 | Journalist: Kirsti Heitz Photographer: Navneet Johal @ Hard Luck Bar April 16, 2016
Guest judges: Andy Hawke (Cadence Music) Richard Fernandes (New Damage Records / Bedlam Music Management) Craig Rose (ROSE management) Drew Masters (M.E.A.T ) Dean Arnold (Vital Remains / Primalfrost) |
From the furthest reaches of Hamilton, London and Toronto, four bands charged towards the Hard Luck Café in order to battle it out in an epic night of Ontario metal with the goal of becoming the one band of this round to move on into the Wacked Battle Canada Finals. First up was *Door to Door Human Gore. From their band name to their metal tee’s and grungy hair, these Torontonians are the definition of a metal band. Their heavy tunes got faster and grungier as their set progressed and we even got to see some bass tapping and attempted crowd interaction as vocalist Wally Warwick screamed to the crowd or presented tunes like “Homaphobe-phobia.”
| (C)2016 www.metalmasterkingdom.com All rights reserved. Photos: Navneet Johal With a casual air, Hamiltonites Profaner took the stage next with easy smiles and a “good-times” attitude. Synchronized headbanging and guitar/bass movements immediately won be over as Profaner brew up some thrashy tunes with enough melodic arrangements to keep things interesting. Groovy beats and clean vocals added by guitarist Jason Crook were the perfect top off to their tunes. Vocalists Anthony delivered a superb performance as he screamed his way through the tunes and got the crowd riled up so their front-line of faithful headbangers didn’t miss a beat. Profaner kept their set interesting and fans laughing as they interjected their tunes with synchronized dance moves or pushed the crowd to make a perfectly square mosh pit, because why the hell not? Profaner ended their set with a ballad intro that quickly turned into a thrash/melodic tune with the audience waving lighters and each member of Profaner performing a superb solo. (C)2016 www.metalmasterkingdom.com All rights reserved. Photos: Navneet Johal Now that the Wacken Metal Battle competitors have performed, they get a chance to kick back and witness a special treat as Final Trigger performed right before the announcement of tonight’s winner. A new wave of audience members walked through the doors as Final Trigger fans crowded the stage in order to get a good spot for throwing down. These Torontonians classify themselves as “skrap metal” which is hard to explain unless you give them a listen. From hip-hop themes mixed with the heavy goodness of metal and a Juggalo vibe, their tunes have a nu-metal vibe that is amped up. DJ Metal D acted as a hype man when he wasn’t spinning and vocalist/guitaris Jroc had pit monsters wrapped around his fingers as he stirred them into a frenzy. Beat masters JJ and Faz interjected their fast and heavy rhythms with groovy arrangements as Final Trigger performed with the solid experience of a seasoned band. | With some serious makeup and a dramatic setting, Astaroth took the stage next bringing with them a large fanbase who were ready to stir the pit up. With skin painted red, leather trench coat, black hair slicked back and firey red eyes, vocalist Astaroth (locally known as Sam) took the center stage with growling vocals and a dramatic yet animated presence. Though I do love me some extreme FX makeup, I wish that the theme that vocalist Sam chose would have been spread equally amongst the rest of the band who were dressed in little to no makeup. Astaroth played a high energy set with interspaced melancholic moments were vocalist Sam opted for not quite pitch perfect clean vocals accompanied by some slick blast beats by the stoic Emile. (C)2016 www.metalmasterkingdom.com All rights reserved. Photos: Navneet Johal Last but not least we had Wind Cries Mary from London take the stage to wrap up the competitors portion of the night. Assuming that the crowd’s energy level was on an almighty high after Profaner, Wind Cries Mary tried to squeeze the same size pit from the Hard Luck Club but it took at least half their set for fans to finally react and get into their tunes. Being true to their genre, Wind Cries Mary threw down in a classic metalcore fashion with plenty of breakdowns and melodic riffs. Vocalist Keiryn didn’t seem fazed by the initially lack of response but as more fans started to be drawn into the tunes, Keiryn knew how to stir the pot and egg fans on into a frenzy. (C)2016 www.metalmasterkingdom.com All rights reserved. Photos: Navneet Johal |
After enjoying a full Final Trigger set, Hard Luck goers got to celebrate with Profaner on their big win as they make their way to the Wacken Battle Canada Finals this June 11th at The Opera House.
*We do not have photos of Door to Door Human Gore. Our apologies for this inconvenience.
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