On a rainy Thursday night, the Toronto venue, The Boat, hosted a sparsely attended but hypnotically powerful night of metal. Those who braved the rain were treated to some high-energy trad-metal courtesy of Adrenechrome, an act who couldn’t of stood out more, being sandwiched between the amplifier-worshiping drone of Fires of Mammon and Gates.
After setting up their imposing wall of Sunn0))) amps, the four-piece Fires of Mammon took the stage. They then launched into their first and only track, a tidal wave of feedback that ebbed and flowed, with the three guitarists trading chunky chords and screechy, tremolo-picked riffing. Thankfully, the drummer gave the piece some urgency and momentum with his Dale Crover-ish pounding and dramatic cymbal work.
The seamless wash of noise set the stage perfectly for the far more focused and traditional Adrenechrome. I vaguely remembered seeing these guys a few months back and they didn’t make much of an impression on me, but I was pleasantly surprised by their set. What started as thuggish sludge riffs quickly evolved into a far more technical and dynamic beast, with breakneck tempo shifts, twin-guitar harmonies and impressive lead solos.
With Adrenechrome’s set finished, the crowd had thinned somewhat, and the mood seemed far more quiet and downbeat. Nevertheless, a few people remained by the stage, waiting expectantly for the final act. Unfortunately the Philadelphia doom metal band Ominous Black had cancelled, leaving the one-man onslaught of drone that is Gates to take the stage. Setting up his massive personal backline and tangle of effects-pedals and synthesizers, the lights dimmed and the room was demolished by a blackhole of sound.
While Fires of Mammon infused their particular brand of drone with actual riffs and propulsive drumming, Gates played the opposite. Like the notorious Sunn0))), oppressively huge, down-tuned power chords were favored, signal-processed and distorted beyond all recognition. While drone isn’t something I listen to at home, the power that it holds live can’t be denied. There’s just no comparison to having total vibration envelop your body – a transcendent experience that goes beyond metal. When the amps turned off and the lights came up, the room went quiet, eerie and unbearably tense; like people couldn’t decide whether to clap or run out of the place cradling their shattered ear-drums. Finally the applause broke, and we returned to the rainy evening, the deafening sonic ritual of the night still ringing in our ears.
**Both Fires of Mammon and Gates opted to play in complete darkness, so I couldn’t shoot any photos.**
