MANAHAN CD Release Show

September 24th,2010 Toronto,ON - The Blue Moon

“Are you going to the Manahan CD release party tonight?” said my roommate, Nicole Dawson. “What? Ummm, nooo. Who’s Manahan?” replied my ignorance. It was at this point that my roommate would spend the next half hour going into vivid detail about the greatness of Toronto’s metal band, Manahan. So off we went into the night, walking towards the Blue Moon. The entrance fee was five dollars, and considering the amount of talent I would hear over the course of the next several hours, I would have gladly paid thirty.

SHOTGUN CURE

Well I don’t know what Shotgun Cure really means, but the moment this three piece thrash metal band took the stage, I couldn’t help but bang my head. Imagine a sound so heavy and so savage that it feels like the band pressed the barrel of a shotgun in between your eyes and pulled the trigger. Throughout their entire set, all I could think to myself was, “I’m sorry, why the fuck, are these guys opening? They should be Co-headlining!” During, Shotgun Cure’s set I felt a sense of completeness, I felt whole. Ok, so I might be overreacting just a little. The point is: Shotgun Cure is one of the best thrash metal bands that I’ve heard in a long time. I find for many thrash metal fans, like myself, it’s hard to find a sound that rivals the Big Four. Clearly, Shotgun Cure is not Metallica, but they certainly are on their way. You could hear it through their music, and you could see it in their performance. The show was the way thrash should be- loud, heavy palm muting, fast, but most importantly, it was fun. Within minutes of the set ending I bought their E.P.

CAYM

I don’t know if it was because Shotgun Cure was amazing, or if Caym was just bad, but I was not impressed by their music or their performance. I’ll admit that I’m bit of a snob when it comes to live performances. One of my biggest pet peeves is bands that try to look SO hardcore, but in reality they just look fake. I’m not saying that Caym are posers, but do you really need to be on the steps of the stage on your knees screaming in the mic? Did you really want to do that, or did you just think it would look cool? Maybe I’m not being very fair: and in fact I’m probably not. So with the negatives out of the way I’ll talk about the positives. Their guitar riffs were incredible. They were heavy, consistent, and loud. The other really impressive thing I would like to note is that many of these bands, which take from Lamb of God’s template, tend to include excessive and unnecessary breakdowns. I’m glad to see that Caym did not fall into the trap.

If you happen to be a fan of metalcore/grindcore, then you might find Caym as Toronto’s answer to the genre. I, however, am not a huge fan of the genre. Ultimately, I found the instrumentals to be top notch, and the vocals just annoying.

MODIFIED

This band put a twist on the show for the night. I wouldn’t actually call Modified a metal band. If anything, they are a solid alt rock band. I don’t know where they came from, but I’m defiantly going to be keeping an ear open for new material. I don’t know if my description will do justice to the unique sound of this band, but I’ll give it a shot. Imagine Evanescence, now replace the gothic atmosphere and make it heavy, really heavy. Modified has created a really obscure sound and atmosphere. The instrumentals come together to create well executed melodies, and beautiful harmonies. At the same time, the vocals produced by the lead singer, Tricia Stanley, blend perfectly with the sound, while being independent on their own. Then, just as you think you’ve figured out the band, out of nowhere comes the technical prowess of guitarist, Anthony Xander.

Modified’s live show was a bit rocky in the beginning, mainly due to mic problems at the beginning of their first song. However, the band quickly recovered and delivered a great performance. Out of the five bands that would play throughout the night, it is in my opinion that Modified had the best volume balance of instrumentals and vocals. The instrumentals were loud yet clear, and I was able to hear Tricia’s haunting voice word for word.

REMAIN

Along with Shotgun Cure, and Modified, Remain was another pleasant surprise. Clearly, there is a stupid amount of talent in Ontario.
Remain is another band I’m having trouble labeling. If I had to pick a genre I would say melodic Death metal. Which makes sense considering Peter Wichers of Soilwork, produced their newest album. Remain I think came off as the most experienced band at the show. What I mean is that they were the most in sync band of the night, and their execution was totally flawless. Joe Harwood, the lead singer, was incredibly involved with the audience, engaging with the fans up front as much as possible. The rest of the band was just explosive, although there wasn’t a lot of room on stage the band found loops holes often jumping off stage and playing on the floor. Clearly, if they had a real stage to work with, I’m sure they would be running from end to end, jumping and head banging. At one point, in the middle of a song, the power went out on the lights; this had little impact on the band. I wasn’t even sure they noticed, until I saw Joe pull out a lighter, hold it near his face and continue to sing. Eventually, the venue was able to set up a disco ball, and for the rest of their performance Remain would play heavy metal under a spinning metal ball. It was awesome, to say the least.

MANAHAN

After three hours of music I would finally get to see what all the hype was about. Manahan would take the stage and with my own ears and eyes I will be able to determine if this kid and his band were worth waiting this long for. All I can say is this: There is a guitar prodigy in Toronto and his name is Cory. There is a band that could rival Black Label Society itself, and it’s Manahan. It’s hearing bands like Manahan that makes you wonder what exactly is wrong with the Canadian Music Industry, when they can sign pop shit like Drake, and yet clearly overlook the natural talent of bands like Manahan.

From first song to last Manahan put every ounce of their being in their show. Cory delivered tight riffs, and gritty vocals. The bassist, Kevin, engaged with the crowd being just as strong of a stage presence as Cory himself. The drummer, Kris, beat the shit out of his drums and made sure that people were going home with ringing ears. I don’t know if Cory and Kris have some on stage competition but it seemed whenever Cory got louder so did Kris. It was as if Motorhead itself had entered the Venue, because for the first time in my life, I had to cover my ears. Through about three quarters of the performance I was impressed by Manahan, but I wasn’t quite blown away. That was until Cory played a rather tedious and fast solo, with his teeth. From that point on I was sold; Cory lived up to the hype. Finally, towards the end of the set, the show would see its first pit, with yours truly and a dedicated group of metal heads tossing each other around for the rest of Manahan’s set. It wasn’t until I flew into the ladder, courtesy of my friend Rob, which would see me leave the pit for the night. Manahan would finish the night with a cover of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, but with a Manahan twist. By this point the audience was fully engaged and would have no problem singing along and clapping their hands to the hi-hats. Cory went on to extend the solo, and appeared to totally lose himself in his guitar. The night would end with the audience as well as Manahan singing the last verse of Sabbath’s classic.

I would like to raise the point that although Cory is an amazing guitarist, he is not all of Manahan. Manahan is the band, and you can tell there is a strong friendship that shares the same musical energy. Cory is an amazing guitarist, Kevin is a great bassist, and Kris is a beast on the drums. The great Hendrix himself had friends in Noel Redding, and Mitch Mitchell. The three of them would go on to become the Jimi Hendrix Experience and the rest is history. Hopefully, with the right people, and some lady luck, Manahan will break open worldwide.

“Dude, that show was fucking awesome!”
“What!” replied my newly found friends Rob, and Kyle.
“I said, that show was fucking awesome! Holy fuck my ears won’t stop ringing!”
“Same here,” yelled Rob and Kyle.
From the walk home, to the morning after, our ears wouldn’t let us forget our Friday night.