galactic pegasus
Metalcore band Obey the Brave, who released their third album, Mad Season, on June 2nd via Epitaph, performed at The Cobalt in Vancouver last night with support from Australian hardcore act Deez Nuts, Quebec City hardcore band Get the Shot and with local djent act Galactic Pegasus.
Read MoreNovember 25, 2015 - Metalcore has a very peculiar spot in Vancouver. A few weeks back, Parkway Drive played a sold out show at the Rickshaw Theatre - lineups stretching down Vancouver's worst neighbourhood to circle pits spanning the length of the venue. Unfortunately tonight wasn't the case, despite an incredibly low ticket price of $30 for six bands. Top that off with relatively decent marketing for a final tour, it should have been a recipe for success.
When I walked into the venue (expecting it to be relatively busy as it was an all ages show) it was dead. The seats and the balcony were blocked off and at its peak, maybe 150 people filled in the pit near the stage. Despite the poor attendance, the show was beyond heavy, having a greatly appreciated variety of genres be it deathcore to hardcore to technical, progressive metalcore.
To start things off, The Hallowed Catharsis, is often the local opening metal act for Vancouver gigs and to boot, they kick ass too. Sean Ip's explosive energy on stage makes it appear as if he took some industrial strength stimulants and evoked his stage alter-ego. Coupled with such intensity, his humour pokes through with his goofy faces and interactions with the rest of the band - guitarists Kyle Bains and Chris Turner, bassist Nick Savoie and drummer Kevin Emms. I am 110% sure that I will see them again sooner than later, and I encourage everyone to support this local act where there is a wondrous blend of musicianship and stage presence.
A large portion of the audience definitely came for popular local act, Galactic Pegasus. Many thanks to the band for access to the show; they definitely kept the energy flowing in their with their open chord chugging, breakdowns and technical complexity inspired by modern "core" greats such as Northlane and Veil of Maya. Unfortunately it was the last show for drummer Dallas Turner as he has put his main focus on new self proclaimed "electronic metal music" act ev0lution. Fortunately, it was a well done farewell with massive stage presence, particularly from guitarist Andrew Baena, vocalist Andrew Hockley and bassist Johnny Ciardullo.
3rd on the docket was Invent, Animate, hailing from Port Neches, Texas. A relatively new metalcore act, forming in 2012, I feel they have a lot of room to mature and grow as myself, the other photographers and maybe half the crowd wasn't really feeling it. It's difficult being a new band on the scene, especially with your first date in a city when you don't know what kind of energy they're going to bring - which goes back to the beginning of this article, metalcore acts are so hit or miss with the fans of the genre in this city. Hopefully the rest of the tour has been a bit more kind to them than this date was.
To the Wind has been making some more appearances in Vancouver, and I'm seeing their name a lot more as of late - probably due to the close proximity of them being located in Seattle. It was definitely nice and relieving to get a different kind of vibe in the venue with the metal-influenced hardcore genre that they have going on. The last time they opened for Wovenwar and Unearth, they had a lot of fun jumping and spinning around and they kept the audience's energy high.
Reflections is the heaviest thing I've seen in while. 7-string guitars downtuned to drop F with inspirations drawing from After the Burial to Pantera to The Tony Danza Dropdance Extravaganza - pushing them away from the generic sound that has plagued modern metalcore. You can hear influences of djent, deathcore and progressive elements in their sound. Despite virtually no crowd interaction, probably due to everyone's faces being melted off by their thick wall of sound, everyone was mesmerized and constantly in a statis of headbanging. These guys have something going for them and I await their newer releases as the Minnesota band evolve.
And finally, headliners Texas In July took the stage and absolutely slayed it. The band, forming in 2007 while in high school decided to end the life of the band to pursue other musical endeavors. I would have guessed the morale would have been super low with the poor attendance that night, but TIJ didn't disappoint. If anything, they got some fans screaming into the mic, cracked jokes with the crowd and absolutely wrecked with their setlist which was riddled with fan favourites. An explosive show, particularly coming from vocalist JT, I'm sad that they chose to have their final tour so quickly after 8 years but I'm glad that they did on a good note.
Setlists
Unfortunately none for The Hallowed Catharsis or Galactic Pegasus
Invent, Animate
To The Wind
Reflections
Texas In July
June 9th, 2015 - For those who don't already know, I have been added as a contributor to Not Your Scene Magazine and shot my first show for them! The lineup consisted of metal acts Veil of Maya, Revocation, Gift Giver, Galactic Pegasus and The Hallowed Catharsis. Unfortunately Entheos was held at the border and wasn't able to pass through. Also interesting to note is that this is the first all ages show at the RIckshaw in the last few years, which made for a surprisingly tame and safe environment despite all the moshing (no alcohol was served).
Anyway, to begin, the first act The Hallowed Catharsis is a local band which implements a fusion of metalcore, deathcore, technical death and thrash metal into their mix. The instrumentals themselves were pretty typical of metal, but Sean Ip's energy was off the wall. Between his brutal growls and screams, his stage presence was massive. Despite being the smallest band on the tour, they definitely held their own and got the crowd moving around quite a bit. I'm definitely looking forward to see this band grow and mature, as they're still in their beginning years. You can check out their latest EP, Organic Entrenchment here.
The next band on the list, Galactic Pegasus, is another local talent, hailing from Surrey, BC and are heavily influenced by djent in their style of metal. Djent, in itself is a newer spinoff of traditional heavy metal which focuses on low tuned, high-gain and palm muting typically employed by bands such as Meshuggah and Periphery. Their performance in itself was a lot of fun, with all the bandmates having a fun sense of humour, performing satire of other recent metal trends such as the "crab walk" or super heavy breakdowns. GP was definitely the most exciting band of the night, performance wise. Their music may be hit or miss for most metal fans, but it is one of the most fun I've seen. You can catch their latest EP, Pariah, here.
Next up on the list was Gift Giver, a tech/nu-metal act from Detroit, Michigan. I know half of you are shaking your head when I write nu-metal, but these guys' act was intense. You can feel the grittiness and hip-hop stemming from their Detroit roots, emanating raw energy and aggression. To promote their latest album, they all donned "Shitlife" jerseys, a giant fuck-you to the mainstream and fitting a "metal look." You can catch Shitlife on their website here.
Next up was Revocation, a tech-death/thrash band hailing from Boston, Massachusetts. Probably the most technical of the bunch but was also probably the least showy. Trying to run around, sing, shred all at once sounds like a nightmare! Regardless, the fretwork, harmonies, drumming and technicality of the music overall (e.g. irregular time signatures) definitely deserves some respect. They'll definitely be playing on my speakers for the next little while.
Last but not least are the headliners, Veil of Maya of Chicago, Illinois. VoM is a powerhouse in the deathcore scene and a contributor to the djent movement. The Matriarch tour is to feature their latest album that dropped on May 12, 2015 and features more of a metalcore sound which caused some controversy with die-hard fans, notably their clean vocals. The album itself was produced, mixed and mastered by From First to Last's Taylor Larson. Conceptually, the album is a fun theme as all the songs are based off prominent female characters from popular culture (such as Daenerys from Game of Thrones and Aeris from Final Fantasy 7). Although Matriarch itself is a clean and solid record, those who loved VoM's deathcore roots may not enjoy it. The performance itself was a lot of fun, and the crowd was definitely riled up with circle pits, moshing and crowd surfing. In conclusion, they're definitely a watch for any metal fans.
Unfortunately, I don't have any set-lists, but here is the gearlist:
- Nikon D610 with 24-70 2.8
- Nikon D7000 with 10.5 2.8 fisheye and 70-200 2.8
