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Concert Review – Trivium & Bullet For My Valentine (Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto, Mississauga, ON, 05/04/2025)

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A wild, fun and emotional night of heavy music in celebration of the 20th anniversary of two of the most important albums in the history of Metalcore.

OPENING ACTS: Bleed From Within and August Burns Red

What a wild, fun and emotional night at the fantastic Great Canadian Casino Resort Toronto this Sunday, when BLEED FROM WITHIN, AUGUST BURNS RED, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE and TRIVIUM attacked us all with their undisputed The Poisoned Ascendancy Tour 2025, celebrating 20 years of the landmark albums The Poison, by Bullet For My Valentine, and Ascendancy, by Trivium. Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I were there from the very first second of the shows, as it’s a much easier drive for me than trying to get to Toronto (which will be a massive headache this Wednesday for Chaos & Carnage, but I’ll leave my rant for the next concert review), and seeing the venue jam packed already before the first band of the night kicked off the festivities was simply awesome, sending us a sign that it was going to be a beyond electrifying event.

Precisely at 6:30pm, Glasgow, Scotland’s own Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore machine BLEED FROM WITHIN started their short but extremely  frantic and furious performance, led by the venomous roars by frontman Scott Kennedy. They only played five songs, two from their excellent latest album Zenith (available on Spotify), those being the opener God Complex and the last song In Place Of Your Halo, and I must say those two were by far their heaviest ones, already igniting some sick mosh pits in the vast but packed floor section. I’m a new-ish fan of the band and I’ll certainly go see them live in Toronto anytime they return to the city, and I guess a lot of people at the casino this Sunday will also be there, because those guys kick some serious ass onstage and deserve to have their own headlining tour in North America in the coming years.

Setlist
God Complex
Levitate
I Am Damnation
The End of All We Know
In Place Of Your Halo

Band members
Scott Kennedy – lead vocals
Steven Jones – guitars, clean vocals
Craig Gowans – guitars
Davie Provan – bass
Ali Richardson – drums

After a quick break (and a delicious Slayer Burger, as those guys had a food truck at the venue just like what happened when Meshuggah played there a few weeks ago), Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based Metalcore unit AUGUST BURNS RED began their also heavy and furious concert in a very peculiar way, with a cover version for System Of A Down’s classic Chop Suey!, and that was already enough to inspire all fans to go mental inside the circle pit. Also, although they were not officially celebrating 20 years of their album Thrill Seeker (not playing it in full like BFMV and Trivium with their respective The Poison and Ascendancy), it’s really cool to see the band still alive and kicking decades later with endless energy onstage, and you can stream all of their albums on Spotify it doesn’t matter if your prepping for an upcoming ABR concert, or if you missed their last concert in your city, because they play high quality heavy music and they’re a fantastic band both in the studio and live. And by the way, get ready for A LOT of crowd surfing, because their frontman Jake Luhrs loves that and kept demanding all concert goers to practice such a unique sport during their entire show.

Setlist
Chop Suey!
Paramount
Composure
Defender
Bloodletter
Vengeance
Exhumed
Marianas Trench
White Washed

Band members
Jake Luhrs – lead vocals
John Benjamin “JB” Brubaker – lead guitar
Brent Rambler – rhythm guitar
Dustin Davidson – bass, backing vocals
Matt Greiner – drums, piano

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

After two first-class openers, it was time for one of the headliners of the night to stun us all with their unique blend of Melodic Metalcore. I’m talking about Bridgend, Wales-based icons BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, who put on a very emotional and energetic concert playing in full their biggest classic The Poison (and you can find the regular version and the 20th anniversary one on Spotify, by the way). When I say it was an emotional show for all BFMV fans at the venue, who were singing, screaming, raising their horns, headbanging, slamming into the pit and crowd surfing nonstop together with the band, it’s because if you think about it, most fans are in their 30s and when the album was released they were all teenagers starting to deal with their darkest emotions, with failure, loss and so on, and the music by BFMV truly helped them survive those dark days.

