Modified Ghost Festival: April 9th at the Rickshaw Theatre
The third night of the inaugural Modified Ghost Festival saw what was arguably the most eclectic lineup of the festival, delivering an assortment of acts that ran pretty much across the spectrum as far as metal is concerned. Upon entering the venue, I was quite impressed to see how many people had come out so early.
Houston’s Scale The Summit kicked the night off with their brand of self-described adventure metal. While I’ve seen these guys several times and never find them short of captivating – no small feat for an instrumental band – the addition of visuals projected behind them as they performed lent an extra dimension to their time on stage.
Scale The Summit
Local tech-death heroes Archspire played next, diverting the crowd from no vocals to the brutal growls more typically expected from the genre. Regrettably, their set had to be shortened as a result of a technical issue that presented itself at the beginning of their set, and resulted in a sizable chunk of time lost to straightening out the issue. Regardless, they proceeded to play a solid selection of songs they performed with the precision that the band’s has made its name for. Good to see these guys play their hometown, too.
Archspire
Leading the crowd into sludgier territory, LA’s Intronaut took the stage next. I haven’t seen a bad performance from these guys, and this was no exception. Perhaps the most progressive act on the bill, they constituted the audience’s last chance of the evening to experience anything not remotely resembling full-on overt aggression.
Intronaut
Taking the show closer to the party vibe, Portland’s Toxic Holocaust delivered a healthy dose of an all-out thrash assault. By this point, the crowd couldn’t have been happier.
Toxic Holocaust
Making their Vancouver debut, Dead Cross were the curveball the audience weren’t expecting. While the majority of the show’s attendees had assumed that the new project featuring a drummer best known for playing in Slayer would lean more heavily towards that style of metal, they clearly overlooked what the other members are known for. What ensued was what one might describe as a violent explosion of pure punk rock fury. Two of my favourite things I overheard that night, both in response to this band:
(said by someone in the crowd behind me, referring to the singer): “I can’t tell if he’s drunk or shit!”
(exclaimed by a member of the venue’s security staff, to the owner): “OH MY GOD! There is puke everywhere!” Naturally, this made Dead Cross’s set my favourite of the evening.
Dead Cross
Cattle Decapitation really shouldn’t need an introduction on a publication that devotes so much of its focus to heavy music, so I’ll keep this brief. Having failed to see them on every earlier opportunity, this was the band I was most excited to see. Expectations were high. Expectations were met. See this band. They played flawlessly.
Cattle Decapitation
Headlining the evening was a band widely credited for being instrumental in creating the deathcore genre: Suffocation. Being renowned for introducing a staple of hardcore – the breakdown – to an audience of metalheads, they were the perfect choice to close the evening. I was also sincerely impressed at how genuinely happy their frontman was to be performing to a solidly packed room. A truly flawless performance to end the show on a high note.
Suffocation
