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Concert Review – Fleshgod Apocalypse & Shadow of Intent (The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 09/19/2024)

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***Review by Kevin Ibbitson, with photos by Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi***

On Thursday September 19th, 2024, Toronto metalheads were treated to a hell of a show at The Opera House with The Black Opera Across North America Tour 2024 which consisted of five incredibly killer bands ranging from across the U.S.A, United Kingdom and Italy, in another amazing event brought to the city by Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. Disembodied Tyrant, The Zenith Passage and Shadow of Intent (U.S.A), Ingested (U.K) and Fleshgod Apocalypse (Italy). Having never seen any of these bands live myself yet, I was pretty excited for the experience. Before the show started I was invited to the side entrance where my photographer and brother Keith (of Metal Paparazzi) was chatting with Ingested lead vocalist Jason Evans. I was stoked at meeting him and was welcomed with a warm and friendly handshake. Jason was very humble and genuinely a great guy. We chatted a bit about England and where my family originated from and a bit about Premiere League Football until he had to get back inside. I was super glad to have met him and couldn’t wait to see Ingested rip up the stage.

The Opera House doors opened at 5:30 pm and the fans filed their way inside. Passing all the merch booths on my way in I couldn’t help lamenting the fact that I was financially tapped out from three previous shows earlier in the week and not being able to snag a couple of band shirts. I made my way to as close to the stage as I could get. Just a little off to the left side of the stage and hunkered down for the first band, Disembodied Tyrant. Not much is known about these guys other than that they will be big one day based off their recent collaboration with fellow band Synestia on their epic EP The Poetic Edda and Other EP’s The Divine Stigmata and Eclipse Pt.1 respectively. All killer by the way! The set started out a little bit slow as folks were still making their way in and the floor was only just over a quarter filled up. It took about two songs in for the floor to fill up and a mosh pit ensued. Disembodied Tyrant played a short set full of atmospheric symphonic deathcore riffs, astonishing drumming and the ghoulish vocals of singer-songwriter/producer/guitarist Blake Mullens. Mullens is a massive talent and I eagerly await anything he does next. Now that Disembodied Tyrant warmed up the blood of the masses it was time for Los Angeles’ own tech death masters The Zenith Passage to Fuck shit up.

The Zenith Passage took to the stage about 6:45pm without lead vocalist Derek Rydquist, but replacement vocalist/voice artist James Dorton (of Black Crown Initiate) filled in without missing a beat. It was almost as if he was always meant to be in the band. They put on a filthy display of talent with technical guitar shredding, nasty drumming and deep guttural vocals. The circle pits growing ever larger as The Zenith Passage played on inciting more and more insanity. Crowd surfing was off the chain. I was able to get to the front of the stage by then so I was able to take some decent pics with my phone. I had an absolute blast with these guys and I’m sure the crowd did too.

At 7:30pm Manchester England’s Ingested appeared from the fog and proceeded to break skulls. I was so excited to see them finally as my brother Keith has seen them before and told me they were awesome live. He wasn’t lying! Jason Evans was phenomenal, a truly great front man and he had the crowd in the palm of his hands. He made me find an energy inside myself that I didn’t know that I had when he ordered us to crouch down low and jump on his command. The crowd was bouncing around in a frenzy after that. The crowd surfing became even more intense and pits even gnarlier. They crushed us with every slamming breakdown and the crowd erupted with sickening glee every time Jason Evans barked out a staccato pig squeal. Ingested, who have recently released the excellent The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams, finished their set on a high note leaving us craving more sonic punishment. That was soon to come in the form of a shadow.

Now that the crowd was fattened up for the kill, Shadow of Intent was up next and took the initiative, bashing our heads in with an epic, brutal, punishing set. They didn’t hold anything back and just fucking killed it. To say that this band is good live is an understatement. They were so fucking tight. It truly was an honour to see them destroy. Ben Duerr’s vocals were so thick and nasty over Bryce Butler’s sick drumming. Those breakdowns were massive and absolutely disgusting. The pandemonium got out of hand at the end of their set as things got rougher and rougher in the pits until it spilled out into the front of the crowd. Nothing serious, just two guys shoving each other and it got squashed pretty quick as security broke it up super fast. The Opera House security had a busy shift that night with all the crazy crowd surfing and I got to hand it to them as they were friendly and professional while keeping the peace. As far as I know no grudges were held and everybody got prepared for the final act.

