I like my metal and I like my vegan food, so I couldn’t help but be delighted when earlier this year Vegan Black Metal Chef videos started circulating via Twitter and other social media: black metal aesthetics and meat, dairy, and egg-free cooking in a delightfully over-the-top combination.

I’m not much of a chef (the kitchen is not my natural home), so the chances of me trying out any of these recipes on my own were slim, black metal or no. But I do enjoy good food and good company, and I’ve come to appreciate the social possibilities of meal-preparation – team-cooking and team-eating make the work involved seem much more worthwhile. This proved truer than ever when

Mark Coatsworth, Adam Wills and I had a shot at concocting Vegan Black Metal Chef’s debut recipe: Pad Thai.

With a stocked cupboard, a diabolical implement or two, and an appropriately blackened soundtrack, we gathered on a warm summer evening to conjure a little edible black metal magic.

Mark Coatsworth gets kudos for the meal idea and the homemade booze (he’s an excellent brewer/alchemist!). Adam Wills supplied the ceremonial dagger and the high-quality (if not all-encompassing) documentary photography. I provided most everything else, including the music (lots of Darkthrone!). Inspiration for this account goes, at least in part, to the recent output of heavy metal recipe-book authors and metal-cooking bloggers. All credit for cooking instructions goes to Vegan Black Metal Chef: our performance was but a pale imitation.

“Cut the tofu / turn the plate / cute the tofu”

… before the tofu triangles were formed into the “symbol of the ancients” and the “sacred sign.”

“Crush those peanuts!”

The sauce starts with “a whole fucking lot” of sugar. (“A whole lot” or “a fucking lot” likely would’ve done it.)

“How to crush some garlic: you cut its head off and smash it with a knife.”

“Add some cilantro.”

Plus just a little peanut butter to finish the sauce!

Fry the tofu in oil.

And once everything is in the pot add the final special ingredient: “the heat of satan!”

“You must summon the dark ones into your dish by any means possible.”

Summoning the dark ones…

The result! “Behold the glorious Pad Thai!”

Team dining and drinking (Mark’s brew).

Vegan metal dinner!

All done!

(Oh, if you still haven’t seen the Vegan Black Metal Chef video, it follows below – The Ed)

By Adam Wills

This weekend marks the first installment of Heavy TO, Toronto’s spinoff of the previously visited Heavy MTL. Having attending the previous event in Montreal, I decided to stay a bit closer to home and catch the inaugural event here in Ontario. As I have done at the previous festivals, I’ll be live blogging throughout the weekend. Keep up, as this will be updated all weekend!

Day 1

-12:18-
And we’re off! Hellbounders Albert Mansour, Laura Wiebe, Sean Palmerston and I piled into a car, and are en route to Toronto…. It’s already blisteringly hot outside.

-13:46-
Arrived at Downsview Park. Already quite a few people here. Devildriver on, and getting a pretty positive reaction. Met up with David and Joel from Woods of Ypres… And almost fell over when I saw the beer garden. $8 for a small beer? And my only choice is Budweiser? Really?

-14:22-
Diamond Head is absolutely killer. Opening up with “It’s Electric, the crowd is being treated with some classic metal in between all of the metalcore-ish bands early in the day. The crowd has just gone crazy as they’re currently belting out “Am I Evil?”. Why am I not paying attention right now?

-14:57-
Underoath is providing the soundtrack to my first break. Grabbed some food, and looked for some shade to sit in, but there really isn’t any. With how hot it’s been this week, I hoped that there would be a bit more of an effort to address this for the attendees. Publicly available water (besides the washing area in the toiletry area) should have been a no-brained.

-15:47-
There seems to be a change of plans… Times of Grace played for 45 minutes instead of 30, and Children of Bodom’s stage set is out. No sign of The Sword. No notifications by HeavyTo via Twitter or their official app. Whichever band is playing, they didn’t even have time to soundcheck, even with the extra 15 minutes given.

While last minute changes do need to happen… Keep your attendees up to date.

-16:42-
So, after The Sword’s set was supposed to be done, some radio hosts got on stage to finally announce that The Sword had border issues and were unable to play. Attention was turned to As I Lay Dying, and the schedule was back on track. I sampled them, but I couldn’t make it past a couple songs… While there’s a lot of people here to see them, and they do put on an energetic performance, they’re just not my thing.

