YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN at Harbourfront Centre, Saturday, July 11. Rating: NNN
The new Yamantaka // Sonic Titan lineup unveiled itself at Harbourfront Centre last night, and despite a tentative performance, the main takeaway is that the psych metal-prog-noh-wave-
The Montreal faction of singer Ruby Kato Attwood and guitarist John Ancheta has been replaced by five Toronto-based musicians, including Hiroki Tanaka on a too-quiet electric guitar, HSY’s Brandon Lim on bass – a new instrument for the band – and singer Joanna Delos Reyes, who pulled off the soprano vocals on Whalesong with focused determination. Twins Kat and Katrina Estacio, tapping a variety of gongs on tables on either side of the stage, brought the personnel to eight.
They focused on second album UZU tunes and a surprising number of new songs. The loss of Kato Attwood, one of YT // ST’s primary songwriters and founding member, has also meant a loss of a good deal of the band’s melodic – and operatic – sensibilities. But that’s been replaced by an increased focus on rhythm – no surprise as drummer/founding member Alaska B* is now at the songwriting helm (though most of the members contribute).
Singer/artist Ange Loft, increasingly the dominating force of the band’s live show, infused the performance with passion and movement, sometimes wailing, sometimes intoning, always riveting, as was virtuosic keyboardist Brendan Swanson. Loft in particular helped offset the timid delivery by Tanaka and Delos Reyes, who were also thwarted by the challenging open-air acoustics.
The hour-long set’s best moment came with a new song heavy on complex, multi-part chanting – completely meditative, hypnotic and eerie. Things culminated in a gut-punch version of One, driven by an Iroquois chant and propulsive drumming that got the diverse Harbourfront crowd clapping along. It was a reminder that Yamantaka // Sonic Titan’s potential for explosive power remains huge. After such substantial losses, they just need a little more time to regain their footing.
carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis
*Full disclosure: Alaska B produced an album by my band in 2014.
