The night the earth shook in Toronto, courtesy of four of the heaviest bands of the current Death Metal scene worldwide.

OPENING ACTS: NecroticGoreBeast, PeelingFlesh and Ingested

In all seriousness, I think an earthquake hit Toronto this Tuesday night when NECROTICGOREBEAST, PEELINGFLESH, INGESTED and ABORTED took the city by storm with their ruthless, infernal Terrifying North America Tour 2025 at an almost sold out The Axis Club, another ass-kicking event brought to us metalheads by the iconic Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. As a matter of fact, the original plan was to have the formidable Stabbing as the first band on the bill during the entire tour, but unfortunately they couldn’t make it (for reasons beyond my knowledge). Their replacement for most of the tour is Extermination Dismemberment, while in Toronto (and in the other Canadian dates) we got the demented Canadian squad known as NecroticGoreBeast. I would love to have seen Stabbing AND Extermination Dismemberment AND NecroticGoreBeast together with PeelingFlesh, Ingested and Aborted, turning it into a massive festival of sheer brutality, but it is what it is and I can’t complain at all about any of the bands on the bill; quite the contrary, all four bands destroyed us all, and once again I have no idea how photographers like Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi manage to take photos in the middle of an endless mosh pit when there’s no barrier nor any security to protect them.

Precisely one hour after the doors opened to the crowd, Montreal, Quebec’s own Slam/Brutal Death Metal outfit NECROTICGOREBEAST kicked off the festivities with an overdose of heaviness and brutality, basing their setlist on their demolishing 2023 opus Repugnant (available on Spotify or on any other streaming service). The Axis Club in Toronto is commonly known as a nightclub, which means their sound system can go absolutely wild on bass, and that’s exactly what happened during the entire night starting with NecroticGoreBeast. The whole place was trembling as if there was an earthquake going on, and the crowd was going mental inside the pit. Vocalist John Mayer was bestial armed with his mic, and as after the night was over I could see several fans wearing the band’s hoodie it was a clear a sign the city loved their live performance, which means it won’t take long for them to return to Toronto.

Band members
John Mayer – vocals
Michael Chamberland – guitars
Alexandre Brochu – bass
JP Bouchard – drums

It was when the clock hit 7:45pm that the city of Toronto felt the strongest seismic activity of the entire night. I’m talking about the demented performance by Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Slam/Brutal Death Metal/Hardcore creature PEELINGFLESH, who looked like their mission was to demolish the entire venue with one of the heaviest shows I’ve ever seen in my life. Their frontman Damonteal Harris is simply amazing, perfectly leading his henchmen and the crowd with his sick pig squeals, fry vocals, and “gangsta” dance moves, driving the entire venue wild during their undisputed performance. The songs played from their 2024 album The G Code, those being The Fuckening, Shoot 2 Kill and Perc 3000, all available on Spotify by the way, sounded even heavier and more demonic live, all boosted by the beyond thunderous kitchen by Austin Hirom and Joe Pelleter. In other words, if PeelingFlesh ever play in your city or town, do not miss the chance of seeing one of the heaviest bands of the current slam scene worldwide. They are absolutely fantastic live.

Setlist
Nefarious Moongrass
The Fuckening
Mr Nasty Time
12 Gauge Autopsy
Matar a palos
Midnight
Intro
Shoot 2 Kill
Perc 3000
F.F.W.A.S
Outro

Band members
Damonteal Harris – vocals
Mychal Soto – guitars
Jason Parrish – guitars
Austin Hirom – bass
Joe Pelleter – drums

Basically almost any band in the world who had to play after PeelingFlesh would have had a hard time topping their sick performance, but of course when the band in question is Manchester, UK’s own Slam/Brutal Death Metal/Deathcore icons INGESTED you can expect at least the same level of savagery and gore. After the unexpected departure of frontman Jason Evans late 2024, Josh Davies, vocalist of UK Deathcore band Malice and former vocalist of fellow UK Deathcore band Monasteries, became the man responsible for the band’s vocal duties, and he did a pretty good job live in Toronto. The only two things that bothered me regarding their concert were the lack of any songs from their 2024 album The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams, and the fact that although it had been announced that touring musicians Andrew Virrueta and Thomas O’Malley had joined the band as full-time band members, they simply weren’t there.

Yes, it was only Josh plus guitarist Sean Hynes and drummer Lyn Jeffs, which looked weird, but their heaviness was there intact. Their new single Altar of Flesh (available on BandCamp and on Spotify) sounded demented live, inspiring all concert goers to bang their heads nonstop, plus all circle pits, crowd surfing, and a massive wall of death, proving Ingested are still alive and kicking even after such an impactul change in their line up with the new frontman. I’m sure they would have sounded even more imposing and vile with Andrew and Thomas, but they were absolutely professional and put their hearts and souls into the show even being two men down. Let’s see what the future holds for Ingested with their (most probably) upcoming full album with Josh on vocals, and hopefully that will guarantee another wild concert in Toronto in the coming months.

Setlist
Titanomachy
Endgame
Altar of Flesh
Impending Dominance
Invidious
Contorted Perception
Copremesis
Skinned and Fucked

Band members
Josh Davies – vocals
Sean Hynes – guitars, backing vocals
Lyn Jeffs – drums

ABORTED

Then after another short break, with most concert goers fighting for a spot at the smoking area outside (and holy shit, young people are smoking way too much these days), the main attraction of the night, Belgian horror-inspired Death Metal masters ABORTED, took the stage for another slab of sheer violence and heaviness, also making the venue shake and tremble as if the roof was going to collapse. It’s also very weird they no longer have a bassist playing live with them, with the last one being Stefano Franceschini back in 2023, but they also managed to cover the lack of bass with a lower, darker sound of one of the guitars. And what to say about their setlist? The new songs from their 2024 masterpiece Vault of Horrors sounded insane alongside their old classics, in special Brotherhood of Sleep, Death Cult and The Shape of Hate, all of course available on Spotify. Needless to say, the one and only Sven De Caluwé was a beast onstage, roaring, screaming, hitting his head with his own hands, making faces, and inspiring everyone for some wild action inside the pit.

I think Sven had a lot of time with the guys from Archspire during their last tour together to discuss different jokes, games and so on to make their concerts even more captivating, because it felt like a standup comedy show at times, including doing jumping jacks in the middle of one of the songs, and a “fart competition” between two fans, with the winner being a beautiful lady that was surely going wild in the pit, as she had gone up to the stage crowd surfing maybe twice before that specific game. After the band destroyed us all with the closing songs The Saw and the Carnage Done and Hecatomb, although everyone was extremely happy with what Aborted had just offered us all, it felt like their setlist could have been a little longer, with maybe two or three extra songs added at least. Well, maybe their goal was to leave us eager for more Aborted live in the city in the near future, because those guys love to be onstage in the name of Death Metal, and the demented reaction by the fans during their entire show proves they’re more than welcome to return to Toronto anytime they want.

Setlist
Dreadbringer
Retrogore
Brotherhood of Sleep
The Origin of Disease
Infinite Terror
Deep Red
From a Tepid Whiff
Death Cult
The Shape of Hate
Insect Politics
The Saw and the Carnage Done
Hecatomb

Band members
Sven De Caluwé – vocals
Daníel Máni Konráðsson – guitar
Ian Jekelis – guitar
Ken Bedene – drums

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