METAL CHURCH, HEATHEN, ALL SINNERS, THE SCEPTER In Ottawa, Canada

Wednesday, September 2, 2026 at 7:58 AM

By Andrew Depedro, Ottawa Correspondent

First Date With Poverty? Electricity! Metal Church Congregate And Lead The Thrash Charge At The Overflow Brewery On July 21, 2026

Loss of religion!
Livin’ on a prayer!
Unholy traffic congestion!

There was no better way to cap off a vacation than by crossing off a much-sought after band from one’s live bucket list. If only half of the city’s construction crews hadn’t decided to also take their own downtime during the highest peak of road construction season, thus turning my normal 45-minute commute to the Overflow Brewery into one that took twice as long and almost resulted in me missing the entire show.

Fortunately, my own tale of the road paled in comparison with the one I’m able to tell of for at least three out of four of the bands I’d managed to catch. The fourth band I’d just missed turned out to be local power metallers THE SCEPTER. While they would have otherwise benefitted from more KNAC exposure, especially given their high-end performance from a few years ago opening for STRIKER which featured a speed metal version of JOURNEY’s “Separate Ways”, they’ve made a more recent news headline on their own merit – specifically, turning up to play a very improvised private concert for a fan who was unable to attend a show they were scheduled to play at a week after this one.

The location of the private concert in question was the Elizabeth Bruyère Health Clinic.

The story had been that local fan Tim Berry had been assessed as being “too medically fragile” to attend THE SCEPTER’s-then show at the Dominion Tavern (or any other show), so both the band and the venue, with assistance from the hospital chaplain, devised a plan for the show to come to him, turning his 5th floor hospital room into an actual concert venue with colorful lights and a state-of-the-art sound system. And, yes, the hospital and staff had approved of the project in case there had been any concern about the well-being of the other patients nearby who probably weren’t up to hearing a heavy metal concert in their ward. And, not that it goes without saying, the live show went down well, with both Tim Berry and THE SCEPTER experiencing a special moment in their lives that a moment of international press coverage can’t quite compare.
On the other hand, these feel-good stories are always good for the metal scene overall, especially in THE SCEPTER’s case as their debut album Shadows In The Tower was finally released within that same week. Something about the Lord protecting the skies in mysterious ways comes to mind here but even having missed their show myself, this up-and-coming local act is destined for many great things in their future through both good tunes and good deeds that no one can clutch from their firm grasp.

https://www.facebook.com/thesceptermetal/
https://www.instagram.com/thesceptermetal/
https://thescepter.bandcamp.com/album/shadows-in-the-tower

And now, on to covering the performance of bands that I actually caught in time that night, I was able to witness the debut Ottawa performance of ALL SINNERS, a four-piece hard rock band from Wareham, Massachusetts, who masterfully blend 80’s rock influences with a fresh, high-energy sound and whose music evokes familiarity and nostalgia according to their bio. Checking them out for the first time in a live environment, their bio checks out for the most part as I wasn’t immediately familiar myself with their own material, but given that they’ve only been an active band since 2023, they appear to be mostly focused on touring, having shared stages with the likes of ACE FREHLEY, STEPHEN PEARCY, LA GUNS, QUEENSRŸCHE, and DANGEROUS TOYS among other notable talents. Outside of touring, they’ve been fairly proficient and busy in the studio, with a couple of EP’s a live album and a full-length studio album titled We Own The Night released last November.

Opening with “Into The Flames”, ALL SINNERS deliver strongly on the high-energy sound they’re best known for. Frontman/guitarist Mike Golarz and his trusted Flying V demonstrates his audience commanding adaptivity with greeting his newfound Canadian fans – his known declaration of “We are all sinners!” at the end of every performance inspired the band name after all – and keeps the momentum rolling throughout the set. Further numbers such as “Dead To Rights”, “World That’s Burning” and the sinfully anthemic title track also solidify ALL SINNERS’ high-octane live performance reputation, even with a setlist of six songs. Backing Mike onstage would be bassist Bruce Morrison, guitarist Nick Testone and drummer/organizer Roger Chouinard (nephew of famed drummer Bobby Chouinard, who’s played/toured with BILLY SQUIER among several other legendary 80’s artists). And while still a fairly young band, ALL SINNERS play with the chemistry of a seasoned band 10 times their age. A good first impression for the ambitious quartet of nightmen overall as they embark on their next adventure.

Setlist:

“Into The Flames”
“Dead To Rights”
“Darkness”
“World That’s Burning”
“Rise Up”
“We Own The Night”

https://www.allsinnerscult.com/site/
https://www.facebook.com/AllSinnersBand
https://www.instagram.com/all_sinners_band
https://allsinners.bandcamp.com/

As hard as it is to imagine, this would be my third time catching co-headliners HEATHEN overall that night on this tour. Even more hard to believe is that they’ve been sorely overdue for a follow-up to 2020’s pandemic soundtrack Empire Of The Blind. Sure, they’d released last year’s live Bleed The World album from their 2023 North American tour (coincidentally, the last time I’d seen them share the stage with RAVEN at the Rainbow a year later) and even released a decent cover of frontman Dave White’s early 90’s band the LAUGHING DEAD’s “Never A God” earlier this year which they included in the night’s setlist, but the yearning for a new studio album surely by now must also be weighing on the band’s minds as much as it has been for the fans. Granted, they’ve made up for a lot of that lost road time from when their touring plans were curtailed due to the pandemic, having undergone a quick European tour months before Blind was scheduled for release worldwide later that same year; since then, once overseas touring restrictions were relaxed by 2023, HEATHEN have toured for Blind for a good three years straight for a six-year old album, almost on par with METALLICA also having toured for 72 Seasons for that same duration for a three-year old album.

And, still, you wouldn’t have known whether HEATHEN felt like they were slowly and creatively dying inside that night for every live show they’ve done on this tour so far that they could be spending in the studio recording for their eventual fifth album. The quintet, featuring White, guitarists Kragen Lum and Kyle Edissi and rhythm section Jason Mirza (bass) and newly-appointed Blake Anderson (drums), were men on a mission from God as they took to the stage and thrashed out their opening number “Dying Season” from 2010’s The Evolution Of Chaos. They followed up their vicious onslaught with “In Black” from their kinda-latest Empire Of The Blind album along with a couple of rarities from their debut album Breaking The Silence and Victims Of Deception respectively before they threw down that infamous cover – which, again, was not their rendition of SWEET’s “Set Me Free” but rather the aforementioned and heavy-as-hell sounding “Never A God”. Dave White had indeed announced the song as such from his time with the LAUGHING DEAD while HEATHEN were on a prolonged sabbatical with no immediate timeline on their return back then. The song was definitely a pit rouser, borrowing as much from a mid-90’s heavy-sounding rhythm and groove vibe as it did from an 80’s thrash metal noodling vibe, though regardless, Kragen and Kyle fretted and soloed their way through that song effortlessly that it was nearly miraculous that they still retained the magic digits to handle “The Blight”, the 8 and a half-minute long banger “Hypnotized” and the authentic-sounding closer “The Goblin’s Blade”. Unholy as it is that HEATHEN never quite reached the towering heights of many of their Bay Area counterparts, but judging by the warm reception that the band received that night in Ottawa, they’ll hopefully be full with enough brimstone and fire to scribe out a new studio album soon.

Setlist:

“Dying Season”
“In Black”
“Open The Grave”
“Fear OfThe Unknown”
“Never A God” (LAUGHING DEAD cover)
“The Blight”
“Hypnotized”
“The Goblin’s Blade”

https://heathenthrash.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/heathenthrash/
http://www.heathenthrash.com

Finally, the headliner/bucket list bandt hat everyone that night had been anticipating to see since their first visit to our fair city back in 1989 at Barrymore’s on the Blessing In Disguise tour as METAL CHURCH hit the stage with their opening number “Ton Of Bricks”. For many in the crowd that night who’ve been following the legendary Seattle thrash band over the course of the past 45 years, there’s a noticeable change from the classic lineup of yesteryear. Gone, obviously, are the solid rhythm section of Duke Erickson (bass) and the late Kirk Arrington (drums) and the powerful vocals of both late frontmenDavid Wayne and Mike Howe as well as the meaty riffs of John Marshall(who was both known in the METALLICA camp for being Kirk Hammett’s guitar tech and for subbing for an injured James Hetfield on tour on at least three occasions). As the sole consistent founding member left to carry the torch, guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof presided over METAL CHURCH’s current lineup of himself, second guitarist Rick Van Zandt, drummer Ken Mary, singer Brian Allen and ex-MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson a.k.a. the really most noticeable change in MC’s lineup.

Regardless of the frequent revolving door of members during the course of METAL CHURCH’s career because nowadays, many of our favorite bands from our youth are often touring with one original member left that it’s not as uncommon anymore, this current group also managed to put out one of 2026’s most eagerly-awaited heavy metal albums in the form of Dead To Rights. Brian Allen channels the seismic rage and range of both of his classic predecessors both on record and on stage, be it on the classic numbers such as “Start The Fire”, “Badlands”, “Date With Poverty” and “Watch The Children Pray” as well as the new tracks such as the fast and menacing “F.A.F.O.”, the ravaging “Brainwash Game” and the punishing title track. Rick Van Zandtmasterfully plays each and every riff to the letter while occasionally incorporating his own style into the fretwork and working in tandem with Kurdt Vanderhoof’s own playing style. Ken Mary and David Ellefson may not have been a highly-anticipated tight rhythm section even six months ago to many but they’ve exceeded all expectations as they musically bond tighter than Krazy Glue throughout the entire set. And finally, the literal rock upon which he’d built METAL CHURCH upon back in 1980, Kurdt Vanderhoof, despite battling an ongoing back issue that had previously postponed tours including this stop once (though the closure of the Brass Monkey where the show had been initially booked at about a year and a half earlier also was a mitigating factor), let the nagging pain and tension work out through his playing, whether standing or occasionally sitting, but his powerful riffs shone through everything overall.

And his energy in spite of his current mobility issues certainly shone throughout the band’s performance.

With special thanks once more to Christina at CHORD Productions, the Overflow Brewery and the fans for making this overdue visit by METAL CHURCH one to remember.

And to all of the bands on the bill: Thank you for your 45 years of service to metal.

Setlist:

“Ton Of Bricks”
“Start The Fire”
“Fake Healer”
“Gods Of Wrath”
“F.A.F.O.”
“Badlands”
“Date With Poverty”
“Watch The Children Pray”
“Brainwash Game”
“Dead To Rights”
“Beyond The Black”
“Metal Church”

https://metalchurchofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialMetalChurch/
https://x.com/metalchurchis1
https://www.instagram.com/metalchurchofficial/

ALL SINNERS