There are tribute nights, and then there are nights where the room feels like it has collectively agreed to suspend reality for a few loud, sweaty hours. The Bat Sabbath, Sliptomb, and Pissfits bill at Bar le Ritz in Montreal landed firmly in the second category, a three-act salute to metal’s bedrock that never drifted into novelty.
Pissfits, aka Diner Drugs, the Moncton stoner punks moonlighting as Misfits disciples, opened with a set that leaned into speed and grime. The songs were short, blunt, and shouted back at the stage by people who had clearly skipped leg day so they could save energy for headbanging. It was scrappy in the best way, more bar fight than theatre, and it set the mood nicely.
Sliptomb (aka Ethereal Tomb) followed, turning the room into a Slipknot appreciation society. The material landed heavier than expected in a space better known for indie gigs, with enough crowd surfing to make the bar staff look nervous. Their take on the Iowa-era chaos was tight without feeling polite, which is about as high a compliment as a Slipknot tribute can get.
By the time Bat Sabbath appeared, the floor was already slick with spilled beer and questionable life choices. Watching Cancer Bats inhabit Black Sabbath is always a strange pleasure, part reverence, part controlled demolition. The opening notes of War Pigs were met with a roar that felt half singalong, half battle cry, and the crowd barely came up for air through NIB, Paranoid, and Iron Man. There was no need for grand speeches, the connection was obvious every time the room shouted the choruses back.
The real fun came at the end, when Bat Sabbath peeled back the costume and slipped into a few Cancer Bats songs. It was like someone switched the building to a higher voltage setting. Suddenly the mosh pit went from enthusiastic to feral, and chants for more followed them offstage.
It was a night that reminded you why these songs still matter, not as museum pieces, but as living, breathing fuel for a packed Montreal bar that had absolutely no interest in going home early.
Photos – Veronique Levesque
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