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Ablaze was a heavy metal band from Beloeil, Québec, whose music grew out of the flourishing Montréal-area hard-rock and metal culture of the early 1980s. Formed around brothers Martin Renaud and Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud, the group developed from youthful experiments with borrowed riffs and home-recorded cover songs into an ambitious original band whose lone contemporary single, ‘Psychopath’, became a sought-after Canadian underground-metal release. Ablaze operated from approximately 1984 until 1993, combining traditional heavy metal, power metal and emerging thrash influences.
The band’s roots stretched back to the brothers’ childhood in Beloeil. Martin and Bertrand received their first instruments as Christmas gifts when they were eleven and ten years old respectively: drums for Martin and a guitar for Bertrand. Their earliest playing consisted largely of enthusiastic imitations of Kiss, but their musical interests soon expanded as they attended concerts around Montréal and absorbed the work of Deep Purple, April Wine, The Kinks, Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and AC/DC. Early compositions included ‘Spanish Fly’, ‘I’m a Devil in Fire’, ‘Pop Corn’, ‘Boomtown’ and ‘Evil Car’.
Their first performing lineup included bassist Marc Beauchemin and vocalist Claude René de Cotret, with whom the brothers entered a local battle of the bands. As Bertrand’s guitar playing developed, the Renauds began recording primitive demos on a Radio Shack mixer. These early tapes included material associated with Raven, Anvil and Quiet Riot and featured vocalists Stéphane Martin and Marc Davidson. Broadcasts over their high-school radio station helped connect the brothers with bassist Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin, guitarist Jean Thibault and vocalist Frederick McNicoll, bringing the idea of a complete five-piece band closer to reality.
The name Ablaze was adopted after Martin heard an advance presentation of Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind on the Montréal radio program The Metal Files, broadcast late on Friday nights by CHOM-FM. While transcribing the lyrics to ‘Flight of Icarus’ and ‘Revelations’, he noticed that the word ‘ablaze’ appeared in both songs. Its meaning and visual force suited the young group, and the musicians agreed to use it as their name.
By the mid-1980s, Ablaze had settled into its best-documented early lineup: Steve ‘Damien’ Perron on vocals, Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud and Jean Thibault on guitars, Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin on bass and Martin Renaud on drums. The band increasingly centred its performances on original material rather than covers, developing a raw but melodic heavy-metal sound marked by lengthy arrangements, twin guitars and Damien’s theatrical vocals.
On December 26 and 27, 1986, Ablaze entered Studio Works in Montréal to record ‘Psychopath’ and ‘Sadistic Dream’. The sessions were engineered by Mario Rubnikowich, with the band credited as producer and distributor. Released independently as the ‘Psychopath’ seven-inch single, the record presented more than twelve minutes of original music across its two sides. Contemporary cataloguing varies between 1986 and February 1987, but the band’s own anthology notes state that it was issued in February 1987 after being recorded during the final days of 1986. The original pressing carried the catalogue number UR-4590 and subsequently became recognized by collectors as a scarce privately released Canadian metal single.
The single’s title track was an extended, darkly narrative composition, while ‘Sadistic Dream’ pushed the band toward a faster and more aggressive form of metal. Both songs were composed by Bert Renaud, Frank Gosselin, Jean Thibault and Martin Renaud, with lyrics by Damien Perron. The release’s picture sleeve featured photography by Yvan Damphousse and graphic conception by Daniel Fecto.
Ablaze continued recording after the single. In May 1988, the band returned to Studio Works for a demo containing ‘First Murder’ and ‘Blood, Fear & Pain’. By this session, Jean Thibault was no longer included in the documented lineup, leaving Perron, Bertrand Renaud, Gosselin and Martin Renaud. A further pre-production demo was recorded at Studio 84 in Saint-Basile-le-Grand in 1989 and mixed by Patrice Audrain. The surviving anthology selections from this period, ‘Mr. Lord’ and ‘Crucified’, feature Bertrand Renaud handling both guitar and vocals alongside Gosselin and Martin Renaud.
