The Best Of 2015

Dana Zuk December 24, 2015

Another year has come and gone, and I can't believe how amazing 2015 has been for me. I met some of the most incredible people while adventuring around western Canada throughout the summer months, and was given so many opportunities of a life time over the course of the year that I won't soon forget. Covering all kinds of concerts and festivals for various media outlets such as: Exclaim!, Vandala Magazine and ampsandgreenscreens.com, as well as maintaining a steady schedule of shooting, I was able to smash many goals that I had set for myself for 2015, which lead to some of the best mile-stone experiences of my life that I will be talking about until my days are done.

To sum up an entire year of epic concerts and experiences into a few paragraphs is... Difficult... To say the least. Despite the downside of losing one of Edmonton's best music venues, The Pawn Shop, I feel fortunate to have been able to be a part of some of the most energtic and wild shows that took place there within its final days. But alas, life goes on. On a more postive note, some of my most favorite memories of being a concert photographer were made this year. From shooting countless local bands as they melt faces while dominating stages across western Canada, to having musical legends in front of my lens in the most renowned venues across the city of Edmonton.

Reminiscing on the past 12 months and the challenges it has presented me, I can proudly say that I was able to overcome and perservere through them with my head held high, and with positive thoughts guiding me along the way; encouraging me to work harder and harder to get to where I want to be with my life as a professional photographer. It's amazing what dreaming big can do for you. Including the remarkable amount of support that I have received from friends, family and people I have never met. I'm truly humbled. My gratitude for your endless support is beyond words. Shout out, and much love to all of you, you know who you are!

Now, before kickin' into holiday mode for the remainder of 2015, I have sifted through the mountain of pictures I have shot this year, and compiled a swanky album of my most favorite snaps. Enjoy, folks! See ya in 2016!

Butcher Babies

Black Label Society

Tides of Kharon

Cannibal Corpse

Behemoth

These Colours Don't Run

Display of Decay

Mongol

Dahlmer's Realm

Wovenwar

In Flames

Times Tide

Exits

Slumlord

Cat the Adversary

Bleed

Leave the Living

Ironstorm

Tyrant

Anvil

Elnora

Arrival of Autumn

Bleed

Ironstorm

Mortillery

Arrival of Autumn

Bleed

Clutch

Mastodon

Demise Without Reason

Touch

Apocalyptica

Riot City

Every Hour Kills

Neck of the Woods

Without Mercy

Begrime Exemious

Noire

Sparky

Untimely Demise

Into Eternity

Kobra and the Lotus

Great White Shark Fight

Revocation

Veil of Maya

Battlecross

Display of Decay

Black Breath

Goatwhore

Tyrant

Dieuponaday

Savage Playground

Wolfrik

Elements

Dusty Tucker

Bush Whacker

Galactic Pegasus

The Hallowed Catharsis

Neck of the Woods

Out of the Ruins

The Order of Chaos

Terrifier

Crimson Shadows

Odinfist

Eye of Odin

Stab.Twist.Pull

Dead Asylum

Planet Eater

Villainizer

Vesperia

Aggression

Cattle Decapitation

Sleep Demon

Tylor Dory Trio

Scythia

The Order of Chaos

Calling All Captains

Stab.Twist.Pull

Death Toll Rising

Striker

Calling all Captains

Sleeping In Traffic

Protosequence

Valyria

Great White Shark Fight

Death Toll Rising

Wolfrik

Young Empires

Gay Nineties

K-OS

Robert DeLong

St.Lucia

Kongos

TV on the Radio

Ellie Goulding

The Zolas

The Elwins

Eagles of Death Metal

Big Data

Tokyo Police Club

The Flaming Lips

Mother Mother

Tenacious D

ALEXISONFIRE

Display of Decay

The Agonist

AC/DC

Black Crown Initiate

Cattle Decapitation

Overkill

Cryptopsy

GWAR

Striker

Slipknot

Alan Doyle & the Beautiful Gypsies

Bare Naked Ladies

In Hearts Wake

Miss May I

Parkway Drive

The Weeknd

Monarch Sky

Alice Cooper

Motley Crue

The Agonist Treats Union Hall to Audible Annihilation - September 19, 2015

Dana Zuk September 22, 2015

PHOTOGRAPHED FOR AMPSANDGREENSCREENS.COM

Montreal's metal sensation, The Agonist, made a stop at Union Hall on Saturday night to kick ass and take names with new powerhouse femme-fatal frontwoman, Vicky Psarakis, leading the charge. Being a fan of The Agonist for many years, seeing them dominate the stage for the first time was so exciting for me.

