Heavy TO 2012 in review

My thoughts on Heavy TO 2.0 (not necessarily in any particular order):

1. So much mud! I've been lucky never running into a waterlogged festival until now. Lots of people seemed to take the sea of mud at Downsview Park in stride or even revel in it. I couldn't. I was still able to enjoy of the bands, but my distaste for tromping through the mud meant I didn't get much of the 'fest' experience this year. I did appreciate the efforts to soak up the mud with wood chips and the dry gravelled area near and between the stages.

2. Traffic sucks. I know this isn't a revelation, but between crappy highway traffic and lack or/mixed info on media parking we missed all of Cancer Bats plus the beginning of Overkill's set. I was not pleased. What I did see of Overkill was awesome though.

3. I still find Cannibal Corpse boring. In complete contrast, Dillinger Escape Plan live are almost unbelievably entertaining.

4. Killswitch Engage are catchy and talented but silly looking and their lead guitarist is obnoxious.

5. Kataklysm may be the heaviest live band on the planet.

6. Suicidal Tendencies are still pretty awesome, even if it's barely the same band I remember, but my teenage self loved them better.

7. Gojira are really really good, but better live than on record, I think.

8. Swedes have amusing senses of humour. I wish In Flames still played their older stuff, but they're lots of fun to see even now.

9. The best bands (in my opinion, anyway) are some of the least appreciated - as in short sets scheduled early in the day.

Marilyn Manson

10. The Deftones were heavier than I expected.

11. Good to see complex bands pulling that complexity off live (DEP, BTBAM, Periphery...).

12. Fleshgod Apocalypse were great but seemed a little out of place. Very glad I made it in time to see them.

Pretty much everything else I have to say is here at Exclaim, with some awesome shots by Adam Wills:
http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/HeavyTO

summer metal festing (Heavy TO and more)

Now that we're half way through June I'm starting to look ahead to my summer concert plans a bit more seriously. This year I'll be staying fairly close to home, but just in southern Ontario there's more coming up than I can possibly make it out to. Here's a rundown of some of the shows I'm considering or recommend.

I already mentioned this one - this weekend, Invasion Infernale Fest 2012, a two-day black/viking metal festival here in Hamilton. It takes place at The Doors (tonight) and The Corktown (tomorrow).

Though there are some more worthy events planned in June, I might save myself (and my money) until July 2, when The Scorpions hit Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto. If I don't see these guys before they retire my life will be incomplete.

The next couple of weekends look to be a busy one. 3 Inches of Blood are scheduled to play the Casbah in Hamilton on July 5. Plus there's a memorial event at the Opera House in Toronto for fallen metal warrior Rob Cranny on July 7.

Friday the 13th is Iron Maiden day in Toronto, another Molson Amphitheatre show, and they're dragging Alice Cooper along to Sarnia the day after for Bayfest. That same night Shockwave Festival, featuring Voivod and Fear Factory rolls into Toronto, swinging back around to Buffalo the following week (July 21).

Agalloch with Taurus and Muskox hit Toronto on July 23 - a highlight of Inertia Entertainment's strong summer line-up.

And it looks like our local metal festing culminates in August.

• Heavy TO: Last year was a blast and this year's line-up looks to be even more diverse. Never having seen Marilyn Manson or Slipknot, I'm hoping for memorable spectacles from both. Plus I feel a little warm and fuzzy about seeing old favourites like Overkill and Suicidal Tendencies. And I'm definitely looking forward to the bombastic onslaught of Fleshgod Apocalypse (or, as I prefer to call them, Fleshgods of the Apocalypse) and a host of other bands.

• I've never been, but Southern Ontario Metal Festival looks to have some cool bands lined up, including Blackguard and Unexpect.

• And August comes to a close with D-TRASH fest 2012 at the Cave, part of the wind-up to the release of a brand new Schizoid album. (more to come on that in future posts)

 Looks like I might have to stock up on vegan protein balls or something to power me through!
 

paganfest 2: 2009 (nearly six months late)

I wrote this concert review ages ago for exclaim!, but they never ended up using it. So here it is, months after the fact, whatever that's worth:

Paganfest 2: Korpiklaani / Primordial / Moonsorrow / Blackguard / Swashbuckle

Opera House, Toronto ON

April 28, 2009

Local excitement leading up to a concert doesn't always translate to a high-energy or well-attended event, but the second Paganfest tour had the Opera House swarming with metal fans who like a little folk with their metal. Headliners Korpiklaani are touring on the strength of last year's album with their second for Nuclear Blast soon to hit. Turns out one major record and a lesser known back catalogue was enough to inspire "dancing" and chanting, the band's spirited performance ending the night on an upbeat. Accordion, fiddle, and deer skull with antlers provided the backwoods atmosphere while Korpiklaani delivered a cheery brand of metal tinged with Finnish traditional sounds.

Also representing Finland, Moonsorrow's contribution was less jolly but still strongly rooted in folk traditions. The band wasn't at their best, following up a recent Toronto appearance with one less guitarist (and some related sound issues), but they put their shorter time slot to good use, reinventing themselves as a quartet for an already packed venue.

The Finns' sets bracketted the much more fierce and serious performance by Irish metallers Primordial, drawing on material from their latest albums for the band's first show in Canada. Invoking ties linking Toronto to Ireland through references to famine and death, Primordial were predictably grim (the mavericks of the tour in this respect) but amazingly together, living up to every expectation their recorded music has established. The crowd sounded utterly and passionately convinced, hopefully enough to lure the band back onto Ontario soil soon.

Primordial and Korpiklaani owned the night, but the festivities actually began much earlier with the amusingly pirate-themed Swashbuckle, followed by Canadian heathens Blackguard (formerly Profugus Mortis) supporting their Nuclear Blast debut - both overshadowed but Blackguard, especially, a good choice for the tour and one more draw for the early Tuesday night horde.

By Laura Wiebe Taylor

holiday tidbits

Did you know there's a vegetarian food bank? I just found out today - courtesy of Niagara Action for Animals. The Ontario Vegetarian Food Bank has two locations in Toronto, providing food aid for vegetarians of various spiritual, ethical, and health-conscious persuasions, and meat eaters as well. From their website:

The Ontario Vegetarian Food Bank (OVFB) is the only one of its kind in North America and was officially opened on May 11th, 2008. We provide fresh fruits and vegetables along with “vegetarian friendly” non-perishable food items to our clients. Along with these foods, we also provide counselling and referrals to other social services in the GTA.

Volunteer or make a donation if you want to help out.

And if it's the animals you're partial to helping... drop by the Savage Garden (Toronto) for a charity fashion event featuring by To Die for Designs, Cinched Tight, Cyberdog, Lip Service, and Vexy. DJs Razorgrrl, Panzer Glamour, and Pale provide the soundtrack and all proceeds go to Haven of the Heart, WSPA and Soar. It all starts 9pm on Boxing Day.