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Event Review – An Evening with Randy Blythe (The Red Room at The Concert Hall, Toronto, ON, 02/26/2025)

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An unforgettable evening in Toronto with one of the most iconic musicians of the current metal scene, exploring resilience, transformation, and the beauty found in life’s darkest moments.

INTRODUCTION: An evening at the nice and cozy “The Red Room”

If you ever have a chance to attend any type of event at The Red Room at The Concert Hall, in Toronto, located on the north-west corner of Davenport Road and Yonge Street in the beautiful community of Yorkville, don’t even think twice and be there to enjoy not only the event, but the room itself. That’s by far one of the nicest places for an intimate interaction with any artist, which was exactly what happened this Wednesday night when the one and only Randy Blythe, best known as the powerhouse frontman of the Grammy-nominated metal band Lamb of God, took the small but charming stage at The Red Room for his absolutely entertaining An Evening with Randy Blythe – Just Beyond The Light Spoken Word Book Tour + Q&A (ending with a meet & greet and book signing if you purchased a special type of ticket that included a copy of the book, by the way), organized by the unstoppable Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. Seriously, I don’t think the metal scene in Toronto would be one tenth of what it is today without the intense hard work and deep passion for heavy music by Mr. Peters through the years. Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I were lucky enough to be invited for such an incredible event in the almost sold out 200-seat room, and if I had enough time and money I would certainly attend the other dates of Randy’s spoken tour, because the man is simply awesome.

AN EVENING WITH RANDY BLYTHE

Stepping into the spotlight in a new and deeply personal way, Mr. David Randall Blythe has recently embarked on a spoken word tour to celebrate the release of his latest book, Just Beyond the Light: Making Peace with the Wars Inside Our Head, a gripping exploration of resilience, transformation, and the beauty found in life’s darkest moments, with Randy bringing pages and excerpts from the book to life, plus reflections on the themes that inspire his work, inviting the audience to experience an intimate evening of reflection, raw honesty, and the stories that shaped his journey. As a huge fan of Lamb of God it was a bit weird seeing Randy in a completely different environment like that, I mean, without his band, without all the screaming, without all the pyro from their concerts, and without some wild mosh pits happening while the band kicks some ass onstage, but I must admit the man was born for that type of spoken tour. He was absolutely captivating from the very first second until the very last question of the Q&A, once again proving how talented he is and his importance not only to heavy music, but to our lives in general.

I don’t know how to talk about the entire event without giving any spoilers, and believe me, if I could I would simply reproduce here pretty much everything he talked about, from politics to alcoholism, from being on tour to his favorite hobbies and activities, his personal view on the current state of the world, and so on, but I’ll try to be as succinct as possible without ruining the experience for anyone attending his upcoming events. And no, don’t expect him to talk about his horrifying incident in 2012 in the Czech Republic. If you want to know all details about that, simply go read his 2015 book, Dark Days: A Memoir. Anyway, back to An Evening with Randy Blythe – Just Beyond The Light Spoken Word Book Tour + Q&A, just to give you an idea of how awesome the whole event was, if I’m not mistaken Randy was onstage for over two hours talking about his new book and his life journey, always interacting with the crowd, always with a smile on his face, and without looking tired at all, not even during the Q&A session and the book signing. The man loves what he does, and that was clear during the entire night.

Just Beyond the Light: Making Peace with the Wars Inside Our Head

It will surely be a lot different seeing Randy onstage with Lamb of God now after this distinguished event, and of course after reading Just Beyond the Light: Making Peace with the Wars Inside Our Head, just like what happened after reading Rob Halford’s autobiography Confess. Your view of the artist changes completely, as you learn about his flaws, his losses, his battles and so on, making them more human to our eyes (in a very good way, of course). I can’t wait for the next time Lamb of God takes the city of Toronto by storm with their infuriated live concert, and next time I’ll see more than just a vocalist onstage, but a hardworking man who, just like anyone else, has been fighting his inner demons and the wars inside his head since the beginning, with his music transpiring his darkness and struggles while at the same time bringing a lot of joy and happiness to us metalheads. Thank you, Mr. David Randall Blythe, for an unforgettable night in Toronto, and you’re more than welcome to return anytime you want to mesmerize us once again with your powerful words.

