The Starlite Room was packed full of excited metal fans on Monday night, as death-grind kings, Cattle Decapitation, were visiting Edmonton on their North American Extinction Tour, promoting their newest record "The Anthropocene Extinction", and demolishing cities in their path.

Tampa, Florida's own, Dark Sermon, was first up to kick off the night. Delivering a ritualistic performance of blackened heavy metal, Dark Sermon left an impression on Edmonton that won't soon be forgotten. Up next was Black Crown Initiate, a personal favorite of mine, and despite being the odd band out on the bill due to their frequent (and lovely) clean harmonies between guitar and vocals, Black Crown Initiate always shows Edmonton what's up. Co-headlining the night was Australia's grindcore thunder from down under, King Parrot. It's always entertaining to see King Parrot live, the 5 piece from Melbourne, AUS. always put on a performance that's nothing short of wild! Warming up the crowd for what was yet to come, King Parrot had their Starlite Room audience all moshing, headbanging and stage-diving like crazy! It's always a pleasant sight to see people having so much fun at concerts, and this definitely a common thing whenever King Parrot is in town.

Lastly, our much anticipated headliner, Cattle Decapitation, took to a foggy and dimly lit stage as their first visit to Edmonton in 6 years. Appearing as silhouettes through the fog, the band immediately boomed into the first track off of their newest album "Manufactured Extinct" followed by "The Prophets of Loss". This resulted in the audience falling into a frenzy of aggressive moshing and break-neck headbanging, that stayed consistent for a majority of the set. Annihilating the remainder of their 12 song set, Cattle Decapitation fired on all cylinders with numerous tracks both old and new, all while maintaining their audible attack from start to finish, and leaving Edmonton with a sterling impression; Rejuvenating that of their previous performance, 6 years ago.

CATTLE DECAPITATION

KING PARROT

BLACK CROWN INITIATE

DARK SERMON

Heavy metal lovers flocked to Armstrong, British Columbia this past weekend for western Canada's most notorious metal festival, Armstrong Metalfest, as they triumphed over their 7th year of creating a dangerously awesome, fun-filled festival weekend at Armstrong's Hassen Arena. This was my second year shooting AMF, and I had an absolute blast. I'd be lying if I told you that I wasn't waiting for this weekend all year long, and though it's come and gone in the blink of an eye, my time here was just too great to put into words. It was refreshing to get out of Alberta for a weekend, and to marvel at the beauty of British Columbia along the way; I love being in B.C, and this was totally an adventure that my soul needed. The majority of my time spent in Armstrong consisted of shooting 36 incredibly sick bands over the course of 2 days, as well as reconnecting with friends who I only get to see a few times a year, and of course meeting a few new cool kats that made the weekend that much better.
Friday July 17th - Day #1 was jam packed with all sorts of in-your-face bands, all from across Canada; each dominated the stage, and had the room spinning from start to finish. Kicking off the show with Ziege Schwanze, followed by the talented likes of: Apollyon, Slitsoul, Drop Dead Fred, Seraphic Nihilist, Bushwhacker, Galactic Pegasus, Blackest Sin, Without Mercy, The Hallowed Catharsis, Neck Of The Woods, Display of Decay, Xul, Out Of The Ruins, The Order Of Chaos, Terrifier, and Toronto's Crimson Shadows, with Vancouver's Anciients as our Friday night headliner.

ZIEGE SCHWANZE

ZEIGE SCHWANZE

ZIEGE SCHWANZE

APOLLYON

SLITSOUL

DROP DEAD FRED

SERAPHIC NIHILIST

BUSHWHACKER

GALACTIC PEGASUS

BLACKEST SIN

WITHOUT MERCY

THE HALLOWED CATHARSIS

NECK OF THE WOODS

DISPLAY OF DECAY

XUL

LYLIA CHOROSIVE

XUL

OUT OF THE RUINS

THE ORDER OF CHAOS

TERRIFIER

CRIMSON SHADOWS

ANCIIENTS

CRIMSON SHADOWS

ANCIIENTS

Saturday July 18th had another bangin' bill of musicians that came to wreak havoc on stage and kick every ass in the room. Starting off headliner day with Nomessiah, followed by: Odinfist, The Press Gang, The Hellsmen, Tribune, Eye of Odin, Caveat, Stab Twist Pull, Skull Vultures, Dead Asylum, Planet Eater, Angel Maker, Wake, Mortillery, Villainizer, with Wacken Battle Canada winners, Vesperia, as our first full stage headliner, accompanied by the thrashing antics of fellow Canadians, Aggression, and finally, San Diego, California's very own, Cattle Decapitation, as the 2015 headliner for Armstrong Metalfest, whom, might I add, absolutely blew the roof off of the Hassen Arena.

NOMESSIAH

ODINFIST

THE PRESS GANG

THE HELLSMEN

TRIBUNE

EYE OF ODIN

CAVEAT

STAB TWIST PULL

SKULL VULTURES

DEAD ASYLUM

PLANET EATER

ANGEL MAKER

WAKE

MORTILLERY

VILLAINIZER

VESPERIA

AGGRESSION

CATTLE DECAPITATION

The audience on Saturday night was especially wild; Stage diving and moshing more aggressively than the night before, creating an energetic vibe that you could feel the moment you step foot into the venue. The general atmosphere of AMF is something beyond words. It's like one big family reunion with people you've never met, and people you already know, who all share the same passion towards aggressive music, and are all there for the same reason. I'm so honored to be a part of this killer event, and I'm so looking forward to coming back next year! Stay sweet, Armstrong!

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Cattle Decapitation Wipes Out Edmonton on North American Extinction Tour - September 21, 2015

Armstrong Metalfest 2015