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By Christine Lariviere - The Lonesome Strangers - 01/17/2009

On Saturday, January 17th, I took the 55 bus through the frigid, negative-something weather, and wound up in front of Metropolis to be greeted by a swarm of black t-shirted, long haired fans -the tell tale signs of any self-respecting metal show.

Cradle of Filth, formed in 1991 and hailing from Suffolk, England, took the stage with their usual barrage of theatrics: a projection screen of flickering images rife with sexual, morbid, Satanic and Christian references, a dancing woman with industrial sparks spewing from her wrist, a skeleton dangling from the mic stand, and gothic torches. 

However, all these things take a backseat to lead singer Dani Filth’s presence. Standing on several inches of platform boot and draped in a long leather skirt, the frontman is one of the few performers out there who manages to maintain theatrics throughout the entire show.  Even during stage banter, Filth speaks in a vocal affectation that can only be described as a demon about to burst into laughter. However, Filth’s platform-shoed trip on the stage stairs (almost resulting in a full-on face plant) early on in the show reminded fans that he is only human, after all.

Ironically, Cradle of Filth’s self-aware, over the top attitude does not at all stifle their true sincerity and love for their fans. “It’s good to be in Montreal,” growled Filth, “Despite the shitty fucking weather.” Later, before playing crowd favorite “Nymphetamine”, the lead singer dedicated the song to “all the pretty women in Montreal.”

Though they do not play the tightest of sets, it is arguably the band’s unique blend of lyrical goth-metal, coupled with their self-aware, clichéd dark theatrics and actual love for what they do, that generates many die-hard Cradle of Filth fans. Fans, like the friendly Halifax-local who sat next to me and excitedly told me about the long hours he’d driven to see Cradle of Filth live (since “they don’t visit the Maritimes much”). 

The band played about ten songs that night. They lead off the show with “Shit Out of Hell” and went on to play many favorites such as “The 13th Caesar” and “The Principles of Evil Made Flesh” (off their 1994 debut album of the same name.) Dani Filth’s bird of prey-like shrieking and calmer, melodic sequences had fans moshing or swaying virtually the entire time, creating a constant air of excitement and energy. When their set was done, the fans had clearly not had enough and cheered on until they played two encores: “Her Ghost in the Fog” and “From the Cradle to Enslave”. 

The show was supported by a solid, Norwegian black metal set from fellow Roadrunner-signed Satyricon (named after a Latin book of prose and poetry.) Created in 1990, Satyricon is currently promoting their seventh album, The Age of Nero, which was released in November 2008.

Also promoting their seventh album, Communion, was Septic Flesh.  This symphonic metal band was formed in 1990, in Athens, Greece.  Septic Flesh set the tone for the rest of the evening by separating the crowd into two groups, and, at the beat, having them merge together to create a massive clash of excited moshers.

Tune into The Lonesome Strangers with Christine every Sunday from 4PM - 6PM

By Omar Goodness - Hooked On Sonics - 03/22/2008

The last time I saw the Raveonettes was when they were touring behind their sophomore full length, Pretty in Black, with LA noisepop trio Autolux.  While I’ll admit I went primarily for Autolux (who are probably, and pretty much a well known fact around these CJLO halls, my favourite band currently), having the Raveonettes on the bill was an added bonus, as I was a fan of their Jesus and Mary Chain knock off songs.  It was pretty much a dream show for anybody who likes their pop songs covered in white noise, fuzz, feedback, and the occasional droney rhythms, and the Raves were spot-on that night - bubbly, buoyant and loud.

Since then, some things have changed for the Danish duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo.  The last time they were here, they had a full backing band (drummer, bassist and guitarist) which provided some loud and dense versions of their recorded output.  This time, as they premiered on their stint at SXSW earlier, they’ve decided to strip things down to just Wagner and Foo on guitar, and a stand-up drummer (snare, floor tom/bass drum, and one cymbal only), giving another nod to the early setup of the Jesus and Mary Chain.  While they did employ the use of sequencers for added fuzz and bass sounds (I think Foo only picked up the bass on one song), it didn’t sound too phony, and it also didn’t seem like they were relying too much on sequencers or laptops (*ahem* Jesu.)  While I’m not a big fan of live sequencers, they actually pulled it off nicely, and Wagner and Foo managed to coax enough searing shards of white noise from their stockpile of pedals that pretty much proved that as a 3-piece they’re just as noisy as they were as a 5-piece.

New songs from their latest, and best album, Lust Lust Lust were enthusiastically received, especially “Dead Sound” and current single “I Want the Candy”, while older songs like “Great Love Sound” and especially “Attack of the Ghost Riders” got a fervent (fist pumping…I kid you not) response from the crowd.

