After a 5-year hiatus in the business, Winter Mute was born again and got back to business and hit the stage at See-Scape in the Junction to celebrate their new self-titled EP.

Rubb3r

Matthew Almeida got up on stage with just a guitar and decided to mash things up like an over baked potato with extra sour cream.

He squeezed together cover songs with a mix of some originals. Just when you thought this acoustic set was a solo act, a random drummer named Michael got on stage and began to accompany Matthew.

They continued with a mash up of various songs that eventually led to a bit of reggae at the end.

Matthew finished his set with, “This isn’t a drinking song, it is a song for the dead”.

Check out his posts at www.instagram.com/rubb3rtheband

Rubb3r stretching it out:

The Capsized

I have heard of this band for a while now. Now I finally got to see why they are making some noise. From the opening song, The Capsized hit the ground loud and running hard with their song called,”Runnin”.

They stuck their angst deeper into your face with a lonely song called, “Alone”.

By the time they worked in their third song, it was a mix of punk and reggae and the mosh pit was open for business.

You could tell that the fans that showed up were very loyal and support this band with their heart. You can tell the success of a punk rock band by their fans. They bring their own special energy to the show. This show was shaping up to be something special.

You can find The Capsized at www.instagram.com/thecapsizedmusic/

Rocking the boat with Capsized:

Doorstep Fire

I have to admit, I was excited to see this band again and only after two weeks. The band is on a couple of months old, but the players are veterans of the stage. It is very clear from the opening note; these guys want to take top spot in the punk community.

This may be a strange analogy, but the singer reminds me of Tom Waits inside Phil Anselmo from Pantera’s body. He seems to have a thinking man’s rage which can make him a dangerous character as this band grows.

They are clearly a punk band, but they add certain sounds that just add to their nuclear energy. At one point they created spy music that was born from a swamp. Maybe it was based on James Bond being chased by a Meth Gator.

Tonight was the night of the mosh pit. It was full of life as I had to protect my eyes from someone jumping on top of me with my camera in my face. The band puts out 150% and they are getting that back with the new loyalty they are creating.

You can find Doorstep Fire at www.instagram.com/doorstepfirehc/

Step in this:

WinterMute

WinterMute was born from two earlier projects in Toronto. They were Dysfunct, a ska punk band and The Groovy brothers, who were an Indie Rock band. They consist of Dillon Hall, the song writer and front man. We have Caleb Campbell on lead guitar/mullet and vocals. The bass wizard is Zack Brown, and on drums is Micheal Lad.

Dillon took some time off to deal with life and mental issues. He began to write again at the end of 2024. This new project brings a nostalgic emo feel to the table, while harnessing elements of classic punk and indie rock. They even brought some ska elements back into their sound. This is a band ready to mash things up again.

Like I said earlier, this is their return to the stage after 5 years and they seemed a little tentative at first. The first song seemed like a warmup. As each song unfolded you could feel that old groove coming back, and it reached its peak performance once again.

WinterMute is open about the mental health issues that they deal with and create enough discord with that apprehension to try and melt the snow that freezes their anxieties. In fact, the lights were so low, that the band could not see out to the audience or what they were doing on stage. It was like watching three blind mice and a fog machine trying to cover them up.

As they solidified their footing on stage the connection with the audience was congealed and the mosh pit was back in business with old fans slamming with new fans!

As far as punk rock goes, they are not so much angry as they are suffering from the negative movements of today’s society. Let’s face, aren’t we all. Maybe this is the perfect time for this band to be out there again.

At the end of the evening, they invited up an old play mate named Kveche Bijons to play the keyboards on their final song. When the band was forced back on for an encore, Kveche, got back up and ripped it out with them like old times!

You can find their new self-titled EP at  WinterMute | Spotify   In fact they are working on their next EP. This is a band working hard to get their message out. It should be out around June. They told me they will have another EP release party at See-Scape. Will you be there?

To see their Instagram page go to www.instagram.com/wintermute.32/

Look at how loud Winter Mute is: