If you love mosh pits from the bottom of your blackened heart, then Friday night in Toronto was the place to be, courtesy of four insane bands in a feast of pure, brutal Deathcore.
OPENING ACTS: Snuffed on Sight, Signs of the Swarm and Angelmaker
I have no idea what’s happening with the traffic to get to Toronto. I mean, it has always been bad, but this weekend it seems that things got even worse, which delayed my arrival at The Phoenix Concert Theatre to see SNUFFED ON SIGHT, SIGNS OF THE SWARM, ANGELMAKER and THY ART IS MURDER kill everything and everyone during the Toronto stop of their Godlike North America Tour 2024, another fantastic event brought to the city by Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment, and “day 1” of my more-than-awesome “metal weekend” with three days of shows in a row. Besides the heavy traffic to get in and out of the city, there was also a lot of wind and rain, but nothing that could stop a horde of avid Deathcore and Death Metal fans to invade the venue and generate some of the wildest mosh pits I’ve ever seen live. Holy shit, the kids were mental inside the pit, with the action flowing nonstop until the very last second.
Due to traffic, I couldn’t make it in time to see San Francisco, California-based Brutal Death Metal/Hardcore act SNUFFED ON SIGHT, but fortunately my buddy Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi was there to take some wild pictures of the band, and to confirm what I suspected after listening to their 2023 album Smoke, that they’re extremely heavy and really fun to see live. If you want to experience their fury, you can stream their sick creations on BandCamp, Spotify, or any other streaming service, as well as get to know more about the band by clicking HERE, and as soon as you realize how brutally amazing this band is, you’ll be smarter than me and plan your trip ahead of time to be able to see them kicking some serious ass on stage.
Setlist
Intro
Blunt Cough
Time 2 Dip
Dummy
(smoke break)
Smoke
All Talk
Slippin
Band members
Seven Kane – vocals
Walid Gad – guitars
Spencer Metala – bass
Kendric DiStefano – drums
Although I had to miss Snuffed on Sight, I was lucky enough to witness live one of the heaviest, most insane concerts ever, courtesy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania’s own Deathcore beast SIGNS OF THE SWARM. Led by the amazing frontman David Simonich, the band delivered sheer violence, groove and fire during their short but extremely destructive set, playing songs form their most recent album Amongst the Low & Empty such as the title-track Amongst the Low & Empty, Tower of Torsos and Pray for Death. The circle pits, walls of death and crowd surfing were freakin’ insane during their whole concert, showing how electrifying their music is (and you can check it out yourself on Spotify or by clicking HERE). I can’t wait to see those guys again live, but I’ll be sure I have some sort of body armor to endure their sick mosh pits, no doubt about that.
Setlist
Amongst the Low & Empty
Tower of Torsos
Pray for Death
Borrowed Time
Between Fire & Stone
Dreamkiller
Malady
Band members
David Simonich – vocals
Carl Schulz – guitars
Michael Cassese – bass
Bobby Crow – drums
Next on the bill was North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based Deathcore infantry ANGELMAKER, and yet again The Phoenix Concert Theatre became a hurricane of mosh pits thanks to their incendiary performance on stage. It’s interesting that they were able to fit all seven members of the band on stage, because not only they have three guitarists, but they also have two demented vocalists, Casey Tyson-Pearce and Mike Greenwood, and oh boy, their double vocal attack is beyond infernal. Playing songs the likes of Godless, Hollow Heart and Leech, it was a wild ride together with those Canadians, keeping the action in the mosh pit moving as fast as a shark hunting for food. Go check their crazy creations on BandCamp and on Spotify, and don’t miss the chance to see those seven wicked musicians live whenever they hit your city, as it’s absolutely worth it.
Setlist
Radiance in the Light of a Dying Sun
The Bridge Between
Suffer Forever
Day/Day
Godless
Gutless
Shia LaBeouf
Vengeance
A Dark Omen
Hollow Heart
Leech
Band members
Casey Tyson-Pearce – vocals
Mike Greenwood – vocals
Colton Bennett – guitars
Matt Perrin – guitars
Johnny Ciardullo – guitars
Cole Rideout – bass
Steven Sanchez – drums
After three insane openers, it was then time for the main attraction of the night, Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia’s own Deathcore institution THY ART IS MURDER, to crush the souls of all concert goers with their visceral, harsh and furious performance. Promoting their 2023 album Godlike, the band now fronted by the talented Tyler Miller, of Australian Technical Deathcore band Aversions Crown (as the iconic Chris “CJ” McMahon has recently quit music for good, starting a career in real estate) kicked some ass during their solid performance (just as good as the last time I saw them opening for Cannibal Corpse back in 2019), with songs like Slaves Beyond Death, Death Squad Anthem, Make America Hate Again, Godlike, and of course Puppet Master, driving all fans crazy inside the wild mosh pits that kept moving frantically in the middle of the floor section. Leaving concerts earlier than the end seems to be the new norm in Toronto, maybe due to public transportation hours, maybe due to the increase in violence at night, but I would say more than 90% of the crowd stayed at the venue until the very last second, and hopefully it won’t take long for the band to return to the city for another demented concert like Friday night.
Setlist
We Like to Party (Vengaboys song)
Destroyer of Dreams
Slaves Beyond Death
Death Squad Anthem
Make America Hate Again
Blood Throne
Join Me in Armageddon
Holy War
The Purest Strain of Hate
Godlike
Keres
Everything Unwanted
Reign of Darkness
Puppet Master
Band members
Tyler Miller – vocals
Andy Marsh – lead guitar
Sean Delander – rhythm guitar
Kevin Butler – bass
Jesse Beahler – drums
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 