Tearing into their set with "Thank You, Pain" and "Gates of Horn and Ivory", demonstrating the dynamic shreddery of Danny Marino and Pascal (Paco) Jobin, the audience immediately erupted into a whirlwind of headbanging hair and moshers, causing smiles to form on the faces of the band. Playing an adrenalized 9 song set, the Canadian 5-piece band was pleasantly received by their Edmonton crowd. Carrying on to play a handful of tracks both old and new to the tastes of long time fans, The Agonist thrashed and bashed their way through old fan favorites such as: "Panophobia", "The Tempest" and "Business Suits and Combat Boots", causing an uproar of break-neck headbanging to the thundering drumming of Simon McKay, and bubbling bass lines of Chris Kells.

With their in-your-face performance, The Agonist stole the show on Saturday night. Positive vibes were at an all time high, and the excitement in the air was contagious. Seeing a Canadian metal band doing so well while on tour makes me proud to be a (very small) part of the Canadian music scene, and inspires me to keep on keepin' on. I can't wait until The Agonist is back in town, because I know that they will not only dominate the stage, but totally blow the minds of everyone who goes to see them!

Goatwhore & Guests Sink Fangs into Edmonton on Poisoning North America Tour - June 22, 2015

Dana Zuk June 30, 2015

AMPSANDGREENSCREENS.COM OFFICIAL CONCERT REVIEW

Monday night metal shows are always a gamble in every city for touring bands, but, with the mighty GOATWHORE gracing the Pawn Shop with a troop of blackened thrashers, one can expect a stellar turnout. At GOATWHORE’S side, brigading Edmonton with a thirst for beer and audible annihilation, BLACK BREATH, RINGWORM, THEORIES, and WAKE held a steady build up to what is possibly the grimiest show of the year.

Only on board for two shows of this tour, Calgary’s own WAKE was a suitable local opener for this gig; Immediately kicking off the show with a well received, passionate and aggressive vibe, followed by the grindy and in-your-face presence of Seattle’s death metal masters, THEORIES. Concert goers warmed up to our openers with the horns held high, and drinks in hand. Thundering and smashing their way through their stage time with energy to spare, THEORIES and WAKE were pleasantly impressive, and delivered just the right amount of adrenaline to get the party started.

There was a buzz in the room amongst the audience as they patiently awaited for RINGWORM to hit the stage in Edmonton for the first time. Fans were chatting amongst themselves, expressing excitement and eagerly awaiting the Cleveland, Ohio hardcore-thrashers to storm the stage. Booming into a hefty 16 song set, starting off with “The Sickness” from 2001’s album “Birth Is Pain”, RINGWORM had their audience thrashing about in a whirlwind of circle pits. Continuing on with their chaotic performance consisting of teeth-chattering bass rumbles and gut-wrenching vocals, RINGWORM rolled through various songs such as “Bleed”, “Dawn of Decay”, and the album title track off of their newly released album “Hammer of the Witch”, and closing with a bang by force-feeding Edmonton the title track of 2005’s album “Justice Replaced By Revenge”. Leaving the Pawn Shop with their audience in a frenzy and hungry for more, RINGWORM left one hell of a first impression on Edmonton.