It took a while for the stage crew to set up as they have extensive stage props that add to the atmosphere and aesthetic of Fleshgod Apocalypse. What a perfect setting for an operatic theatrical experience than an opera house. Fleshgod Apocalypse, promoting their recent masterpiece Opera, look like they spill right out of a page from Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and I dig it. The show kicked off with a flag waving operatic intro from Veronica Bordacchini and then right into some blood curdling death metal. Fleshgod is such a unique band that blends opera, symphonics with brutal death metal and add a little piano in there as well. Every member of this band is multi-talented and they put on quite a show. The connection they have with their fans is incredible. The crowd would intuitively burst into fist-pumping chants without any verbal cues. The band and crowd were both loving it. Fleshgod Apocalypse closed off the show with a bit of levity performing their cover of Eiffel 65’s Blue (Da Ba Dee) which felt perfect. All in all this was a great show. I went in not knowing what to expect and left as a fan of every single band. Shout out to all the metalheads there, you were great. Keep it up Toronto!

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Album Review – Ingested / The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams (2024)

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UK’s most hardworking Brutal Death Metal and Deathcore entity is back with their eight studio album, showcasing a band willing to expand its creativity without sacrificing the ferocity that made it one of the most impressively destructive names of the current scene.

Not many top-tier Death Metal bands can record and release an album a year and follow it with an extensive tour. That’s hardly ever been the case for Manchester, England’s crushing, visceral Brutal Death Metal/Deathcore entity Ingested. Since the release of their fifth album Where Only God May Tread, in 2020, the band has been on a creative tear that has produced almost a full record every year – even through the COVID pandemic – but has resulted in the kind of musical growth that only comes from constantly practicing, playing, and writing. Now in 2024 the band formed of frontman Jason Evans, guitarist Sean Hynes, and drummer Lyn Jeffs returns with their eight studio effort, titled The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams, sounding as innovative and brutal as their latest opus, the bleak, firestorm Ashes Lie Still, released in 2022. Displaying a stunning artwork by David Seidman, the album showcases a band willing to expand its creativity without sacrificing the ferocity that made it one of the most impressively destructive and technical Death Metal bands on the scene.

The opener Paragon of Purity is insanely slamming and brutal from the very first second, with Jason already sounding inhumane on vocals while Lyn hammers his drums without a single drop of mercy, whereas he keeps smashing our skulls in Endless Machine, another perfect depiction of modern-day Brutal Death Metal highly recommended for some mosh pit action; and an eerie start gradually evolves into another demented display of the band’s trademark sound in the form of Where No Light Shines, this time sounding more Deathcore than ever, with Sean kicking some ass with his devilish riffs. Then featuring guest vocals by Josh Middleton (Sylosis), it’s pedal to the metal in Expect to Fail, with Lyn taking the lead with his fast-paced beats while Jason and Josh make an infernal vocal duet sounding like two demons roaring to each other. After that, their fusion of Death Metal with Deathcore brings to our avid ears another bestial creation titled Starve the Fire, where Jason’s vocals reach a new level of insanity (similar to the latest creations by Ov Sulfur, by the way).

After an overdose of pure hatred and heaviness, the band brings forward an ethereal, enfolding (and a bit too long) interlude titled Numinous, soothing our melancholic souls before all hell breaks loose in In Nothingness, featuring guest vocals by Mark Hunter (Chimaira), with Mark adding his share of dementia to the overall result supported by the massive drums by Lyn, while Sean’s riffs are tailored for some brutal slamming. Pantheon is simply an ode to violence, blood and insanity by Ingested, with Jason proving why he’s one of the top voices of the current Brutal Death Metal and Deathcore scenes worldwide, and I can’t wait to witness the band delivering this wicked tune live; and Jason and the boys continue to deliver first-class aggression in Kingdoms of Sand, where Lyn’s drums sound insanely heavy and groovy. Put differently, this awesome song couldn’t have sounded catchier and more devilish. Finally, the last song of the album, A Path Once Lost, is also the longest and most intricate one, a sinister musical journey spearheaded by Jason’s introspective vocals while still presenting Ingested’s trademark violence, also showcasing a more melodic side of the band.

