All-Ages Auditory Assault at The Den

It was an onslaught of thrash, hardcore, folk and death metal at The Den in Calgary on April 25, courtesy of Scarab Productions. The all-ages event kicked off at 6 p.m. and attendees were treated to a variety of sounds from an all-Calgarian line-up. Seven bands hit the stage, including newcomers Moradin and Thrashomatic, Akakor, Norrath, Epi-Demic, and veterans Kilyakai – who have, until recently been tied up in the studio putting the finishing touches on their full-length debut album – and Exit Strategy, who made their own debut with new vocalist, Therese Lanz. Each band had 30 minutes to shred through their best material, and with only 15 minute set changeovers, there wasn’t a dull moment. - Porosky

Gojira and Car Bomb Shred to Impress

May 2009 marked the beginning of Gojira’s first North American headlining tour and, on May 16, Calgary fans were able to experience the French death metallers in an intimate atmosphere at The Warehouse. Georgia metalcore band The Chariot were scheduled to open the show, but a broken down trailer en route to Calgary meant a shorter evening and mathcore metallers Car Bomb – who impressed the audience with their technical diversity – taking point. French headliners Gojira were perfectly heavy. Jean-Michel Labadie was a character to watch and energy emanated off the sneering bass player throughout the quartet’s set, while Mario Duplantier’s double beats and consistent precision drove the pit and kept the front line headbanging. After their final song, “The Way of the Flesh,” and a single encore at the crowd’s encouragement, the guys came off stage and went straight to the barrier to thank fans and shake hands. - Deviat

Testament True to Form

There was a lot of buzz around Alberta before Testament unleashed their blistering brand of thrash at the MacEwan Ballroom May 6. And after their all too short 30-minute set at Monsters of Rock last summer, there were a lot of fans across Alberta awaiting the band’s return as headliner. As the crowd chanted “Tes-ta-ment,” a low rumbling could be heard followed by Thin Lizzy’s “(The Boys Are Back In Town” crashing through the Ballroom’s speakers. Indeed, the boys were back and ready to rock. One-by-one, the “boys” found their places on stage, each met by thunderous catcalls, applause, and horns-a-plenty.

Wisconsin’s Lazarus A.D. opened with a 30-minute set, performing songs from their self-produced debut “The Onslaught,” recently released across Alberta and beyond by Metal Blade Records. Unearth was charismatic, as usual. Starting with one of the guitarists noodling out a highly distorted “Bird Dance” from backstage, to the interesting selection of announcing their presence on stage with the first couple verses of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” this is one band who never fails to surprise or entertain. – Porosky

Pagans, Pirates and Polka, Oh My!

New Jersey pirates Swashbuckle set the sail for a night of folk metal revelry when they invaded MacEwan Ballroom for PaganFest II. The three-piece wowed the crowed with some decent thrash, but probably inspired more curiosity than anything with their inflatable palm trees and pirate ship. We stormed Swashbuckle’s dressing room after their set and heard all about their “seriousness.” Blackguard could be heard from down the hall and, though not as colourful, fans of the band were satisfied. Everyone else was taken in when Swashbuckle laid siege to the Montreal band’s set and drummer Captain Crashride dove off stage and into the crowd.

“They made it better,” admitted Blackguard vocalist Paul Ablaze. “We were dying out there until they walked up and then everyone started cheering.”

Moonsorrow made their North American debut and the audience stood in awe for just about the entire time the Finnish heathen metallers performed. Just when it seemed things couldn’t get better, Primordial arrived and absolutely slayed. You have not heard the Irish death metallers until you’ve heard them live. It’s easy to imagine vocalist Alan “Nemtheanga” Averill and his crew as a tough act to follow, but if anyone can pull that off, it’s party-time songsters Korpiklaani. It doesn’t matter if they’re singing about beer or playing metal your grandma would polka too. It’s folk, it’s fun and it’s fab. And you can just see it on their faces, which makes that much better. - Porosky