All songs were played to perfection by Matthew “Matt” Tuck (who was sporting a classy Cradle of Filth “The Principle of Evil Made Flesh” shirt, which is really cool as I had no idea he was a fan of Suffolk’s finest metal band of all time), Michael “Padge” Paget, Jamie Mathias and Jason Bowld, driving fans wild to classics the likes of Tears Don’t Fall, Hit the Floor and The Poison. Some fans around me were singing every single word of every single song, showing their utmost love to one of the most influential bands (if not the most) in the history of Metalcore. Their encore with Knives and Waking the Demon, already after The Poison was over, was also insane, and I was impressed with the amount of energy all fans demonstrated during their entire set. They sounded a lot better than when they opened for Megadeth a few years ago, and I’m sure it won’t take long for them to return to Toronto after their striking show this Sunday with another blast of Metalcore for the total delight of their loyal fanbase.

Setlist
The Poison
“The Poison” Intro
Her Voice Resides
4 Words (to Choke Upon)
Tears Don’t Fall
Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)
Hit the Floor
All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)
Hand of Blood
Room 409
The Poison
10 Years Today
Cries in Vain
The End

Encore:
Knives
Waking the Demon

Band members
Matthew “Matt” Tuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Michael “Padge” Paget – lead guitar, backing vocals
Jamie Mathias – bass, backing vocals
Jason Bowld – drums, percussion

TRIVIUM

It was already past 9:45pm when the band I wanted to see the most, Orlando, Florida’s own Thrash/Heavy Metal/Metalcore beast TRIVIUM, transported us all to the world of Ascendancy (and you can also choose between the regular and the special edition of the album on Spotify), delivering sheer heaviness and energy to an avid crowd ready for more action inside the circle pit. The shirtless Matt Heafy, who has so many body tattoos that he doesn’t look shirtless to be honest, alongside Corey Beaulieu (sporting another classy shirt, by Savatage), Paolo Gregoletto (showing his love for Metallica with a “Ride the Lightning” shirt) and Alex Bent were flawless in taking to the stage at the casino the entire Ascendancy, a proper celebration of 20 years of such an influential and awesome album, which of course translated into pure madness among the fans.

Rain, Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr, A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation (my favorite of the night), Like Light to the Flies, Dying in Your Arms, The Deceived, Suffocating Sight and all other songs form the album sounded incredible onstage, plus of course the giant Ascendancy monster in the back giving the whole show an even more professional and cool look. Matt didn’t stop interacting with the fans not even for a single second, making his trademark faces nonstop, jumping up and down with the crowd, kindly requesting some sick mosh pits and walls of death, and showing all his love for Toronto. Furthermore, the encore with Capsizing the Sea and In Waves was monumental, with the entire venue screaming and jumping like maniacs together with Trivium. It was simply beautiful. Were we better or louder than Montreal? I honestly have no idea, but oh boy, we were LOUD, and I guess that was more than enough to inspire the band to return to the city in a not-so-distant future. Needless to say, I’ll be there for more Trivium insanity.

Setlist
Ascendancy
The End of Everything
Rain
Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
Drowned and Torn Asunder
Ascendancy
Drum Solo
A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
Like Light to the Flies
Dying in Your Arms
The Deceived
Suffocating Sight
Departure
Declaration

Encore:
Capsizing the Sea
In Waves

Band members
Matt Heafy – lead vocals, guitar
Corey Beaulieu – guitar, backing vocals
Paolo Gregoletto – bass guitar, backing vocals
Alex Bent – drums, percussion

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Concert Review – Lamb of God & Megadeth (Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON, 05/18/2022)

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After two years of waiting, Toronto was finally able to witness all the energy and heaviness of “The Metal Tour of the Year”… and it was absolutely awesome!

OPENING ACTS: In Flames and Trivium

Ladies and gentlemen, or whatever way you like to be referred as, what an incredible night of first-class, high-octane, infernal Heavy Metal we had yesterday in Toronto at the unparalleled Budweiser Stage, with IN FLAMES, TRIVIUM, LAMB OF GOD and the one and only MEGADETH showing us all why their tour was named The Metal Tour of the Year! As a matter of fact, last night’s concert was originally scheduled to happen in 2020, but of course due to the shitty COVID-19 pandemic (which apparently seems to be finally over), it had to be rescheduled countless times. Anyway, the wait was totally worth it, as all bands were simply awesome yesterday, putting a huge smile on the faces of everyone at the venue (and the fans didn’t seem to care about the fact the temperature in the city dropped from the mid-30’s to the low-10’s in just a couple of days). Well, I believe Sweden’s own Melodic Groove Metal/Metalcore icons IN FLAMES were awesome as well, as due to work and traffic I wasn’t able to make it to their concert, but a friend that arrived earlier said they kicked ass.

