Concert Review: Beyond Creation, October 20, The Garrison

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There must be something in the water in Quebec.

From Gorguts and Cryptopsy to Kataklysm and Despised Icon, and even stretching back to Voivod, the French Canadians have proven themselves to have a definite penchant for technical metal. Continuing on in that tradition is Montreal’s Beyond Creation.

The band is currently on tour in support of their latest release Algorythm, a proggy collection of tech-metal jams which vocalist/guitarist Simon Girard announced the band would be playing this evening in its entirety “from first to last.” They would go on to do just that at The Garrison on Sunday night, and presenting the whole album as a complete piece helped to bring the band’s compositional skills to the forefront.

While the band’s music is impressive enough on record, it’s an even more impressive sight to behold live as each member of the band displayed their dexterity on their respective instruments. And while the entire band was something to see and hear, the contributions of bassist Hugo Doyon-Karout managed to stand out in particular. The sound of his fretless bass brings a distinctive texture to the band’s sound, adding a nice bit of contrast to the proceedings.

At a couple of points during the band’s set, Girard exhorted the crowd to “bang your fucking heads” and “move the fuck around” in an effort to get everyone a bit more riled up, though really, the crowd didn’t need all that much nudging in that direction. While some bands making music of a technical nature might tend to attract more of the type of fan that stands there with arms crossed and studying the band intently, Beyond Creation make music that can get the crowd moving as well.

Yes, surely, there must be something in the water in Quebec.

Posted on by Paul in Concerts