April 16th, 2026
Poison Ruin wrecks Le Petit Campus in Montreal
Philadelphia rockers Poison Ruin debarked on the shores of Montreal this week to a fully packed Petit Campus. And they did not disappoint. Judging by the looks of pure bliss found on people’s faces during the show, Poison Ruin’s performance will remain etched in many a Montrealer’s memory for quite some time to come.
It was a night of intensity. It was a night that reminded us that we shouldn’t try too hard to predict where music is going because it’ll always end up surprising us. Poison Ruin’s latest release, Hymns from Hills, is a perfect example of this. The band’s latest album trims the fat off their trademark peasant punk style and veers into new territory, leaving us with a result that is definitely more broad spanning and cleaner sounding than anything else they’ve put out to date.
See Also: Montreal’s Tavern Tour turns 10
For the occasion of the Montreal show, the band was joined on stage by two local flocks of musicians. Let’s take a look at the first.
Pied de Biche
Montreal’s Pied de biche follow in the footsteps of what we could call ”chainmail wave”; that is, gloomy fantasy punk with the occasional synth interlude. And all this, woven together by medieval allegory and imagery.
Wearing medieval hoods, or ”gugels” as they were known in Germany in the whereabouts of the 14th century, Pied de Biche was an eyeful to witness. Donning a chain mail coif, the singer stood his ground and belted out the words to their dark, bass heavy tracks. Lyrically, the band frequently uses old French language words that have fallen out of use; words like ”trépasse”, an obscure verb signifying ”to die”. Pretty cool. Always nice to learn new words. On a side note, no band taught a young me more words than Bad Religion.
At the end of their set, the bassist was left alone at the front of the stage, a small animal pelt in hand. She solemnly stood under a spotlight that didn’t quite light her properly. Despite this, she stood firm and delivered what seemed to be an important a message, a sort of manifesto, which for the life of me I couldn’t make out. Looking back on it, it was very Monty Python and somewhat comical.
This band was great to watch; the lead guitarist had energy to spare, incessantly hopping around the stage, which reminded me of the limbless black knight in The Holy Grail, insisting he still had some fight in him, despite having clearly lost to King Arthur. It’ll be cool to see them push their showmanship even further.
Total Nada
I was not prepared for the explosion that was Total Nada.
Well, I was prepared in the sense that I’m always ready for anything, but you know- they surprised the shit out of me. In a good way!
A staple in the local Montreal punk scene, this band’s musical recipe is perfect. For those who enjoy their punk spastic fast, aggressive and wrapped in hellish barbed wire dipped in nihilism, this band will be your next favorite thing. Everyone except the drummer seemed appropriately unhappy, as one would expect from a band called Total Nada. Their songs are mesmorizing, almost military outburts of explosive emotional discharge that will have you spiraling into depression in no time.
In particular, I remember them playing the song Aquí y Ahora off their 2025 release by the same name. The singer, whose name is simply Boris, stalked the stage non-stop, yelling his brains out and bending his back; during one such acrobatic maneuver, he lost his hat. He eventually put it back on.
When the set came to an end, I don’t think I knew who I was anymore.
Poison Ruin
Entering the stage, Poison Ruin was met by a crowd that had been building it’s anticipation all evening.
During the course of their set, they’d play many of the newer songs from their latest release, Hymns from the hills, such as Eidolon- a synonym for phantom. If my memory serves me right, they also played The Standoff towards the end of the set, which took me off guard. It’s a melodic punk rock track that begins with a black metal blast beat.
Consequently, this describes Poison Ruin rather well: a punk band that doesn’t shy away from using contrasting musical influences to tell their stories.
A good example of that, might be Hymn from the hills, the song that shares the new album’s name. When I first tasted it, the southern rock flavor appeared on my palette; Pilgrimage, another new track, has as Pet Cemetery vibe to it, which is cool. The entire album has a diversity not present on Harvest, their debut album. This in itself, shows us that this band has the ability to surprise and be unpredictable, a great trait to have.
Furthermore, the new album itself is brighter, overall. The narrative and musical tone isn’t as grim as their first album. At least, it doesn’t feel that way on the surface.
I’ll tell you what wasn’t bright and shiny though: our knees at the front of the stage. The crowd, a teeming mass of humanity, was swaying as one collective ocean current, smashing onto the stage. Our knees were thoroughly tested during the evening!
At one point, a rat tailed punk kid, thought it a good idea to go on stage and take photos with a flash. Flashing away in Mac Kennedy’s face, he awoke a the demons from within the Poison Ruin camp. William McAndrew, the absolute beast of a bass player, whom honestly is a powerhouse presence on stage, showed us his karate moves and struck out with his foot to kick this young upstart off the stage.
To all you young photographers out there, the general rule is to never use flash. Furthermore, it’s an additional component that’s complicating things. Being patient, understanding the environment and the music animals on stage, along with manual settings mastery, will increase your skills much more. Respect the crowd, communicate with the people around you and don’t shoot the band from on stage, unless given permission.
Read More:
>> The Meteors at Foufounes Électriques, Montréal
>> Live at Place Bell, Laval
>> Rise Against at L’Olympia, Montreal
That being said, the show was a total riot. Backs were bent, knees were damaged and humans were crushed. Poison Ruin have positioned themselves at the vanguard of the North American underground, going where no band has gone before. What’s next for this band will be very interesting.
As a final note, check out Shadow Knell, a Poison Ruin side project, for all your quiet evenings painting grim dark miniatures.