Setlist
Cloud Connected
Behind Space
Everything’s Gone
Where the Dead Ships Dwell
Call My Name
All for Me
I Am Above
Take This Life

Band members
Anders Fridén – vocals
Björn Gelotte – guitar
Chris Broderick – guitar
Bryce Paul Newman – bass
Niels Nielsen – keyboards
Tanner Wayne – drums

I was scared I wouldn’t be able to make it to see Orlando, Florida-based Heavy Metal maniacs TRIVIUM, but fortunately I arrived at the venue around 10 minutes before they hit the stage with their short but extremely powerful performance. Matt Heafy, Corey Beaulieu, Paolo Gregoletto and Alex Bent were beyond happy to be back in Toronto after almost five years (yes, their last concert in the city was in the distant year of 2017), and add to that the superb tracks from their most recent album In the Court of the Dragon, those being the title-track In the Court of the Dragon and my favorite one of the album, Like a Sword Over Damocles, and there you have a recipe for success (and mosh pits). “Throes of Perdition” and “Feast of Fire”, which were on the setlist in the US dates, were replaced by Strife and Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr, and let’s say those new additions to their setlist received a killer feedback from the crowd, who engaged in several mosh pits while the band was on fire onstage. And what can I say about the jumping up and down ignited by Matt during their hit In Waves? That was outstanding to say the least. Furthermore, Matt mentioned this was the biggest show of the entire North American tour, proving how much us Torontonians love all bands involved, and hopefully that will inspired Trivium to return to Toronto for a full-bodied performance on their own in a not-so-distant future.

Setlist
X
In the Court of the Dragon
Like a Sword Over Damocles
Beyond Oblivion
Strife
Rain
Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
Capsizing the Sea
In Waves

Band members
Matt Heafy – lead vocals, guitar
Corey Beaulieu – guitar, backing vocals
Paolo Gregoletto – bass guitar, backing vocals
Alex Bent – drums, percussion

LAMB OF GOD

If there’s a band that knows how to inspire any type of person in the world to slam into the mosh pit, that’s undoubtedly Richmond, Virginia’s Groove Metal horde LAMB OF GOD, who precisely at 8:10pm hit the stage for the total delight of all metalmaniacs ready for a good dosage of heaviness, rage and insanity. Still promoting their 2020 self-titled masterpiece, the unstoppable Randy Blythe and his henchmen put on an unforgettable show, from the opening song Memento Mori, until the very last second of their all-time classic Redneck. It’s beautiful to see the rise of Lamb of God to the status of metal giants, as now they even have fire onstage like what they provided us with in Walk With Me in Hell, which was by the way flawless and one of the top moments of the entire night. It doesn’t matter if they played darker, more introspective songs like 512 or if they exhaled sheer violence like in Contractor, everything was perfect, and Toronto definitely shared their love for the band with all horns in the air, all screaming, and of course the frantic, never-stopping mosh pits in the floor section. As expected, Randy, who seemed possessed throughout their entire set, delivered a couple of Woooooo!’s as his personal tribute to the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, and dedicated Redneck to the guy who in 2018 tried to swim back to that same venue during their tour with Slayer. Toronto can’t wait to have Lamb of God again in the city, an I can’t wait to slam into the pit to the sound of one of my favorite metal bands of the past decade.

