KEN Mode and Full of Hell @ The Mansion, Oct. 22, 2013

Oh Tuesday night shows. Your case of the Mondays hasn't worn off yet and Friday is still so far off. Do you really want to be out late? Fuckin right you do! Even when you've just worked 4 straight 12 hour days and you're staring in the face of 4 straight 12 hour night shifts, you grab your concert buddy, lace up your shitkickers and get your ass to the show because it's KEN Mode and Full of Hell! But apparently Kingston did get the memo about dedication because turnout was weak. Ah well, more room for me to throw my body around like a Queen's University Engineering jacket at Homecoming.

 

Local openers In Your House warmed up the uh, crowd with some pretty groovy tunes. They had some more agressive leanings but for the most part they entertained us with some slick riffs and a passion for their music. While their banter was mostly awkward, they did hit the nail on the head when they asked "Is there anyone here NOT in a band? Me, my friend and the one and only Kevin Stewart-Panko raised our hands. That might have been it. Show up early kids.

 

Vera Pearl took to The Mansion's tiny stage next. Last time I saw VP play they were missing some members due to illness and had ex-I Hate Sally/The Chariot bassist Dan Vokey helping out. This time, the band was all there and they were on fire. Kingston's mathmetal mongers had no trouble bending time signatures to their will despite their sparse live performance record. Their guitarist downplayed their performance but from this side of the monitors, shit was tight. Also on this side of the monitors was their vocalist. Barking with hardcore might, he climbed couches and chairs and even got a piggy back. Somebody buy that man some Old Style Pilsner!

 

The lone (all) American band on the bill was Full of Hell. Their latest album, Rudiments of Mutilation, puts hardcore on the rack and stretches its limbs into a distorted nightmare. Their set took the more extreme elements of their sound and thrust them full force into the room. Their set was over far too quickly but when caught in the moment of it, time became irrelevant. The band flayed the skin from our flesh as vocalist Dylan Walker stalked the floor in front of the stage, screaming his challenging and thought-provoking lyrics like his life depended on it. Physically engaged or not, the noise breaks were almost a welcome respite in which to catch a quick breath. And no one needed that more than their drummer. Full of Hell don't play fun music. And Full of Hell don't play with big smile on their faces either. But don't mistake their stoic expressions for disinterest. Rather, their furrowed brows and tight lips are the faces of total immersion and commitment to their art. No doubt the unititiated were left stunned by their dark and twisted hardcore noise. Simply put; they killed it.

 

Headliners. Juno winners. Advocates of Kill Everything Now. Really nice goofballs. KEN Mode. The Winnipeg noisecore giants capped off an evening already worth the $15 admission. It was like overtime. Or rather injury time, as the double-digit assemblage had free reign of the floor for all manner of shenanigans. Leaning heavily on material from their latest masterpiece, Entrench, the brothers Matthewson (Jesse and Shane) and Andrew Lacour shook The Mansion to its foundations with a seriously intense set. The crowd was fully into it as they crashed through frantic highs and crushing lows. Knowing looks passed between concert goers saying "Yeah man. This is awesome." Because it was. Really, it's probably impossible for KEN Mode to put on a bad show. The material is rock solid and these are professionally trained musicians. Crowd pleasers (why does that sound dirty?) like "No; I'm in Control", in which Jesse plays bass as well (two basses!! Ooooooh yeah baby! That's why it sounds dirty), and "Figure Your Life Out" brought things to a fever pitch. But none more so than "Your Heart Warming Story Makes Me Sick". Someone probably pulled some back muscles during the tension and release leading up to the chorus on that one. (ie. Me.)

The concentrated energy of KEN Mode being filtered into a small crowd like that breathes with a different kind of intensity. From the strangers, arms draped across each others shoulders, locked in a chain head bang, to the guy who was just way too into it and you know is gonna have a week-long bangover (me, again), everyone in that room was engaged. Small shows in intimate venues can lead to unforgettable experiences.

If Full of Hell killed it, KEN Mode ground it to dust and put it in the ground. Kingston is getting less and less metal shows and it's a bloody shame. So when you get shows like this one you really appreciate it. In Your House, Vera Pearl, Full of Hell and KEN Mode put on a monster of a show. You shoulda been there, man.

 

Oh, and Shane will not rest until the entire nation refers to Tim Horton's as "T-Whores". So get on it. 

