DETHKLOK

LIVE @ THE SOUND ACADEMY 2012

FEATURE EDITORIAL REVIEW

By: Fridae Mattas

Last Wednesday November 7th Dethklok hit Toronto’s Sound Academy for the Metalocalypse fall tour with Machine Head, Black Dahlia Murder and All That Remains. Initially, I wanted to check out and shoot all of the bands but meetings lasted longer than expected and all pf the construction by Union station fucked up the rotation. When I first heard of Dethklok I was more than little confused, were they a cartoon or a band? Well, the answer is both! You can find the bands story on their website here.

I arrived a few tracks into Machine Head’s set, upset that I missed shooting them again, at least this time I was able to see some of the set. They were fantastic, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the stage! The venue was packed yet not sold out, with all the various different people I encountered it came close enough. Such an enormous difference in energies from the show the night before at The Phoenix, this crowd was enjoying themselves and soaking up every second of sound from their favorite metal bands.

I loved all of the guitar solos because they were impeccably well done, the axes were crying with joy and my ears were in absolute guitar heaven, floating on little guitar clouds. Major props to the band for having a moment of silence for Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker. He passed November 1st 2012 from injuries inccured by a motercycle accident on October 31st. What amazed me was the whole Sound Academy went silent for a moment, I have never seen any venue go silent that fast before, good job Toronto! Sady, Mitch was drinking and driving the night of his accident, his extremely bad decision cost him his life. Please be safe everyone, don’t drink and drive, take the bus drink as much as you want, find a cab, ride with a sober friend, there are so many alternatives. The crowd was so into Machine Head, it was fun to watch especially this little Larry who was headbanging hard with his three homies. Cannot wait for Machine Head’s return to Toronto, I hope to be covering them and will arrive extra early, you should catch them on the Metalocalypse tour which is still kicking.

Dethklok hit the stage shortly after Machine Heads’ set wrapped, there were so many photographers at this show I was surprised they allowed that many in the pit. The downfalls were the bright screen behind the band causing them to appear as shadows and way too much fog. In the right places fog can create some amazing stills but on overload it degrades the quality of the photo. I managed a few shots in the three short songs we were allowed to shoot, you can view more photos in the gallery at the end of the review.

The cartoons were funny, the lighting was amazing and the band played well. Vocalist Brendon Small needs to sing with more clarity his enunciation was almost non-existent. I tried so hard to get a clear shot of Drummer Gene Hoglan but couldn’t get the crisp photograph I wanted due to the overwhelming fog. Every set I have covered in the past at this venue has always been too foggy. The rest of the live Dethklok band is Mike Keneally – Guitar, Bryan Beller – Bass/Backup vocals and Pete Griffin on the Bass.

I wanted to be blown away, the conclusion of this show is that Machine Head put on a better performance than the headliners. Completely expecting Dethklok to make a lasting impression I would never forget but that was not the case here. Their fans however couldn’t have disagreed with me more. What can I say, I have been spoiled by covering the best of the best and the only other band I have seen live that had cartoon characters was Hail The Villain. Their previous frontman Brian Crouch puts on a very entertaining set, Crouch has since moved on and formed a new band Six Side Die. They have a different sound than HTV but Bryan is just as entertaining.

Dethklok put on a respectable fourteen track performance playing the soundtrack to the cartoons. Would I hit up another show? Possibly…I love to see how bands improve on their performances and music. The Metalocalypse tour is fun to watch go see for yourself! www.Dethklok.org www.livenation.com