One of the pillars of German Power Metal took the city of Toronto by storm for the first time ever to celebrate their headbanging, hellraising 40 years of career.
Monday night was simply perfect in Toronto, with no snow or rain, lots of sunshine with temperatures above +10oC, very little traffic, and of course a lecture in Heavy and Power Metal at Lee’s Palace as C.O.P. UK and RAGE kicked off the Canadian leg of their 40 Years in RAGE – 4 Decades of Heavy Metal Tour 2024, celebrating four decades of one of the most important bands to ever arise from the German Power Metal scene. Brought to Canada by Lucky Bob Music Agency, it’s somehow weird that Rage are only playing in Canada and not in the US (which is why there was even a guy from Michigan who drove eight hours to see the show here in Toronto), and I don’t know exactly how the promotion of the tour was done because the crowd was much smaller than expected. Maybe because it was a Monday, the worst day in the world for anything as Garfield would say, or maybe tons of fans had zero idea Rage was playing in the city for the first time ever (and I saw some comments online from fans in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec complaining about the lack of information about the tour). Anyway, the concert was fantastic, as well as the sick photos taken this time by my friend Ryan Miles Leblanc.
After a HUGE delay for the doors to open due to some technical difficulties, as apparently they didn’t have an adapter to convert something from EU to Canada, Sheffield, England-based Heavy Metal/Hard Rock act C.O.P. UK, or Crimes Of Passion if you prefer, hit the stage at around 9:30pm for a solid performance to warm up the fans at the venue for Rage. Formed in 2005, the band led by the charismatic vocalist Dale Radcliffe distilled a traditional blend of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock with hints of Glam and Hair Metal, with songs like Love Is To Die For and Catch Me If You Can sounding amazing live, plus their electrifying cover version for Journey’s classic Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), which in Dale’s words, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know them, everyone loves a little bit of Journey. I was impressed with the band and just wish they had more releases available for streaming everywhere, because for example on Spotify you can only find their 2018 EP Keep on Moving. Their music is awesome and they deserve more attention from all of us metalheads not only in Canada, but anywhere where good music is appreciated.
Setlist
The Core
My Blood
Love Is To Die For
Body & Soul
Stranger Than Fiction
Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) (Journey cover)
Catch Me If You Can
God Made Me Your Angel
Band members
Dale Radcliffe – vocals
Jean Bormann – guitars
Henning Wanner – keyboards
Scott Jordan – bass
Kev Tonge – drums
It was already 10:30pm, which is really late for any show to start in Toronto by the way, when German Power Metal titans RAGE kicked off their flawless performance on stage, obviously led by the iconic Peter “Peavy” Wagner on vocals and bass, supported by Jean Bormann on the guitars (and yes, he’s the same guitarist from C.O.P. UK, but I think he was just supporting C.O.P. UK as his main band is Rage), and Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos on drums. And let me say it was a dream come true for all Torontonian fans of the band who attended the concert because their celebration of 40 years indeed included songs from their entire and vast career, kicking things of with the excellent Resurrection Day and going through all of their albums, with songs like Solitary Man, Black in Mind, Back in Time and My Way inspiring everyone for some good headbanging and fist raising. I personally think Peavy’s microphone was a bit low, but even so it was amazing to see his raspy, loud vocals permeating the air at Lee’s Palace Monday night.
One of my favorite songs of the night, and probably also of most fans at the venue, was undoubtedly End of All Days, and it was visible how some dudes in the crowd were having the time of their lives while the trio kept kicking some serious ass on stage during such masterpiece. My only “complaint” about their setlist was not seeing the darkly beautiful “From the Cradle to the Grave” live, as it was replaced with their new song Under a Black Crown (from their upcoming album Afterlifelines, to be released on March 29 this year), but the new song is also amazing, you know what I mean? Well, Peavy even mentioned during the show that they had over 100 songs to create their setlist (all available on Spotify, by the way), a tough job for them, but a pleasure for all of us when the setlist comes together. An when you end a concert with the pulverizing Don’t Fear the Winter and the all-time classic Higher Than the Sky, you know how happy your fans will be. Hopefully the lower-than-expected attendance won’t stop Rage form coming back to Toronto in the near future, because after seeing what Peavy and the boys are capable of Monday night, I must say the city of Toronto needs another blast of their Teutonic Power Metal.