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Album Review – Lacuna Coil / Sleepless Empire (2025)

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Behold this dark and cinematic portrait of our crumbling society by one of the most important bands in the history of Alternative Rock and Metal.

If you know Italian Alternative/Gothic Rock/Metal band Lacuna Coil, then you’re already aware that every album entry in their storied career is more than just a sound. Each one is a richly textured soundtrack to a specific time and a place. With Sleepless Empire, that place is dark, cinematic, and unmistakably true to the unique characteristics that have given Lacuna Coil such a celebrated entry in the annals of heavy music. Recorded at SPVN Studio, produced by the band’s own Marco Coti Zelati, mixed by Stefano Santi, mastered by Marco D’Agostino, and displaying a dark, sinister artwork by Roberto Toderico, the new opus by vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro, guitarist, bassist and keyboardist Marco Coti Zelati, and drummer Richard Meiz will take you on an obscure, thrilling and vibrant musical journey, proving once again why the band has become a staple in the Alternative Rock and Metal scene worldwide.

The album starts in an atmospheric way with The Siege, quickly exploding into the band’s trademark fusion of Alternative Metal with gothic and dark sounds, and with Cristina and Andrea already kicking some ass as the band’s unparalleled vocal duo. Oxygen then offers an onrush of their wicked lyrics (“Stop wasting my time / Fight / When I look for confrontation / You hesitate, run away / Isolation like prison / Inner self to escape / Inhale / Ready to dive”) amidst metallic and very exciting sounds, and the guitars and bass by Marco sound absolutely groovy and sharp in Scarecrow, sounding beyond perfect for their live performances. Gravity feels even more modern than its predecessors, with Richard pounding his drums while the music remains eerie and electrifying, followed by I Wish You Were Dead, a good song but maybe too pop if compared to what the band is capable of. And featuring the iconic vocalist Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, who brings his share of heaviness and hatred to the band’s striking Alternative Metal, we have Hosting The Shadow, which will most probably be played live during their upcoming tour due to its endless energy.

In Nomine Patris follows the same pattern as some of the most recent Lacuna Coil albums, with a strong ambience working as the background for Cristina and Andrea to stun us all with their fiery vocals; whereas in the title-track Sleepless Empire we’re hit hard in our faces by the thunderous, metallic bass by Marco, providing his bandmates with exactly what they need to blast another ode to darkness in the form of Alternative and Gothic Metal. The guitar lines by Marco are then quickly joined by the fierce yet melodic beats by Richard in the reverberating Sleep Paralysis, perfect for Cristina to shine with her stylish vocals; and featuring guest vocals by Ash Costello of New Years Day and The Haxans we’re treated to In The Mean Time, perhaps the heaviest of all songs thanks to the hammering drums by Richard, with Cristina’s soaring vocals also bringing tons of stamina to the music. Finally, the band brings to our avid ears Never Dawn, one last blast of alternative and modern sounds, feeling heavy and vibrant until the very end.

“Our sound is dark because it reflects the society we’re living in – it’s a portrait of our times,” commented Andrea. “We’re from a unique generation that remembers the analog world but lives in the digital one, we’re the first generation that’s lived through both so we’ve been witnesses the change to our society and that’s the Sleepless Empire. Everyone is always on their phone, always scrolling, always doing something – morning to night, it just never stops.” Ironically, all that digital darkness described by Andrea can be better discussed with the band on their Facebook and Instagram, where you can also stay updated with their tour dates, and you can also find more of their amazing music on YouTube and on Spotify and, above all that, put your dirty hands on their new album by clicking HERE. Lacuna Coil will always be one of those bands with an endless source of creativity due to exactly what Andrea explained, as they always draw inspiration from the darkest side of human nature, which means they’ll fortunately keep offering us high quality albums like Sleepless Empire in the foreseeable future because, as you know, we humans are definitely dark beings.