The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams is proof that once Ingested sniff out a trail of musical blood, they ravenously follow it until they’ve uncovered a festering feast. Hence, if you want to show your support to one of the most hardworking bands of the current extreme music scene, you can check what they’re up to on Facebook, and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel and also check them out on Spotify for more of their savage music, and above all that, purchase the venomous The Tide of Death and Fractured Dreams from the Metal Blade Records webstore or by clicking HERE. I bet it won’t take long for Ingested to deliver another blast of their first-class fusion of Brutal Death Metal and Deathcore in the next couple of years, but it will certainly be really hard for them to beat the quality found in their newborn beast. I said hard, not impossible, because Jason, Sean and Lyn seem to be on an absolute roll in the past few years, and we can always expect the utmost excellence from those amazing musicians.

Best moments of the album: Paragon of Purity, Expect to Fail, Pantheon and Kingdoms of Sand.

Worst moments of the album: Numinous.

Released in 2024 Metal Blade Records

Track listing
1. Paragon of Purity 4:22
2. Endless Machine 3:37
3. Where No Light Shines 4:31
4. Expect to Fail 4:17
5. Starve the Fire 4:06
6. Numinous 3:50
7. In Nothingness 4:39
8. Pantheon 3:30
9. Kingdoms of Sand 5:23
10. A Path Once Lost 6:51

Band members
Jason Evans – vocals
Sean Hynes – guitars, backing vocals
Lyn Jeffs – drums

Guest musicians
Josh Middleton – vocals on “Expect to Fail”
Mark Hunter – vocals on “In Nothingness”
Thomas O’Malley – bass (live)

Album Review – Aborted / Vault of Horrors (2024)

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One of the must-see bands of the current Death Metal and Deathcore scene worldwide opens their demonic vault of horrors to bring brutality, gore and evil to our damned souls.

Since their unholy inception in 1995, Belgian Death Metal/Grindcore miscreants Aborted have been one of the pioneers of the genre and have annihilated friend and foe with relentless intensity and an uncompromising mix of flawless technicality and raw emotion. Now in 2024 the band currently formed of frontman Sven De Caluwé, guitarists Daníel Máni Konráðsson and Ian Jekelis, and drummer Ken Bedene, plus bassist Stefano Franceschini (who left the band in 2023) and guest musician Spencer Creaghan on synthesizers, returns with a worthy follow-up to their 2021 album ManiaCult, a sonic beast entitled Vault of Horrors. Produced, mixed and mastered by Dave Otero at Flatline Audio Studio, and displaying a sick artwork by Dan Goldsworthy (who has already worked with titans the likes of Corpsegrinder, Accept, Alestorm, Cradle of Filth, Gloryhammer, and many more), Aborted’s twelfth studio album dives deep into the vaults of VHS cassettes and stories that have been haunting us all for decades, with each song paying tribute to a horror cult classic ranging from obligatory cuts such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (to be found on Death Cult) or Halloween (The Shape Of Hate) to the more recent The Mist (to be discovered on Malevolent Haze), and with each one of its ten ferocious, gut-wrenching Death Metal slashers featuring a very special guest vocalist to add an extra touch of brutality and gore to Aborted’s trademark sound.

Featuring guest vocalist Ben Duerr (of Shadow Of Intent), the opener Dreadbringer offers our putrid ears sick lyrics (“Awake, bringing forth this disease / Multiply to dominate, your soul I’ll penetrate / Corrupt, contaminate, and imitate, eradicate / Your path leads right through us with no way to circumvent it”) and endless savagery in a beautiful fusion of Death Metal and Deathcore, followed by Condemned to Rot, with guest vocalist Francesco Paoli (of Fleshgod Apocalypse) barking like a beast, another lesson in brutality by Aborted with the insane drums by Ken bringing sheer aggression to the music; and featuring guest vocalist Johnny Ciardullo (of AngelMaker), Brotherhood of Sleep leans towards modern-day Deathcore, where Sven and Johnny make a demented vocal duet while Daníel and Ian keep slashing their axes in the name of violence. Then get ready to break your neck headbanging like a maniac to Death Cult, where Sven and guest vocalist Alex Erian (of Despised Icon) roar manically while the rest of the band doesn’t leave a single space left in the air with their first-class, inhumane instrumental parts; whereas Hellbound is another explosion of violence where the band’s Technical Death Metal side is boosted by the sick vocals by guest Matt McGachy (of Cryptopsy).

