In December of last year, Between the Buried and Me released word of their first tour of 2014, and anticipation began to grow immediately. Not only were these titans of metal returning to Toronto, but they were being joined by some of the best and most interesting acts in metal music today. From the stark contrasts of Deafheaven to the intricate and fine-tuned workings of Intronaut’s raw musical skill, and even to one of Canada’s rising heavy acts The Kindred, this was a show that was not to be missed. With an early start (doors were open at 6:30), Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre filled up fairly slowly, but once the music began the crowd began to grow quickly in volume.
The first band up was Ottawa’s The Kindred, who kept their energy at it’s highest even with the dispersed crowd. While The Kindred lean further from Metal than the following acts, their set was still as loud and abrasive as could be through rock-solid playing and a powerful stage presence. The Kindred’s vocalist David Jorneaux had an easy time keeping the audience engaged with his unique behavior on stage, and was great in terms of crowd interaction (something that seems to be neglected at metal shows). It’s obvious why these guys are on the rise: they have a unique sound that borders multiple genres, they have an undeniable stage presence, and they were a great introduction of what was to come from the rest of this show.
Next up was L.A’s Intronaut, another band that has straddled multiple genres in their 10 years as a band. Shrouded in a smoke machine haze, the four members emerged on stage and didn’t waste any time getting into the tightly-woven sonics of their music. Their set focused on some of the groups more ethereal tracks, giving their performance a hypnotic feel as opposed to a simple punishing display of their polyrhythmic post-metal. With a display of lasers bursting through the smoke on stage, the groups psychedelic leanings were also present as they played. While no members of the group displayed an energy like that of David Jorneaux, their set was powerful and captivating in a different way.
By simply swaying back and forth as the music meandered, the band looked as if they were playing shoegaze even though that was certainly not the case. They played tracks that spanned most of their discography, with a definite focus on last years great release, Habitual Levitations. It’s upsetting that the group was only given half an hour for their set, since many of the groups tracks display intricate builds, but they did a great job in the time that they had. Also, if the members weren’t cloaked in smoke and being upstaged by their laser display, it’s very likely that I would have watched the drummer Danny Walker for the entire set. His technical ability is hypnotic, as is the case for most of the drummers that evening.
Next up, and likely the most anticipated act of the night was San Francisco’s Deafheaven, who were receiving yelps from the crowd even before members began to set up on stage. Following the release of last years incredible Sunbather, the crowd was eagerly awaiting the sonic assault that they were about to bring. It comes as no surprise that the bands set focused mainly on last years sophomore release, with only one track of the groups debut, Roads to Judah. It’s well known that Deafheaven have never had the same visual aesthetic as many other black metal outfits, and this was obvious during their set. From the clean-cut look of vocalist George Clarke to the absolute calmness seen in guitarist Kerry McCoy, it seemed as if these guys didn’t want to appeal to typical black-metal fans (oh yeah, Kerry McCoy was wearing a Drake T-Shirt). Regrdless, any black-metal fan would have been hard pressed to deny the sheer power of Deafheaven once they began tracks like “The Pecan Tree”.
Throughout the set, vocalist George Clarke almost acted as a conductor, displaying multiple hand and body movements that went with the bands music. At times he would bury his head in his arms while at other times he would stare directly at the audience with an intensity that was unmatched by any other vocalist that night. It’s obvious that Clarke’s emotional intensity comes from a real place because this energy translated into the audience immediately. Although Deafheaven’s music is often extremely fast and aggressive, guitarist Kerry McCoy managed to stay completely calm among this barrage of noise. By rarely doing more than some head-bobbing, McCoy looked as if he was using no energy during the set. Drummer Daniel Tracy on the other hand, acted as a machine with his driving blast-beats and pounding drums. Much like Intronaut’s set, Deafheaven have such a captivating sound that it is too easy to become lost in it, which is exactly what happened to me for the duration of their 45 minute set.
Finally Raleigh’s Between the Buried and Me began to take the stage, and the crowd could not have been more ready. BTBAM made the interesting decision to play one of their more recent releases, The Parallax II: Future Sequence in its entirety for this set. While this wasn’t an awful idea, I do feel like a mixed set would have been a lot more powerful. It’s tough enough to follow up an act like Deafheaven, but to only play music off of one record seemed to take away from how strong their set could have been. The Parallax II is also one of the groups longest and most ambitious works, combining elements of metal, post-metal, jazz and jazz-fusion among others. Without being seasoned listeners of this record, it’s not likely that audience members were able to even distinguish when one song ended and another began. Yet, BTBAM have garnered such a cult-following at this point that the audience loved it nonetheless.
Vocalist/Keyboardist Tommy Rogers was as energetic as ever and sounded great among his demonous screams and gentle croons, but was hard to compare to the commanding nature of Clarke during Deafheaven’s set prior to theirs. As expected, little movement was seen from guitarists Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring who alternated between polyrhythmic breakdowns, intricate prog-metal and strong guitar solos throughout their set. Strong musicianship has always been present with Between the Buried and Me, and this show at Toronto’s Phoenix Theatre was no different. The crowd came for a packed night of great music, and that is certainly what they received.