Napalm Death, Voivod, Exhumed, Iron Reagan & Black Crown Initiate played Club Soda (photos & review)

We’ve seen our share of great metal bills recently, but last week’s ridiculous team up of Napalm Death, Voivod, Exhumed, Iron Reagan and Black Crown Initiate might take the mantle for the greatest metal line-up of the year (so far). The show offered up a virtual smogosboard of metal styles, from the straight-forward grind-core of the UK’s Napalm Death, to the 80’s thrash-worship of Iron Reagan.

Iron Reagan got the crowd moving early on, with throngs of patch-covered jean jacket wearing fans stage-diving and singing along. The band have the early crossover sound (and look) nailed down, and ran through as many tongue-in-cheek tracks like the 12-second ‘You’re Kid’s an Asshole,” as they could in their 30-minute set. Napalm Death frontman Barney Greenway joined the band for a cover of SSD’s classic hardcore anthem “Glue,” which set the bar pretty high early on in the night. Iron reagan frontman Tony Foresta will be back soon enough when the other band he fronts, the mighty Municipal Waste, return to play Pouzza Fest this May.

Exhumed‘s Montreal show has been a long time coming, given that the band were denied entry into Canada the last time they attempted to get into the country. The band recently re-recorded and re-released their 1998 debut, Gore Metal, and played a number of songs off that influential record throughout their set. While the band’s music may be unrelenting and dark, they definitely still have a (black) sense of humour, bringing out their “Chainsaw Coroner,” who threatened the band (and audience) with a live chainsaw at a few choice moments throughout the show. For their finale, the Chainsaw Coroner executed the band’s guitarist on a realistic-looking guillotine, before stage-diving into the crowd in his blood-splattered coroner’s uniform.

Montreal’s Voivod had no such gimmicks as they took the stage to a hero’s welcome from the crowd. Local live shows from the band have become increasingly rare, and it was evident how happy the band were to be back on stage in their hometown, as they grinned throughout the show, and addressed the crowd in their native Joual. The band touched on as many eras as they could throughout their hour-long set, opening with “Warriors of Ice” from their 1984 debut War and Pain, and closing with their cover of Pink Floyd’s “Astronomy Domine,” off of 1989’s Nothingface LP. Though the band are revered as thrash legends across the globe, they rarely seem to be greeted with the same sort of adoration in their hometown, so it was heartening to see such an enthusiastic response for the band.

Napalm Death have existed in various iterations for over 30 years, and they are still one of the best live acts in heavy music today. Frontman Barney Greenway is a total live-wire, darting across the stage non-stop, and gesticulating wildly with total manic energy. His guttural voice is one of the most recognizable in metal, and hasn’t suffered at all over the years. The band’s entire set was akin to a jack-hammer to the face, an unrelenting hour-plus assault of politically-minded grind-core by one of the most dependable bands in metal.

Below you can check out photos from each band’s set, courtesy of Jason Hughes (http://jasonhughesphoto.com/).

Napalm Death

Voivod

Photos of Exhumed, Iron Reagan and Black Crown Initiate on Page 2 below.