Withered
Support: Immortal Bird, Vile Creature, Klarg
Date: Saturday February 25th, 2017
Venue: Coalition T.O. in Toronto, Ontario
T-shirt worn: Peanut Butter Jelly Time

I only was interested in this show because Klarg were opening. I only vaguely remember Withereds name from a 2009 tour with Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and them. I've never thought of them since that show (in which every band except Mayhem dropped off the tour the week before the show and I never ended up going).

I was getting over a cold tonight but I really wanted to see Klarg again. They were one of the best bands I saw in 2016 when they opened for Blood Incantation and Nucleus. There were maybe twenty people there to see them tonight, which is too bad because they put on a performance for the ages. There was a second guitar player this time but he was playing at the back of the venue (which is only twenty feet from the stage) but he wasn't even playing along with the band. He was just doing random squeals and feedback. They also summoned "something" which jumped on stage to do some vocals for them but "its" microphone wasn't turned on. I could've done without the second guitar but they were fucking incredible and they're destined for big things.

Vile Creature had the dubious task of following Klarg. They were one of those tortured sludge bands. When they kicked the tempo up they were good, and they had one clean vocal section towards the end of their set that was really good. But their set went too long. I only know their set because they only have a handful of songs (and those songs and all ten to fifteen minutes long).

Vile Creature
1. A Pessimistic Doomsayer
2. A Steady Decent into the Soil

Immortal Bird almost didn't make this show. Their van was stolen a few days ago with all their gear and merch in it. But they're soldiering on. They didn't do much for me. Their death vocals were really good and they did one song towards the end of their set that sounded like a tornado but the rest wasn't clicking at all.

This show had peaked really early with Klarg and I wasn't having too much fun as the night wore on. So I made the decision during Immortal Birds set to give Withered a few songs to impress me or I'd leave. They did start out s little slow but they hit their groove a few minutes in and I ended up really enjoying them. They even got one of the most intense seven person moshpits I’ve seen in my days. I liked them.

Overall though the problem with this show was the first band was far and away the most enjoyable for me and there was nowhere to go but down after that. I had a fun time though and I'd see Withered again too.

Klarg