It is always great fun to check out a new venue, and though I was bummed out that Bleeker Ridge backed out of their Aug. 6 show at Inferno's new location in the same building as Pulse and Tom's House of Pizza (1016 1 Avenue South) due to a dispute with the soundman there, they pulled together an entertaining night of comedy and metal.
I always loved that pub. I remember it being an Irish bar previously. It is dominated by a bar in the centre of the room, there are pool tables a
nd a fireplace and Tom's House of Pizza takes over the south wall. They also have a decent sound and light system with lasers and bright, flashing LED lights.
I only caught the end of Dag Austin's set of racy comedy but was delighted to hear a trimmed down Accalia perform as well as Obsidian Soul, both of whom I hadn’t seen before.
Accalia was up first with a selection of covers ranging from System of the Down to Metallica and Megadeth.
They had impressive vocals and some upbeat guitar riffs and solos. They nailed their System of the Down cover. They noted they will be playing the Slice on Aug. 22 with Obsidian Soul.
Obsidian Soul had a more classic metal sound complete with keyboards and two guitars plus a thundering, shuddering bass. Christopher Snelgrove had an impressive voice which reminded me a lot of Kyle Gruninger from Incura.
They also had impressive vocals. They sounded like a blend of Rage Against the Machine and a touch of Korn, plus keyboards.
They played a couple of covers and several originals which sounded like a blend of classic metal and heavy progressive rock.
I enjoyed the catchy Danzig cover “Dirty Black Summer” and “Toxic Shame.”
