manifestation of the beast
by Heath Fenton
photo by Kim Thiessen
Bands often encounter challenges. The band Nihilate can attest and have overcome these trials by channelling the results into a video release. Tracing this path brings us back to 2010. After releasing their first full-length album Synthetic Order, they were dealt with the unfortunate departure of their lead vocalist.
This is probably one of the most frustrating situations a band can encounter. As the band regrouped, they managed to catch a break when heavy-hitting scene veteran Cam Kroetsch (Process, Minority, Punchdrunk) came aboard to play guitar. So, the campaign was on to recruit a new vocalist with wanted ads posted online and posters hung all over town. Sadly, no one had enough muster to fill the void.
So the rejuvenated crew of Kroetsch, second guitarist Matthew Frost and bassist Grant Era decided to tackle the job themselves and turned it into a unique situation with three leads on vocals. Playing metal and singing isn’t easy, especially when the vocal parts were written by an ‘instrument-less’ front man. “I’m really proud of everyone for stepping up and losing their voices every night to try and better the band,” Frost gleams. “It’s nice that we have three guys who can sing and back each other up.” There is no doubt that the revitalized Nihilate, rounded out with harefooted drummer Wes Kennedy, could pull it together and move on to be a dominant force in Vancouver’s metal scene. You can say that these challenges had fueled the anger that now translates into a hungry Nihilate.
They sound like a caged animal finally released to kill. A band which came out swinging garnering some high profile opening slots with 3 Inches Of Blood, Goatwhore and Soulfly. Fitting counterparts who slam hard with old school thrash ideals and brush strokes of extreme metal. This is ‘some pissed-off music.’ Their video for “Face Of Aggression” is gathering a decent amount of traffic and gaining notoriety.
Rather than releasing a record, another video is in the works as they plan a forward thinking approach to the ever-evolving music industry. “With a video you can reach mass people super quick, so why not?” explains Kroetsch. “The shows we’ve done since the video, people have come up to me and say that the video is the reason they’re at the show.”
Nihilate rings the neck of perseverance and makes sure it pays off. Do yourself a favour and catch them at Diecemberfest, December 13 at The Rickshaw Theatre.
