Alright we're back with another gig review. Again I'm reporting from the front lines of the 9910 basement. After wrapping up another episode of OATH zine radio, I trudged North across the High Level bridge towards downtown Edmontonas ominous black clouds lurked on the western horizon. I arrived too late at the venue to catch the live debut of new emo band Epitaph Plain. It is a shame as their debut EP is pretty impressive, but they're playing another show on July 3rd so I'll have another chance to see them in the flesh.
Anathematize was midway through their set when I arrived. The death metal-influenced beatdown band has played sparingly for a few years at local gigs and have gained an appreciative following for their hard body mosh music. The kids like the sluggish thuggish type shit and even it's not for me, I gotta give this band props for not only being a pretty fun live act but also for the larger role a couple of their members play in documenting the scene as photographers and videographers.
Suffering Unseen took the stage next. Before the set I heard a conversation in which the guitarist and bassist tried to explain to a curious audience member what the band sounded like.
Guitarist: "Yeah we're kinda like metalcore"
Bassist (member of Mal Criado filling in): "I'd say it's kinda like deathcore? No?"
Guitarist: "Well, I guess like proto-deathcore. Proto-deathcore revival maybe"
Bassist: "How can you revive proto-deathcore? Deathcore already happened"
It was a humorous exchange, but I can understand the challenge in trying to description the nuances of the band's sound. There is a lot of death metal influence in the band's sound, but it's coming from the riffier side of death metal rather than the chunky brutal death metal that is more closely linked to capital D deathcore of the 2000s. You could also look to the fact that they opened their set with a cover of Nails' "Unsilent Death" to see where their influences are coming from. I thought the recorded material I heard from them was a little too metallic and not core-y enough for my tastes, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this set. They had a strong energetic stage presence and the songs sounded unrelentingly hard. There was little time in the set where there was open space in the pit, people were MOVING for this band, and the strong reaction was well deserved.
Closing out the night was "Chingona powerviolence" band Mal Criado. The group is fresh off the release of one of the best hardcore records of the year so far, and this was the set I was most eagerly anticipated. De-colonial politics are a central theme in the group's music and this was made further explicit by the shirt worn by the vocalist that had the slogan "KILL THE WHITES" emblazened across the back. Like the best powerviolence usually is, Mal Criado played at fiery blistering tempos or with a sledgehammer-like bludgeoning stomp. It's grimy, nasty, and justifiably mean as hell. I think a lot of people are clammering for hardcore that has some sharp political critique at a time when there is a lot to righteously take up arms against. This is a band with bark and bite, and I really hope they get some larger recognition because they are one of my new favourite hardcore bands in the western Canada region at large.Closing out the night was "Chingona powerviolence" band Mal Criado. The group is fresh off the release of one of the best hardcore records of the year so far, and this was the set I was most eagerly anticipated. De-colonial politics are a central theme in the group's music and this was made further explicit by the shirt worn by the vocalist that had the slogan "KILL THE WHITES" emblazened across the back. Like the best powerviolence usually is, Mal Criado played at fiery blistering tempos or with a sledgehammer-like bludgeoning stomp. It's grimy, nasty, and justifiably mean as hell. I think a lot of people are clammering for hardcore that has some sharp political critique at a time when there is a lot to righteously take up arms against. This is a band with bark and bite, and I really hope they get some larger recognition because they are one of my new favourite hardcore bands in the western Canada region at large.
I'll be back with a couple more reviews of a screamo gig and a heavy hardcore show happening next weekend. So keep a look out for that real soon.
June 29, 2026