On Quebecois metal band Obvurt’s website, the group’s name is described as a combination of “Obvert (to oppose) and Hurt (to wound)“—a name that was created by band member Philippe Drouin because it “relates to his particular turn of fate.” Everything about the group’s sound—pummeling drums, atonal riff, their aesthetic long hair, black t-shirts, Giger-indebted album covers—suggests that Obvert are, indeed, the kind of band you think they are.
But they contain multitudes, as is made very clear by their recent sun-bleached outdoor concert for a bunch of elementary school kids in Quebec City.
Obvurt have posted their performance at l’École primaire Saint-Albert-Le-Grand on YouTube. It’s what you might expect in a lot of senses. The set kicks off with brooding Dracula’s castle organs and singer/guitarist Drouin growling over nefarious guitars and pounding double kicks. But it also features a bunch of little kids hopping up and down to the music in a school parking lot, and cheering in excited little kid voices between songs.
Consequence Of Sound writes that the show came about when Druin, a music teacher, was invited to celebrate the release of Obvurt’s first album, The Beginning, alongside the end of the school year at Saint-Albert-Le-Grand, where he teaches. Druin says he “wasn’t sure at first” about the idea, but that “the kids really enjoyed the performance, which was very inspiring to us.”
The students were also familiar with Druin’s incredible recovery from a 2016 car crash—likely the “particular turn of fate” that inspired the name Obvurt—which forced him to relearn guitar as a left-handed player after injuries left him “unable to play right-handed.”
In any case, the concert shows very clearly that elementary school-aged children are wild for Obvurt. If you’re looking for something to throw on during a play date, their music is available at Bandcamp.
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