Stealing the show, and also hitting Edmonton for the first time, BLACK BREATH opened up a can of pure whoop-ass on the Pawn Shop. Hailing from Seattle with a hunger for nothing but satisfaction, BLACK BREATH blasted off with an unfamiliar track from their soon-to-be-released album, sending the Pawn Shop into a spiraling frenzy of headbanging and moshing. Aggressively pleasing the likes of their audience with tracks off of 2012’s album “Heavy Breathing” such as “Black Sin”, “Escape From Death” and “Eat the Witch”, BLACK BREATH furiously smashed and bashed all expectations I had of their performance with an impressive amount of face melting riffs and raw energy, all compiled into one incredibly hairy (and beardy) band that wanted nothing but to rip Edmonton a new one as they conquered the Pawn Shop for the first time. Boy, did they ever!

Sounding heavier than ever before, GOATWHORE blazed through a carefully articulated 13 song set, displaying an array of songs spanning their discography. Storming Edmonton with a new jam from 2014’s release of “Constricting Rage of the Merciless” GOATWHORE immediately grabbed their audience's attention with “Poisonous Existence in Reawakening” - a perfect opening track for this gig. Rolling on through their set, guitarist Sammy Duet, spoke up into his microphone, “I would like to dedicate the next song to all of the beautiful women of Edmonton” he said, with a cheeky smile. None other than the joyous melodies of “FBS” (F*cked By Satan) was the song that Sammy was referring to. With the mosh pits erupting into small war-zones, GOATWHORE slaughtered the remainder of their set, playing favorites such as “Sky Inferno”, “Graveyards and Dead Angels”, and “Apocalyptic Havoc”; All devastatingly awesome songs played to perfection by drummer, Zack Simmons, and live bassist, Robert Coleman (AKA Trans Am), and delightfully pulled together by the devilish grunts and growls of frontman, Ben Falgoust, of course with Ben’s signature air-guitar stage moves as the highlight of GOATWHORE’S venomous performance!

WAKE

THEORIES

RINGWORM

BLACK BREATH

GOATWHORE

Veil of Maya & Revocation Demolish the Pawn Shop with Riffs and Roars - June 12, 2015

Dana Zuk June 15, 2015

AMPSANDGREENSCREENS.COM OFFICIAL SHOW REVIEW

A rainy Friday isn't something that deters Edmonton's heavy metal community from hitting up various venues to catch some of the coolest bands out there. On June 12th, this definitely wasn't a problem! A little rain can't stop YEG's metal heads from heading down to the Pawn Shop to catch what is possible the most EPIC show of 2015. Kicking off Friday evening with local deathcore metallers GREAT WHITE SHARK FIGHT, the Pawn Shop comfortably exploded into a frenzy of moshing and headbanging as these five shredders delivered a crushing set, demonstrating who they are, and what they're all about; A perfect fit for this bill.

Revocation was about to hit the stage, and I could feel the anticipation rising within myself, and the rest of the room. As each member took their place on stage, Revocation immediately blasted into 'Labyrinth Of Eyes' from newly released album 'Deathless', causing the Pawn Shop to erupt like a volcano. Chaos from wall to wall! An abundance of moshers, stage divers, and crowd surfers were launching from all directions as Revocation continued to pump adrenalizing riffs and roars through the monitors. As frontman and guitarist, Dave Davidson, expressed his gratitude and excitement to be back in Edmonton, he commanded the Pawn Shop to raise their 'wizard fingers' for a song that has "a few weedlies and deedlies" the audience broke into a mass frenzy more aggressive than ever before as the band boomed into 'Invidious' from 2013's self titled album. After delivering one final blow to the Pawn Shop by closing with 'Witch Trails' (Deathless 2014) Exchanging handshakes with their fans, and flicking guitar picks and drum sticks to the audience, After stealing the show, Revocation left the stage, knowing they had just put on THE heaviest, deadliest and most aggressive show to have hit Edmonton so far this year. Epic on all fronts!

