Jason Puder remembers a time not all that long ago dominated by red ball caps, khaki pants and the awful lyrical refrain demanding that the listener “break stuff.”
Not unlike the early ’90s when grunge was king, the early 2000s saw heavy metal crawl back into its underground recesses, relegated to uber uncool status.
It’s around that time that Puder made the shift from punker to full-time metalhead, eschewing Limp Bizkit’s affront on all things metal. He’s now seen the cycle of cool travel full circle.
Puder is the promoter and brainchild of this week’s Modified Ghost Festival, the largest Canadian metal festival this side of Montreal. Bands from across the world will be represented over the four-day festival, representing geographic jumping off points including Tasmania, Sweden and all corners of Canada and the U.S. A healthy contingent of Vancouver-based bands are also represented over the course of the four-day fest, which runs May 25 to 28 at both the Red Room and Rickshaw.
That the festival is even happening says something about metal’s re-emergence — 15 years ago Vancouver crowds typically got Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer and little else.
“As people push the limits of all sorts of mainstream music, naturally alternative niches resurface,” Puder said. “When you talk to a lot of venues, promoters, and bars, metal crowds are generally pretty friendly… there’s not as much conflict as the suggestive visuals and clothing might bring out in people.”
Psycroptic’s inclusion on the bill is proof positive of the metal tide turning. Established in the late ’90s in Tasmania, Australia, their May 25 gig at the Red Room marks the band’s first show in Vancouver. This, coming from a death metal band that has toured the world over multiple times and has six full-length studio albums to its credit.
“It’s an honest style of music,” Psycroptic drummer Dave Haley told the Courier from a tour stop in Montreal. “It’s not a cool style of music to like but the people who listen to it and play it do it because they love it. The support is always going to be there, but not so much because we’re outcasts. The fans are proud of it and they can take ownership of it.”
Haley is renowned in the extreme metal community as one the genre’s most forward-thinking players. He’s played on close to 20 metal albums over the course of his life, but alas, metal is not all peaches and cream.
Like almost every metal musician, there is a day job to make ends meet. Members of Psycroptic double up as tour promoters, music teachers, screenprinters and audio engineers. The band is currently working with a touring bassist due to that whole day job thing. That’s not to say that Haley, who’s 37, pines for the pre-Internet days when bands could make money more easily.
“You have to adapt to the change in climate because throughout history every generation has had to adapt to different aspects of change,” Haley said. “I’m not crying over spilled milk or people downloading our albums — it honestly doesn’t bother me at all. Buying our shirts and coming to the shows is what helps us get by.”
By contrast, Jared Smith is a full-time member of the Internet generation. At 29, he cut his teeth on YouTube instructional videos that were never available in Haley’s formative years. Smith plays bass with Vancouver death metal juggernauts Archspire, who are touring across Canada alongside Psycroptic ahead of the Modified Ghost Festival.
“I’d love to have people buy our album; there would be more money in the industry for everybody,” Smith told the Courier from somewhere between Ottawa and Montreal. “But that’s not the way it’s going anymore. I’ve discovered some of my favourite bands from Youtube and streaming our music online is probably why we have such a big following around the world. It’s a double-edged sword.”
Coincidentally, the inaugural Modified Ghost Festival last year was Smith’s first gig with the band. Flanked by internationally known acts that he’s looked up to for years, it was a case study in execution and concentration. It also happened to be the biggest gig of his life up until that point.
“It was surreal to be in this circle of musicians that I’ve looked up to for most of my life,” Smith said. “I was in panic mode because I knew the live show and what to expect and I expected an insane level of perfection of myself. That was a stressful one.”
Outside of Archspire’s inclusion on the bill, a number of other bands local to Vancouver or Metro Vancouver are performing over the four days: Tyrant’s Blood, Black Wizard, Bushwhacker, Anciients, Koma, Youth Decay and more.
Tickets are available online at modifiedghost.com.