Setlist Memento Vitae (Overture) Resurrection Day
Great Old Ones
Solitary Man
Nevermore
Black in Mind
Refuge
Back in Time
Shadow Out of Time
My Way
End of All Days
A New Land
Encore:
Under a Black Crown
Don’t Fear the Winter
Higher Than the Sky Tomorrow’s Yesterday (Instrumental)
Band members
Peter “Peavy” Wagner – vocals, bass
Jean Bormann – guitars
Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos – drums
Putting a foot back into the roots of the band’s inception, these American veterans return to the battlefield with their striking fourth full-length opus, turning the failure of all into first-class Thrash and Groove Metal.
Putting a foot back into the roots of the band’s inception, New Orleans, Louisiana’s own Thrash Metal veterans Exhorder return to the battlefield with their striking fourth full-length opus, titled Defectum Omnium, the Latin phrase for “the failure of all”. Produced by the band itself, mixed by Jens Bogren at Fascination Street Studios, and displaying a sinister artwork by Travis Smith of Seempieces Design Studio, the album is highly recommended for fans of Dark Angel, Nuclear Assault, Exodus, Death Angel, Testament, Machine Head, and Pantera, among others, with the band currently formed of Kyle Thomas on vocals and guitars, Jason Viebrooks on bass, and Sasha Horn on drums now being joined by former Cannibal Corpse heavyweight guitarist Pat O’Brien, just to give their sound an even edgier and more austere taste.
Let’s slam into the pit like true metalmaniacs to the sound of Wrath of Prophecies, a Pantera-infused onrush of thrashing sounds led by the piercing riffs by Kyle and Pat, kicking things off in an amazing way, followed by Under the Gaslight, a more cadenced, Groove Metal-ish tune by Exhorder recommend for some vigorous headbanging to the massive beats by Sasha and the always visceral roars by Kyle. Forever and Beyond Despair offers us then absolutely acid lyrics (“Designs of murder ending all / Last call, then curfew comes / Take your meds and go / The gods bring on the wars / Send the troops, let ’em burn / The girls will work butter churns, all pregnant with babes”) amidst a fusion of Thrash Metal, Hardcore and Punk Rock, whereas letting their Southern Metal vein pulse harder than ever we face The Tale of Unsound Minds, with Jason and Sasha delivering sheer heaviness and groove through their devilish kitchen. After that we have Divide and Conquer, another Thrash and Groove Metal feast by the quartet where their riffs and solos sound striking, meaning it should work really well if played live; and an eerie intro quickly explodes into the venomous Year of the Goat, a slamming tune that will invite us all into the circle pit to the rumbling bass by Jason.
After a slower yet still heavy-as-hell start, the band will will hammer your heads mercilessly in Taken by Flames, offering modern-day Thrash Metal overflowing rage and insanity, all led by the boisterous beats by Sasha; and get ready for over seven minutes of darkness in the form of Defectum Omnium / Stolen Hope, starting in a hypnotic way before the band comes ripping with a venomous mid-tempo attack, with the riffage by Kyle and Pat penetrating deep inside our damned souls. It’s then time for some pure American hatred flowing from all instruments in Three Stages of Truth / Lacing the Well, with their riffs, bass jabs and blast beats generating the perfect ambience for some wild circle pits and crowd surfing; followed by Sedition, bringing forward three minutes of savagery and brutality blasted by the quartet, once again offering our avid ears an overdose of dirty riffs, raspy vocals and demolishing drums, and they keep destroying our cranial skulls with their visceral Thrash Metal in Desensitized, where the enraged growls by Kyle walk hand I hand with the unstoppable beats by Sasha. Last but not least, they present another shot of their hybrid of Southern Rock with Thrash and Groove Metal in Your Six, feeling sluggish, dirty and inebriate until the very last second.
