WITCHKILLER, OTTAWA'S ENFORCER, SCRAAM In Ottawa, Canada

Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 8:07 AM

By Andrew DePedro, Ottawa Correspondent

Saxon At The Rainbow? Local Metal Legends Return For Hometown Show With Special Guests SCRAAM And OTTAWA'S ENFORCER On September 5, 2026

Photos By Andrew Depedro
Band Photo By Imogen Bailey

Penance!
Doomriders!
And lots of flow!

After a spell of inactivity, one of ByTown’s lesser-known local metallers came back to their former battle grounds and give the place a good sweep with a couple of their hometown colleagues – and the nostalgia flowed like wine and reasonably-priced craft beer.

Opening the night’s events with the off-stage promise of raw dogging for metal would be the oddly-named SCRAAM taking the stage. For those who prefer their CASTLE RAT/FLORENCE & THE MACHINE-inspired songstress-fronted metal with both 100% CASTLE RAT attitude and FLORENCE & THE MACHINE fashion style but with 0% of the FLORENCE & THE MACHINE sound, this local quintet with six years’ recording/touring experience is for you. With the formidable vocal talents of DaNielle Hewitt driving their hybrid of standard hard rock and power metal, SCRAAM deliver a decent fast-paced set opening with “First Evil”. “Dayslayer” and “Fake Bitch” were also decent and brought the powerhouse riffs, but it was the surprise covers that riled up the audience the most. “Does anyone like horses?” DaNielle had inquired half-jokingly before launching into a powerful rendition of IRON MAIDEN’s “The Trooper”. A similar version of “Madhouse” by ANTHRAX also followed suit before being followed in turn by another question posed by the vivacious vocalist: “Does anyone like power metal?” – and the lightning speed riffs of “Gates Of Metal” closed the set afterwards. Never hurts to engage with the audience and give them what they want, especially with consent. And SCRAAM, while beating a hasty retreat from the stage, made a notable impression upon the crowd that night, with many folks wondering when the band would be committing their songs to studio form. For now, the live shows will have to suffice before their rawdog days are over.

https://www.instagram.com/scraam_ott
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61577965297920

Not sure if I had been the only other person to have noticed this since their last outing back in April opening for RAVEN, but OTTAWA’S ENFORCER have somehow managed to sound even more heavier on this night. Frontman John Perinbam appears to been digging deep into the GOJIRA catalogue lately because the quartet – including Dan Lafleur (bass), Frank Madore (drums) and Rob Gravelle (guitar) – sound even more technical and brash on their opening number “Emergency 911”. The setlist hasn’t really changed much from their last live outing but their commitment to bringing both classic and modern metal to the local O-town masses remains unwavering. Come to think of it, I hadn’t really recognized the appearance of “Shadows & Fog” as much on the last setlist as I did on this one. It’s definitely one of OTTAWA’S ENFORCER’s most underlooked tracks as John sings his balls off on the dark-sounding number, harkening towards a more modern version of KING DIAMOND in parts. Imagine the impact that this song will make once it’s released in album form. Elsewhere, “In The Line Of Fire”, “Tales From The Darkside”, “2069”, “Endangered Earth”, “Man Without Wings” and the closing number “Underneath” proved that OTTAWA’S ENFORCER were still a reckoning force of sorts that evening.

https://www.facebook.com/ENFORCERBAND/
https://www.instagram.com/enforcerband/

For a band with a 5-song EP titled 'Day Of The Saxons' on the Metal Blade label to their entire credit in their 40+ career, legendary homegrown metallers WITCHKILLER have yielded an impressive cult following in the trad metal community both at home and abroad over the course of the last decade and a half. It’s not all that hard to understand why, as songs such as “Cry Wolf”, “Penance For Your Sins” and the anthemic title track are full frontal chest-beating classic metal that was musically ahead of its time, possibly even helping to kickstart the power metal genre at least a couple of years before both its US counterparts in ARMORED SAINT and ODIN and its German counterparts such as BLIND GUARDIAN and HELLOWEEN had donned their battle gear. What is hard to understand, however, is why, by comparison, WITCHKILLER simply couldn’t capitalize on the success of that same 5-song EP afterwards as they appeared to disappear as quick as they appeared, almost without a trace. Up until a couple of years ago and some chance appearances at several European festivals, few people probably even knew what the band looked like or who was even in its lineup outside of a couple of promo pics. Even ANGINE DE POITRINE would describe them as elusive by comparison.

Yet, following their extensive comeback over in the Old Continent and elsewhere – particularly in Victoria, British Columbia where most of the band currently reside – WITCHKILLER make another triumphant return back to their hallowed lair, and thankfully, there was more advance notice about this show for folks to get their tickets this time compared to their previous yet equally triumphant return back in the spring, which sold out quick enough that many fans including myself had missed out on. Nevertheless, the audience were anticipating a night of local unabashed heavy metal in its purest and storytelling form. And WITCHKILLER ensured that it was delivered that night hundredfold.

Yet, with the exception of LYCANTHRO frontman James Delbridge handling vocals since his official induction into the band last year, who was otherwise expecting the current WITCHKILLER lineup to include Robin Trower and GREEN DAY’s Tre Coolwhen the band claimed the stage and opened with “Rage Of Angels”? Needless to say, the WITCHKILLER lineup of yesteryear, which had once comprised of vocalist Doug Adams, guitarist Kurt Phillips, bassist Todd Pilon, and drummer Steve Batky, has long given way to vocalist Delbridge, bassist Duane Chaos and drummer Kevin MacEachern joining original axeman Phillipson its second quest back to ByTown. Even with a small catalogue of songs to their credit, WITCHKILLER performed with not only the consummate fiery command for the audience to demand more than what they had available in their setlist, but they also played with that same fire to deliver above their station. Indeed, even amongst their classic numbers such as “Beg For Mercy”, “Cry Wolf” and the galloping merciless onslaught of “Riders Of Doom”, there was a hint of new-ish material in the form of the mystical-sounding “Lights In The Night” which, despite being five years old, still manages to sound fresh and energized next to their older material. And while ¾’s of the band’s new lineup were barely conceived when 'Day Of The Saxons' was released, they honored the material flawlessly – a feat not always landed perfectly, especially when the band members come from varied backgrounds. The raw punk energy and sound of bassist Duane Chaos really shouldn’t be in the same room let alone on the same stage as James Delbridge’s soaring powerful vocals and classic prog rock influences were this any other band, but in WITCHKILLER, their fusion just works. That, and also having a natural instinct, talent and experience of commanding a crowd with that same powerful-sounding voice as James has is also a useful asset in drawing in a whole new generation of fans. And when it came to closing the night’s events with the title track of that famously infamous EP that made WITCHKILLER a notable promising talent on the Metal Blade roster, the blood, sweat and tears flowed like wine in the form of pure emotion and vindication in having conquered back a hometown audience which had largely passed them by over time.

Now, if this energy can be channeled into a studio album, all will be right in the castle.

Thanks to everyone for making this second comeback of WITCHKILLER possible.

https://www.facebook.com/p/Witchkiller
https://www.metalblade.com/us/artists/witchkiller/

Setlist:

“Rage Of Angels”
“Beg For Mercy”
“Saints”
“Cry Wolf”
“Marchers”
“U.M.A.”
“Riders Of Doom”
“Into The Castle”
“Lights In the Night”
“Penance For Past Sins”
“Day Of The Saxons”

SCRAAM