Growth is a phenomenal thing. In the roughly twenty years since metal bands Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine released their career-launching albums, they have been growing as musicians, songwriters, and performers. Meanwhile, it’s also been about 15 years since I heard metalcore music for the first time, and frankly, absolutely hated it. Yet, here I was, one developed frontal lobe later, excitedly making my way up to Laval to witness a stacked bill full of heavy hitters in the genre.
Maybe pandering to an underlying truth in all of our Canadian hearts, Bleed From Within walked on to Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like a Woman!” The Glasgow, UK band immediately felt right at home on the big stage at Place Bell, and delivered the most exciting 25-minute set that I’ve ever seen in an arena. The stellar light show and adrenaline-pumping drums got the crowd moving, as a sizable circle pit was moving like storm clouds of a hurricane. I’ve seen far less enthusiastic crowds for headliners. Walls of death and crowd surfers were in full effect early on in the evening.
Next was August Burns Red, a band I’ve been aware of since I discovered heavier music, and one I was stoked to catch live for the first time. They kicked things off with the strongest of first impressions. “Chop Suey” blared over the PA, and the band kicked in after the first chorus with a cover of the rest of the song. The energy never died down from there either, as melodic guitar leads soared over growling vocals and pounding breakdowns. Moments were taken between songs to appreciate the history that the band has with Montreal—or, in this case, Laval—as they made that important distinction. Respect was strongly mutual, as the crowd moshed along to their belligerence.
Trivium marched out for their set with purpose and confidence. As the thrashy, chugging guitars of “Rain” galloped at blistering speeds, frontman Matt Heafy’s screams urged the audience to move. Between songs, his deep voice spoke kindly to the crowd, even addressing us in a surprising amount of French. Shouting out guitarist Corey Beaulieu and his French-Canadian roots sure won him a few points, too. His interactions with the crowd were among my favourite moments of the set, encouraging us to outshine the crowd from the current best show of the tour so far—in Boston, of all places.
Heafy also spoke earnestly about his struggles with mental health and his drive to be the best husband and father he can possibly be. It was a beautiful bit of vulnerability that I wish was talked about more often in these circles. Most of us were drawn to metal culture for similar reasons. Their playthrough of their sophomore album Ascendancy was blistering and true to the source material, complimented by the giant album mascot used as a backdrop. Trivium’s set saw the biggest movement of the night, as Heafy’s multiple calls to “Bougez-vous” were met without hesitation. And yes, we totally kicked the teeth out of Boston’s crowd. Why wouldn’t we?
As a mini-doc played on screen of the band’s early years, the sense of nostalgia fuelled the crowd with footage of old haircuts set to the intro track of Bullet for My Valentine’s 2006 album, The Poison. I previously said I hated metalcore when I was in high school, but in all honesty, Bullet for My Valentine was the one and only exception. Though The Poison was not the record I resonated with from their catalogue, a lot of people in attendance that night have emotional ties to this album and were overjoyed to hear the deep cuts played for the first time in years.
Though most of the songs themselves didn’t do much for me, the band was incredibly tight, and their signature, genre-defining harmonized guitar leads were magical. Much to my surprise, bassist Jamie Mathias’ voice far outshined—sorry, supported—frontman Matt Tuck’s vocal performance that night. He delivered powerful screams and backing cleans that fit so well into place, it’s hard to believe he didn’t even play on The Poison, only joining the band in 2015.
The night’s set continued with ferocity and, ultimately, after the album closer, the Welsh quartet came back on stage to perform an encore consisting of “Knives” and “Waking the Demon.” The latter of which found Matt Tuck crowd surfing, guitar in hand, only making it back on stage to sing the song’s final line. I still refuse to believe that this is the same brain that once found solace in Bullet for My Valentine lyrics, but they put on a hell of a show.
Between all the bands that graced the stage that night, there was a common thread: respect and adoration for the city we call home. It’s insane to see these bands that have arguably hit their mainstream peak more than a decade ago now fill rooms that are multiple times larger than what they would headline back in those days. Whether it be nostalgia, the Quebec metal scene doing its thing, or a combination of both, all bands gave us a night to remember—and the fans showed up in numbers to give them a night to remember right back.
Review – Mathieu Perrier
Photos – Eric Brisson
