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Concert Review – Carnifex (The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 10/22/2024)

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Metalheads from all parts of Toronto enjoyed a killer Tuesday night in the city, celebrating the brutality and energy of Death Metal and Deathcore blasted by five incredible bands.

OPENING ACTS: Heavy//Hitter, Organectomy, Mental Cruelty and Cryptopsy

What a wild night of love, friendship and collective tree hugs brought to the city of Toronto by HEAVY/HITTER, ORGANECTOMY, MENTAL CRUELTY, CRYPTOPSY and CARNIFEX during their Necromanteum Part II USA and Canada Tour 2024 at The Opera House, setting the circle pits on fire throughout the entire event. Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I were there to witness such a moshing party blasted by those five amazing bands, and although I had to miss Orlando, Florida’s own Deathcore unit HEAVY//HITTER due to work, as the whole show was a very early one with doors opening at 5pm and Heavy//Hitter hitting the stage already at 6pm, I highly recommend you go after their music as it’s freakin’ heavy and hits you in the face mercilessly, just like what the name of the band says. You can find their music on Spotify and BandCamp, and get ready for their brand new EP Moments of Misery out this November 8.

Setlist
(Unknown) (unreleased)
Paved in Blood
(Unknown) (unreleased)
Waste Of Life
No Mercy, No Remorse
Heaven’s Gate
Wall of Wax

Band members
Austin Hayes – vocals
Dane Loeprich – guitar
Chris Perez – bass
Josh Archeval – drums

However, I was lucky enough to get to The Opera House just in time for New Zealand’s heaviest band of all time, the demented Christchurch-based Brutal Death Metal squad ORGANECTOMY, who led by the infuriated, unstoppable frontman Alex Paul (and sporting shirts of their idols Cryptopsy, by the way) put on a fantastic show, crushing our damned souls and demanding us all to slam into the pit like there’s no tomorrow. I’m a fan of all of their albums, I had seen them live once, but I must say their new songs Plague Mouth, Corpsethrone and Tracheal Hanging (all available on Spotify, by the way) sounded absolutely insane live, and I can’t wait for their next full-length album whenever they’re thinking about releasing it. After their show I went to their merch booth and got a very cool, high-quality beanie for a very decent price, and had a chance to chat a little with Alex about his music and his stunning country (as I was there recently on my Maiden quest in Australia and New Zealand). He’s a really nice guy, an extremely talented growler, and a hardworking musician, putting his heart and soul into his onstage performance. Having said that, don’t waste a single second and go check the music by one of the best bands ever hailing from New Zealand, and get ready to be smashed like an insect if you have a chance to see those ruthless metallers live.

Setlist
Concrete
The Third Mutation
Corpsethrone
Plague Mouth
Tracheal Hanging
Terror Form
Entropic Decay

Band members
Alex Paul – vocals
Sam McRobert – guitars
Matthew Bolch – guitars
Tyler Jordan – bass, backing vocals
Levi Sheehan – drums

The other band that I was utterly eager to see live again was Karlsruhe, Germany-based Symphonic Deathcore beasts  MENTAL CRUELTY, and let’s say their show this Tuesday night was way more explosive and fun than the first time I saw them at Hard Luck Bar, despite the fact the setlist was pretty much the same based on their most recent opus, the masterpiece Zwielicht (available on Spotify and on BandCamp). The band kicked some serious ass during their entire set, with their frontman Lukas Nicolai stealing the show with not only a flawless vocal performance, but his interaction with the crowd was amazing as well, with him getting on top of the barricade to sing together with the crowd and with a nice show of flashlights during Zwielicht, right before they blasted our minds with their best song to date, Symphony of a Dying Star. I also had a chance to talk to Lukas about Mental Cruelty, about the fact I keep trying to convince my German friends to listen to their music, and got a nice patch from those guys. Needless to say, the next time Mental Cruelty takes the city of Toronto by storm, I’ll certainly be there.

Setlist
Midtvinter
Obsessis a Daemonio
King ov Fire
Forgotten Kings
Nordlys
Zwielicht
Symphony of a Dying Star

Band members
Lukas Nicolai – vocals
Nahuel Lozano – guitars
Marvin Kessler – guitars
Viktor Dick – bass
Danny Straßer – drums

After a very quick intermission, it was time for the iconic Montreal, Quebec-based  Brutal/Technical Death Metal institution CRYPTOPSY (aka the “Kings of Hallmark Romantic Christmas Movies”) to simply destroy anyone who dared to face them inside the circle pit. What a bestial show by Matt McGachy, Christian Donaldson, Olivier Pinard and Flo Mounier, sounding one hundred percent heavy, enraged and evil from start to finish, with songs like Slit Your Guts, Crown of Horns, Open Face Surgery and Flayed the Swine (this one from their amazing 2023 album As Gomorrah Burns, available on Spotify and on BandCamp) demolishing our souls and melting our faces, all while Matt kept roaring like a demonic creature and headbanging in the best Corpsegrinder stile. Hell yeah, Canada has its own Corpsegrinder, ladies and gentlemen! Flo was also infernal behind his drums, proving why he’s one of the best of the entire genre, and his dexterity, fury and passion for heavy music inspired the fans to keep the circle pit moving absurdly fast. I honestly don’t know how I was able to catch one of the guitar pics thrown by Christian because the floor section was nonstop madness, but I can’t wait to see them again live and, who knows, grab something else like a drumstick next time.