In 1990, Ablaze entered another phase. Guitarist Jaime Dos Reis joined Bertrand Renaud, Gosselin and Martin Renaud for ‘Enter the Craze’, an original song built around a particularly direct and memorable metal refrain. A promotional video was filmed on 16mm in Beloeil by Fable Films Corporation. According to the band’s account, the video premiered during a live appearance on MusiquePlus’s Solid Rock, later appeared on MuchMusic’s unsigned-band program Indie Street and subsequently received exposure on The Power Hour.
Around the same time, management by METALSOUND Productions encouraged the group to capitalize on its command of Metallica material by presenting Ablaze partly as a Metallica tribute act. This did not entirely replace its original identity: the band continued to write and perform its own songs, with ‘Enter the Craze’ becoming one of its most visible compositions.
The lineup continued to change during the early 1990s. One configuration paired vocalist Robert ‘Bob’ Fontaine with guitarists Daniel St-Germain and Steve Lessard, bassist Francois Gosselin and drummer Martin Renaud. This version of the band is represented by the live recording ‘Shadowed on Purpose’, captured in Windsor, Ontario, on March 29, 1992. Other surviving material includes ‘Under Arrest’, taken from a 1990 rehearsal featuring Bertrand Renaud on guitar and vocals, Jaime Dos Reis on guitar, Gosselin on bass and Martin Renaud on drums.
Despite growing regional recognition, television exposure, merchandise and years of persistent rehearsal and recording, Ablaze did not complete a full-length album during its original existence. Internal and external pressures eventually brought the band to an end in 1993. What remained was a small but unusually well-documented body of privately produced recordings representing several stages of the group’s development—from the expansive traditional metal of the original single through increasingly forceful demo material, promotional video work, live performance and its later tribute-era lineup.
For decades, Ablaze’s reputation rested primarily upon the scarce ‘Psychopath’ single and recordings circulated among underground-metal collectors. The original release continued to appear in specialist metal discographies and collectors’ listings, while the title track circulated through archival uploads and retrospective interest in obscure Canadian heavy metal.
The group’s surviving work was finally assembled as Psychopath: The Ultimate Anthology (1984–1993), a nine-track collection issued by Cult Metal Classics/Sonic Age Records. Released on CD and vinyl, the anthology brings together both sides of the original single, the 1988 and 1989 demos, ‘Enter the Craze’, ‘Shadowed on Purpose’ and ‘Under Arrest’. The recordings were remastered by Nasos Nomikos at VU-Productions, while an illustrated booklet preserved the band’s history, photographs, lyrics and changing personnel.
The vinyl edition was manufactured in a total pressing of 300 copies: 100 copies on red vinyl and 200 copies on black vinyl. The red-vinyl edition visually complements the anthology’s black-and-red artwork and provides a particularly striking presentation of the band’s archival recordings.
More than three decades after Ablaze disbanded, the anthology transforms what had once been a fragmentary legacy into a coherent account of a determined young Québec metal band. Thanks in part to the preservation efforts and generosity of former members—including bassist Francois Gosselin, who personally supplied the Museum of Canadian Music with copies of both the limited red-vinyl anthology and the CD—the band’s recordings, images and story can now be documented together.
Ablaze may never have released the full album its members once envisioned, but the surviving music reveals a group that developed alongside Montréal’s 1980s metal underground, pursued its ambitions through changing lineups and musical directions, and left behind far more than its famously elusive seven-inch single.
