Lunatic's Serenade
Prismind/Lutharo
Doors Pub, Hamilton, ON
February 7, 2015
What can you say about a small intimate show at a pub called The Doors? In fact I always prefer these types of shows because for one thing you don’t get the yahoos coming out and stumbling around drunk, and secondly you get a chance to chat with members of the band. In this case, the band in question is PRISMIND and having gotten to know some of the guys personally has been a rewarding experience for yours truly.
We arrived at the club just before 9:30pm and had the chance to chat with PRISMIND guitarist Kelly Kereliuk and vocalist John Mamone. Both were very gracious hosts and you could tell straight off that they both love what they do. John is a very humble, but gregarious sort of fella and Kelly is a little more reserved, but there was a gleam in his eye. I knew he was ready to rock the house and quite frankly I was looking forward to seeing him work over that fretboard on stage.
Shortly after 10pm the opening act Lutharo came out to a rousing ovation. The numbers for the crowd were small, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the performance. Led by Krista Shipperbottom, the energetic frontwoman thrashed about in and around the crowd doing her best to get everyone moving. They tore into a handful of thrash songs taken from their EP and among the highlights for me was the song called ”The Garrison” and they also performed a cover of Metallica’s “Creeping Death”. My only complaint was the control of the sound and how it seemed to drown out Krista’s vocals at times, but beyond that I thought they did an admirable job getting things started.
Closer to 11pm, Kelly and the boys started setting up for the main festivities of the evening and my HMS partner (Rich Leggatt) and I made our way closer to the front. By this time, the crowd started filling in and obviously the band had a lot of friends and family in attendance for the show. Once they got started though, the opening number “Slaves to the Machine” got things off to a fantastic start. They sounded tight, and singer John Mamone was on target with crisp vocals to command the audience’s attention very quickly. He’s definitely the right frontman for this band and once they began “The Dagger” I was completely hooked.
Most of the set comprised a few familiar numbers and some of the new stuff to appear on their upcoming debut album. They played “New Void Chapter Five Verse Fourteen”, “The Palace of the Mighty and the High” and “The Diamond Eye”. These numbers have a classy sound and if I was to pick a genre in which to categorize the music I would say it falls into the power-proggish vein - maybe even a hint of late period Megadeth and a dash of Prototype. I don’t think that’s an accurate description of who the band reminds me of, but this is just to put their core sound into perspective for you.
During parts of the set, drummer Mike Harshaw (you may also know him from Annihilator) was given a few moments to pound the skins with an extremely frantic and energetic infused solo. The ever popular drummer put on a clinic and it went over great with the crowd, so kudos to Prismind for allowing him a chance to do his thing live. Even bassist Justin Faragher got in on the act and was whipping up a quick bass solo to prove his worthy skills as a key component of the band. Surprisingly, Kelly Kereliuk did not get in on the proceedings with a guitar solo all his own, but let me be the first to say his actions speak louder during the actual solos he plays in the songs themselves. He works his magic on the fretboard and I don’t exaggerate when I say he’s that fucking good!
“'Slaves to the Machine' got things off to a fantastic start.”
Before the night ended, PRISMIND performed a cover of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star” to a solid ovation from the crowd. Their version was beefed up a bit metal-wise and the star here was John’s spirited vocals. I dug the number immensely, but it didn’t end until they dove into “Time Unforgiving” as the final song in the set before calling it a night. This is a number I really like given the speedy-thrash like opening and driving rhythm section to give the song that extra punch. It’s a definitely a good toe tapper to play live and it was the appropriate choice to end the snow on a high note.
Overall, this was a show I enjoyed coming out to. I’m proud to call the band good friends of mine and I know there is plenty more from PRISMIND on the horizon. I can’t wait until the studio album is unleashed unto the world because as far as I am concerned PRISMIND has arrived on the scene in a big way! There’s definitely more new music to come folks, so stay tuned for that!
Kenneth Gallant, HMS
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