Exhorder are not in a good mood throughout the entire Defectum Omnium, and of course that’s an amazing thing when it comes to violent and frantic Thrash Metal. Hence, don’t forget to start following those American thrashers on Facebook and on Instagram for news, tour dates and so on, to stream more of their wicked music on YouTube and on Spotify, and above all that, to purchase a copy of the incendiary Defectum Omnium by clinking HERE or HERE. The entire world as we know it has failed miserably, and that’s exactly what Exhorder needed as fuel for their fulminating new album, keeping the fires of heavy music burning bright while our rotten society comes to its inevitable end.
Best moments of the album:Wrath of Prophecies, Year of the Goat and Three Stages of Truth / Lacing the Well.
Worst moments of the album:Under the Gaslight.
Released in 2024 Nuclear Blast
Track listing 1. Wrath of Prophecies 4:14
2. Under the Gaslight 4:21
3. Forever and Beyond Despair 3:03
4. The Tale of Unsound Minds 5:01
5. Divide and Conquer 2:38
6. Year of the Goat 3:27
7. Taken by Flames 5:19
8. Defectum Omnium / Stolen Hope 7:13
9. Three Stages of Truth / Lacing the Well 6:46
10. Sedition 2:56
11. Desensitized 4:59
12. Your Six 4:28
Band members Kyle Thomas – vocals, guitars
Pat O’Brien – guitars
Jason Viebrooks – bass
Sasha Horn – drums
Guest musicians Rick Wartell – guitars
Bruce Franklin – guitars
Life is flesh on bone convulsing above the ground.
It’s time to spread absolute fuckin’ evil all over the world here at The Headbanging Moose, courtesy of our multi-talented metal lady of this month of March, and trust me, as soon as you know more about her, about her music and her art as a photographer, you’ll get addicted to everything surrounding her, musically and visually speaking. Owner of a fantastic voice, placing her among the best female growlers of the new generation, she’s the frontwoman for one of the rising forces of the metal scene in her homeland Portugal, inspiring us to raise our horns anytime she hits the stage with her incredible charisma, her looks, and of course her she-demon roars. Her name is Beatriz Mariano, the mastermind behind Portuguese Blackened Death Metal horde Okkultist and a fantastic freelance visual artist, and she’s ready to drink your blood and reap your soul to the sound of her devilish, furious creations. Having said all that, are you ready to face our demonic diva in this humble tribute to her music and her art?
Born on September 9, 1994 in the charming and always cozy Portuguese capital Lisbon, Beatriz has lived and breathed music since she was a little kid. “I’ve learned a few instruments, and I’ve always been into singing. There wasn’t really a time when I wanted to become a singer, because I never actually saw it as something I wanted to do full-time. I’ve always sung for fun! If this makes sense,” commented our talented growler in one of her interviews, complementing by saying what her family thought about it when she founded Okkultist. “When I told my family I was in a band they were accepting. They don’t understand the music though. When I first asked ‘do you wanna listen to it’ the first reaction I got was a fat ‘no’. But as long as I’m happy, they’re supportive.” In addition, her passion for the occult also started at a very early stage of her life. “I’ve been in love with the horror, occult and macabre aesthetic since a very early age. My favorite cartoon as a kid was ‘Courage, the Cowardly Dog’. I was hypnotized by the first horror movie I ever saw. I just fell in love. It just felt right. It was a calling.”