-Robert Williston
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Credits
‘Psychopath’
Steve ‘Damien’ Perron: vocals
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar
Jean ‘Jean’ Thibault: guitar
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Sadistic Dream’
Steve ‘Damien’ Perron: vocals
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar
Jean ‘Jean’ Thibault: guitar
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘First Murder’
Steve ‘Damien’ Perron: vocals
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Blood, Fear & Pain’
Steve ‘Damien’ Perron: vocals
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Mr. Lord’
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar, vocals
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Crucified’
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar, vocals
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Enter the Craze’
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar, vocals
Jaime Dos Reis: guitar
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Shadowed on Purpose’
Bob Fontaine: vocals
Daniel St-Germain: guitar
Steve Lessard: guitar
Francois Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Under Arrest’
Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud: guitar, vocals
Jaime Dos Reis: guitar
Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin: bass
Martin Renaud: drums
‘Psychopath’: music by Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud, Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin, Jean ‘Jean’ Thibault and Martin Renaud; lyrics by Steve ‘Damien’ Perron
‘Sadistic Dream’: music by Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud, Francois ‘Frank’ Gosselin, Jean ‘Jean’ Thibault and Martin Renaud; lyrics by Steve ‘Damien’ Perron
‘Enter the Craze’: music by Bertrand ‘Bert’ Renaud; lyrics by Steve ‘Damien’ Perron
No individual songwriting credits are provided for the remaining tracks.
Source Recordings‘Psychopath’ and ‘Sadistic Dream’: taken from the ‘Psychopath’ 7-inch single
‘First Murder’ and ‘Blood, Fear & Pain’: taken from ‘Demo 1988’
‘Mr. Lord’ and ‘Crucified’: taken from ‘Demo 1989’
‘Enter the Craze’: taken from a promotional video shot in Beloeil, Quebec, in May 1990
‘Shadowed on Purpose’: taken from a live performance in Windsor, Ontario, on March 29, 1992
‘Under Arrest’: taken from a band rehearsal in 1990
ProductionAblaze: producer of ‘Psychopath’ and ‘Sadistic Dream’
Recording‘Psychopath’ and ‘Sadistic Dream’ recorded and mixed at Studio Works, Montreal, December 26–27, 1986
‘First Murder’ and ‘Blood, Fear & Pain’ recorded at Studio Works, Montreal, in May 1988
‘Mr. Lord’ and ‘Crucified’ recorded at Studio 84, Saint-Basile-le-Grand
‘Shadowed on Purpose’ recorded live in Windsor, Ontario, on March 29, 1992
‘Under Arrest’ recorded during a band rehearsal in 1990
Engineering and MixingMario Rubnikowich: engineer of ‘Psychopath’ and ‘Sadistic Dream’
Patrice Audrain: mixing of ‘Mr. Lord’ and ‘Crucified’
VideoFable Films Corporation: filming of the ‘Enter the Craze’ promotional video on 16mm in Beloeil, Quebec
PhotographyYvan Damphousse: cover photography for the ‘Psychopath’ 7-inch single
RemasteringNasos Nomikos: remastering
Remastered at VU-Productions
Ablaze: distribution of the ‘Psychopath’ 7-inch single
ManagementMETALSOUND Productions: management
AcknowledgementsCult Metal Classics thanks Laurent Ramadier, Francois Gosselin, Martin Renaud, Christine Tsaprouni, Charly Kogler and Oliver Konczer.
Liner notes ABLAZE: A Journey Through Flames (1981-1993) Humble Beginnings (1981-1985)ABLAZE, a name now synonymous with the Montreal heavy metal scene, began its journey in the small suburb of Beloeil, just outside Montreal. The Renaud brothers, Martin and Bertrand, received their first instruments as Christmas gifts when they were only 11 and 10 years old, respectively - a drum set for Martin and a guitar for Bertrand. At first, their music was little more than enthusiastic imitations of Kiss, but it would soon evolve into something much bigger.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Montreal’s heavy metal scene was thriving. Concerts at venues like the Forum, Spectrum, and Verdun Auditorium were regular occurrences, and these events shaped the city’s youth. The Renaud brothers were no exception, soaking up the influences of iconic bands like Deep Purple, April Wine, and The Kinks. Inspired by these artists, they began to write original lyrics to go along with the riffs they had learned, creating early tracks like “Spanish Fly”, “I’m A Devil In Fire”, “Pop Corn”, “Boomtown”, and “Evil Car”.
Their first taste of performing came when they were joined by bassist Marc Beauchemin and vocalist Claude René de Cotret to compete in a local ‘battle of the bands.’ The experience of playing live pushed them to hone their craft, and they soon found themselves deeply immersed in the music of Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and AC/DC, all while developing their own unique sound.
The Early Demos and the Formation of ABLAZE (1983-1985)Bertrand’s dedication to his guitar lessons began to pay off, and the brothers decided it was time to record their first demo. Using a simple Radio Shack mixer, they recorded covers of tracks by Raven, Anvil, and Quiet Riot. These early recordings, featuring singers Stéphane Martin and Marc Davidson, were broadcast on their high school radio station, catching the attention of fellow musicians like bassist Francois Gosselin, guitarist Jean Thibault, and singer Frederick McNicoll. The Renaud brothers’ dream of forming a complete five piece heavy metal band was finally coming together.
In need of a name, the band found inspiration in an episode of the Montreal radio show The Metal Files, which aired on Friday nights at midnight on CHOM-FM. During a 1983 broadcast, Martin taped an early preview of Iron Maiden’s Piece of Mind album. As he transcribed the lyrics to songs like “Flight of Icarus” and “Revelations”, Martin noticed the word ‘ablaze’ appeared in both tracks. After discovering its meaning, the entire band agreed that ‘ABLAZE’ was the perfect name for their new venture.
The Rise to Local Fame (1985-1991)ABLAZE quickly became known for their original material, which became the focal point of their live shows. After releasing their 7” single Psychopath in February, 1987 (recorded December 26th-27th, 1986 at “Studio Works” in Montreal), at the same studio, on May 1988, they recorded another demo featuring new songs “First Murder” and “Blood, Fear & Pain”. One year later in 1989, they recorded a pre-production demo at Studio 84 in St-Basile-le-Grand. Mixed by Patrice Audrain, the demo included tracks like “Crucified” and “Mr. Lord”.
With the release of Psychopath, ABLAZE began to solidify their reputation as a prominent band in the Montreal heavy metal scene. For many bands, this level of regional recognition would have been enough, but ABLAZE had bigger ambitions. Their dedication led to numerous studio sessions, and by 1990, they were ready for a new chapter.
That same year, they welcomed guitarist Daniel St-Germain into the fold. Daniel’s playing style was the perfect complement to the Renaud brothers’ vision, and together, they built the musical foundation that would guide the band forward. Soon after, the lineup was complete with the addition of guitarist Steve Lessard and vocalist Robert ‘Bob’ Fontaine, two musicians who shared the same drive and ambition as the original members.
Enter the Craze:The Metallica Tribute and Beyond (1990-1991)As ABLAZE continued to grow, they attracted the attention of METALSOUND Productions, a management company that saw great potential in the band. With a repertoire that included both original material and covers of Metallica songs, the management suggested marketing ABLAZE as a Metallica tribute band, a strategy that would capitalize on the band’s strengths and appeal to a broader audience.
In May 1990, after two years of hard work, ABLAZE released their video “Enter the Craze”. Filmed on 16mm by Fable Films Corporation in their hometown of Beloeil, the video was a major success. It was viewed by over 2.5 million people across Canada and the northern United States through broadcasts on MuchMusic and MusiquePlus. The video made its premiere on MusiquePlus during a live interview on the Solid Rock segment, which focused on hard rock and heavy metal. One month later, “Enter the Craze” debuted on MuchMusic’s Indie Street, a show dedicated to promoting unsigned bands. The response was overwhelmingly positive, leading to additional airplay on The Power Hour, MuchMusic’s weekly metal show.
To capitalize on their growing success, ABLAZE released a line of merchandise, including T-shirts, pins, and stickers. With a solid fan base, a unique sound, and a reputation as both a tribute act and an original band, ABLAZE seemed poised for national success.
The Flame That Would Not Die (1991-1993)Despite their success, internal and external pressures began to take their toll on the band. After years of relentless rehearsing, recording, and performing, ABLAZE ultimately disbanded in 1993. Though the band called it quits, their legacy did not fade. Over time, ABLAZE gained cult status among heavy metal fans, their music and story continuing to inspire future generations.
The flame that was ignited in Beloeil in the early 80’s still burns in the hearts of those who remember them and nothing will extinguish the fire that continues to fuel their legend.
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