Best moments of the album: Oxygen, Scarecrow and In The Mean Time.

Worst moments of the album: I Wish You Were Dead.

Released in 2025 Century Media Records

Track listing
1.The Siege 4:25
2. Oxygen 3:46
3. Scarecrow 4:49
4. Gravity 4:04
5. I Wish You Were Dead 2:52
6. Hosting The Shadow 4:19
7. In Nomine Patris 4:54
8. Sleepless Empire 4:02
9. Sleep Paralysis 5:20
10. In The Mean Time 3:33
11. Never Dawn 4:50

Band members
Cristina Scabbia – vocals
Andrea Ferro – vocals
Marco Coti Zelati – guitars, bass, keyboards
Richard Meiz – drums

Guest musicians
Randy Blythe – vocals on “Hosting The Shadow”
Ash Costello – vocals on “In The Mean Time”

Concert Review – Lamb of God & Mastodon (Budweiser Gardens, London, ON, 07/31/2024)

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Two of the most important bands of the current metal scene crushed the city of London, Canada in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their most-acclaimed albums to date.

OPENING ACTS: Malevolence and Kerry King

What a wild and busy day and night it was this Wednesday, when the cozy Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario hosted one of the most insane tours of the year, Ashes of Leviathan Tour 2024, featuring nothing more, nothing less than MALEVOLENCE, KERRY KING, MASTODON and LAMB OF GOD. It was a rough 2-hour drive for me to get to London in time for the shows, but it was absolutely worth it as this tour is simply celebrating the 20th anniversary of two seminal releases, Lamb of God’s biggest-selling album Ashes of the Wake and Mastodon’s acclaimed sophomore album Leviathan, which were both released on August 31, 2004. My friend Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi was also there and was dying to photograph his favorite band of all time, Lamb of God, for the first time in his career; however, no idea why, he only got the approval for the first band, Malevolence, something we’ve never seen happening before nor any of our friends, which is why the only good photos of this review are for Malevolence. Sorry about that.

The first band to hit the stage was Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England-based Groove Metal/Metalcore piece MALEVOLENCE, and let me tell you those guys kicked some serious ass, working as the perfect warmup for the devastation that was about to come. Still promoting their 2022 album Malicious Intent, the band formed of Alex Taylor, Joshua Baines, Konan Hall, Wilkie Robinson and Charlie Thorpe put everyone at Budweiser Gardens to slam into the pit, turning up the heat on an already extremely hot day in the city. You can get more details about the band by clicking HERE, and also stream their infuriated creations on Spotify. I just wish they had more time to play, and that the start of the show wasn’t so early, before 6pm, which impacted in a negative way the amount of people already inside the venue for their show.

Setlist
Malicious Intent
Life Sentence
Still Waters Run Deep
Self Supremacy
Higher Place
Keep Your Distance
On Broken Glass

Band members
Alex Taylor – vocals
Joshua Baines – guitars
Konan Hall – guitars, vocals
Wilkie Robinson – bass
Charlie Thorpe – drums

It wasn’t even 7pm when Los Angeles, California’s one and only Thrash Metal icon KERRY KING and his crew took the stage of Budweiser Gardens by storm with their blood red (and sometimes dark blue) stage, endless heaviness, and a strong will to crush everything and everyone that dared to cross their path on Wednesday night. Playing songs from his insane debut solo album From Hell I Rise including Where I Reign and Idle Hands, plus the Slayer all-time classics Raining Blood and Black Magic, Mr. Kerry King was absolutely ruthless during his short but extremely destructive set, supported by the soaring vocals by Death Angel’s frontman Mark Osegueda and also by his Slayer buddy Paul Bostaph on drums, driving fans crazy and igniting some demented mosh pits for the delight of lovers of some good circle pit action. Once again, I really wish his setlist was a bit longer, maybe with a couple more songs from his album or from Slayer, but in the end he certainly proved there’s life outside Slayer as his solo material sounds incredible both in studio and on stage, and you can enjoy Kerry’s wicked music on Spotify, of course, or click HERE for all things surrounding one of the greatest guitarist in the history of Thrash Metal.