Not necessarily the most energetic (already having cancelled one date in Detroit and apparently appearing extremely exhausted at the Toronto show the night before), the band seemed to be still shaking off some of the mental and physical cobwebs brought on from playing a ridiculous amount of shows at this year’s SXSW festival in Ausin, Tx.  That being said, they did have enough energy in their system to put on a solid show, and were probably feeding off of the excited Saturday night crowd.  As well, the subdued atmosphere of black clothing and soft red lights seemed to help with providing a more laid-back feeling to the show, rather than making the trio look tired. 

Leaving the crowd happy, they ended their set with a great take on Stereolab’s “French Disko” and then finally with a searing rendition of Lust Lust Lust’s opener, and one of my fave songs of the year so far, “Aly Walk With Me”, complete with two extended white noise freakouts that you could feel deep in your ear canal.  That was some next-level brain tickling, I tell ya (hehehe, I remember playing this song for CJLO Program Director Brian Joseph and having him cover his ears…not a big fan of the white noise freakouts, that man…).

As for the venue, I’ve never seen a show at Les Saints, and had just been told it’s usually too big for the shows booked there.  Luckily for the Raves, the show was pretty well attended, and the hall, which basically looks like an oversized basement, surprisingly had pretty good sound.  Asides from an exit-line that pretty much bottlenecks near the coat-check area (*cough* fire hazard *cough*), it’s not a bad venue for shows.

Anyhow, end result?  Not a bad show at all.  Nothing too special, but a pleasant performance nonetheless…and I at least got my white noise fix for the week, giving me some cloudy hearing post-show for a few minutes…yeeeah, totally worth it.

Tune into Hooked On Sonics with Mr. Goodness every Tuesday from 6PM – 8PM

By Josh Mocle - The Kids are So-So - 01/27/2009

I won’t lie, as I made my way over to Club Soda for this particular round of performances; I made a somewhat mischievous promise to myself that I would hear no Ska music that evening. A lofty goal, given that the show was headlined by none other than Streetlight Manifesto, one of the most popular bands left in the floundering North American Ska scene. However, my interest in the show had absolutely nothing to do with upward guitar strumming or horn sections and had everything to do with the monstrous Bad Religion meets Dillinger Escape Plan sound of New Bedford, Massachusetts’ A Wilhelm Scream. I discovered the band almost four years ago with the release of their sophomore record as AWS, Ruiner (though it was their fourth as a band since they released two full lengths under the name Smackin’ Isaiah.) However, after a while they kinda fell under the radar both due to a long string of inactivity before their newest effort, 2007’s Career Suicide and their tendency to not only not headline very often, but end up as the token aggressive band on mainstream Ska tours like this one (the last time they were in Montreal they were opening for Less Than Jake in 2006.) However, after their riotous and highly distributed performance at The Fest VII in October, the band re-entered my life with a vengeance and I didn’t want to pass on yet another opportunity to see them, even if it meant having to deal with obnoxious Montreal Ska Kids…and oh, were their many of them…so many, in fact, that the show sold out in advance. I’ll never understand just how Ska has remained so popular specifically in Montreal when it pretty much lost face everywhere else in…well, the world (though I suspect local heroes The Planet Smashers and Montreal-based Stomp Records have something to do with it.) Now, while I love Big D and the Kids Table as much as the next guy, they’re pretty much the only Ska band I can still listen to without wanting to claw my ears off these days (and that probably has more to do with A) The City of Boston and B) Operation Ivy, than anything else.) 

Upon entering the packed show space I realized, to my chagrin, that the typical formula of “mainstream ska band with punk openers” wasn’t adhered to as much as I suspected with this tour, as openers The Stitch-Up were very much a young, three piece ska band (who, prior to the show, I was confusing with Ontario Emo quintet The Stick-Up who I now realize broke up three years ago.) Mercifully, since I showed up late, I was only subjected to about five minutes of upward guitar strumming and ironic ballads about the KKK adopting highways before their set ended…and at least there were no horns…so it was only a half-fail really.

Next up was Flint, Michigan’s The Swellers, an overly melodic hardcore act I’d been somewhat familiar with but had never actually seen. In short, I hadn’t missed much. While the band was relatively tight in terms of their musicianship, they were boring as all hell. It was almost as if the only records they ever heard with Thrice’s The Artist in the Ambulance and Lifetime’s Jersey’s Best Dancers, except they failed to understand what really made both those records so good and subsequently combined all of the annoying parts of both to form a band entirely dependent on unnecessary blast beats and overly melodic vocals. Not as terrible as I just made it sound, but not compelling in the least either. 