It was back in 2016 when Beatriz founded her infernal sonic cult Okkultist together with guitarist Leander Sandmeier (Toxic Room, Toxikull), making sure they were bringing into being something truly evil. “I remember us all sitting down and just saying ‘this shit has to sound evil. It had to bring people chills to their spine. Let’s make them hallucinate about Satan when our shit plays.’ We wanted a pit to hell to open up as soon as you started playing our album.” Currently formed of Beatriz and Leander alongside bassist David J. Rodrigues and drummer Eduardo Sinatra (Aramaic, Godiva, Heavenwood), Okkultist released their debut EP titled Eye of the Beholder, in 2017, followed by the full-length albums Reinventing Evil, in 2019, and more recently O.M.E.N., in 2023, all available for streaming on Spotify or on any other streaming platform. One interesting fact about their two full-length albums is that both were released under the label Alma Mater Records, whose founder and owner is the iconic Fernado Ribeiro of Moonspell. “It started when Fernando and I were discussing some visual ideas and then I presented him to this project I was involved in, and he immediately sounded interested in us, even though we only had a few demos out,” said Beatriz about her partnership with Fernando.
Apart from being a sensational vocalist and performer, as aforementioned Beatriz is also an extremely talented visual artist who loves to focus on the most obscure side of music and arts in her work in general. For instance, she was responsible for the photography of the 2014 demo Hellbreaker – Demo XXIV and of the 2014 full-length album Midnight Steel, both by Portuguese Heavy Metal squad Midnight Priest; for the design and layout of Okkultist’s 2023 album O.M.E.N.; and for the photography of the 2016 album Black Sheep, by Portuguese Heavy/Speed Metal band Toxikull; and you can take a look at her entire portfolio by visiting her official Facebook page or her Instagram, or click HERE to get access to all links related to our amazing artist. “Actually, photography is my main activity. And not the band. I am in complete control over the band’s visuals. It just made sense. I first started working with self-portraiture when I was 15. I’m 25 now. And when I first suggested it to the band they immediately accepted it, also because they enjoy my work. There wasn’t even a question. I just took over,” she commented in an interview four years ago, as she’s now 29, about her life as a photographer and as a musician at the same time, but in my humble opinion I believe today Okkultist became her main activity (or maybe she’s able to magically handle both, who knows).
Her life as a photographer definitely deserves a more detailed look due to everything that impacts her as an artist, her creative process and so on. “I’m constantly researching visuals. Anything! From movies to pictures, comics, illustrations, nature. Even sounds and textures. I’m especially attracted to the experimental field,” she said when asked about her inspirations as a photographer. Furthermore, she mentioned that she works with both pre-arranged shootings, when she already has an idea and concept in mind, and more spontaneous photography. “Usually when it comes to editing, I always end up picking the pictures where the model is not posing. Those are the most beautiful and appealing shots to me, and will certainly turn out to be the best and more impactful images.” Also, although she doesn’t think there must be a story behind each picture, she ended up admitting that almost everything that she does has a meaning, a story or a concept involved. Her opinion about having to study photography or not to be a successful photographer also goes in line with her passion for what’s more spontaneous. “To be really honest, the best way to learn is through experience. Schools, classes, or whatever, will never be able to teach you something that only you can go through. You will only get the full experience by doing it, and getting to it, and that’s the most fulfilling and complete way to learn! I’ve done that since I was a teen, and things like that can never be taught. Sure, studies can give you a hand in it, but no one will ever be able to ‘teach’ you something that only you can live and absorb pure and raw knowledge from! I’ve learnt that way, and with all the memories and living experiences it’s more than useful, it’s priceless!”
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An admirer of both analogue and digital photography, which according to Beatriz herself is necessary to go through the full photographic experience, she used to work with a really nice gear containing a 7D, and a 50mm f/1.4 lens, which she used the most, plus of course Photoshop, but I’m sure right now she might have advanced to an even better gear and maybe an updated software. She’s always been passionate for photography, pictures and filming, but it was when she was in high school and one of her teachers, named Ana Paula Xavier, assigned a project using photography and Photoshop to her class that things changed, becoming an obsession for Beatriz, and she couldn’t let go off the cameras ever since, being highly inspired by French photographer and grand couturier Hedi Slimane, therefore helping her find her own artistic identity. And regarding her idols and influences in general, not only in photography, Beatriz considers herself a very weird person, quoting Beetlejuice to describe herself (“I myself am strange and unusual”). She loves everything around creativity, being able to express herself through something she can make with her own hands, and of course being a Heavy Metal fanatic with an unusual and bizarre taste. For instance, she’s a diehard fan of horror, mentioning Clive Barker, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento as some of her inspirations, but of course she said she’s the type of person that enjoys building their own stuff.