Setlist
Where I Reign
Trophies of the Tyrant
Residue
Toxic
Idle Hands
Shrapnel
Raining Blood
Black Magic
From Hell I Rise

Band members
Mark Osegueda – vocals
Kerry King – guitars
Phil Demmel – guitars
Kyle Sanders – bass
Paul Bostaph – drums

MASTODON

It was only 8pm when Atlanta, Georgia Progressive/Sludge Metal beast  MASTODON, one of the main attractions of the night (and it’s funny because there was still light outside the venue), kicked off their more-than-special set based on their 2004 album Leviathan, playing the entire album from the very first song, the breathtaking Blood and Thunder, until Joseph Merrick, all supported by a beautiful stage with lots of fire, crazy background images, and a lot of smoke too. Troy Sanders, Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor were insane as usual, mastering the art of their instruments for our total delectation, therefore receiving a wild and huge ovation form the fans at Budweiser Gardens. The overall sound was a bit muffled to my liking, but nothing that could stop the quartet form putting on a fantastic show, taking us all back 20 years with one of the most important metal albums of the past two decades. There was even time for a nice encore with the songs More Than I Could Chew, Circle of Cysquatch and Steambreather, and after that Brann took some time to thank everyone and to say how insane it is to be on this tour with Lamb of God, both celebrating 20 years of their masterpieces, also taking into account the fact they’ve been friends for all that time too. Mastodon always deliver, and hopefully we’ll see them celebrating 30, 40, 50 years and so on of the great Leviathan.

Setlist
Leviathan
Blood and Thunder
I Am Ahab
Seabeast
Ísland
Iron Tusk
Megalodon
Naked Burn
Aqua Dementia
Hearts Alive
Joseph Merrick

Encore:
More Than I Could Chew
Circle of Cysquatch
Steambreather

Band members
Troy Sanders – vocals, bass
Brent Hinds – vocals, guitars
Bill Kelliher – guitars, backing vocals
Brann Dailor – vocals, drums

LAMB OF GOD

After a short break, where fans took the time to grab a few final beers and whatever was left from the merch booths, it was time for Richmond, Virginia’s magnificent Groove Metal institution LAMB OF GOD to pulverize our senses with the full play of their 2004 masterpiece Ashes of the Wake, and let me tell you that the city of London, Ontario simply loves Lamb of God from the bottom of their hearts. The reaction of the fans to each and every song played by D. Randall “Randy” Blythe on vocals, Mark Morton and Willie Adler on the guitars, John Campbell on bass and Art Cruz on drums was beyond superb, with the first three of the album, Laid to Rest, Hourglass and Now You’ve Got Something to Die For, already igniting some of the sickest mosh pits of the night. The show moved on majestically, with Randy delivering his trademark “WOOOOOO’s!” inspired by the iconic Ric Flair in between songs, while the fans kept running around like beasts inside the circle pit. And after Ashes of the Wake was over, the band crushed whoever was still alive with the classics Walk With Me in Hell and Redneck, crowning another spectacular performance by Randy and his crew in Canadian lands. As mentioned for Mastodon, I would love to see Lamb of God celebrating many more decades of Ashes of the Wake with amazing concerts like that, and maybe next time there will be less confusion in the communication between us and the organizers, and you readers can have some ass-kicking photos as well to enjoy.

