Feature: Heavy Montréal 2015
My love for Heavy Montréal is no secret. I’m the first person to tell anyone and everyone that they HAVE to go – at least once. I’ve desperately been trying to attend the festival every summer since my first taste back in 2011 and luckily I’ve made it back three times since then. It’s an adrenaline filled metal fix that’s unmatched anywhere else in Canada and you could probably say North America.
This year was the first year that I wasn’t photographing the festival for Beyond The Watch, but instead was on assignment for one of metal’s best online publications… Metal Injection. Why wouldn’t I be shooting for BTW you ask? Well, this is the start of a new beginning for BTW.
If you’ve been paying attention to the site, we aren’t the same as we always have been. There aren’t a lot of interviews, news and more traditional forms of music media on the site anymore. I’m taking the site in a new direction that’s focused around what I love the most out of the whole scene – concert photography. BTW is the go to resource for concert photography in Toronto and the GTA. We’re going to still be our own media company, but from time to time we’re going to branch out and shoot for other publications. But enough of that, let’s get back on track. Heavy Montréal 2015 was more intense than ever.
Some heavy hitters were on the bill this year like Alexisonfire (their first of seven reunion shows), Slipknot, Lamb of God, Arch Enemy, Moneen, Meshuggah, Glassjaw, Billy Talent, Dead Tired and soo much more. Those were just my personal favourites but DAMN! This lineup was unbelievable.
My biggest regret of the weekend? Missing Cattle Decapitation. I’m pissed that I missed their set. Their brand new record "The Anthropocene Extinction" dropped on Day 1 of the festival and I only got the chance to listen to it today. Let me tell you… it could be the best metal release of the year. So stoked on the new record.
Anyways… without further adieu, below is a shit ton of photos for you to relive the glorious moments or see what you missed. Peep it.
Words / Photography by: Steve St. Jean
