JULY 8th 2026
NORTH AMERICAN DUEL TOUR

 Review by Metallic Barbie
 Photos by Peter Ruttan
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My metal maniacs, it has been too long!  I hope you’ve kept it heavy, loud, and all kinds of weird!  Let’s get into the absolute bomb that was dropped on the Commodore in Vancouver on July 8.

The night kicked off with Japanese metalcore group Crystal Lake warming up the crowd, out supporting their latest album, The Weight of Sound, released back in January.  The people needed it as things got rowdy when ENTHEOS took over the stage.  Grinding out their signature hyper-intense Californian alternative death metal, lead vocalist Chaney Crabb oozed total domination over the headbangers, working the room with high energy and intense conviction.  Drummer Navene Koperweis, and guitarists Scott Carstairs and Michael Stancel blend brilliantly together, delivering bulky, rhythmic, charged instrumentals that could easily stand alone.  The 40-minute set was hardly enough for the rabid crowd, who headbanged, fist pumped and moshed through banger after banger, including “All for Nothing”, “Absolute Zero” and “An End to Everything”, and upcoming releases “Hell is a Part of Me” and “Golden Crown”, to name a few.

Strangely, the crowd seemed to thin after ENTHEOS’ set, leaving Jinjer with a slightly less full house.  The Ukrainian power-group couldn’t have given fewer shits as they burst on stage with “Duel”, lead vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk leading the fans through an emotional rollercoaster of innocent vocals and gut-punch growls.  The impressive stage setup had drummer Vladislav Ulasevick on a raised platform surrounded by screens running intricate visuals, creating a full-sensical immersive experience.  Guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov and bassist Eugene Abdukhanov ripped at their strings, delivering the tightest mélange of metallic groove-reggae-funk characteristic of “Fast Draw”, “Disclosure!”, “Judgement”, or “Hedonist”. While Shmayluk’s presence is undeniably commanding, this not being my first Jinjer rodeo, I was categorically drawn to Abdukhanov’s playing as he drove the groovy backbone of “Green Serpent”, “Perennial” and “Someone’s Daughter”.  Maybe it’s the fifth string on his axe, or maybe it’s the absolute compliment to Ibramkhalilov’s often haunting riffs and Ulasevick’s powerful beats.  Regardless, Jinjer fully demo’d why it is one of the defining bands in the nu metal world, and why Shmayluk is one of the most powerful female voices in the genre.

Jinjer, ENTHEOS and Crystal Lake move to rattle the foundations of Seattle, WA next, wrapping up the Duèl tour in Europe in October.  Make a point to get your metal-loving asses to one of the dates and experience the absolute eardrum infiltration!