As already mentioned a few times, Beatriz is an amazing vocalist, delivering sheer malignancy and evil through her harsh growls in the best Black and Death Metal style. She used to be a lot more active on her official YouTube channel and on Vimeo before going all-in with Okkultist, but you can still enjoy a lot of amazing videos, cover songs and so on featuring our Portuguese she-wolf. For example, you can enjoy her covers for Summer Wine, by Lee Hazlewood, Texas Sun, by Khruangbin and Leon Bridges, and Scavenger Of Human Sorrow, by Death, as well as countless videos about fashion, make up, music and so on, including an amazing one called Creepy Nun/Valak Inspired Halloween Make Up where she teaches how to make the perfect make up inspired by the mysterious nun character from The Conjuring universe.
Beatriz also mentioned once that she would love to travel the world with Okkultist and blast some “evil fucking music” everywhere, although she knows it’s really tough for any smaller band to tour financially speaking. “We are doing the best we can to tour. But as a small band that barely makes any profit, it makes it extremely difficult for us to finance big projects. But things are on the move!” I believe right now if you want to experience the fantastic music and performance by Okkultist you have to visit their homeland Portugal, which might not be a big country, but I’m sure you’ll get fascinated with its strong heavy music scene. “Portugal is really small, so you can imagine the size of our community, but we’re tight. I see a lot of support from bands to bands, from fans to bands, from everyone,” commented Beatriz, who truly loves her country for its beauty, proudly saying some of the most beautiful places in the world are in Portugal, while on the other hand she thinks the Portuguese music industry doesn’t have the slightest idea of how many great artists Portugal has, with those artists being crushed because the local industry will only give you your due value if you’re coming from another country. “I could go on and on and on about this, but I should probably shut up now. It’s sad, but it’s the truth.”
Last but definitely not least, our beloved diva of darkness is also a tattoo aficionada (or aficionado, as I never know if this term has male and female forms), and she loves to talk about all the amazing ink she has all over her body. “My favorite tattoo has to be the Pinhead portrait. Hellraiser is my favorite movie, Doug Bradley as Pinhead was my ultimate man crush as a teen. No joke. It was also done by my favorite tattoo artist Hollie Pryce Jones. She did it in a 12-hour sitting, with a one-hour break total. She’s a killer artist, and an amazing human being. Love that girl to death,” commented Beatriz about her all-time favorite ink, but life is not all roses and flowers when it comes to tattoos. She mentioned that any tattoos on her hands are the most painful without any doubt, and that her least favorite tattoo are the three coffin nails on her right wrist, albeit not due to the quality of it. “Don’t get me wrong, the tattoo is beautiful and done by an amazing talented artist called Bela Hilário, but the placement I picked is fucking dumb. Blocks the whole arm now that I’m trying to build a sleeve.” Having a Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon prism on the back done by Pedro Santos, she said she’s certainly getting the Okkultist symbol tattooed somewhere in the future (if she hasn’t done so already); and that her list of favorite tattoo artists include Hollie Pryce Jones, Maksym Yakubchyk, Anrijs Straume, Felix Seele and Diogo Nunes. You should definitely check the work of those five amazing artists online, and who knows, maybe get inked with them just like Beatriz. Just be aware that it’s not going to look as good on you as on our screaming diva, of course.
