By Glen Ess (The Cascade) – Email
Heavy metal is one hell of a genre, with dozens upon dozens of sub-genres ranging from sludge metal like Morbrus Chron, to black metal like Deafheaven, to death metal like Behemoth. Get two metalheads in a room and ask them if band X is one sub-genre or another — occasionally these discussions can get out of hand, but the one thing that any metalhead can agree on is that metal is fucking awesome.
Last Friday I got to see three bands at Brother’s Bowling downtown, and they were each representative of a different style of metal. The fifth volume in Abbotsford’s “Metal Coalition,” the night saw NeverAnother, Obsidian, and Iron Kingdom take the stage and blow everyone away.
NeverAnother started the night off, and they carried with them a sense of metal’s late-‘90s form. With a liberal dose of punk rock and a splash of classic rock, NeverAnother combined their more intense moments with soft bridges that were reminiscent of classic bands like Boston, picking out some sweet, dulcet tones on their guitars before launching back into their grinding, wailing choruses. Thanks to frontman Rick Lemperes’ staccato singing style, the band interspersed more brutal moments with sounds that were seemingly inspired by bands such as Kansas and Journey.
Up next was Obsidian, featuring Abbotsfordian Daniel Clark on guitar and backup vocals. I would personally classify Obsidian as a melodic death metal band, but there’s no doubt that some more knowledgeable metalhead will correct me on that count.
There’s no question that Obsidian were the best kind of loud — drummer Steven Stass alone was deafening, and every pound of his kick-drum saw drinks quivering, like the T-Rex’s introduction scene in the original Jurassic Park. It was a miracle that the other instruments could be heard, never mind the vocals.
The equipment must have been close to burning out, but that didn’t stop lead singer and guitarist Jason Campbell from asking for more volume. And believe me, it was worth it. Campbell, Clark, and bassist Aurelia Falaize constantly switched positions — even though the stage was on the smaller size, they were always on the move. It was a far more aggressive sound than NeverAnother, with almost no breaks of softer, more laid-back instrumentation. It was the kind of metal that I enjoy listening to — the kind that feels like a solid wall of sound smacking you in the face over and over again.
While that style of metal is by far my favourite, I was blown away by the third band, Iron Kingdom. While they were setting up, it quickly dawned on me that the night’s final act would be the most theatrical of them all. They brought additional lights and set up a banner behind their drummer, Joey Paul. They wore studded leather vests and bullet belts, and lead singer and guitarist Chris Osterman wore what can only be described as a the outfit of an ‘80s hair metal fetishist’s outfit. I just knew they’d be a mix of the old-school first wave of metal — the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Black Sabbath — but I also had a feeling that, as they were the youngest band on display, they’d also carry a heavy dose of today’s metal.
I was right.
From the first note it was clear Iron Kingdom carried similarities to Iron Maiden, but they just as easily shared characteristics with modern-day power-metal bands like Blind Guardian. Osterman carried the performance with a display of technical skill that stood head and shoulders above the rest of the night’s performers. From his warbling falsetto, which wouldn’t have stood out of place in an Ozzy Osbourne song, to his confident shredding on his guitar, Osterman was like some unholy bastard child of Buckethead’s guitar-playing and Rob Halford’s singing.
