KEN MODE
w/ Vile Creature and Mares of Thrace
Amigos Cantina
Saturday, September 24, 2022
9PM Doors / 10PM Start Time
19+ w/ Valid ID
Co-Presented by THE BROADWAY THEATRE and AMIGOS CANTINA
KEN mode
Kill Everyone Now mode. KEN mode: an ethos legendary Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins would use to describe the band’s state of mind while taking the stage for the endless touring cycle of their genre defying classic album ‘My War’. This proved to be the psychological foundation and attitude for the project Royal Conservatory of Music trained brothers Jesse Matthewson, B.Comm (Hons) and Shane Matthewson CA/CPA, B. Comm (Hons), would dedicate their entire adult lives to, seeing them spread a manic form of metal and hardcore infused noise rock across the globe.
Cutting their teeth in the early aughts, when chaotic hardcore was at its peak, KEN mode would find breakout underground notoriety with a quintet of critically acclaimed records in the 2010’s, working with a who’s who of metal and hardcore producers in Kurt Ballou (Converge) for their Venerable LP (2011), Matt Bayles (Botch, Isis) for Entrench (2013), Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Jesus Lizard) for Success (2015), and Andrew Schneider (Unsane, Cave In) for Loved (2018), all while maintaining an unrelenting tour schedule with such acts as Russian Circles, Torche, Deafheaven, Norma Jean, Kylesa, Pelican, Daughters, Revocation, Full of Hell, Inter Arma, Today is the Day, Birds In Row, and more; along with seeing them hit a multitude of major festivals like SXSW, Hellfest Open Air, CMJ Festival, Pitchfork Festival Chicago, Hopscotch Festival, and Roadburn Festival; and doing live sessions for renowned institutions such as BBC Radio 1 and Daytrotter. NULL, the band’s brand‐new aural abrasion, may be the group’s quintessential statement of mental collapse and despair made sonic, a direct psychological reaction to the collective experience of the last two and a half years. Drawing from not only the desperate noise and industrial sonics of the 80’s and 90’s ala Swans, Einsturzende Neubauten, or even a Nine Inch Nails, the band has mixed in a decidedly more desperate tone to their already pointed metallic hardcore influenced “extreme noise rock” (see Melvins, Today Is The Day meets Converge and Botch), that has become their signature.
Vile Creature
Vitriolic blackened doom duo, Vile Creature is the epitome of heavy metal. The Canadians are confrontational, abrasive, transgressive, and, above all, loud. They stand in opposition to authority, serving as the spiritual successor to bands like Slayer and Morbid Angel, but, instead of rebuffing Christianity (an increasingly mundane topic in metal) members Vic and KW are rejecting oppressive gender identities.
Mares of Thrace
Formed in 2009 by vocalist/guitarist Thérèse Lanz and drummer Stef MacKichan, Calgary, Alberta noise-doom duo Mares of Thrace released their debut, The Moulting, the following year. Produced by Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Pelican, Yob), it was critically acclaimed and a hit at campus radio, as was its ambitious follow-up The Pilgrimage, a three-act Biblically inspired tale weaving the historic melodrama of King David’s relationship with Bathsheba around Lanz’s grinding riffs and MacKichan’s juggernaut percussion. In those two years alone, the band logged tens of thousands of miles touring across Canada and the USA and received rave reviews from noted publications such as Decibel, Terrorizer, blabbermouth and PopMatters. Newly reconstituted around Lanz and bassist/drummer Casey Rogers, Mares looks to build on their magnificent doom-metal legacy with their third full-length and first album in just under a decade, The Exile.