Setlist
Memento Mori
Ruin
Walk With Me in Hell
Resurrection Man
Now You’ve Got Something to Die For
Contractor
11th Hour
512
Ghost Walking
Vigil
Laid to Rest
Redneck

Band members
Randy Blythe – vocals
Phil Demmel – guitar
Mark Morton – guitar
John Campbell – bass
Art Cruz – drums

MEGADETH

As expected, most fans at the Budweiser Stage were there to witness “MegaDave” Mustaine and his Thrash/Speed Metal institution MEGADETH distill their unique classics in the city again after so many years, and when the clock hit 9:45pm our dreams came true as the first notes from Hangar 18 (right after the intro Prince of Darkness) were played by Dave and his bandmates Kiko Loureiro, James LoMenzo and Dirk Verbeuren. Is there a better way to kick off a show than with such classic, followed by the underrated tunes Dread and the Fugitive Mind and Angry Again? What a brilliant start to their set, winning the hearts and minds of everyone instantly. Dave and Kiko played their guitars to perfection as usual during the entire concert, making our jaws drop and inspiring us to show them the horns during and after each song played. I loved the fact they’re still playing the superb Trust after so many decades, and although they replaced another pulverizing song, “She-Wolf”, with A Tout Le Monde, that didn’t do any harm to their concert. Who doesn’t love to sing such stunning ballad together with Dave, screaming the song’s French words at the top of his or her lungs? In addition, a few different versions of Vic Rattlehead appeared onstage during the songs Conquer or Die!, Dystopia and Peace Sells, adding an extra touch of awesomeness to the show, culminating with their undisputed hymn Holy Wars… The Punishment Due. By the end of the concert, Dave mentioned the band is recording the follow-up to their 2016 album Dystopia and that the album should see the light of day this summer, so all we need to do now is wait for it and for another night of our beloved Megadeth in Toronto… and Dave promised he’ll return to the city, oh yeah!

Setlist
Prince of Darkness
Hangar 18
Dread and the Fugitive Mind
Angry Again
Conquer or Die!
Dystopia
The Conjuring
Trust
Sweating Bullets
A Tout Le Monde
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells

Encore:
Holy Wars… The Punishment Due
Silent Scorn
My Way
Shadow of Deth

Band members
Dave Mustaine – vocals, guitars
Kiko Loureiro – guitars, backing vocals
James LoMenzo – bass, backing vocals
Dirk Verbeuren – drums

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Concert Review – Trivium & Tremonti (Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON, 09/22/2015)

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There might be silence in the snow during this coming winter, but there was surely a lot of good noise and blazing hearts on the last night of the summer in Toronto.

OPENING ACT: Wilson

harddriveradiotourupdated2015Unfortunately, due to traffic and working issues, I cannot say anything about the performance by American Hard Rock/Rock N’ Roll band WILSON, who were in charge of warming up the crowd for the main attractions of the night at the Phoenix Concert Theatre as part of the 2015 HardDrive Live Tour. All I can say is that if you’re curious to know how their music sounds, two very good songs are Give ‘Em Hell and College Gangbang, both part of their setlist. And, in addition, in case your first or last name is “Wilson” I suggest you go after their merchandise right away. Who wouldn’t love to have your own name on a cool T-shirt like this one? Maybe next time they’re around I’ll go check their live performances, but this time the Gardiner didn’t allow me to do so.

Setlist
Before I Burn
Give ‘Em Hell
College Gangbang
Waiting on the World to Cave In
Windows Down
All My Friends
Right to Rise
Susan Jane

Band members
Chad Nicefield – vocals
Jason Spencer – guitar
Kyle Landry – guitar
James Lascu – bass
Puhy – drums

TREMONTI

IMG_0675For those of you who don’t know this excellent guitarist, award-winning American musician MARK TREMONTI is the lead guitarist and founding member of the famous rock groups Creed and Alter Bridge, and since 2012 he’s been on the road with his solo project that takes his last name, being also responsible for the band’s lead vocals. And that’s probably the main reason why there were so many people eager to see Tremonti, I would say almost the same amount that were at the venue to see Trivium, because not only his music is clean and cohesive, but also fun.

Playing a mix of Hard Rock, Rock N’ Roll, Speed Metal and Alternative Metal, this Detroit-based band did a pretty good job during their relatively lengthy setlist, which ended up extending their concert to past 10pm and therefore “forcing” some people to go home before Trivium started due to different reasons, such as work or classes the next morning. I’ll be 100% honest and say that their music is not really my cup of tea, but I enjoyed their performance as much as I could while having a cold Rolling Rock. Perhaps the biggest issue with the concert was the huge amount of ballads, because when they played heavier stuff you could feel a much stronger reaction from everyone at the venue.