Which leads us to A Wilhelm Scream, who after their first song (a riotous rendition of the first single off Career Suicide, “The Horse”) made it clear that they are huge sufferers of “big venue syndrome.” Some bands really do not come across well in venues with a capacity larger than 500 (or in this case 400, really) and AWS are most certainly one of them. The intensity and drive is ultimately diluted by all the empty space, so while the dedicated fans beating the shit out of themselves in front of the stage certainly had a great time, my perch from just in front of the sound booth left much to be desired and I’m sure everyone behind me and on the balcony got even less of why the band was so good (though given the sea of Streetlight Manifesto shirts, I don’t think they cared either.)

Despite the space concerns, the band was still tight as all hell. I don’t think I’ve ever seen two guitarists employ so much finger tapping, to the point that the majority of the guitar parts involved very little actual strumming, though their bassist’s attempt to playfully do the same on his own instrument fell flat for me. While I strongly support bassists stepping out of the shadows and holding their own on stage (mostly since I am also a bassist), you gotta recognize the limitations of your instrument and work with it goddamnit! Stop trying to LOOK cool and BE cool. Hitting tracks off their last three records (the aforementioned Ruiner and Career Suicide as well as 2004’s Mute Print) like fan favorites (and by fan favorites I mean my favorites) “Killing It,” “Jaws 3 People 0” and “The Rip”, they managed to easily blow away most bands in the admittedly flimsy post-hardcore scene (Paint It Black and Converge notwithstanding.) If anything, they need to embrace that scene a little more instead of constantly opening for ska crowds who view them as a token act at best or just ignore them entirely, though playing The Fest for the first time was a step in the right direction. As much as I hate to admit it, a big part of being a successful musician is placement…if you’re playing for the wrong crowd in the wrong place then you just aren’t gonna live up to your full potential, but they’ve done pretty well for themselves up until now and will probably continue to do so, so more power to ‘em I guess.

When their set ended I briefly flirted with the idea of at least sticking around for Streetlight Manifesto’s first song just to see what the fuss was about, but as the crowd around me got drunker and even more obnoxious I realized that they were actually making me hate the band and the genre even more by association…and I have just a little too much hate in my life already, ya know?

Tune into The Kids Are So-So with Josh every Thursday from 6PM - 8PM

By Jess V. and Jake W. - The Incinerator - 09/26/2008

With three previous studio albums already under their belts, Australian death metal giants Psycroptic released their fourth this year on Nuclear Blast Records to a fan base that had a pretty good idea of what to expect from them: extremely high caliber musicianship and a certain captivating energy that set the band apart from many of their less dynamic contemporaries. On the first account, this year’s Ob(Servant) certainly isn’t lacking; on the second, however, it leaves fans to wonder what exactly happened to the inspiration behind the band’s tech death masterpiece, The Scepter of the Ancients.

With the release of Ob(Servant), Psycroptic seems to be paying the price for being a technical death metal band that has consistently raised the bar with their previous efforts. Fans of the genre have gotten a taste of the kind of musical ability that is extremely rare and difficult to attain, and they are no longer satisfied with anything that falls short.

It’s unfortunate, really, because there are a lot of great things to be said about this release.

In the album’s accompanying DVD, the band expresses a wish to branch out and reach a wider audience, and there is certainly no dearth of groovy riffing or catchy melodies on the part of guitarist Joe Haley. Furthermore with this undertaking his brother, Dave Haley, has only increased his reputation as one of the most skilled drummers in all of death metal. Jason Peppiatt, who joined the band on vocals for Psycroptic’s previous release Symbols of Failure, delivers another solid performance with a few new vocal styles, including one somewhat in the vein of Meshuggah frontman Jens Kidman’s rhythmic rasp.

So what’s the problem? Well, here’s something new for you: for the first time ever, we have a Psycroptic album that you can put on only to forget that it’s playing. That’s right - Ob(Servant) simply does not grab your attention. Sure, the individual parts sound great- when you actually remember that you’re listening to them- the overall effect just lacks cohesion and, in the end, simply isn’t satisfying. The dynamic structures that have characterized Psycroptic’s songwriting in the past seem to wander aimlessly with this latest effort, making an erstwhile high energy, directed yet fluid listening experience fall generally somewhere between confusing and utterly forgettable. Indeed, even after repeated listens, it is difficult to recall any memorable songs- or even riffs, for that matter. One gets the impression that the songs all sound very similar to each other, but it’s impossible to say for certain–– we keep forgetting what they sound like.

Tune into The Incinerator with Jess and Jake every Sunday from 4PM - 6PM