Firing on all cylinders, Veil of Maya began their performance in the best way possible: Loud, fast and in-your-face! Blowing their audience away right from the get-go with 'Lucy' and 'Mikasa' from their newly released album 'Matriarch'. Within their well articulated 13 song set, Veil of Maya had a taste for audible annihilation, playing a variety songs from albums spanning across their music careers such as 'Punisher', '[ID]', 'Subject Zero' and many, many more. Continuing on with the bleeding riffs of Marc Okubo piercing through the thundering drumming and bass lines of Dan Hauser and Sam Applebaum, all the while complimenting the raspy but aggressively beautiful voice of Lukas Magyar. Taking their audience back to their second album 'The Common Man's Collapse' Veil of Maya put the cherry on top of their set with 'It's Not Safe To Swim Today', causing their fans to throw down harder than ever before. Veil of Maya always puts on an impressive performance every time they visit Edmonton, but this time, the band put on their best show yet that wont soon be forgotten!

VEIL OF MAYA

GREAT WHITE SHARK FIGHT

REVOCATION

VEIL OF MAYA

Mortillery Massacres The Pawn Shop During Edmonton Extermination Concert - April 11, 2015

Dana Zuk April 14, 2015

AMPSANDGREENSCREENS.COM OFFICIAL SET REVIEW

It’s Saturday night, the weather is just right, and Edmonton is ready to rock, as YEG’s thrash-masters, MORTILLERY, are gearing up for an evening of epic proportions. The band is still gleaming with much well-deserved hype over their pickup on SEPULTURA’S 2014 European tour. And now, after not playing to a local crowd in Edmonton for almost a year, thrashers and metal lovers of all kinds have flocked to The Pawn Shop to catch MORTILLERY in action.

As these five thrash assassins shredded their way through their set, a desire for audible annihilation loomed heavily in the air. So they set about the task of rolling out heart-pounding riffs delivered by guitarists Alex Gutierrez & Kent Quinlan, and complemented by thundering bass lines and drumming of Miranda Wolfe & Kevin Gaudet respectively. All of which was delightfully pulled together with frontwoman Cara McCutchen’s piercing voice as the cherry on top.

On a mission to deliver the heavy metal madness, MORTILLERY kicked off their set with “Sacrifice” and “Evil Remains”, two wicked tracks off of their first full-length album entitled Murder Death Kill from 2011. Next up was various tracks such as “Creature Possessor” and “No Way Out” from 2013’s sophomore disc Origin of Extinction. Treating their local fans to a handful of songs off of their yet-to-be-released third record that remains unnamed, the audience boomed with excitement. Hair was flying everywhere through the air from start to finish as fans sang and headbanged along to each track that came pouring through the monitors and amps, making this the most energetic local show of 2015!

In Flames Burns Through Edmonton With All That Remains and Wovenwar on Charming America Tour - March 12, 2015 @ Encore at WEM

Dana Zuk March 16, 2015

AMPSANDGREENSCREENS.COM OFFICIAL CONCERT REVIEW

West Edmonton Mall: Tourist Attraction, A Shop-aholic's Dream come true, and now, heavy metal concert destination. Swedish metal ledgends, In Flames, is about to grace Encore with one hell of a performance, accompanied by All That Remains and Wovenwar.

Starting the night off right with Wovenwar warming up the crowd, the former As I Lay Dying musicians and vocalist, Shane Blay, of Oh, Sleeper kicked this show into high gear, opening up their set with 'All Rise' and 'Death To Rights' from their 2014 self-titled debut album, which had their audience's hair in the air, and singing along at the tops of their lungs. This was Wovenwar's first time playing Edmonton as a band, leaving nothing short of an excellent impression of YEG's metal fans.

Next up to the plate was Massachusetts own, All That Remains. All That Remains started their set of with 'No Knock' from their newest album The Order Of Things, which had been just released less than one month prior to their Edmonton performance. With fans going insane in the mosh pits, ATR soared through their 10 song set, nailing a number of their hit songs, such as 'Six', 'This Calling', and heavy metal ballad 'What If I Was Nothing?'. With fans singing along and moshing their hearts out, All That Remains has once again left their mark on Edmonton, and boy! Was it ever a good one!

