Kicking off the night around 9:30pm, was the debut show from Cerbearus a brand new band who it's kind of hard to place a finger on genre wise. They took on an almost death-thrash style for a good part of the show, along with a more hardcore style. the hardcore side of them was much more prevelent in their original track "Fucked By A Bear", which impressivly got the entire crowd chanting along with the title of the song. Also, in the two covers that Cerbearus did, "Hail Destroyer" originally by Toronto hardcore legends, Cancer Bats and "As Diehard As They Come" by Hatebreed. The latter of which was preformed with "Little Dick" Mike from the local band ULT. The band finished with "Carnivora", featuring Brett MacIntosh of Aepoch doing guest vocals, this was where the band really hit their stride, unfortunately it was the end of the set that they really nailed it, but it definitely left people wanting more. All in all, This wasnt exactly what I expected from a show focused around black metal, but it was enjoyable nonetheless and these guys definitely have a place in the scene.
Next up, making a stop on their Decatour, is Decatur. Decatur brought an old school style of thrash to The Boathouse and showed Kitchener how to rock. Even though it was getting late, these guys would not let up. Playing essentially half of their album Badder Than Brooklyn, I think these guys made a splash. They were wild from beginning to end, especially their bassist. There was no holding them back and they toom full advantage of what little space they ahd on stage. "Internal War" was easily the most aggressive song they had in the set and really set the tone and reason as to why people should not take beer in the pit, because man did it soak the place. This may have been a new band to a lot of people, but the crowd seemed to really get into it from beginning to end, Decatur will definitely be asked to return after a show like this.
New black metaller's Stolos took the stage next. These guys are taking hints and theatrics from the likes of Mayhem and King Diamond and making it work on a small stage. Their stage show kicked off with the band walking out filly robed and laying a sacrifice down on a table, then stabbing her repeatedly. Once he band took their place on stage the show kicked off. Their frontman takes his place behind a podium brandished with the Stolos logo, with his goons all around him. These guys may be rather new to the scene, only having played a handful of shows, but they perform like professionals. Their set mostly consists of orignal tracks, taking their songwriting very seriously, Stolos take on the frostbitten tones of the early black metal bands, like Immortal and Darkthrone. Towards the end of their set, Stolos do a cover of "Deathcrush" from Mayhem, and do it very well. The instrumentals are spot on and luckily, you dont have to hear Maniac's ear piercing screaming vocals. Stolos take hold of the black metal roots and make it their own. Always an enjoyable show.
Last up was our headline band, Guelph's own Unbowed. It's no secret that I have been following these guys for years, considering their last EP Dogma was covered and highly praised when it came out (read that here). This is a band thats developed and chaged a lot over the years, changing gear from a black-death metal band and adding all sorts of influences from symphonic to hardcore. Unbowed focused mostly on their newer songs from their latest album Through Endless Tides, actually opting to not play anything from their first EP or album and only one track from Dogma. The songs on Through Endless Tides hold up well live though, showing the experience and the full scope of Unbowed's influences. Their set kicked off with a new song, a song we should see released on their new release which is most likely coming this year. The song itself was tame, it's a good way to start of their set showing the power this band has without over doing it. It may be breaking midnight, but there was no sign of slowing down. The enxt three songs were all off the latest album, but "Mountaincarver" stands out for it's harmonies and the major shifts in tone in the song. "Mountaincarver" changes from black metal to symphonic metal to so many other thigns, but it never loses its momentum in these shifts. The band showed off another new song, "Anthem Of I" before breaking into the only song of Dogma, "Besieged". "Besieged" is a song that should never leave Unbowed's live rotation, the song itself is everything the band embodies from beginning to end. Unbowed kill it once again and this time on their first show in Kitchener. This is a band that should not be missed live if you have the chance as their ever evolving sound will always keep fans old and new interested.
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