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- BENEATH THE MASSACRE-CARNIFEX-BLIND WITNESS-THE LAST FELONY-BEYOND WITHIN-THE KILLING FIELD -
DATE:Sunday March 8th 2009
LOCATION: The Serbian Centre - Sudbury, Ontario Canada
Review by: Matt Southern
It’s been a long five months for Sudbury metalheads since a metal show has been booked in our quiet mining town. The wait has been tough by anyone’s standards, but needless to say the crowd was hot with anticipation from the moment they walked through the door. They were all more than ready to see Beneath the Massacre tear up the stage with support from Carnifex, but first they were to be treated to a myriad of crushing openers.
The Killing Field from North Bay took the stage to begin the night. The vocalist had come down with a sore throat that rendered him unable to use the mic, so instead the story was told through their instruments. The lack of vocals allowed their seasoned technical ability to shine through even more than usual as the crowd hung on to every note. This wasn’t a band that brought mosh pits, but the audience certainly enjoyed banging their heads while watching the unorthodox playing style of this talented North Bay band. The Killing Field helped set the tone for the rest of the evening and fired up the crowd even more.
Sudbury metal veterans Beyond Within were next to take the stage and made their presence known immediately. The five month wait must have gotten to these guys as well as they played with unrivaled intensity as if they were letting out the months of pent up anticipation. The same could be said for the crowd as they passionately headbanged and broke out into mosh pits at any chance they got. Beyond Within added a number of new tracks to their arsenal, all of which were noticeably heavier than their previous offerings and the crowd ate them up. In an effort to keep the fans happy they also played several favorites off their Eternal Pestilence album. I personally love the old stuff as much as anyone, but I would have been just as happy to see an entire set of new material because it’s just that good.
The Last Felony from Montreal took the stage to mixed reactions from the crowd. They never quite found their bearings and the crowd never quite knew how to respond to what was in front of them. There’s no argument that The Last Felony is one hell of a heavy band, but hailing from a town that has a reputation for its metal bands having distinctly unique sounds I would also argue that ‘Felony brings nothing new to the table. Their efforts to get the crowd involved were met with minimal success. Maybe I’m looking at it differently than others who were in the crowd that night, but I felt The Last Felony was good but not great, and did little to add to the excitement of the crowd.
Blind Witness, also from Montreal, took the stage with many familiar faces in the audience. They are no strangers to Sudbury; having played here numerous times and developing an impressive following. They’ve never failed to illicit excitement amongst the crowd and this time was no exception. Every time they play here they sound heavier and each time they introduce something new. The vocalist opted out of singing the clean choruses of the older songs and instead left that up to the devote fans in the audience who knew every word. The new songs were punishing and left a good impression of what the new album might sound like. It was finally time, and we were all ready for the two headlining bands of the night.
Carnifex from San Diego, California took the stage as everyone rushed to get a prime spot to watch what was the favorite band of many people in the audience. As soon as they started playing, bodies started flying. Mosh pits broke out anywhere and everywhere and there was a seemingly endless stream of bodies flying off the stage and into the waiting arms of crowd as they body surfed while Carnifex tore the place down as only they could. Playing a healthy mix of old songs and new songs, there was not a disappointed fan to be found. To top everything off they played the song that everyone was dying to hear, ‘Lie to My Face’ which was the first single off of their first album. After destroying us with song after song, the fans still clamored for an encore but unfortunately time did not permit them to play one. I’d be just as pleased as everyone else in the audience if Carnifex made their way through Sudbury again in the future.
Montreal metal maniacs Beneath the Massacre took the stage to appease the masses that had been eagerly waiting all night to see them. From start to finish, these guys were simply unstoppable, playing an unrelenting setlist comprised of songs from all albums that sounded as good as studio quality with every strange time signature and skipped beat nailed with perfection (kudos to the fantastic sound crew for doing a great job all evening). The bodies were flying once again as BTM systematically dismantled all of our senses in an impressive display of intensity that won’t soon be forgotten. Heads were banging and horns rose to the sky all the way until the conclusion of one of the finest metal shows to hit Sudbury in quite some time. Beneath the Massacre are always welcome here in Sudbury and it probably won’t be too long before they come through here again… but until then there is the No Offense Festival to look forward to.
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