Setlist
Ashes of the Wake
Laid to Rest
Hourglass
Now You’ve Got Something to Die For
The Faded Line
Omerta
Blood of the Scribe
One Gun
Break You
What I’ve Become
Ashes of the Wake
Remorse Is for the Dead

Encore:
Walk With Me in Hell
Redneck

Band members
D. Randall “Randy” Blythe – vocals
Mark Morton – guitar
Willie Adler – guitar
John Campbell – bass
Art Cruz – drums

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Concert Review – Pantera (Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON, 08/08/2023)

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The best band to ever arise from Texas took the city of Toronto by storm on Saturday with their undisputed metal music in a memorable night for their fans, for their brothers, and for their legacy.

OPENING ACTS: Child Bite and Lamb of God

If I’m not mistaken, the last time Pantera visited the city of Toronto was on February 9, 1999 at the SkyDome (currently known as Rogers Centre) during their World Domination Tour, as one of the guest openers for Black Sabbath. Having said that, you can imagine how desperate for more Pantera the Torontonian metalheads were until this Saturday when CHILD BITE, LAMB OF GOD and PANTERA took the Budweiser Stage by storm on a beyond emotional night, one of them being my good friend Keith Ibbitson of Lower Eastside Photography, and as I couldn’t be there mainly due to the ticket prices, Keith took care of both the photos (although not with a photo pass, but just as a regular fan) and the review. As a matter of fact, the ticket prices for this show were so ridiculous that you could find CHEAPER tickets at resale websites such as TickPick and StubHub than at the official Live Nation website, just to give you an idea of how insane things are these days.

Anyway, as the lines were absurdly huge according to Keith, he couldn’t get inside the venue to watch the opener at 7pm, Detroit, Michigan-based Hardcore Punk/Metal outfit CHILD BITE. They were a weird choice taking into account the type of music played by Lamb of God and Pantera, and as each date of the tour seems to have a different opener (each band being responsible for opening the night in four or five different cities), I wonder if it was a combination of friendship with the guys from Pantera, the geography/location of the band, and their availability. Anyway, their latest album was released back in 2019 and is titled Blow Off the Omens, and if you love the fusion of Hardcore and Punk Rock you can find it on Spotify and on BandCamp in case you want to give their music a try.

Setlist
Smog & Viscera
Swan Song of a Boiled Dog
Glazed in a Skeletal Maze
Disposable Hysteria
Ancestral Ooze
Erect for Dystopia
Blow Off The Omens

Band members
Shawn Knight – vocals
Jeremy Waun – guitar
Sean Clancy – bass
Jeff Porter – drums

After a quick break, more precisely at 7:50pm, it was time for one of the coolest bands to witness live, Richmond, Virginia’s iconic Groove Metal institution LAMB OF GOD, to kick some serious ass once again at the Budweiser Stage, this time promoting their 2022 beast Omens. I feel terrible for missing Mr. Randy Blythe and his crew this time, but it is what it is. Well, Keith said they didn’t disappoint at all (as expected), blending classics the likes of Memento Mori (one of the best songs ever to properly kick off any concert), Walk With Me in Hell and Now You’ve Got Something to Die For, with new songs such as Ditch and Omens, igniting some serious mosh pits in the general admission area. Randy took some time to interact with the crowd, remembering when that famous fan Chris LaRocque got kicked out of the venue and tried to get back swimming when they opened for the mighty Slayer (or maybe I should say SLAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYEEEEEEEERRRRR!) in 2018. That was a memorable night, just like this Saturday, and next time Lamb of God comes to Toronto I’ll make sure I’ll be there no matter what.

