PHOTOGRAPHED FOR EXCLAIM!.CA

Halloween arrived early this year in Calgary, as Sweden's infamous, anonymous, satanic musical sensation, Ghost, graced the stage at MacEwan Hall to a packed Tuesday night crowd. Numerous fans could be seen wearing their best Ghost-inspired costumes, many faces were painted like skulls in honour of the band's only visage.

As church-like choir and organ music filled the room, five of the six anonymous band members each took to their place at their instrument onstage, silhouetted against thick fog, with beams of purple and red lighting shining upon them, creating an eerie mood for concertgoers. As the lights began to settle, the band immediately boomed into their 15-song set with "Square Hammer," resulting in a deafening eruption of joyous cheers from the audience. Then, they amplified as the staple figure, and frontman of the band, Papa Emeritus III, appeared front and centre in full mock pope-attire and began to unleash his hauntingly beautiful voice upon the crowd.

As the night progressed, the anonymous sextet clergy had their loyal fans greedily eating out of the palms of their hands as they sang along loudly to each song. Many fan favourites dominated the setlist: "From the Pinnacle to the Pit," "Secular Haze," "Body and Blood" and "Year Zero" all satisfied the many long-time fans.

With a quick wardrobe change from Satanic pope to maestro, Papa Emeritus III began to conduct the audience with a wave of his hands, and in return, voices echoed throughout the Hall, repeating the chorus to hit song "Cirice" in unison, giving the song a truly spooky vibe. Then, millions of pieces of metallic confetti and dollar bills with Papa's face on them rained from the air as the band glided into "Mummy Dust."

Ending the night on a strong note with "Monstrance Clock," the singing voices of Ghost's audience still echoed throughout the room, as the choral ending to the band's big rock'n'roll finish began to fade out, leaving only the voices of the concertgoers to fill the silence, putting the cherry on top of this night of ritual and worship.

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR VANDALA MAGAZINE

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.