I’m not familiar with the names of the songs either, but if there were two that caught my attention were curiously the very first, Cauterize, and the very last, Decay, due to their strength and speed. In other words, if you’re more into old school metal music (including really heavy stuff like Death and Black Metal) like I am you might consider Tremonti a bit too light for your taste, but as a straightforward rock band they more than deliver it on stage.

Setlist
Cauterize
You Waste Your Time
All I Was
So You’re Afraid
Another Heart
Flying Monkeys
The Things I’ve Seen
Radical Change
Tie the Noose
Dark Trip
Arm Yourself
Brains
Wish You Well
Decay

Band members
Mark Tremonti – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar
Eric Friedman – lead and rhythm, backing vocals
Tanner Keegan – bass guitar, backing vocals
Garrett Whitlock – drums

TRIVIUM

IMG_0683After a short pause to the sound of the entire Ace Of Spades album, by Motörhead, lights went down and like many bands do, the speakers played a classic song TRIVIUM truly love to ignite the hearts of the fans waiting for their performance. Well, they chose the all-time battle hymn “Run to the Hills” by Iron Maiden for that. Do I need to say more? After that brilliant demonstration of passion for metal music and after their own intro Snøfall, our already iconic and influential Orlando-based metallers hit the stage between two giant skulls from their new album with one of their brand new songs, the good Silence in the Snow. Matt was electrified as usual, wearing a Dio T-shirt and an Emperor vest, again showing his respect and admiration for his idols in music and his loyalty to his roots, while Corey Beaulieu, Paolo Gregoletto and Mat Madiro interacted with the fans as much as possible during and between songs to make things even better.

I know some people are complaining Matt doesn’t want to scream anymore, but all three new songs (Silence in the Snow, Until the World Goes Cold and especially Blind Leading the Blind, which Matt dedicated to the unparalleled Ronnie James Dio while telling a story about food and friendship when they opened for Heaven & Hell in Japan in 2007) sounded truly powerful live, proving the harsh screams are not really necessary for them to work. However, as an old school metalhead I have to say it was when they played their classic assaults Throes of Perdition, Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr and A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation that things got really serious inside the mosh pits. Moreover, although Corey was incredible with his guitar, I think he seemed a little “lost” during the songs without the harsh screams. Let the guy scream, please!

IMG_0695And I was impressed (actually, the whole band was too) with the insane reaction of the crowd for each and every song of their setlist, in special their “newer” classics Strife (including a loud and awesome “Oh-oh-oh… Oooooh!” to its Iron Maiden-ish riffs, as demanded by Matt), Built to Fall (what a “built-to-fall” image seeing everybody singing the whole song at full force with Trivium!) and Black, showcasing how thrilling In Waves and Vengeance Falls are despite some diehard fans not digging those albums. Not to mention the amazing turmoil caused by the fans during the superb duo Capsizing the Sea/In Waves, which started with a decent wall of death just for you to have an idea of how crazy fans were. The band noticed that, enjoyed that and acknowledged that on their social media, saying Toronto was the best crowd of the entire tour. I have to agree with them, it was indeed a fantastic night, much better than their last concert back in 2013 at the same venue.

IMG_0687And in order to keep us all craving for more Trivium and more metallic tunes, the sound system played the masterpiece “Heaven & Hell” by Black Sabbath, which was sung by most fans so excited everybody got after Trivium finished their flawless performance. Now let’s wait and see how their entire new album sounds like, if there won’t be any screams at all or if they’ll still offer us some harsher moments like the ones we learned to love from their music. It might have been the last night of summer in Toronto, but it was more than enough to keep our hearts on fire through the fall and the winter, even if there’s total silence in the snow that’s about to come soon.

Setlist
Snøfall
Silence in the Snow
Down from the Sky
Becoming the Dragon
Strife
Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
Built to Fall
Until the World Goes Cold
Throes of Perdition
Anthem (We Are the Fire)
Black
A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
Blind Leading the Blind
Dying in Your Arms

Encore:
Capsizing The Sea
In Waves

Band members
Matt Heafy – guitar, lead vocals
Corey Beaulieu – guitar, vocals
Paolo Gregoletto – bass, vocals
Mat Madiro – drums