Heavy Metal Sasquatch: Between the Buried and Me, Chon, & Intervals @ The Phoenix (Nov 24, 2019)

Monday, 25 November 2019

Between the Buried and Me, Chon, & Intervals @ The Phoenix (Nov 24, 2019)

Between the Buried and Me is a band that caters to a diverse crowd of metalheads. Early fans of the band expect a heavy, raw, and visceral experience, while other fans expect the heavy progressive elements to drive things along. They've been busy touring lately but their latest run has them paired up in a progressive metal powerhouse with Intervals to get things started and Chon as a co-headliner. Stopping in my neck of the woods in the middle of their tour run is an opportunity I can not resist.

Anytime Between the Buried and Me makes a stop in southern Ontario I make an effort to see them! Intervals is another band I've been a huge fan of for years, especially with their home base in Toronto. I first heard Aaron Marshall's guitar talk at a live show with Northlane in 2013, and their early EP's "In Time" and "The Space Between" completely blew my mind. Since then, I've been loving the wild and more joyful progressive metal tangents they've been exploring on their latest few releases. Chon is a band I have not explored in much depth before this tour, but I can see why they are driving the ship this time around.

Intervals opened the night to an eager hometown crowd. These guys are top notch instrumentalist and they proved it again last night. Opening with some amazing material off their latest and last few releases, they turned up the dial with the final few songs coming off their beloved "In Time" EP from the early 2010's. They woke the pit up with Alchemy and Mata Hari, amping the crowd to acceptable proportions for such a night.

Every BTBAM show is a god damn experience but last night was something special with the band able to take some liberties with their set list, free of album release stipulations and with very prog focused tour mates. I deliberately avoided looking at the set list before the show to keep it a surprise and I wasn't disappointed. Opening with ALASKA, they sent The Phoenix into an absolute stupor. They followed up in style with Ants of the Sky bleeding directly into Prequel to the Sequel with a some guest vocals from the Chon crew. Not having Dustie present for the Colors 10 year anniversary tour hurt, so this was a treat. Playing into the proggy atmosphere of the tour, we went on an Ecotopic Stroll before blasting off into Parallax territory with Autumn and Extremophile Elite. They closed the set with Blot, Glide, and Voice of Trespass which again sent the pit into overdrive.

Chon took the stage next and put on one hell of a show. This was my first time experiencing this band and I liked what I heard. Intricate guitars and percussion, uplifting melodies, and some mind altering moments are what these guys do best. The crowd was 100% on board with the band, singing the instrumentals as if they were vocal tracks and moshing as a juxtaposition of tone. I didn't know the material, but I had a wicked time none the less. Cheers to all the bands who played and a shout out to the animals in the pit as per usual! Check out some photos and video from the night below!!

Between the Buried and Me