Mastodon (photo: Kieron Yates)
By Kieron Yates
As Montreal’s climate cools and the chill of winter begins to seep in, some of the hottest names on the metal circuit – Kvelerkak, Gojira, and Mastodon - came to town to play Metropolis.
Norway’s Kvelertak may not be a household name yet, but like Gojira, they are a band with drive that will someday soon be a name on the tongues of many heavy music fans the globe over.
Kvelertak mainly played songs off of their self-titled debut, in addition to three tracks off of their sophomore record, Meir.
Beginning with an intro piece where vocalist Erlend Hjelvik sported a rather fetching taxidermy owl upon his head and face, as is always the case, removing it in time to spit out the lyrics to “Bruane Brenn” and “Mjod,” which was used in the film The Troll Hunter. Their melodious tunes are catchy and remain firmly planted in your mind days after hearing them. This is a band built for success and will one day soon be playing headline gigs across North America. This is the band‘s third visit to Montreal since the release of their second album in 2013.
By the time Gojira took the stage, the building had filled up to capacity or thereabouts. Kicking off with “Ocean Planet,” which incidentally is a reoccurring theme in their music and lives, being supporters of the Sea Sheppard Society. They are as tight live as they are on record, and just as ferocious, too. They played “The Axe” off their best known album, L’Enfant Sauvage and the reaction to the song was astounding. The rest of their set coming from the two previous albums and including “The Heaviest Matter Of The Universe” and “Toxic Garbage Island” before ending off with a medley of “L’Enfant Sauvage” and “Vacuity.”
Mastodon (photo: Kieron Yates)
Then came the mighty Mastodon with a mammoth set. Starting amide the green glow of the stage lighting with “Tread Lightly” and “Once More ‘Round The Sun,” the first two tracks off their latest record. Next came “Blasteroid” and “The Motherload” from the new record, and it had thousands of people screaming “This time! This time” along with them. Seems I am not alone in my admiration for the new record as each and every track off of Once More ‘Round The Sun was met with cheer and applause. The final three songs on the night would be the thunderous “Megalodon,” followed by “Crystal Skull” and finally the vicious “Blood And Thunder.”
While people screamed for an encore, the band instead had “Pendulous Skin” play over the PA in memory to the keyboardist that played on the track, The Mars Volta’s Isaiah Owens, who passed away just days prior to the show while on tour with Jack White in Mexico.
The musicianship in this band is mesmerizing and haunting all at once, but Mastodon never seemed to fully emulate their incredible studio sound on stage. That’s not to say they aren’t great live, there was just something amiss.
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