-17:41-
It’s finally starting to cool down. Bumped into a “journalist” from Florida, who was surprised that Canada was so warm and so full of Asians. Riiiiight……

Children of Bodom on stage. I always expected Alexei to be a little more active on stage (perhaps it’s the heat getting to him), but they’re still putting on a solid performance that the crowd is digging.

I believe I just saw a bride walk by in her wedding dress….

-18:33-
Anthrax. Joey Belladonna. Joey Belladonna’s hair.

Seriously though, Anthrax are easily the most fun that I’ve had so far. Joey’s sincere excitement about every performance easily shows and the rest of the band complements his energy just fine.

“Yes, we fucking love Rush!” -Joey Belladonna.

-20:41-
Opeth was Opeth. They sounded great, and played a very familiar playlist. No new material, unfortunately. However, they’ll be back in Toronto in October touring with new material.

Went to grab dinner. Asked for a beverage. Sold out. Went to another booth. Sold out. Turns out that everyone sold of of non-alcoholic drinks, and the park had to bring in an emergency supply of bottled water. That’s insane.

-22:29-
An interesting end of the evening.

Motörhead was their usual selves. The rain that started during Opeth’s set continued, and cooled everyone down. Lemmy’s voice was as raspy as ever, as the legendary threesome pelted out pretty much the same setlist that they’ve been playing for awhile.

Megadeth were clearly the band that everyone was waiting for, as chants of “Megadeth” took over. Dave Mustaine and company are a well oiled machine, blasting out song after song with minimal breaks between tracks.

At about 10:20, the band thanked the crowd, which is normal for a headliner to do before their mandatory encore… However, the ‘deth were giving a very extended goodbye… And then they were done. 40 minutes before their advertised 2 hour time slot was supposed to be done. No explanation.

Day 1 is in the books… The bands were great, but their was some odd organizational incidents that popped up here and there. We’ll call them first time glitches…

Day 2 is looking promising… A beautiful day with a ton of great bands… I can’t wait.

Day 2

-13:45-
Exodus hits the stage and everyone immediately starts going insane. Rob Dukes knows how to get a crowd going, whether it’s applauding their efforts, or taunting them for the lack of.

Also, I just witnessed the first ejection of a drunk Slayer fan. It’s 1:45 in the afternoon. SLLLLLAAAAAAYYYYYYEERRRRRRRR!!!!!

-14:53-
Death Angel set the stage for stage energy, while Volbeat lead the crowd in a Johnny Cash sing-a-long. Both great sets. With the amount of quality bands playing today, it’s tough to find time for a break to eat and blog.

There’s already a plethora of anti-Billy Talent signs parading around the grounds. Should be interesting….

-15:23-
Melissa auf der Maur is covering Danzig’s “Devil’s Plaything”. She’s so great live, and totally welcome here at a metal festival.

-16:08-
Wow, what a voice (MadM).

Anvil’s on now. Just finished the epic “Mothra”, and expect to hear their classic “Metal on Metal” next. They’re as genuine as a band can get, and their story is often more interesting than their music, but are having an absolute blast playing a metal festival in their hometown. I’m sure it’s yet another dream that’s come true for them over the past couple years.

-17:51-
Testament are part way through a crushing set. Easily the heaviest band of the day, especially Chuck Billy’s vocals. Although I think my favourite part is the massive amount of air guitar Chuck Billy plays throughout their set.

-18:36-
I can’t count the number of times that I’ve seen Mastodon, but every time I hear they’re coming to town, I look forward to it, and today is no different. The Atlanta foursome continue to pick up momentum on the eve of their upcoming release, as they plow through a thunderous set spanning their entire catalogue. Hoping for a taste of new material, but not going to hold my breath.

-20:29-
Slayer spent the last hour riling up the crowd (there’s definitely more people here today as compared to yesterday) with their usual list of classics with some newer material thrown in here and there. Exodus’ Gary Holt filled in Jeff Hanneman’s spot just fine. No surprises, but it’s just what the bloodthirsty Slayer fans were craving.

Observing Billy Talent out of sheer curiosity. I havent seen any projectiles or riots… Just a rush of people towards the beer tent. While the vocalist reads of all of the anti-Billy Talent signs, it seems that the biggest feeling from fans is indifference, rather than unnecessary (and stupid) anger.

-22:02-
Currently watching a drum solo during Rob Zombie… My least favourite part of a rock concert. Zombie’s theatrics are second to none. A gigantic dry ice spewing robot just entered the stage area. Between the animatronics and the video displays, Zombie can entertain anyone, even if you’re not that fond of his music.

