The Montreal leg of Decibel Magazine’s annual North American trek rolled into town under slightly disappointing conditions, having been surprisingly switched to a smaller venue. How such a solid line-up wasn’t better received in a town so known for its admiration of extreme music is baffling to say the least. But as the saying goes, the show must go on!
Montreal natives Phobocosm were on hand to kick off this year’s edition of the gig for their home town crowd, and they did so in devastating fashion. Something of a best kept secret, Phobocosm are silently gaining attention to the curious ear, and rightfully so. Featuring Neuraxis guitarist Rob Milley and former members of Vengeful, Phobocosm play a mixture of extreme genres in a slow and dark tempo akin to the likes of Immolation or Evoken. Allotted just twenty minutes, these eager lads made the most of their time slot, playing a new track and selections from their debut, “Deprived”.
They may, for the most part, call the United Kingdom home, but Vallenfyre‘s sound is pure old school Swedish death metal – right down to the guitar tone. A super group of sorts, featuring members of Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, At The Gates, Doom and The Haunted, but more akin to the likes of Dismember, Entombed and Unleashed in sound, and boy did they steal the show! The audience already contained a lot of familiar faces from days long passed, many that I hadn’t seen in years and now our ears were flooded with with what can have easily been released during the early 90’s when this sort of thing was fresh and new to me. Vallenfyre are a treat for the old or for the fan of the old school, and will hopefully stick about for years to come. They may have walked out as an unknown commodity in this city, but they exited to screams of “one more song, tabarnak”.
Pallbearer seemed to be off from the get go, and it wasn’t until the band’s final track of their three song set, that I realized they were a man down. The infamous Canadian-American border had once more claimed a victim, and refused bassist Joseph Rowland entrance to the country. Vallenfyre’s guitarist Hamish Glencross (also of My Dying Bride) appeared on stage for the finale of “Devoid of Redemption”, brandishing a bass guitar, to mass cheers! Quite the treat for any doom metal aficionado in attendance. Would have been great to have witnessed them whole. But nonetheless, they pulled off a solid set.
Like Pallbearer, Converge played the roll of odd man out on this tour. Still, they had their fan faithful about. Diversity is the name of the game, though, when a great publication such as Decibel tries to unite its reader-base from town to town, without letting anybody down. And to be fair, I was looking forward to seeing Converge again as much as I was to seeing one of my all-time favorites, At The Gates, once more. Chaotic and edgy, Converge were as I had hoped they would be; unrelenting and nasty.
I discovered Converge on their Jane Doe tour, stopping in just to check out this band that so many had been talking about, and left the Salle de L’x utterly impressed, with a copy of the record tucked neatly under my arm, and my mind’s eye has never forgotten that initial experience. Revisiting that so many years later, I still found myself floored by the chaotic noise Converge produce. Covering all basses with select tunes like “Dark Horse”, “Reap What You Sow”, “Worms Will Feed / Rats Will Feast” off of the ‘Axe To Fall” album, “Eagles Become Vultures”, “You Fail Me, “Last Light”, from the ‘You Fail Me’ record and “Concubine” and ending off with the title track from their masterpiece, 2001’s “Jane Doe”; a track that was rarely ever performed live in the past, but was an incredible way to end a set. So emotionally fuelled and venomously delicious.
At The Gates are quite possibly one of the most influential extreme music bands of the last twenty years. Having helped spawn a whole sub-culture of death metal given the moniker “Gothenburg style”, named after their native city in Sweden, and continue to be an important source of inspiration many moons after they had initially broken up. Often regarded as a key influence to early metalcore acts, and often imitated, At The Gates have remained relevant despite not even being an active band for eleven years before a scattering of rare festival appearances popped up. Then came a full-on reunion and a fifth studio album, complimented by the tour we’re talking about now. Having finally caught them live in the summer of 2012, I honestly thought that would be my one and only chance at catching them live – and was thrilled by how great they sounded on that day.
This being the third time seeing them since the reunion, I am left wondering if frontman Tomas Lindberg owns anything but the trucker hat and shirt he seems to wear at every single gig! Ah who cares, the man is a legend. As the intro clip to the new record began, so did the applause as excitement built up and was then expelled as the first notes to “Death and the Labyrinth” left the amps. Then came “Slaughter Of The Soul” and the building began to crumble. Twenty years on, and the song continues to evoke such energy from all that hear it – that is the mark of a true classic slab of music. Next came “Cold” and the only moment during the set where I felt the band was slightly off – during the solo, it felt as if a note or two were misplaced, but in no way did that hinder this fantastic performance.
Their set list was fairly similar to what was played at Heavy Montreal, and in a similar order, too. Covering all corners of their great discography, and continuing on with the title track to “Terminal Spirit Disease”, then “Raped By The Light Of Christ” from 1993’s ‘With Fear I Kiss The Burning Darkness’, which in itself is a treat, and continued a few tracks later with “Windows” off of ‘The Red In The Sky Is Ours’. In all, seven tracks from 1995’s absolute metal masterpiece, ‘Slaughter Of The Soul’ were played, filling my cold black heart with joy. Of course, selections from the new record and more from the aforementioned records, too, like “Kingdom Gone”, for example.
I have never walked away from an At The Gates performance feeling anything but exhilaration and I don’t expect that trend to ever change. A fantastic night of live music.
Review – Kieron Yates
Photos – Steve Gerrard
