Sounds Of The Underground A Logistical Nightmare

Kool Haus/The Government

Toronto, ON

on Jul 11 2006

Andre Mihsin (CHARTattack)

07/13/2006 5:30pm

The inaugural Sounds Of The Underground stop in the Toronto area was held at Arrow Hall last summer. While the airplane hanger isn't the best place to see a show, it catered well to the tour's unique festival-like demands. The venue had enough space for merchandise booths for the 20-or-so bands and the unpredictably large crowd, that started out with as a couple hundred people and swelled to near capacity by the time Lamb Of God played their headlining set.

This year's show was scheduled to be a general admission affair at the Molson Amphitheatre, which had a lot of people scratching their heads at the logistics. However, the show was moved to the Kool Haus and the Guvernment. That seemed like a good idea at first.

Bands alternated between the Kool Haus main stage and the significantly smaller Guvernment second stage. The fishbowl lounge at the top of the Guvernment was used for meet-and-greets and some of the merch booths. The rest of the booths were in a small room dividing the two clubs. So, unlike last year, where you could easily navigate yourself in one large room and go to meet-and-greets or just hang out at the booths without missing the action, this time everything had to be planned. With so much overlap, it was impossible to see everything.

The first act I saw were HORSE. They were a kind of goofy screamo group with a keyboardist in the centre of the stage. He was such nerd, he made Rammstein keyboardist Flake Lorenz look like James Bond.

Polish death metal powerhouse Behemoth came on at about 3:40 p.m. and quickly stole the whole show. The band exploded on stage with their brutal yet technically superior sound, all the while thrashing their heads in unison at breakneck speed. Behemoth mastermind Nergal isn't just the most charismatic frontman in all of extreme metal, he could be the best frontman period. Throughout the band's 20-minute set, he won over the crowd with his showmanship during and in-between songs like "Demigod," the title track to Behemoth's latest critically acclaimed opus. It was funny to see such a hardcore death/black metal band show off a little cock rock swagger when Nergal professed that the band came to Canada to "fuck your girlfriends and drink your booze" before launching into a blistering rendition of "Conquer All." They were easily the best band on the bill.

After Behemoth's set, newly converted fans stormed their merch booth. This presented a bit of an issue as people struggled to fit through the door to get into the divide between stages where the Behemoth booth was located. With the venue not at full capacity, however, it wasn't a huge problem. Not yet anyway.

Next up were Cannibal Corpse. The death metal veterans blazed through a seemingly short set filled with pulverizing riffs and signature guttural vocals from George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher. He even dedicated a song to all the ladies in the audience, bringing a smile to their faces. Much to their chagrin, the song was "Fucked With A Knife." I left their set early so I could secure a spot for Gwar, and it was a good thing I did. The Cannibal Corpse set on the Kool Haus stage was packed and, after it was done, people rushed the doors to the Guvernment. Not only was it impossible to get through the doors, but security stopped letting people in, causing hundreds of pissed-off fans to miss the Gwar set entirely.

They had every right to be upset because they missed Pope Benedict being sodomized, a paraplegic fan being ripped apart and the now mandatory beheading of George Dubya. The folks stuck in the other room also didn't get to be shot with blood from cannons or sprayed with singer Oderus Urungus' cum. In between the theatrics, there was some heavy metal, including a cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out." The soaked fans moved back to the Kool Haus, where the evening finished with Trivium, In Flames and As I Lay Dying.

Trivium are one of those bands who make me feel old, first because they're younger than me, and second because I don't really understand their appeal. It's kind of like when I was into Korn when I was 13 and the 24 year olds at that time couldn't understand why. Regardless, the fans in attendance loved the group's set, which included "Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr" and a cover of "Master Of Puppets." It was also awfully loud, to the point of pure buzzing and distortion. I guess I really am getting old.

Aside from Gwar, none of the bands had any kind of banners or special sets on stage, so the bright light arrangement that illuminated the darkness of the Kool Haus before In Flames hit the stage definitely broke the monotony and added flavour to the event. The Swedish melodic death metal pioneers sold out the Kool Haus early in the year, so the fact that the entire venue was at the command of singer Anders Friden was unsurprising. During fan fave "Trigger," he pointed at each side of the venue and said, "Behold, nobody standing," prompting the entire floor to explode with flailing bodies. During "Come Clarity," the title track from their latest album, fans were ordered to clap along. If any hands came down, Friden would authoritatively whisper, "I never said stop clapping," and all hands would rise again. They finished with "Take This Life" and proved that, while some have criticized their latest work, In Flames are still a force to be reckoned with live.

Headliners As I Lay Dying had a lot of energy, with all the members jumping on and off steps set up onstage. They also executed some pummelling breakdowns that whipped the pit into a frenzy. They opened with "Confined" and, honestly, could have played that song 10 times in a row and it wouldn't have made a difference. I hate to use the "all their shit sounds the same" argument, but since they have no distinguishable qualities, you can't tell these guys apart from the slew of metalcore groups out there. If you count this show, AILD have come to Toronto three times on three major tours in less than a year in either the headlining slot or as direct support. Why they've become so big is beyond me. Maybe I was just tired after running around the Kool Haus for nine hours. All in all, though, SOTU once again delivered a diverse group of bands and gave fans the opportunity to meet them and buy well-priced merch. The tour is solidly on its way to becoming North America's premier heavy metal festival.

To check out some of Nikki Omerod's fantastic photos from the Sounds Of The Underground Tour concert participants, click on one of the following galleries: Trivium, In Flames and Gwar.