With anticipation and excitement sitting thick in the air, In Flames took Encore's stage by force. As fans began to erupt into a frenzy of moshing, and with crowd surfers worm-rolling through the audience, In Flames absolutely dominated their 16 song set, playing a number of hits that have spanned over their still-running-strong 25 year career, such as 'Clayman', 'Bullet Ride', 'Cloud Connected', and 'The Quiet Place' - to name a few of my personal favorite tracks - Along with a handful of new songs from their most recent album Siren Charms, such as 'Paralyzed', 'With Eyes Wide Open', and 'Everything Is Gone'. Though these Swedish metallers are frequent visitors to Edmonton, this performance, hands down, by far and without a doubt is one of, if not THE best show that they have ever put on in this city, and I'm confident that Edmonton's metal fans will agree with me on that statement. Until next time, In Flames!

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Behemoth & Cannibal Corpse Bring Ritual and Chaos to Edmonton - February 13, 2015

Dana Zuk February 16, 2015

AMPSANDGREENSCREENS.COM OFFICIAL CONCERT REVIEW

It's Friday the 13th - A night in which the local Edmonton metalheads are out for one hell of a party and a ritualistic experience; Union Hall concert goers received both, a hefty dose of Poland's blackened death metal demigods, Behemoth, and American death metal heavy-weights, Cannibal Corpse.

As fans were let into the venue, supporters of blackened-rockers, Tribulation, and death metallers, Aeon, began to fill the Hall; As these two Swedish based bands powered through their energetic sets, their authentic music amped up the crowd in preparation for what was yet to come.

25-year-strong death metal icons Cannibal Corpse were next up on the bill. The party was about to start! Fans began pressing towards the barricades and throwing beer cans in the air as the time for Cannibal Corpse drew nearer. As each member of the band filled their place on the dimly lit stage, the roars of the crowd consecutively grew louder and louder. With the whipping of George 'Corpsegrinder' Fisher's incredibly muscular neck, the band thundered into 'Scourge of Iron' from 2012's album 'Torture'. Between songs, Corpsegrinder called upon their guitar tech, Baby Face, gesturing to him to come onto the stage. Thinking something was horribly wrong, Baby Face hurried over, only to be surprised with a birthday cake, lit with candles and held by a fellow tech friend from the tour. Smiles cracked through the stone-like faces on each member of Cannibal Corpse as Baby Face hugged and thanked them all for wishing him a happy birthday. As the set continued on, CC rolled through some of their old-school, gut-wrenching and gruesome tracks such as 'I Cum Blood', 'Make Them Suffer', 'Skull Full Of Maggots' and 'Hammer Smashed Face' each errupting into the most aggressive and chaotic of mosh pits that the Union Hall has ever, and probably will ever see.

Eagerly waiting for Behemoth's appearance, the strong scent of incense filled the room as a few sticks of Nag Champa slowly burnt off of frontman and guitarist, Adam 'Nergal' Darski's microphone alter. The Hall began to fill with smoke, as spotlights beemed down through the haze upon the microphone stands with steel cobras coiled around them, creating a very ritualistic image throughout the room - the Hall went black as bassist Orion, drummer Inferno and guitarist Seth took place on stage, followed by frontman Nergal, who bowed to the audience with flaming posts in both hands. As Nergal rose to his feet, he threw down his fiery posts, and the band boomed into 'Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer' - a track from 2014's album 'The Satanist'. On the receiving end of the piercing glares that Nergal would frequently give the crowd, you couldn't help by feel like he was staring into your soul, followed by yelling into his ambient microphone "How does it feel to be alive?!" then, proceeding into 'Ben Sahar' (The Satanist, 2014). After a victorious battle with leukemia a few years prior, a new found appreciation for life was awakened within Nergal, which has inspired many songs on 2014's album The Satanist. Behemoth performed a series of hit tracks from over the years, such as 'Conquer All', 'At The Left Hand Ov God' and 'Of Fire and The Void', each highlighting the incredible talents of the musicians on stage. Though excluding 2014's single 'Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel', which left many Behemoth supporters disappointed. Closing the night off with Nergal's incantation of 'Ojcze Nasz', the 4 demigods appeared through beems of white light peering down through the hazey air, wearing cloaks and black horned masks, casting silhouettes upon the audience, making Friday the 13th at Union Hall, a truly haunting, spiritual experience that wont soon be forgotten.

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