BARN BURNER and guests at The Mansion, Feb. 25, 2012

Some things in life are a given. The oceans will be salty. The government will suck. And Barn Burner will put on a great show. It's natural. It's logical. It's a universal law. In this case, Barn Burner just happened to be headlining. As an added bonus, the three local support acts didn't totally suck. Win-win!

The night's festivities were kicked off by a band called Basalisk. This young band really impressed me. Definitely not a one-dimensional band, they mixed a handful of styles into their songs. I could hear influences ranging from Iron Maiden, to latter-day Mastodon and other proggy outfits. The keyboards were a pleasant surprise. I'm not much for keyboards unless  they're Hammonds and I was worried the Korgs would remind me too much of Dragonforce but that wasn't the case at all. I could put it this way, when I noticed the drummer was wearing a Scale The Summit shirt, I was not in the least surprised. The band gave me a copy of their demo and I look forward to giving it the full treatment in a future KofN post.

 I have to be honest. I don't remember much of Ponderous Chain. Their set coincided with the peak of my 3 tall cans of PBR buzz. I haven't seen them play with a clear head yet. It's not intentional though. The tiny stage at The Mansion can tend to hinder the performance of the band but these guys didn't let it get in the way. However, the somewhat technically precise nature of their music doesn't necessarily lend itself to much in the way of jumping around and such. I originally labelled them "Meshuggah-core". While not entirely inaccurate, it was kind of an off the cuff remark. While not nearly as "djent" as Meshuggah, that "flavour" struck me along with their otherwise melodic deathcore sound. I'd have to hear them again to really figure it out, but I can say, their performances have been improving each time I see them.

As of yet, I have been unable to find any sort of internet presence for Vera Pearl. Thus, I had no idea what to expect. Sometimes that's for the best. You can't be disappointed that way. There would be no chance of disappointment anyway. Vera Pearl floored me. Despite being down a couple regular members and having the venerable Dan Vokey (ex-I Hate Sally, ex-The Chariot) fill in on bass/vocals, they still delivered an extremely energetic and intense show. Math-core, noise-core, whatever you want to call it, it hit me like a cinder block to the face. Complicated arrangements, red-faced screams/bellows/yells, absolutely crushing (on a small kit) drums and a tight, tight performance left nothing to be desired. Except more of it. These guys could do some damage on the Canadian scene alongside KEN Mode and Fuck The Facts. And beyond.

 With what little hearing I had left at this point, it was time to damage some other parts of my body. You guessed it. Bangin' time! Montreal's Barn Burner blew the roof off that place. By my estimate, the turnout was low for a Saturday night. But what may have lacked in numbers, was counter-balanced by enthusiasm. Adequately lubricated by $4.25 tall cans of PBR, the gathering of bangers put on a clinic in "How To Fuck Up Your Neck." But that's typical for a Barn Burner show. Tunes like "Scum of the Earth" and "Holy Smokes" were made for banging your head. The Kingston show was originally supposed to be in support of Priestess (as I assume the rest of the date on the mini-tour were). But from what I hear Priestess is pretty much kaput. Barn Burner decided to press on and as such, turned the string of dates into headlining gigs. Deservedly so. During part of guitarist/vocalist K. Keegan's always entertaining between song banter, he informed the attendees that the last handful of shows all went very well. He said "That's what we call steady giggin'".That would actually sound pretty good as the name of their as yet untitled third album. Bangers III: Steady Giggin' sounds pretty good to me. In fact, Barn Burner played two songs from said (unsaid?) album. The first was untitled and the second was dubbed "No Rest For The WIccan".Both were rip-tacular. Don't you just love the BB play on words? As on other setlist inclusions such as "Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow "(one of my personal faves), "Dark Side of the Barn", and "Brohemoth". Their phenomenal set was bookended by "Earth's Crust" and "Wizard Island". They say "Saturday night's alright for fighting". Not this Saturday night. This Saturday night was alright for banging. I can't think of a better band for a night of beers, bongs, bangin', and the brotherhood of metal camaraderie. All hail the Giggernaut!!

Barn Burner's most recent release, Bangers II: Scum of the Earth is now available on vinyl! Get it here: www.barnburner.bigcartel.com  But, um, save me one will ya? I've been busy.

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