Crushing The Commodore ft. Children of Bodom

Live Nation gave us here at Hammer Records the opportunity to cover the Children of Bodom ft. Death Angel and Tyr show on Tuesday night at The Commodore Ballroom. It'd been a while since we've attended a metal show of that magnitude, and were excited to finally break in our new camera lens at such an incredible venue. Needless to say, the night went well. James manned the camera this time, and I sat back and took in each set in their entirety, capturing an epic story written with musical instruments.

First up was Tyr. A driving Heavy Metal/ Power Metal band from the Faroe Islands. Their set was filled with melodic, ample tunes. I often find that in a long set of music, songs tend to bleed into one another, and become stale as they progress. Tyr, however, did not hesitate to produce well structured, catchy, heavy hitting songs that each had a unique sound to them. The use of multi-vocalists helped the vocals clearly cut through the driving, hefty instrumentals laid out by both guitars, bass, and drums. Though they mostly remained locked to their mic stands, their stage presence still stood out, accompanied by some light headbanging and flashy tap solos. There was certainly a large group of dedicated Tyr fans in the audience from the beginning of the set onwards, though by the end of their set, everyone on the floor was into what they were laying down. Over all, a great performance. One I'd look forward to seeing again in the future. Check out TYR on their Facebook HERE!

Next to hit the stage was my favourite band of the night, Death Angel. This Thrash Metal band from Bay Area, California won my appreciation with their epic stage presence, driving charisma, thick hollow drum and bass sounds which were super tight rhythmically, and fearless riffs and licks. Having not heard much of their music before the show, I wasn't exactly sure if their sound was something I'd be particularly into. Turns out, as I mentioned previously, they were my favourite band of the night. The members of this band appeared to be great friends, and looked like they were having a blast on stage together throughout the whole set. The lead singer also extended a cheers to the audience with his bottle of Bombay, welcomed new listeners of their music, and told the audience about when they as a band fell in love with Vancouver - 1987. All in all, this is a band I'd love to see live again, and will definitely be picking up their album in the future. Check out Death Angel on Facebook HERE!

Last, and the heaviest band of the night was who everyone was there to see - Children of Bodom. Now, this is a band that's been around the block for a long time, and it shows. Their showmanship was spot on from the very first song. Their entire sound was so thick and heavy. They were melodic, intense, and dramatic. The vocals soared above in most songs, the riffs were fleshy and full of substance, the bass and drums were super tight and the keys really helped fill out the whole sound and added a dynamic of their own. Before the set, between each song, and at the end of the night, Children of Bodom had fans chanting their name - and I bet it felt great! The energy in the venue was infectious. Band members and fans alike seemed to be having the best time of their lives. If you're reading this, I'm assuming you already have Children of Bodom "liked" on Facebook, but on the off chance you don't, check them out HERE!

If you'd like to see more photos from the night, hit up our Facebook page HERE, or follow the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.684722228236513.1073741876.189460831095991&type=1