How heavy? So heavy that the ensuing band, quasi-headliner Nightwish, seemed a little… ridiculous, through no real fault of their own. Mastodon’s Troy Sanders had a look in his eye that could have been menace, but was instead just⦠commitment. Like a Sherman tank with a rocket engine, this is quite possibly the world’s most badass band. Everyone but Kelliher took turns at lead vocals, which is saying something, because Brann Dailor was laying down lunacy on the drums. And energy? Sanders didn’t clap his hands, he punched them. Its heart - The Motherload, High Road and Ember City - had an otherworldy intensity and uniformity of purpose. He literally bent over backwards mid-bassline at one point, the embodiment of the growling ferocity and southern-fried braininess of their set. Sanders had a look in his eye that could have been menace, but was instead just… commitment. Together, they played ruthlessly heavy, complex arpeggios while singer-bassist Troy Sanders, in a 1983 Men At Work tour t-shirt, intimidated the planet. They looked like they belonged on different continents, let alone in different bands.
On the other side of the stage, Bill Kelliher and his shaved-back-and-sides looked like he could have been tending the coolest bar in Williamsburg. Not sure if he was a hero or villain, but I would have trusted him with my life either way. Photo by Dario Ayala / Montreal Gazetteīrent Hinds, on Lucite Flying V and bottom-of-volcano vocals, looked and sounded like a character out of Lord of the Rings with his crazed forehead tattoo. Brent Hinds of Mastodon looked and sounded like a character out of Lord of the Rings with his crazed forehead tattoo. Not on a day owned by Atlanta alt-prog stoner metal behemoths Mastodon, who delivered a set for the ages. But this was Heavy Montréal, and frankly, for a band celebrated for its sales, radio/video profile and hooks, FFDP simply didn’t have the depth for this ringside judge which is to say, on a day that witnessed the sets listed below, they didn’t have the riffs. Article contentĪnd in any other bout, that might have been the TKO. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.