-00:31-
Home.

All in all, this was a pretty solid festival, especially for the first time around.  There’s definitely potential, but I think there’s some key points that need to be addressed for next year.

1) While it’s nice to invite bands back, the fact that a lot of people saw a very similar lineup in Montreal last year definitely was a damper on the excitement level for quite a few.

2) It’s the middle of summer. Last week, we experienced one of the hottest days in recent history.  People are going to be outside in the extremely humid heat all day.  Please provide them with free water.  It’s important for the health of attendees.

I don’t want to leave this on a negative note, so let’s look at how the festival succeeded.

1) The organization of the running of the festival went smoothly (at least from an attendees perspective).  Bands went on when they were supposed to, and finished when they were supposed to.  This is a tough thing to do, and I applaud the effort that was made by the crew and bands alike.

2) The attendees behaved.  Sure, there was lots of speculation on the treatment that the out-of-place Billy Talent would receive… but it was all talk.  The band went on to play an uninterrupted set, and even poked fun at the few signs there were expressing some people’s opinion that they shouldn’t be playing the metal fest. Well done, Toronto.

3) The music.  Everyone who played sounded great (despite one’s opinion of the band).  There was something for everyone.  And really, isn’t this the point that matters the most at a festival?

Words and photos by Adam Wills

Toronto’s Kool Haus was packed in anticipation of the legendary Motörhead, currently touring for their latest album The World Is Yours, and fans were definitely not disappointed.  Opening up, were North Carolina rawkers Valient Thorr who’s high paced, high spirited performance warmed up the crowd for Clutch, whose stoner-rock comes off great in a live setting.  Vocalist Neil Fallon sounds great live, and despite not having nearly the same live energy that their predecessors did, still managed to come off as the better of the two openers.

What can be said about Motörhead that hasn’t been said before?  At 65 years of age, Lemmy is still the master of his craft, pumping out riff after riff, and scratchy vocal after vocal, much to the chagrin of the sold out crowd.  Although I wasn’t able to stay to the end of the set, their performance was yet another gem among the hundreds (if not, thousands) of shows in the band’s long-lasting history.

• KING DIAMOND Undergoes Triple-Bypass Heart Surgery [blabbermouth.net]
• BEHEMOTH Frontman Undergoes Bone Marrow Transplant Procedure [blabbermouth.net]
• New track from KEN-Mode’s upcoming release, “Venerable” [invisibleoranges.com]
• 1st ever Heavy Metal Film Fest announced for April [facebook.com]
• Avenged Sevenfold part ways with Mike Portnoy [blabbermouth.net]
• RUSH’s Alex Lifeson talks wine [youtube.com]
• The Top 10 Metal Holiday Gifts of 2010 [invisibleoranges.com]
• “Jingle Balls” – Evil Disposition featuring Udo Dirkschneider [youtube.com]
• The Governor’s Ball features two new Woods of Ypres songs; co-hosted by Ivar (ENSLAVED) and Silenoz (DIMMU BORGIR) [thegovernorsball.com]
• Metal-Sucks.net’s Year End Roundups [metalsucks.net]
• Top 10 funny metal videos [metalinjection.net]
• Win a signed copy of Athiest’s “Jupiter” [metalsucks.net]

In case you missed it…

• KYLESA – The Hellbound Interview [hellbound.ca]
• Review: Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 [hellbound.ca]
• Review: Artep – Thy Will Be Done On Earth As Is Done In Hell [hellbound.ca]
• Hellbound Audio Interview: Heaven & Hell’s Vinny Appice [hellbound.ca]
• Hellbound audio interview: Craig Goldy (DIO) [hellbound.ca]
• Postcards from Natalie Zed, Set #8 [hellbound.ca]
• DVD Review: Gene Hoglan – The Atomic Clock [hellbound.ca]
• Live Review: Dimmu Borgir/Enslaved/Blood Red Throne/Dawn of Ashes @ The Sound Academy, Toronto [hellbound.ca]
• DVD Review: The Acacia Strain – The Most Known Unknown [hellbound.ca]

New Music

• AGALLOCH’s “Marrow of the Spirit” available now (Profound Lore)
• KORPIKLAANI – ‘Ukon Wacka’ Cover Artwork, Track Listing Unveiled (Blabbermouth)
• DEVIN TOWNSEND – Deconstrupdate #1 (Youtube)
• DEICIDE release cover art for their new album, “To Hell With God” (Blabbermouth)
• PORTAL release new music video for Larvae (Youtube)

