We at Loudwire are still working off all of the crepes and poutine we enjoyed while covering the Heavy MTL Festival in beautiful Montreal, Canada. With an incredible lineup of acts hitting Canada in both Montreal and Toronto (Heavy T.O.), the European-style mega-metal fest was adopted perfectly for the North American crowd.

Day One of Heavy MTL boasted an eclectic metalhead's dream, providing the crowd with a unique balance between radio-friendly rock, experimental metal and some of the most extreme brutal death acts on the planet. Between the Buried and Me and Periphery took fans on sonic journeys, while the pure brutality of Cannibal Corpse, Goatwhore, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Exhumed and Montreal heroes Kataklysm pummeled the crowd into the evening.

As day bled into night and the skies cleared up after a steady rain, Deftones offered a solid set while Five Finger Death Punch engaged their fans before modern-day legends System of a Down performed a near-two-hour set. The Armenian-American foursome lit up the crowd from the very first note of 'The Prison Song,' which led to a frenzied rush towards the stage, forcing many out of the pit from fear of bodily injury. After the mood settled down a bit, the mass of fans created an incredibly cathartic sing-along atmosphere throughout the set, which included fan favorites such as 'Aerials,' 'Lost in Hollywood,' 'Toxicity,' 'B.Y.O.B.,' 'Chop Suey!' and 'Sugar.'

With nicer weather on Sunday, Day Two of the festival brought out even more people to Montreal's Parc Jean-Drapeau, with an incredible mass of Slipknot maggots in attendance to experience their heroes live. In addition to the 'Knot, Day Two offered another eclectic lineup of bands such as new school favorites such as Gojira and Protest the Hero, veteran trailblazers Overkill and Suicidal Tendencies and shocking musical masters the Dillinger Escape Plan and Marilyn Manson. But it was Slipknot themselves that stirred the crowd into the biggest frenzy of the day with a highly energetic set that had the masses singing and jumping along by the thousands.

Stay tuned for more of Loudwire's Heavy MTL 2012 coverage, which will include interviews with Slipknot, Five Finger Death Punch, In Flames, Gojira, Periphery and Killswitch Engage. In the meantime, check out photos from Heavy MTL below:

Five Finger Death Punch:
5FDP Heavy MTL
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Marilyn Manson:
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Deftones:
Deftones Heavy MTL
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Dillinger Escape Plan:
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