Prog-rock-metal band The Slyde plays The Mansion this Saturday
Toronto-based band The Slyde is often associated with the heavy metal genre, but people who don’t like metal will sometimes find themselves becoming Slyde fans.
“I hear a lot of people saying ‘I don’t like metal, but I like your band,’” said vocalist and guitarist Nathan Da Silva. “We do have some redeeming qualities for those who are uninitiated into the metal world. At the same time, some metal fans think we aren’t metal.”
The Slyde plays The Mansion on Saturday, and fans can expect “lots of hair swinging, lots of high-energy antics on stage. We’re a mix a prog-rock and heavy metal with some catchy hooks,” according to Da Silva. “We get compared a lot to Rush, Dream Theatre, Coheed and Cambria. Some people hear hints of Foo Fighters, Muse, or Hawking.”
The Toronto-based quartet is currently doing a run of Ontario shows to mark the 10th anniversary of the band. They’ve also just come off a feature spot at Wacken Open Air in Germany, which bills itself as the world’s largest open-air metal festival. They earned that spot in the festival by winning a Canada-wide metal band contest. The Slyde won against 80 other Canadian metal bands, despite not being considered metal enough by some.
“We kinda felt like we were the underdog, some of the judges even said they didn’t think were metal enough to compete,” said Da Silva. “But we kept advancing locally, provincially, then in the Eastern Canada final were up against a band from Halifax and a band from Montreal, and they were both super heavy, super brutal. Once we got to the Canadian final in Calgary, we thought ‘We need to win this!’”
Part of the prize was competing against other metal bands at the festival.
“There were definitely a lot of other bands that were much more hardcore than us,” said Da Silva. “It was a big deal for us, individually and as a band. It put a notch on our belt. Not only in terms of credibility, but moving forward we’re gonna use that to apply for more festivals.”
The Slyde started in Ottawa in 2009, playing nearly 200 shows mostly in eastern Ontario, and they’ve performed at The Mansion once or twice a year since starting the band. Brandon Soares, who came on to the Kingston music scene with Everlea around 2004, and currently plays with Glorious Sons guitarist Chris Koster along with Rueben & The Dark, will be re-joining The Slyde on drums for this show.
“Brandon has been playing with us since 2010,” said Da Silva. “But he’s a dad now, and Rueben & The Dark is his priority, so he works with them mostly. You can’t find a better drummer than him. I’ve played with a lot of drummers and I always go back to him.”
The Slyde plays The Mansion this Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019, with local bands Voyageur and Listen Up Kid.