The pulverizing Insect Politics, featuring guest vocalist Jason Evans (of Ingested), might have less than two minutes in duration, but the music is as infernal and intense as its predecessors, resulting in a fantastic tune for hammering our skulls into the circle pit; and Aborted show no mercy for our putrid souls in The Golgothan, offering more of their trademark violence and dexterity, with Sven once again leading his horde with his deep, visceral growls supported this time by guest vocalist Hal Microutsicos (of Blasphemous and Engulf). There’s no time to breathe as The Shape of Hate is another blast of dementia and Death Metal by the band, where guest vocalist Oliver Rae Aleron (of Archspire) offers his trademark rap-like guttural, making the whole song even more insane and vibrant; and there’s still time for another thunderous, inhumane tune titled Naturom Demonto, featuring guest vocalist David Simonich (of Signs of the Swarm), with the rumbling bass by Stefano and the blast beats by Ken making the earth tremble. Of course the album wasn’t going to be complete without a massive dosage of sulfur, courtesy of guest vocalist Ricky Hoover (of Ov Sulfur) in Malevolent Haze, another feast of slashing riffs, crazy drums and demonic vociferations to end the album on a beyond violent and Stygian note.

In a nutshell, with this deadly alliance, Vault of Horrors is an epic journey where listeners are thrust into a world of intense brutality, characterized by lightning-fast guitar riffs, intricate, pummeling drum patterns and monstrous vocals that leave no room for respite. “As usual, the guest vocalists were all chosen out of friends, people we’ve known for years or got to know in the last years, toured with, or have a connection with. Hal from Engulf was also picked since I did a guest spot on their record and loved his vocals. The guys from Ingested, Carcosa, Ov Sulfur were people that we toured with last year. We also go way back with Archspire, Despised Icon, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Cryptopsy. Being able to collaborate with all these great artists is such a privilege and made the process all the more exhilarating since each of them bring their own flavour to the mix. The enthusiasm of everyone involved definitely shines through to the final product and adds yet another layer of depth to the listening experience of the album,” commented Sven, and if you want to show Aborted your utmost support and admiration you can check out what the band is up to on Facebook and on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, stream more of their music on Spotify, and of course purchase the imposing Vault of Horrors by clicking HERE or HERE. In other words, let’s see if you have what it takes to face the brutality, gore and evil found inside the vault of horrors by one of the leaders of the current extreme music scene worldwide.

Best moments of the album: Brotherhood of Sleep, Death Cult, Insect Politics and The Shape of Hate.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2024 Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. Dreadbringer 5:30
2. Condemned to Rot 2:56
3. Brotherhood of Sleep 3:55
4. Death Cult 3:40
5. Hellbound 4:47
6. Insect Politics 1:44
7. The Golgothan 4:19
8. The Shape of Hate 4:17
9. Naturom Demonto 4:03
10. Malevolent Haze 4:53

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

Guest musicians
Ben Duerr – vocals on “Dreadbringer”
Francesco Paoli – vocals on “Condemned to Rot”
Johnny Ciardullo – vocals on “Brotherhood of Sleep”
Matt McGachy – vocals on “Hellbound”
Jason Evans – vocals on “Insect Politics”
Hal Microutsicos – vocals on “The Golgothan”
Oliver Rae Aleron – vocals on “The Shape of Hate”
David Simonich – vocals on “Naturom Demonto”
Ricky Hoover – vocals on “Malevolent Haze”
Alex Erian – vocals on “Death Cult”
Spencer Creaghan – synthesizers