Beheading of a King goes medieval on Club Saw

One of the elements I hoped to add to the site was more coverage of punk, hardcore and metal in this town.  So with my latest post, Ottawa Showbox is about to get loud!

The Back to the Sources tour rolled into to town Wednesday night and ripped it up at Club Saw.  The headlining act, Beheading of a King‘s lead singer, Fred Beaulieu, is an excellent showman, constantly interacting with the crowd and looking so into his songs it hurts.  The band played a very energetic set which was capped off by their newest single Handcrafted.  The crowd went crazy for Beheading of a King several times throughout the set with the biggest pits of the night.

The highlight of the show for me was the third band, Take the Earth Beneath Us from Vancouver.  They have everything I look for in a band; great energy, excellent stage presence and above all an amazing sound.  You know what to expect from headlining acts such as Beheading, but this band blew me away.  From the opening track “You’ve started a War” to the wall of death they set up, to getting people to start crowd surfing which lead to someone in a wheelchair floating above hands.  To top it all off lead singer, Cody Muraro, walked around after their set handing out free download cards of their music.  A total class act.

After Take the Earth,  the stage was full with Afterimage.  This six-piece from Barrie, Ontario is composed of 3 guitarist, a bass player, a drummer and a lead singer sporting a lion’s mane styled epic hairdo. Armed with great melodies and plenty of depth, thanks in large part to the three excellent axe men, Afterimage plowed through a rager of a set.

Opening up the night was a couple of Ottawa bands, Obyrne and All Fallen Angels.  Obyrne did a great job for a band playing their first show ever.  I am sure as they get more experience under their belt, the scene will hear more about them.The lead singer of  All Fallen Angels brought a ton of energy to the stage, throwing down to his own tracks. He is quite the force on stage.  Both acts played all original which is a good sign for the Ottawa metal scene.

To finish I must say that there is nothing more heart-warming at a metal show than to see middle-aged parents head bobbing along to their children’s songs.  You have to love local metal shows!