When I walked into Sneaky Dee's and saw Jucifer setting up a massive wall of amplifiers, I knew that we were in for a good show. And while things ended a little late (for reasons I won't get into), it was one helluva show, indeed!
AF Analog kicked things off with their brand of heavy sludge, playing personal favourites like Renegade Fire and Red Rain, along with a couple new tracks from their just-released EP. They also threw us for a loop by playing a Clutch song with a disco beat. But in spite of their solid performance, these guys remain one of Toronto's best-kept secrets, as most people didn't show up until after their set. Their loss, I guess...
Up next was Twisted Tower Dire from Raleigh, North Carolina. Having been to Raleigh, I'd consider it to be a city of chewing tobacco and NASCAR, not snow leopards and power metal. But TTD proved that Raleigh has room for the latter, as well as the former. Their wifebeater-clad singer had all the range of a traditional metal vocalist in the neo-classical mould, and his bandmates provided the technical wizardry to compliment his vocal stylings. They ended their set with a somewhat unexpected, yet certainly competent cover of Judas Priest's Heading Out on the Highway before Cauldron took the stage.
Speaking of Priest, I'd say that the legendary metal gods have a strong influence on Cauldron's sound. I wouldn't consider the Toronto three-piece to be a power metal band; they're more like a throwback to the early 80's NWOBHM sound, which isn't a bad thing in my books. Still, I could've done without the long breaks in between songs.
If Cauldron's set seemed kinda long, then Sons of OTIS' set felt like it was too short. Forgoing the use of stage effects, the band's stripped-down approach was highly effective, with the focus on their heavy riffs and psychedelic vocals. They didn't have Jucifer's imposing setup, but still provided us with a solid batch of heavy grooves.
Jucifer's latest album, L'Autrichienne, mixes heavy doom with sweet, syrupy pop ballads. But on this evening, there were no ballads to be heard, and the heavy stuff, played through eight amplifiers, sounded even heavier than on record. I'm pretty sure they blew out the monitors, as the vocals disappeared a couple songs into the set. But who needs vocals when you've got wall-shaking riffs, anyways?
Things didn't end until twenty after two, and I didn't get home until quarter after four, but sleep be damned--I'm an insomniac, anyways...