Sunday 23 March 2014

LIVE REVIEW: Dopethrone, Zaum, Greys & Mountain Dust @Turbo Haus, March 22nd 2014

Spring supposedly arrived one day prior to this gig but the weather in Montréal didn't seemed to notice as it was snowing and it was still pretty cold. It was my first time at this Turbo Haus venue and it was quite enjoyable even if I was on my own for the evening. This nice place is located near the Bell Centre, home of the Montréal Canadiens, the best hockey team ever. The location is kind of secretive, I knew the address but turns out the building is huge and has many rooms, mostly rehearsal spaces. I've encountered a dude who told me the door number for this haus. The gig was supposed to start at 20:00 but the promoters were waiting for the second band to show up so it started a bit late.

The venue was very nice, the white walls are all richly decorated with esoterical and weird black drawings and it has a small bar with cheap beer. The crowd was good, maybe 80/100 people .
Turbo Haus on Facebook


At around 21:00, Mountain Dust started their set, all dressed in checkered shirts, these English dudes from Montréal are playing a pleasing sort of stoner rock with vintage and blues influences. Heavy on the organ and lap slide guitar, their bass was also quite loud. The guitar wasn't as present as much hence their affiliation to rock instead of metal even though it's still heavier live than on their sole studio recording I've found. They had some vocals isues but the venue is to blame for that, the singer had a nice southern, garage approach fitting their sound. Pretty cool band, I'll be waiting for their debut full length. I think the slide guitar and keyboard approach of the band is refreshing, I rarely think it's a good thing for the keys to be the focus of the music but for Mountain Dust, it works.

Mountain Dust on Facebook
7,5 on 10


The second band were Greys from Toronto, never heard of them before and I didn't do any research before the gig since it's fun to have surprises sometimes. After a trek in the US including some gigs at the popular South by Southwest festival in Texas, they were back in their own country. The four guys all look like clean cut kids straight from a nice suburbia but their music isn't bad, it's simply not a band that fits on this bill. They play some sort of fast, heavy, noisy post hardcore with good hooks. Their vocals were underwhelming though, a mix of classic emo screams and punk rock, they were a bit weak. They were ok, I guess, it's not a genre I'm interested in besides At the Drive-In. They'll release their debut album this summer if you're interested in that kind of music. I think gigs with three bands are the best ones, they were the one that wasn't needed for this evening.

Greys on Facebook

6/10

I know someone linked to the Swedish label I Hate records and he really wanted me to see Zaum, a band from Moncton, New Brunswick that the label recently signed and report how good was their show before the band trek the European continent with Ocean Chief. Simply by looking at the two dudes, you know it's gonna be heavy as fuck. The bassist/singer Kyle McDonald would automatically be a dwarf if we were doing some LARPing, he has a thick body and the enormous beard to go with it. The drummer, Chris Lewis looks like a bald viking ready to destroy two or three Christian abbeys.


Their stage setup was quite extraordinary and considering it was only their third gig ever, they already know how to truly move the crowd. They had a smoke machine, some lights (mostly red) and at least ten candles with their nice logo printed on them placed everywhere on the stage. They played three songs (their upcoming album has 4) and their set was around forty minutes. It was very atmospheric with a dreamy ambiance. I liked how the drummer was facing the bassist/vocalist, there's no need for guitars, suckers! Their sound is some sort of doom/stoner deeply inspired by Om, that's cool since it's a band whose music is rarely influencing newcomers. Zaum is heavier than Al Cisneros' band though, their bass licks are dirtier and there's a mix of harsh and clean vocals. Very good band and the crowd liked the performance.


8,5 on 10
Zaum on Facebook


Dopethrone closed the evening with their nasty sort of doom/stoner metal. They played many songs from this album like "Devil's Dandruff". Their mix of sludgey Eyehategod influences plus Electric Wizard heavy doom riffs is enjoyable albeit a bit samey after around forty minutes. Vincent Houde is a cool frontman with dreads flowing around and a mighty talent for riffing and soloing. The chemistry with his two friends is also apparent, they deliver intense material and they're used to do it. Their songs about drugs (from weed to heroin) and guns are pretty dope! I missed the last few songs, maybe 1 or 2, no idea as I was  pretty sick and my cold mixed with beer made me a bit dizzy. I know I'm not a metal warrior, tell your moms.
I got their last album "III" for five bucks before their set, good price for sure, I was able to spend the rest of my 20 bucks bill on beer

8 on 10
Dopethrone on Facebook


A great evening with cool bands for dirt cheap is what we got here, that's what metal and rock is all about. Finding cool, unknown places to see bands while people are too busy talking how bad the weather is.









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