I’ve never been to the Turbo Haus since it moved to a new place before tonight even though they already booked a lot of interesting gigs but I couldn’t miss Cult Leader, Kennedy, Dark Circles & Basalte. It’s a special venue and it’s perfect to host this kind of extreme music evening.
Basalte has been playing a lot of gigs recently and it’s really starting to pay off. This one was their first show as a quartet since they now have a bassist in their ranks. While he wasn’t loud enough in my opinion, he’s definitely helping the young band evolve and he’s giving them the necessary background sound they needed. While the only metal band on the bill, Basalte do have some ties to other genres a such as crust (their 2nd song of the evening, «Acouphène» had an awesome crust part) or post rock. They mix plenty of stuff into their atmospheric black metal sound but it remains cohesive and that’s a feat worth the praise. They usually fill the room with their smoke machine but this time, they decided to play without any lights or spots on them and to only use red lights on the floor. This gave a very ethereal feel and an almost warm ambiance to the already intimate venue. The alternance between moments of incisive might and lush darkness comes natural to this band and this is a proof of the maturity. Stay tuned for their upcoming second album, it will be quite something.
Songs played: «Éclat de verre» and «Acouphène»
Crédit Photo: Antoine Richard
Dark Circles is probably the best hardcore band in Montréal and I wanted to see them again since they played with Nails, Xibalba and Early Graves back in 2013. Their super dark (duh?) hardcore sound augmented by metallic crust, d-beat, grind. While not violently active on stage, they give their 100% in the way they handle their instruments and a slight black metal feel is crushing the opposition. Their twin guitar attack is devastating and punishing and with Thunderbird bass in the middle ties everything together. Their music is exhausting but I’d take another 30 minutes of it, it’s visceral and makes you feel victorious. I need to see these guys as headliners!
Crédit Photo: Turbo Haus
Kennedy was a band some friends of mine were praising but I had to see them live and I decided not to check their music before the gig, it’s always fun to discover a band that way. I wasn’t disappointed at all. While quite heavy, they’re not in the same crust or grind spectrum as Dark Circles, they’re more into screamo and a bit more melodic. The singer is quite insane (in a good way, I guess?) and is intense as hell, he was doing his thing among the crowd and it was entertaining to watch. Despite the political and social issue thematic of the band, they’re fun and a bit less serious than the three other bands on the bill. Perhaps not my favorite sort of hardcore but they were catchy and full of energy. Check out their debut album «The Guilty Poor», it rips.
Crédit Photo: Antoine Richard
Salt Lake City’s Cult Leader were in Montréal back in March but they decided to visit us again for another gig as part of an extensive North American tour and I couldn’t be happier. Unfortunately, I wasn’t familiar with the band back then but the recently released «Lightless Walk» (critically acclaimed and rightfully so) made me a fan and it’s definitely one of the best albums of 2015. The quartet featuring three ex members of the band Gaza (a project that was disbanded after rape allegations were made against their singer who’s not part of this new band) evolved into something different. Gone is the mathcore/prog grind basis of the former project, it’s now a mix of hardcore, grind with some post metal elements and will appeal to the crowd who digs the metallic d-beat scene (think of Nails). They sadly didn’t play the slower tracks from their full length like the title track or «A Good Life» but their set was still very good. I assume they didn’t play them because it would had been detrimental to the intensity and the vicious attack they’re giving to the crowd night after night. Anthony Lucero (the former bassist of Gaza, now handling the frontman duty) is tremendous in his subtle but engaging presence and the rhythm section is thunderous and proficient. Songs like the groovy «Sympathetic», the final track of their set, were super damn good metallic hardcore and the 40 minutes or so gig had no weak moments whatsoever.
Crédit Photo: Antoine Richard
Thanks to Extensive Enterprise and Turbo Haus for this cool evening, it’s always appreciated when gigs start on time and don’t end at 2 am!
Antoine Richard
