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Right off the bat, let me admit here that, due to the TTC being silly (what else is new?), I was very late to the YAMANTAKA//SONIC TITAN set and only caught the last two songs. As such, this review is going to be a little less in-depth than I would like, but I’ll leave you with what impressions I’m confident with putting into writing.

This band is … interesting. If you haven’t heard of them before – and you’re likely to much more frequently now since their recent Polaris Prize shortlisting – it’s a fusion of many disparate musical genres, most notably hard rock/metal and traditional Japanese performance music called Noh.

All the band members had their faces painted pure white, making for a pretty fearsome visual spectacle. They were also decked out in some very elaborate costumes; that’s the crux of it right there: YAMANTAKA//SONIC TITAN is just as much an art piece as they are a band.

Is it successful or not? Well, that’s in the eye of the beholder. Overheard after the show were people alternately saying that they LOVED it or that they HATED it.

I was intrigued, and would love to go back and see more of their set. Sometimes the music was very interesting and new, and at other times it flopped a bit. I know there’s not much of a concrete opinion within that, but this band is very difficult to pin down – for that alone I would recommend checking them out.

Regardless of the musical component, YAMANTAKA//SONIC TITAN is almost as much a visual show, so you’re lucky that iM Photo Editor Liz Gareri is not such a slacker as I (and was NOT late to the party). Check out her photos below to get a good idea of their very interesting visual aesthetic.

Photos by LIZ GARERI