Speed Trap Festival Vol. II brought two nights of traditional heavy metal, speed metal and thrash to Piranha Bar on April 10 and 11. Organized by Viridian Cult Productions, the second edition expanded on the original festival with a tightly packed lineup of bands from Montreal, elsewhere in Canada and the United States. Piranha Bar’s intimate upstairs room kept the audience close to the stage and gave the weekend the sweaty, crowded atmosphere associated with Montreal’s underground metal scene.
Friday’s bill balanced traditional heavy metal with faster, heavier performances. Toronto’s Black Absinthe, Hamilton’s Killotine and Ottawa’s The Scepter joined Montreal bands Samurai and Spirit Unbound, before Castle closed the opening night. Saturday increased both the number of bands and the pace, moving through eight sets. Quebec City’s Saccage brought blackened death-crust to the lineup, while Brampton’s Freeways shifted towards melodic guitars and a sound rooted in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Lycanthro, from Toronto, and Edmonton’s Tower Hill added power-metal vocals and a more theatrical stage presence to the second night.
Despite the larger lineup, Speed Trap Vol. II retained the DIY character of its first edition. The schedule moved steadily across both nights, particularly during Saturday’s eight-band run, while the crowd remained active from the local opening sets through to the visiting headliners. By bringing together bands from several corners of the Canadian underground, the festival offered a broad snapshot of the traditional metal scene without drifting from its heavy and speed-metal foundations.
Ryan Rumpel was there to capture all the action.