Setlist
Slit Your Guts
Crown of Horns
Graves of the Fathers
Sire of Sin
Open Face Surgery
In Abeyance
Flayed the Swine
Phobophile

Band members
Matt McGachy – vocals
Christian Donaldson – guitars
Olivier Pinard – bass
Flo Mounier – drums

CARNIFEX

The last attraction of the night was also the one most fans at The Opera House (a mix of very young fans and way older metalheads, but still young at heart) were waiting for, and they didn’t disappoint the crowd at all, bringing forth a massive display of heaviness and hatred on stage. I’m talking about San Diego, California-based Deathcore masters CARNIFEX, who armed with their pulverizing 2023 album Necromanteum, available on Spotify, sounded insane on stage and, therefore, fueled some of the sickest mosh pits of the night. Vocalist Scott Ian Lewis didn’t stop screaming, barking and roaring, and I honestly don’t know how he can do that night in, night out without losing his voice, bringing even more fury to already furious songs the likes of Torn in Two, Graveside Confessions, Hell Chose Me and Heaven and Hell All at Once. It was total chaos until the very last second of Drown Me in Blood, and I must say I was very happy the show ended before 10:30pm as I had enough time to get back home and have a decent night of sleep. To be fair, if their show had been longer I wouldn’t have complained at all, because you know, first comes heavy music, then the superficial stuff like sleeping, eating and working, right?

Setlist
Torn in Two
Graveside Confessions
Dark Days
Necromanteum
Slit Wrist Savior
Crowned in Everblack
Lie to My Face
Hell Chose Me
Heaven and Hell All at Once
Dark Heart Ceremony
Hatred and Slaughter
Drown Me in Blood

Band members
Scott Ian Lewis – vocals
Cory Arford – guitars
Neal Tiemann – guitars
Fred Calderon – bass
Shawn Cameron – drums

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Album Review – Cryptopsy / As Gomorrah Burns (2023)

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And Gomorrah will burn to the sound of the incendiary new album by one of the fiercest Death Metal bands to ever rise from the Canadian scene.

Known as one of the fiercest Death Metal squads to ever rise from the Canadian scene since the band’s inception in the distant year of 1992, Montreal, Quebec-based Technical Death Metal juggernauts Cryptopsy are back to pummel our collective senses anew with their eighth studio album, the infernal As Gomorrah Burns, their first record in over 10 years. Produced, mixed and mastered by the band’s own by guitarist Christian Donaldson, with additional mixing by Dominic Grimard (who’s also their touring bassist), and displaying a stunning artwork by Italian painter Paolo Girardi, As Gomorrah Burns pits the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah against the modern-day Internet, with its stories based on real-life incidences such as online stalkers, cults, misinformation, isolation and intimidation showing how it’s both the birthplace of invention and a cesspool of exploitation, therefore proving why the band formed of vocalist Matt McGachy, guitarist Christian Donaldson, bassist Olivier Pinard and drummer Flo Mounier will forever be one of the references in the history of Canadian Death Metal.

The massive, ruthless drum attack by Flo sets the tone in Lascivious Undivine while Matt roars like a true beast in the name of Technical and Brutal Death Metal. It’s a bit generic, though, but a decent start to the album; and they keep destroying their instruments in In Abeyance, with Matt barking the song’s wicked lyrics nonstop (“Boom / I was promised a utopia / I’ve been silenced and isolated / Cast aside human garbage / Tortured monotonous futile existence / Another day, yet another pointless trip”), whereas Godless Deceiver sounds very technical yet violent and frantic just the way we like it in Death Metal. Furthermore, Christian’s riffage sounds absolutely mental accompanied by the metallic slabs by Olivier armed with his bass, followed by Ill Ender, a fantastic creation by the quartet presenting an amazing job by Christian and Olivier with their stringed axes, consequently adding a lot of groove and insanity to the overall result (not to mention how demented Flo is behind his drums once again).

Flayed the Swine showcases a band that’s once again extremely technical and vile, with the song exhaling madness through its lyrics (“Blasted little rotting pick / Egotistical asshole / This puny little mongrel / I will put an end to this / This simple-minded shit”), whereas their grim and thunderous metal attack continues in full force in The Righteous Lost, with Olivier stealing the spotlight with his menacing, in-your-face bass jabs, keeping the album at an insane level of aggressiveness and intricacy. Obeisant is another hellish hurricane of Death Metal sounds spearheaded by the unstoppable blast beast by Flo and the deep, inhumane growls by Matt, a song beyond perfect for heading into the circle pit for some high-quality action, flowing into the closing tune Praise the Filth, offering us all almost six minutes of total darkness and rage where Christian and Olivier are once again flawless with their stringed weapons. Put differently, we face nonstop adrenaline flowing from all instruments, putting a heavy and pulverizing ending to As Gomorrah Burns.

“We are back,” said frontman Matt McGachy. “I want our fans to know we’re more than a legacy band. Yes, we have had massive cult favorite albums – like None So Vile – but we are creating modern and relevant extreme music 30 years later. We’re so proud of As Gomorrah Burns, and we can’t wait for you to hear it!” Hence, if you want to stay updated with all things Cryptopsy and let the guys know how much you love their music, you can get in touch with them on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel and stream more of their music on Spotify, and of course purchase a copy of the breathtaking As Gomorrah Burns from their BandCamp page or by clicking HERE. Having said all that, let Gomorrah burn to the incendiary new album by one of the torchbearers of Canadian death!

Best moments of the album: In Abeyance, Ill Ender and Obeisant.

Worst moments of the album: Lascivious Undivine.

Released in 2023 Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. Lascivious Undivine 3:50
2. In Abeyance 2:56
3. Godless Deceiver 3:40
4. Ill Ender 4:19
5. Flayed the Swine 4:25
6. The Righteous Lost 4:16
7. Obeisant 3:52
8. Praise the Filth 5:50

Band members
Matt McGachy – vocals
Christian Donaldson – guitars
Olivier Pinard – bass
Flo Mounier – drums