News

• SODOM – End of the cooperation between Sodom and the drummer Bobby Schottkowski (Facebook)
• IRON MAIDEN, MEGADETH, SLAYER, OZZY, nominated for Grammy awards (grammy.com)

Touring

• NUCLEAR ASSAULT, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD added to Manitoba Metalfest (myspace)
• SEPULTURA announce North American tour with BELPHEGOR, HATE, KEEP OF KALESSIN (Blabbermouth)

Contests

• Win a JOB FOR A COWBOY vinyl boxet (MetalSucks)

Notables

• The Decibel Study Hall of Fame, Pt.II – Kevin Stewart-Panko’s 8 year old son reviews SEPULTURA’s Decibal Hall of Fame winner, ‘Roots’ (Decibel)
• Win a MASSIVE Metal Blade Prize Pack (Aux.tv)
• The Map of Metal (MapofMetal.com
• Listen to a special 3 hour chat with JUSTIN BROADRICK (wfmu.org)
• Metal as Fundamentalism and Conformity (Invisible Oranges)
• Watch “Heavy Metal in Baghdad” for free (hulu.com – US only)

This past Wednesday, Toronto was treated with a live performance from Canada’s own, Devin Townsend. Easily the most charismatic and photogenic frontman that I’ve had the pleasure of shooting, Devin put on one of the most memorable performances that I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing. So, without further ado, it’s my pleasure to present photos from the show.

By Adam Wills

It’s been a long two years since the last installment of Heavy MTL, but I’m excited to be a part of the weekend again. And, in true heavy metal nerd fashion, I’ll be live blogging the entire weekend from the festival. Keep tuned in for insight into Canada’s biggest heavy metal festival of the year!

Day 1

– 1:06pm –
Arrived at Jean Drapeau, amidst a flood of black-shirted, “SLAAAAAAYERRRRRR”-shouting metalheads. Within a few moments of exiting the metro station, I felt something hit me in the back. I turn around to discover a lone lobster claw laying on the ground in front of me. I guess it’s going to be one of those days….

– 1:33pm –
Ohio’s SKELETONWITCH are the first band to hit the main stage, and did so with a whirlwind of blackened thrash. Off to a great start, getting the crowd energized for a long day of metal.

The sun is nowhere to be seen, but it’s still humid as hell. I’m already dreading the metro ride home, sharing a packed subway car full of dirty, sweaty, and drunk dudes.

– 2:34 –
High on Fire playing as solid as always. They don’t seem to come off as well playing a large festival stage as they do a smaller venue. Being a 3-piece, and setting up on the far ends of the stage, only moving 3 feet away from your mic just doesn’t fill the stage well.

– 3:35pm –
The first glitch of the festival came during AUF DER MAUR’s set… Their first song didn’t make it to the PA system… Which got fixed for the second song, minus the vocals, which didn’t come through until the third track. Thankfully, I was close enough that I was able to hear them from their stage equipment. This didn’t phase the band a bit, as they continues through their 30 minute set, which was highlighted by a tribute to Peter Steele (and metal in general), with a cover of Type O Negative’s cover of “Paranoid”. Although they were the least “metal” band of the fest, they put on the best set so far.

Next up? KATAKLYSM. Time to get some overpriced food.

– 5:16pm –
Never been into Fear Factory, but they put on a solid set. Gene Hoglan was a monster on the kit as always.

Anvil hit the main stage next… Was my first time seeing them, actually. Easily the most sincere band on the bill, graciously thanking everyone for their support. Powering through a 40 minute set of classics, Lips was up to his usual antics of vibrator playing, pickup micing, and of course, thrashing around to some of the best riffs Montreal has heard today.

– 7:39pm –
Was super excited to see HALFORD here. They started with the two opening tracks from their Resurrection album, which are two of the best openers out there. Guitar leads blazing under Halford’s banshee cries. However, their set continued with a number of mid-paces pieces that really slowed down their momentum for the rest of the set.

Atlanta’s MASTODON hit the second stage next, and tore through the most intense set of the day, consisting of tracks from their entire catalogue. I’ve seen them numerous times, and they continue to blow me away every time.

– 7:58pm –
SLAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYERRRRRR!!!!!

– 9:22 –
Tired and hungry. Enjoying ALICE COOPER from the grassy field at the back of the park. Playing a bunch of classics, with some great stage theatrics that he’s famous for.

