The classy Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Toronto became a huge circle pit this Friday night in a celebration of pure fuckin’ metal.

OPENING ACTS: Thrown Into Exile, Baest and Fit For An Autopsy

Only two days after absolute chaos and carnage in Toronto, the city was ready for another round of insanely heavy and vibrant music this Friday night, courtesy of THROWN INTO EXILE, BAEST, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY and ARCH ENEMY during their North American Blood Dynasty 2025 Tour at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, another ass-kicking event brought to the city by Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. This time I was able to arrive to the venue in time to enjoy all bands together with my buddy Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi, and as expected it was indeed a celebration of pure fuckin’ metal with four fantastic bands that truly deserve our total respect, admiration and support for making the world of Heavy Metal a much better (and heavier) place. The venue selected for this concert was also excellent in my opinion, because not only it is a well structured one, but its location is also very convenient for anyone driving or taking public transportation, making our lives a lot easier and, therefore, saving our energy for the circle pits. And hell yeah, there were plenty of circle pits for our vulgar delectation.

Los Angeles, California-based Metalcore outfit THROWN INTO EXILE kicked off the festivities around 6:30pm, already setting fire to the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre with their pounding, unfriendly sounds. I must say the venue was way too empty for Thrown Into Exile, which makes me wonder if most people were still stuck at work, traffic, or some type of appointment, but that didn’t stop Evan, Mario, Austin Monzon, Javier Quinto and Tom Tierney from bringing forth an amazing performance, jumping up and down and headbanging nonstop alongside the crowd. You can check all of their sick creations on Spotify, including their latest EP Passageways (which was the base of their setlist, by the way), and whenever they schedule a show in your city don’t miss the chance of seeing those LA bastards live, because they kick some serious ass.

Setlist
The Forsaken
Caskets Beyond Creation
Desolation
Eternal Nothingness
You’ve Fallen so Far

Band members
Evan – vocals
Mario – guitars
Austin Monzon – guitars
Javier Quinto – bass
Tom Tierney – drums

After the short and sweet display of savagery by Thrown Into Exile, it was time for the also short and sweet explosion of pure heaviness by Denmark’s own Death Metal creature BAEST, who sounded ruthless and brutal onstage just the way we like it in old school Death Metal. Spearheaded by the iconic frontman Simon Olsen, the band nailed it with their infernal performance, with their new songs Colossus and Misfortunate Son, from their upcoming album Colossal (to be released on August 15) sounding amazing live. Furthermore, it was Simon’s birthday that night, which means that not only he got a happy birthday and a cake onstage, but he decided to celebrate it by getting offstage during Necro Sapiens and singing it in the middle of the circle pit, showing how much he loves what he does and his admiration for fans of extreme music. Go check those guys on Spotify because they’re phenomenal, one of the must-see bands in the current Death Metal scene, and I honestly can’t wait to see them again live in Toronto playing a much bigger setlist, pretty please.

Setlist
Genesis
Colossus
Misfortunate Son
Gargoyles
Necro Sapiens

Band members
Simon Olsen – vocals
Lasse Revsbech – guitars
Svend Karlsson – guitars
Mattias Melchiorsen – bass
Sebastian Abildsten – drums

The venue only got truly busier when New Jersey’s cult Deathcore brigade FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY hit the stage for an absolute insane performance, with the circle pits getting so wild to the point a guy right beside me, who was about to enter the circle pit, stopped, looked at me, said “nope, too fast and too dangerous”, turned his back and gave up joining the action. The band spearheaded by the demented Joe Badolato was on fire from start to finish, with songs like Warfare and The Sea of Tragic Beasts, plus the new one Savior of None / Ashes of All, from their 2024 album The Nothing That Is (available on Spotify), inspiring an already packed venue to keep running like maniacs inside the pit. This is the type of show that requires fans who have floor tickets to be extremely fit. Maybe not “fit for an autopsy” per se, but you better work out, do some cardio and so, otherwise the name of the band will make total sense if you’re out of shape and try to venture inside their wicked circle pits.

Setlist
Lower Purpose
Red Horizon
Warfare
Hostage
Pandora
The Sea of Tragic Beasts
Savior of None / Ashes of All
Far From Heaven

Band members
Joe Badolato – lead vocals
Pat Sheridan – guitars, backing vocals
Tim Howley – guitars
Will Putney – guitars
Peter “Blue” Spinazola – bass
Josean Orta – drums

ARCH ENEMY

Ticket prices in Toronto are way too expensive these days, with the exception being the show this Friday, in special when you have as the main attraction of the night the one and only Swedish Melodic Death Metal machine ARCH ENEMY. I’m not joking, it was a very, very cheap concert for the quality of all bands on the bill, and if you’ve never seen Arch Enemy live, well, they’re one of the most professional and electrifying bands you can think of, making every penny invested beyond worth it. Having recently released the excellent Blood Dynasty (also available on Spotify), such an amazing band currently formed of the stunning Alissa White-Gluz on vocals, Michael Amott and Joey Concepcion on the guitars, Sharlee D’Angelo on bass, and Daniel Erlandsson on drums was flawless with their mix of new songs the likes of Dream Stealer and Liars & Thieves, and undisputed classics including Ravenous, My Apocalypse and Dead Bury Their Dead, one of the heaviest songs of the night and, therefore, one of my favorites.

All fans at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre were having a superb time together with Arch Enemy, with the circle pit going absolute mental, plus tons of crowd surfers giving a lot of work to security, while the band kept blasting their slab of melody and brutality. The only song I think could have been replaced in their setlist was Avalanche, but overall it was a near perfect selection of songs, with the closing tune Nemesis making me and several other fans lose our voices screaming. There were some giant balloons at the end of the show that gave it a very festive touch, proving extreme music brings happiness to our hearts, and not the opposite like non-metalheads like to “vomit” out there. Let’s see when the band returns to Canada if they’ll deliver the same amount of energy onstage, or even more, and whenever that happens I’ll certainly be there, because when Michael Amott takes your city by storm with his phenomenal riffs and solos accompanied by his spectacular crew, that’s definitely a no-brainer for anyone who loves good quality music.

Setlist
Deceiver, Deceiver
Ravenous
Dream Stealer
Blood Dynasty
War Eternal
My Apocalypse
A Million Suns
Liars & Thieves
The Eagle Flies Alone
First Day in Hell
Saturnine
As the Pages Burn
Sunset Over the Empire
Dead Bury Their Dead
We Will Rise

Encore:
Avalanche
Nemesis
Fields of Desolation

Band members
Alissa White-Gluz – vocals
Michael Amott – lead guitars, backing vocals
Joey Concepcion – lead guitars, backing vocals
Sharlee D’Angelo – bass
Daniel Erlandsson – drums

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