilton's own Profaner, who kept the energy level up with some melodic death metal. Musically, they blended melody and brutality very well. One moment that stood out during their set is when frontman Anthony Tuttolomondo commanded the crowd to bring out their lighters and light up the Opera House, which from where I was standing on the balcony, looked absolutely epic. Guitarists Pat Rogers and Jason Crook unleashed some potent guitar harmonies that perked mine and I'm sure everyone else's ears up. Due to the amount of crowd participation and the great musicianship and energy, Profaner was a high contender for the crown. (C)2016 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Navneet Johal |
| (C)2016 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com Photos: Navneet Johal | Guest Judges: Noel Peters (INERTIA ENTERTAINMENT) Sarah Lutz (Metalblade) Darryl Hurs (Indie Week) Chris Gonda (PureGrainAudio.com) Tim Henderson (Bravewords.com) Andrew Epstein (Zombitrol Productions) Glenn Fricker (Spectre Sound Studios) List of sponsors: http://www.metalbattle.ca/sponsors.html More info on Wacken Metal Battle Canada: http://www.metalbattle.ca/index.html https://www.facebook.com/MetalBattleCanada/ Special thanks to JJ Tartaglia (founder of WMBC), and Jon Asher (Asher Media Relations) for helping the Canadian metal music scene and industry shine in the global spotlight! \\,,// |
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