Article and Photos by: Adrienne Row – Smith

Ottawa – Ont. In Canada most families are celebrating Thanksgiving, but for Canadian metal fans, October 10th represents a different kind of celebration. Hosted at the legendary Barrymore’s , the Return to Roots Tour promises fans far and wide a night to remember, not only because it is the first metal show at Barrymore’s in over 7 years, but also going to be remembered for Max and Igor Cavalera coming together to play one of their most profound works with their former band Sepultra. The Roots album is celebrating its 20th year in circulation, and the Cavalera brothers decided to treat their dedicated fans by playing the album in its entirety with help from their Cavalera Conspiracy band mates. Furthermore, Max and Igor tapped Oni, Allegaeon, and Cryptopsy  who are replacing The Black Dahlia Murder who are unable to tour due to a medical emergency (best wishes to TBDM!), to help make the evening and tour one to remember.

To start off the night, progressive metalheads Oni played songs from their debut album Ironshore. Oni’s set featured a heavy and aggressive guitars and drums, that were complemented with Xylo – Synth to create a perfect blend of ferocity and harmony. The band defintely reflect their namesake, a Japanese shape shifiting demon known for its malevonlency, as in one moment vocalist Jake Oni can be summoning the depths of hell with his powerful and domineering vocals, and in a flash he has swtiched to melodic singing without even blinking. Playing songs like Eternal Recurrance and Barn Burner, it is obvious that they are perfect openers for the evening, as they excite and entice fans of what the rest of the evening has to come. This is evident in their stage antics, where during the last song of their set, Oni and guitarist Brandon White and Martin Andres descended into the crowd and climbed up onto the bar to become one with the crowd. This added an especially interesting dymanic to their set, as it created a push and pull between the team on the bar and those left on stage, where bassist Chase Bryant, xylo – synth master Johhny D and drummer Joe Greulich commanded the audiences attention as much as their bar standing counterparts. All in all, Oni were a solid pick for opening the night up, and created an energy that Allegaeon picked up.

Having to follow up some serious showmanship by Oni, Allegaeon defintely got the crowd roaring and moshing by playing songs off their new album Proponent For Sentience. As soon as they began into their first song, the crowd went crazy and began moshing. Their set was firey and dynmaic, while not featuring heading out in the crowd like Oni, they were able to make the stage their own. Featuring such songs as Of Mind and Matrix, and Iconic Images  and even throwing in a cover of Subdivisions by Rush made for a particularly epic set. The cover itself was a perfect cover as it not only got the crowd more excited, but it also fit well with their own material. Allegaeon defintely earned their spot on this tour, and if you haven’t checked out Proponent For Sentience or their other works, this show convinced me that you should and be sure to add them to your band bucketlist.

Next up for the evening was Montreal’s own extreme death metal Crypotopsy, who graciously filled The Black Dahlia Murder’s spot after they had to pull out of the tour due to medical emergency. While many fans that I chatted with were disappointed that The Black Dahlia Murder were unable to provide a show, they were equally excited to reek havoc in Barrymore’s with Crypotopsy as their background music. Featuring music from their whole body of work (the band has been around the sun 20 times now), most songs were pulled from their recent EP The Book of Suffering – Tome 1, which is the first in a series of EP’s to come from the band. With heavy and agressive drumming provided by Flo Mournier, heavy in your face guitaring  and bass work by Chris Donaldson and Oli Pinard blended together with grizzly vocals by Matt McGachy, Cryptopsy made photography especially hard as the crowd was throwing down hard in the pit. However, regardless of the challenge, it was beautifully accepted and only added to my enjoyment of their set.

Finally, the time had arrived for Max and Igor to begin their set of Roots. Anticipation built up in the room as their sound check took a little longer than usual (technical difficulties), but caused the crowd to become more hungry for the show to begin. The crowd was so in need to hear this album that they begin to  chant Roots as loud as they possibly could. Eventually however, Max and Igor along with their Cavalera Conspiracy members guitarist Marc Rizzo and bassist Jonny Chow began their set starting off with the album’s title track Roots Bloody Roots. As soon as it kicked in, the crowd lost their minds and became a whirlwind of happiness and aggressive tendencies with arms flaling through the pit. Max highlighted the importance of Roots as a blend of metal and heritage music, by playing a Berimbau which is a traditional Brazillian instrument. This incorporation really sold me on the significance of this album, and was a true attestament to the musical artistry that Max and Igor Cavalera created with Roots. As the night wore on, the crowd did not diminish in its energy, but instead grew more excited. This was even evident as a female fan had the audacity to climb up on stage and give Rizzo a hug until she was escorted off. Another aspect of the night that showed just how truly important this show and tour was, Max and Igor were left on stage together and played together – something that some fans had not seen in quite some time. After the band ripped through their Roots coverage, the crowd began to chant for more music which lead the band to return to old death metal roots by playing Procreation (of the Wicked) [a Celtic Frost cover] and  also played a tribute piece to Motorhead, by playing Ace of Spades. The final song of the night was a replay of Roots Bloody Roots, but this time the band played the song as fast as they could. As the show came to a close, Max and Igor embraced onstage and bowed to the crowd – obviously grateful that so many people have appreciated their music and their journey. The Return To Roots tour is a significant tour for many reasons, and if you can make it out to see Max and Igor play you defintely should catch this. This tour is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I am truly honoured to have been a part of it.

Catch the North American Tour before its over! :
Oct. 11 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Oct. 12 – Montreal, QC @ Les Foufounes Electriques
Oct. 14 – Quebec City, QC @ Imperial Theatre
Oct. 15 – Worcester, MA @ Rock N Shock Festival
Oct. 16 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
Oct. 17 – Sauget, IL @ Pop’s
Oct. 20 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent
Oct. 21 – Tempe, AZ @ Club Red / D-Low FEST
Oct. 23 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock