 | Written by Alex Stojanovic Photography by Navneet Johal (C) 2019 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com @ Hard Luck Bar Toronto, ON, Canada March 23, 2019 COMPETING BANDS The Slyde (Toronto) Dumpster Mummy (Halifax) BornBroken (Montreal) GUEST HEADLINERS: Villain GUEST JUDGES David Bottrill (Producer) Tim Henderson (Bravewords.com) Dean Arnold (Vital Remains Official) Craig Rose (ROSE Management) Bradley Zorgdrager (Exclaim!) Wojtek Sokolowski (Operus) |
The 2019 edition of Wacken Metal Battle Canada continues, as we get another step closer to finding out who will represent Canada in Germany at Wacken Open Air this year. After two preliminary rounds and the Southern Ontario finals, Toronto hosted its last show for this year's edition with the Eastern Canada finals at the Hard Luck on March 23rd, with The Slyde representing Ontario, Dumpster Mummy representing Nova Scotia and BornBroken representing Quebec. Even though the competition isn't over yet, I can say that on behalf of all the Toronto metalheads, it's been another great time getting to see some amazing local talent compete for the chance to see who will represent Canada at the Holy Land of metal.
| THE SLYDE Photo credit: Navneet Johal / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | Being given the not-so-easy task of being first, Toronto progressive titans The Slyde opened up the night with a serious dose of melodic progressive metal, and they managed to get a decent crowd of people up close to the front of the stage. This was my third time seeing the band after seeing them twice before in the competition, and much like the other times, they delivered an outstanding performance that made them a serious contender for winning the night. At this point, I've run out of things to say about The Slyde, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all, because there weren't any differences between any of their performances in the competition. Each one displayed what they have always been about. Fantastic musicianship, captivating vocals (especially the harmonies between Nathan Da Silva and Alberto Campuzano), stellar songwriting, impeccable stage presence, great tones, and most importantly, originality. The Slyde successfully combined all these elements, and always manage to put on a larger-than-life performance. As a musician, they make me want to go practice each time I see them. I also think many local bands can learn a few things from The Slyde. |
| The intensity was about to go up a few notches now, as Halifax outfit Dumpster Mummy were the first band to bring the brutality to the night. In all honesty, the thing that stood out the most about their set was the energy. However, when it comes to the music, they lacked originality, and they sounded like just about every other brutal metal band in the local scene. Watching a brutal band in small club with a low-ceiling is a challenge sometimes because for the most part, the music tends to sound like white noise, and you can hardly distinguish the riffs, or the vocals, and each song tends to sound alike. That was pretty much the case with Dumpster Mummy. I'm not trying to sound like an elitist, it's merely an observation. Vocalist Cujo Bonvie took stage presence to another level, because not only did he headbang with serious fervor to the point where he looked like he was going to snap his neck, but he would also lay on the floor and roll around as if he was having a demon exorcised from his body. However, in all honesty, they were my least favourite band of the night. No offense. Simultaneously, I give them massive respect for making the 18-hour drive to Toronto and representing Halifax. | DUMPSTER MUMMY Photo credit: Navneet Johal / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
| BORNBROKEN Photo credit: Navneet Johal / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com | The brutality didn't stop there though. Next up were Montreal death metal titans BornBroken. Much like Dumpster Mummy, there wasn't really anything special or unique about their sound, but they still displayed great energy, and in my opinion, they were the better of the two heavier bands. Vocalist Pepe Poliquin would often do the machine gun gesture during the blast beat sections of the songs. He even revealed that guitarist Mike Decker broke his arm two weeks prior, and it was evident by the bandage wrapped around his elbow. Massive kudos to Mike for being able to play while still mending. BornBroken brought the competing sets to a close. It was now time for guest headliners Villain. Just before their set, there was a physical altercation that broke out between two people in the crowd, but thankfully security broke it up right away, and it didn't escalate any further, because you never know how ugly these things can get. You rarely see scuffles at metal shows. Going back to Villain, their image screamed 80s. Frontman Caleb Beal and guitarist Ryan Staffa had the 80s glam image going, while the rhythm section of Kane Inman and Jake Gracie had the thrash look going. |
It will say that it was actually a little freaky how closely Ryan resembled Nikki Sixx from back in the day. Their mixed-image also seemed to match up perfectly with their sound, as it was in the vein of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, with a mix of the L.A. metal sound that was popularized by Dokken, early Motley Crue, Ratt, and so on. Obviously having not been born in the 80s, watching Villain certainly made me feel like I was in the 80s. I'm sure some of the old-schoolers in the crowd felt the same way.
| It was now time to announce the band that would be representing Eastern Canada at the National Finals, taking place in Calgary on May 25th, and that band is The Slyde. With all due respect to the other two competitors who traveled far to perform, in my honest opinion, I honestly felt that The Slyde was deserving of the win, because they brought a breath of fresh air to the table during this competition, and originality is one of the main elements the judges look for. You don't see too many progressive metal bands in the local scene. To the fans and friends of Dumpster Mummy and BornBroken reading this, who probably think I dissed the bands with what I said about them, you need to understand that I am not for a second trying to diss the bands, and that was never my intention. This is just my observation of what I witnessed with my eyes and my ears, and also what I thought of their performances. Saying how we really feel has always been extremely important for us at Metal Master Kingdom, and that's what we've always done since day 1. It wouldn't be right for us to say everything that every band does is the greatest thing in each review we do. Music is subjective. | VILLAIN Photo credit: Navneet Johal / (C) 2019 www.metalmasterkingdom.com |
Anyway, sorry for digressing. I just needed to get that off my chest before somebody comes on here, and just blatantly accuses us of dissing their favourite band without even thinking, or even reading the entire review first. Congratulations to The Slyde for advancing to the finals! Do Toronto and Eastern Canada proud, guys!
| THE SLYDE * Nathan Da Silva - Vocals & guitars Sarah Westbrook - Keyboards Alberto Campuzano - Bass & vocals Andrew Suarez - Drums & vocals Label: Unsigned | DUMPSTER MUMMY Cujo Bonvie - Vocals Brad News - Guitars Ben Banks - Drums Gilbert Lavery - Bass Label: Unsigned |
| BORNBROKEN Pepe Poliquin - Vocals Mike Decker - Guitars & vocals Simon Savard - Guitars & vocals Red Voizard - Bass Sammuel Santiado - Drums Label: Unsigned | VILLAIN Caleb Beal - Vocals, Guitar Ryan Stäffa - Guitar, backing vocals Kane Inman - Bass Jake Gracie - Drums, backing vocals Label: Unsigned |
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