Pop Montreal 2012, Day 3: YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN Debut Heavy New Opera

Friday night at Pop Montreal saw quite a few big acts filling venues from the highly anticipated David Byrne and St. Vincent at Eglise St. Jonh Baptiste to rapper Lil B making a rare Canadian stop at Club Soda. But Polaris Music Prize followers would've most likely had their eye on the debut of short lister YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN's new and improved rock opera entitled 33 // 渦.

Having performed a demo version of this show once before in Toronto earlier this year, drummer Alaska B explained in an interview that the "fairly hastily" written original production was merely 50 percent done at the time, but Friday night's debut was close to fully realizing the entire operatic piece.

A metal opera that combines Buddhist and Christian mythologies, 33 // 渦 fuses the stories of Buddha versus Devadatta and Jesus versus Judas. Split into two acts, the first focuses on that storyline showing the protagonist, SisterBrother, an aging drag queen that wants to leave her position as Mother of "Club 27." Then enters Diva Data, who tries hard through a number of attempts to murder SisterBrother. Soundtracked by YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN, this first part clocks in at exactly 33 minutes, using music, visuals and live performances with dancing, acting and lip-syncing to create a multimedia work of art drastically evolved from its earlier Toronto incarnation.

Spell-binding, powerful and even at times humourous, the show's second act veers into a more tradition performance. As singer Ruby Kato Attwood writes in the description for part two: "Transformed into Spider, a raging vocalist fecund with creative power, SisterBrother awakens from her nightmare and enters a dream world, finding herself on stage with YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN, the most popular band in the universe."

Still incorporating visual projections, the six-piece band previewed tracks from their upcoming full-length album in the 30 minute second act. In keeping with the multifaceted sounds of their debut album, YT//ST, the new material is dark, heavy and sees specks of influences ranging from J-Pop to heavy metal and even techno. Each song builds into a vortex of sonic layers that sucks you in, keeping you at the edge of your seat. It's definitely safe to say that no other band in the country is doing what YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN is currently doing and not only is it refreshing to see, but B and Attwood are quite possibly revolutionizing music and performance as we know it.

Elsewhere, fellow current Polaris short list nominee Cadence Weapon DJed the aforementioned Lil B show at Club Soda, while Austra performed a free show to a jam-packed audience at Mission Santa Cruz. The line up for that one was curved around the block with eager fans pushing to get inside the doors.

To read about Pop Montreal 2012, day one, go here.

To read about Pop Montreal 2012, day two, go here.