– 11:34 –
Back at the hotel. Did a sprint to the metro to beat the thousands of people that were waiting until MEGADETH finished.

That being said, Dave Mustaine and company showed why they were the headliners of the fest. A flawless performance of Rust In Piece, followed by a few classics (“Symphony of Destruction”, “A Tout La Monde”, “Sweating Bullets”, etc). The crowd was as energetic as they were early this afternoon and hung onto every note and word from the legendary thrashers.

After a long 11 hours at the festival, I’m skipping out on any post-Megadeth festivities in favour of a shower, some snacks, and a cozy bed.

Day 2

– 4:18pm –
After catching up on some much needed rest, and making some stops en route to arrive with a full belly, we got here in time to catch Vancouver’s 3 INCHES OF BLOOD on the newly set up third stage. However, with no barriers between this stage and the 2 main stages, Their sound is getting half drowned out by CHIMAIRA’s thunderous bassdrums.

I’ve been extremely curious about the turnout for today. With the three headliners being AVENGED SEVENFOLD, ROB ZOMBIE and KORN, I knew that today was targeting a very different crowd than yesterday. In 2008, the second day had a very similar vibe, and had a very poor attendance in comparison to the first day. However, arriving today, I was surprised to see the place already packed. The small lawn area was already full, and all three stages had huge crowds stationed in front of them.

While I’m not interested in most of the bands playing today, I’ll be checking in with my thoughts on the bands and the festival in general throughout the day. Keep checking in!!

– 5:07 –
Was just wow-ed for the first time today by IN THIS MOMENT on the third stage. Unfortunately, it was a case of “wow, they are TERRIBLE!”. The good news? I found a spot to hear the third stage better. Bad news? I found a spot to hear the third stage better.

– 6:07 –
Watching ALEXISONFIRE. The least worst band by far today (that I’ve seen). Also, the only band without breakdowns. Coincidence? I think not.

Funny enough, as I’m typing this, the guitarist stated “if you’re waiting for the breakdown, keep holding your breath!”

I cheered.

– 6:26pm –
Easily the best line of the day so far, from ALEXISONFIRE: “Any KORN fans out there?” *small cheer* “Well I just saw Jonathan Davis riding around backstage on a Segway! Get your heads around THAT!”

– 7:02pm –
LAMB OF GOD has taken the stage, and as expected, are destroying. Easily, the craziest crowd the fest has seen yet. Love em or hate em, you can deny the impact they have in a live setting.

– 7:45pm –
AVENGED SEVENFOLD are the final band to play the second stage. Also, the first band to have pyrotechnics. Mike Portnoy is drumming for the…That’s about all I have to say about them.

– 9:44pm –
ROB ZOMBIE just finished. I’ve never really been a fan of his music, and this was my first time seeing him live. With all kinds of theatrics, including flaming robots, monsters, and horror movie clips, ZOMBIE easily had the best stage show of the fest. The music translates much better in a live setting, as the straightforward beats and riffs kept the seemingly exhausted crowd moving the entire time. I have no idea how KORN plans to attempt to top a performance like that…

– 11:57pm –
Well, it’s long after KORN have finished, and I find myself at Le Saint Bock, a small micro-brewery enjoying a tasty stout. Figured I should check in with my thoughts on the final band of the evening.

I was quite pessimistic about KORN headlining the evening. Now, I understand that they’ve had a ton of success over the years, have sold millions of albums, and have even won some Grammy awards… But I had a hard time believing that they were headlining a festival in 2010.

But sure enough, they started and the crowd went crazy. I was apparently quite wrong about their current relevance… But that didn’t change my thoughts on their music. They were still playing the same tune-downed slop that they’ve been playing, with underneath more whining by Adidas sponsored Jonathan Davis.

After 3 painful songs, I had no choice but to say goodbye to a very successful. Organization seemed quite well done, attendance was impressive, weather was cooperative, and most importantly, bands played solid sets on both days. Though the festival seems quite corporate (no metal vendors aside from tshirt booths of the bands playing… heck, the only label even mentioned was Roadrunner who had a trailer there), it was still a highly successful metal festival in Canada, and am already excited to see it return next year.

All photos are the property of Adam Wills and Hellbound.ca. These photos cannot be printed elsewhere without the written consent of  Adam Wills, Hellbound.ca and Live Nation Ontario.

All photos are the property of Adam Wills and Hellbound.ca. These photos cannot be printed elsewhere without the written consent of  Adam Wills, Hellbound.ca and Live Nation Ontario.