“I’ve learned a few instruments, and I’ve always been into singing. There wasn’t really a time when I wanted to become a singer, because I never actually saw it as something I wanted to do full-time. I’ve always sung for fun!” – Beatriz Mariano
Monday night was simply perfect in Toronto, with no snow or rain, lots of sunshine with temperatures above +10oC, very little traffic, and of course a lecture in Heavy and Power Metal at Lee’s Palace as C.O.P. UK and RAGE kicked off the Canadian leg of their 40 Years in RAGE – 4 Decades of Heavy Metal Tour 2024, celebrating four decades of one of the most important bands to ever arise from the German Power Metal scene. Brought to Canada by Lucky Bob Music Agency, it’s somehow weird that Rage are only playing in Canada and not in the US (which is why there was even a guy from Michigan who drove eight hours to see the show here in Toronto), and I don’t know exactly how the promotion of the tour was done because the crowd was much smaller than expected. Maybe because it was a Monday, the worst day in the world for anything as Garfield would say, or maybe tons of fans had zero idea Rage was playing in the city for the first time ever (and I saw some comments online from fans in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec complaining about the lack of information about the tour). Anyway, the concert was fantastic, as well as the sick photos taken this time by my friend Ryan Miles Leblanc.
After a HUGE delay for the doors to open due to some technical difficulties, as apparently they didn’t have an adapter to convert something from EU to Canada, Sheffield, England-based Heavy Metal/Hard Rock act C.O.P. UK, or Crimes Of Passion if you prefer, hit the stage at around 9:30pm for a solid performance to warm up the fans at the venue for Rage. Formed in 2005, the band led by the charismatic vocalist Dale Radcliffe distilled a traditional blend of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock with hints of Glam and Hair Metal, with songs like Love Is To Die For and Catch Me If You Can sounding amazing live, plus their electrifying cover version for Journey’s classic Separate Ways (Worlds Apart), which in Dale’s words, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know them, everyone loves a little bit of Journey. I was impressed with the band and just wish they had more releases available for streaming everywhere, because for example on Spotify you can only find their 2018 EP Keep on Moving. Their music is awesome and they deserve more attention from all of us metalheads not only in Canada, but anywhere where good music is appreciated.
It was already 10:30pm, which is really late for any show to start in Toronto by the way, when German Power Metal titans RAGE kicked off their flawless performance on stage, obviously led by the iconic Peter “Peavy” Wagner on vocals and bass, supported by Jean Bormann on the guitars (and yes, he’s the same guitarist from C.O.P. UK, but I think he was just supporting C.O.P. UK as his main band is Rage), and Vassilios “Lucky” Maniatopoulos on drums. And let me say it was a dream come true for all Torontonian fans of the band who attended the concert because their celebration of 40 years indeed included songs from their entire and vast career, kicking things of with the excellent Resurrection Day and going through all of their albums, with songs like Solitary Man, Black in Mind, Back in Time and My Way inspiring everyone for some good headbanging and fist raising. I personally think Peavy’s microphone was a bit low, but even so it was amazing to see his raspy, loud vocals permeating the air at Lee’s Palace Monday night.
One of my favorite songs of the night, and probably also of most fans at the venue, was undoubtedly End of All Days, and it was visible how some dudes in the crowd were having the time of their lives while the trio kept kicking some serious ass on stage during such masterpiece. My only “complaint” about their setlist was not seeing the darkly beautiful “From the Cradle to the Grave” live, as it was replaced with their new song Under a Black Crown (from their upcoming album Afterlifelines, to be released on March 29 this year), but the new song is also amazing, you know what I mean? Well, Peavy even mentioned during the show that they had over 100 songs to create their setlist (all available on Spotify, by the way), a tough job for them, but a pleasure for all of us when the setlist comes together. An when you end a concert with the pulverizing Don’t Fear the Winter and the all-time classic Higher Than the Sky, you know how happy your fans will be. Hopefully the lower-than-expected attendance won’t stop Rage form coming back to Toronto in the near future, because after seeing what Peavy and the boys are capable of Monday night, I must say the city of Toronto needs another blast of their Teutonic Power Metal.
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 