Road tripping from Edmonton to Calgary to see viking metallers, Amon Amarth, was something I certainly don't regret, as the Swedish heavy metal powerhouses sailed into Alberta, and crushed Calgary's Macewan Hall with brutal force. Accompanied by the thrashy likes of Exmortus and Entombed A.D to warm up the massive crowd, the night was set to be one for the memory books.

It's always interesting working in an unfamiliar venue, in a semi-unfamiliar city. Despite my experiences shooting the infamous Calgary Metalfest every year, making the drive down to Calgary isn't something that happens often for me, so naturally I was quite excited to have a change of scene, even if it was for only one night. Not to mention, adding a new venue to my 'conquered' list is always a welcomed feather to add to my proverbial hat.

Photographing Amon Amarth only a few years prior, I had a general idea of what to expect from them on stage, but even still, I was blown away with their performance. As the lights dimmed, the curtains dropped, revealing their massive stage banners, and unveiling an enormous traditional style viking helmet, which is probably the coolest drum riser I've ever seen. Upon this, I began to grow restless. As the band took their places on stage, they immediately boomed into "Pursuit of Vikings", kicking this gig off into ultra-high gear right from the get-go. With each roar of the audience, frontman Johan Hegg's, warm grin grew larger and larger, which, for those of you who follow me on Instagram will know, I ate up entirely with shutter clicks. With very little encouragement, the audience happily shouted the chorus to Amon Amarth's kick-off opening track back to the band, leaving chills down my spine. It's something I could never get tired of hearing and experiencing, and, judging from the looks on their faces, I'm quite sure that the band shares that feeling as well.

Moving on throughout the night, Amon Amarth absolutely crushed their hefty 19 song set, giving it their all as they progressed through each track. I stood in awe, admiring the energy and undeniable crowd involvement that came along with their performance. Truly, Amon Amarth is a band that I will happily see, whether it be through my lens, or as an audience member, each and every time they grace Alberta's soil with their presence.

AMON AMARTH

EXHUMED A.D

EXMORTUS

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR VANDALA MAGAZINE

Weekday thrash gigs are always promising. If it's not the wicked bang-over the morning after, it's the hoarse voice that will remind you of what a great time you had the night before. This was definitely the case for Edmonton on Friday morning, as California's thrash experts Warbringer, brought total war to the Starlite Room on Thursday night as they rolled through Edmonton on their 2016 North American tour, accompanied by Sweden's Enforcer, fellow Canadian's Cauldron (with Striker's Dan Cleary filling in on lead vocals), and Exmortus of California, who all pleased the likes of their Edmonton audiences.

Firing up the night with Exmortus leading the charge, the Californian's delivered a set jam packed with crushing riffs and shreddy solos to a full floor. Moving on to Toronto's very own, Cauldron, playing a brief eight song set with Dan Cleary lending his powerful vocals to the band for the evening, due to their lead vocalist, Jason Decay, coming down with a nasty throat infection, rendering him unable to sing during the set. As Enforcer was about to hit the stage, the floor of the Starlite Room began to fill up, as people began to chant the band's name, eagerly awaiting for the four-some to dominate the room. As the Swedish thrash masters took to the stage, the audience erupted into a frenzy of headbanging hair, which could be seen flying in all directions; a pleasant sight for the musicians playing to a full room. By the time Warbringer hit the stage, the floor began to fill up even more, which resulted in a whirlwind of intense moshers and headbangers who began to thrash about with the adrenaline-packed set that the band had unleashed on their Starlite Room crowd, including fan favorite tracks such as: "Living in a Whirlwind", "Black Sun, Black Moon", "Combat Shock", and "TOTAL WAR", putting an aggressive edge on the evening, and creating the perfect storm for a weekday thrash show that will be talked about for months to come.