The Grand Serpent of Black Metal took the city of Toronto by storm on a scorching Monday night.

OPENING ACT: Hulder

It was another hot and humid Monday night this summer in Toronto when the mighty DIMMU BORGIR, supported by the up-and-coming entity HULDER, took the city by storm with an overdose of obscure and blasphemous Black Metal at the excellent History during the band’s Grand Serpent Rising North America 2026. Unfortunately, my buddy Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi got seriously injured and won’t be able to take any more photos of concerts until at least the end of the year, but he introduced me to his friend Blair Burch, who’s also a metal photographer, and as you can see from the photos in this review Blair is also a badass. The lowest point, though, was the absence of Hypocrisy from the lineup due to issues with their visas to get into North America (or maybe it was just Canada, as no one knows the actual details), plus the fact we could have gotten Suffocation instead like in some US cities, which of course didn’t happen, but Hulder and Dimmu Borgir made sure they played louder than hell to make up for the cancelation of the tour of one of the trailblazers of our beloved Death Metal.

It was 7:30pm when Washington, United States-based Black Metal cult HULDER kicked off their dark, occult and scorching presentation (and I’m glad I was able to make it just in time for their show because Monday night traffic has been slightly lighter during the summer). Having released the magnificent Verbolgen just last Friday (available on both BandCamp and on Spotify), the band formed of the uncanny vocalist and guitarist Hulder and the ruthless bassist Necreon, with the support of live musicians Keld on the lead guitars, and Vapula on drums, put on a fantastic show for everyone already at the venue, playing songs from all of their albums, including some absolute bangers like View From Nemeton, Verses in Oath, and …And We Shall Sing. Hulder is impressive onstage, “hiding” her face behind her long hair, corpse paint and smoke, and letting the music speak on her behalf. I love that type of atmospheric and sinister vibe from bands like Hulder, and I honestly can’t wait to see the band kicking ass live again in Toronto in the not-so-distant future. My only complaint is that Hulder could have easily played for another 20 minutes or so due to the absence of Hypocrisy, which would allow her to melt our faces with another selection of Black Metal lullabies, but it is what it is. I can’t complain about it at all. We finally got Hulder in Toronto, and that was a magnificent debut.

Setlist
A Beacon From Darkened Skies
View From Nemeton
Sylvan Awakening
Hearken the End
Verses in Oath
Veil of Penitence
Drie Raven
…And We Shall Sing

Band members
Hulder – vocals, guitar
Necreon – bass, vocals
Keld – lead guitar
Vapula – drums

DIMMU BORGIR

Finally, eight years after their last visit to Toronto, the indomitable Shagrath and his henchmen Damage (who also plays with Shagrath in Chrome Division), Silenoz, Victor Brandt, Gerlioz and Daray, collectively known as Oslo, Norway’s own Symphonic Black Metal masters DIMMU BORGIR, returned to the city for another devilish performance, this time promoting their brand new offering Grand Serpent Rising, available on both BandCamp and Spotify. Their concert was absolutely venomous, just like a serpent, blending new songs the likes of Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel, As Seen in the Unseen, and Ascent with old school material such as Mourning Palace, Stormblåst, Reptile (one of my favorites of their setlist), and The Serpentine Offering. As you can see, there was a considerable share of blasphemy, blood and venom for each and every person in the crowd, no doubt about that.

The overall sound was EXTREMELY loud to the point it was hurting a bit even for people wearing noise protection earplugs (including myself), but I guess no one really cared about it as long as we could watch the band kicking ass onstage. Shagrath’s vocals continue to impress, as they sound just as harsh and infuriated as in his early days (therefore bringing even more adrenaline to their live shows), Damage was a beast bleeding a lot from his new tattoo on his right arm as he kept shredding his guitar (and there’s nothing more Black Metal than that), but it was Gerlioz on keyboards who stole the show, at least for me. He looks like a demonic hybrid of Rammstein’s Christian “Flake” Lorenz and Depeche Mode’s Andy Fletcher (RIP) in the best way possible, keeping the atmosphere as vibrant, dense and theatrical with his keys. All band members sounded solid and electrifying, but let’s say Gerlioz was the man in Toronto.

As the show was getting closer to its inevitable end, the band unleashed hell upon us all mere mortals with two of their biggest classics, Gateways and the breathtaking Progenies of the Great Apocalypse (definitely the highest moment of the whole night), resulting in a wild reaction by the fans in the mosh pit, increasing the temperature (even more) inside the venue, and leaving the gates of the underworld open wide for Dimmu Borgir to crush Toronto to pieces again in the near future. Hopefully it’s not going to take another eight years for those Norwegian serpents to invade our city with their demolishing concert, be it with a brand new album, a “best of” tour, or playing an entire classic album. As long as we get Dimmu Borgir again in Toronto, we will be very happy metalheads.

Setlist
Ulvgjeld & Blodsodel
Mourning Palace
Kings of the Carnival Creation
Council of Wolves and Snakes
As Seen in the Unseen
Ascent
Stormblåst
Reptile
The Insight and the Catharsis
The Serpentine Offering
Puritania
Gateways
Progenies of the Great Apocalypse
Perfection or Vanity

Band members
Shagrath (Stian Tomt Thoresen) – vocals
Damage (Kjell Karlsen) – lead guitar
Silenoz (Sven Atle Kopperud) – rhythm guitar
Victor Brandt – bass
Gerlioz (Geir Bratland) – keyboards
Daray (Dariusz Brzozowski) – drums

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