BIB, Scorpio Rising, DOXX, and TORPOR @ House of TARG

Ev has synesthesia, and they incorporate their sensory experiences into music reviews. Synesthesia is a condition in which the brain links a person’s senses together in a rare manner, prompting unusual sensory responses to stimuli. People with synesthesia, for example, might see a certain color in response to a certain letter of the alphabet. Those who experience synesthesia “hear colors, feel sounds, and taste shapes” in a remarkably consistent fashion.

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Fresh off their tour and right to House of TARG to play their last show for that leg was Ottawa’s beloved Torpor. From the moment they set foot on stage, there wasn’t a moment where the audience wasn’t headbanging and pumping their firsts to the pure aggression. 

Raising awareness of social issues, such as indigenous murders, Torpor pour out their frustrations while maintaining a firm stance on the subjects they write about. With overbearing and overdriven guitar, the mood was set to mosh. It was weighted with the bass, only adding to the power of what was being played. The vocals cast a contrast to it, coming out as higher and shrill screams erupted from the back of Elodie’s throat. The energy the last show of the tour held was one I haven’t seen before. The drumming even proved more aggressive and it fell hard. While cold, the intensity didn’t falter.

The band painted the atmosphere an array of colours that would spray one across the other, the background an array of blue hues due to the drumming, splashes of deep greens from the guitar. The bass added obnoxious reds that hid behind the rest of the colour while intermingling with the purple and chilly blue tinted off-white of the vocals. 

Given the chance, seeing Torpor is a must. Torpor is a band that puts on a performance to leave your jaw slack in awe. 

 

Up next was Ottawa’s hardcore heroes, DOXX. Tearing open their set with some favourites from III, to lead into a new song mid-set, they didn’t disappoint. When do they ever?

The vocals held strong social and political connotations for those who managed to decipher them and Sof screamed them at the top of her lungs, dramatically drawing some of them out in a very I-don’t-give-a-fuck manner. Met with Kieran’s wild and cold drumming the vocals are emphasized and the beat allows for you to move your body in ways you normally wouldn’t.

The guitar and bass melded together and played a sort of cat and mouse game with one another, sewing each part into the next. The two acted almost as a skeleton. Fuzzy and distorted in golden hues. The guitar held a raw aggression while the bass rumbled on in fury. The two rounded the songs together, and absolutely completed them.

 

Scorpio Rising, from Toronto, Ontario tackled the stage at full velocity shortly after DOXX. With a bassline that pounded into your chest and burst through the rest of the noise, and guitars that raged on bellowed out a firey energy. The guitar on its own was fueled with feedback and repeated riffs to the aggression. Quick switches melded into a smooth progression, the band works the music.

The band itself managed to flail themselves about in an almost careless and lazy manner. Despite such mannerisms, the effort and soul thrown into the performance was spectacular. It’s difficult to peel your eyes away from Scorpio Rising. The movements of the band members were incomprehensible and wild. 

The vocals cut through the irate soundscape and came out in throaty screams that were filled with passion. The more you listen to them, the more entranced you become. The drumming added a punch behind the vocals and proved to be hollow but warm. Each beat sounded tight and didn’t hold a particularly high resonance.

The soundscape in sea greens and electric blues. The vocals added a layer of burnt oranges and neon yellow to the mix and were balanced out with the warmth of the drums. Even the cymbals resonated as peach colours instead of blue-tinted hues. 

 

Headlining that night was BIB, from Omaha, Nebraska. Given that their vocalist got stuck at the border, they had Bee from Scorpio Rising fill in for the night. She delivered with outstanding passion and stomped around heavily, delivering a fiery performance on its own.

The basslines only provided a deep green chugging that backed the anger while the sludgy blue guitar riffs dominated through the set. The feedback provided by the two was controlled yet added a sense of completeness to the songs, often closing them off or opening them up. 

The drumming found a shallow sound that popped and made itself present in a subtle yet bold way that was hard to ignore.  The drumming bludgeons through everything and in combination with the other instruments absolutely encompasses true wild punk energy. 

 

The lineup was one to die for, and if you missed it, I’m so sorry. Keep your eye out for these bands because you really won’t want to miss them. 

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