Setlist
Memento Mori
Walk With Me in Hell
Resurrection Man
Now You’ve Got Something to Die For
Ditch
Omens
Ruin
Contractor
Laid to Rest
Redneck

Band members
D. Randall “Randy” Blythe – vocals
Mark Morton – guitar
Willie Adler – guitar
John Campbell – bass
Art Cruz – drums

PANTERA

Finally, after 24 years, the best band ever to arise from Texas, Thrash/Groove Metal monsters PANTERA, hit the stage at 9:15pm for the delight of everyone who attended the concert, and according to Keith, who saw them for the first time ever this Saturday, they were absolutely perfect. I guess I don’t need to say that EVERYONE on this fuckin’ planet would want to see their classic formation on stage with Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, which is something impossible for obvious reasons (to be honest, I think everyone would be extremely happy if both were still alive, it doesn’t matter if they would be playing with Pantera or not, just because they deserved to be still alive), but Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown alongside Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante are proudly living up to the legacy of the band.

Playing classics from all of their albums, from A New Level and Mouth for War to 5 Minutes Alone and This Love, from Fucking Hostile and Cemetery Gates to Cowboys From Hell, and to the surprise of many ending their concert with Revolution Is My Name and Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit, both from their last album ever Reinventing the Steel, released back in 2000, which I remember got mixed reactions when it was launched, Pantera were on absolute fire, receiving an amazing feedback from the crowd (which according to Keith’s brother was “goddamn electric”) who was singling along all the lyrics together with them. They even played their classic cover version for Black Sabbath’s Planet Caravan, and when they set their fans on fire with the all-time headbanging classic Walk, they even invited the guys from Child Bite to join them on backing vocals on stage. I don’t know exactly how the mosh pits were during the entire concert, but I bet they were simply insane, surely making Dimebag and Vinnie very proud and happy wherever they are.

Keith said that Phil mentioned the absolute respect the band has for the city of Toronto, saying the fans here made them feel extremely welcome and that they were stunned by the fact the show was sold out (although as I said there were plenty of scalpers “dying” with tickets in their hands because they were too greedy to drive their prices down). One curios thing about Phil was that at the same time he said that Saturday night was most probably the last time they would be in Toronto because they’re not touring anymore after this tour is done, by the end of the concert he also said Pantera would come to Toronto again. Which Phil Anselmo should we trust, right? Hopefully the right Phil is the one that said that the band will return to Toronto, although we have no idea when, and whenever that happens let’s also hope for lower, more affordable ticket prices so many other fans who couldn’t attend the concert for economic reasons can finally see the legacy of Pantera live on stage.

Setlist
Regular People (Conceit)
In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song) (Peter Ivers & David Lynch song)
A New Level
Mouth for War
Strength Beyond Strength
Becoming (with “Throes of Rejection” outro)
I’m Broken (with “By Demons Be Driven” outro)
Suicide Note Pt. II
5 Minutes Alone
This Love
Fucking Hostile
Cemetery Gates
Planet Caravan (Black Sabbath cover)
Walk
Domination / Hollow
Cowboys From Hell

Encore:
Slaughtered
Revolution Is My Name

Encore 2:
Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit
How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths song)

Band members
Philip Anselmo – vocals
Zakk Wylde – guitars
Rex Brown – bass
Charlie Benante – drums

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Album Review – Lamb of God / Omens (2022)

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Ignore the omens and listen to the pulverizing new album by one of the best and most dynamic metal bands of the past two decades.

Two years after the release of their excellent self-titled album, Richmond, Virginia’s own Groove Metal institution Lamb of God is back in action with another magnificent release entitled Omens, the ninth studio album (eleventh if including those under the name Burn the Priest) in their undisputed career. “If anybody paying attention to the state of the world over the last few years isn’t angry, I have nothing to say to them,” commented the band’s frontman D. Randall “Randy” Blythe about the generally pissed-off tone of their new album. Recorded and produced by Josh Wilbur, mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound, and featuring a stylish artwork by K3n Adams, Omens offers us all 40 minutes of sheer aggressiveness and groove by the aforementioned Randy Blythe and his henchmen Mark Morton and Willie Adler on the guitars, John Campbell on bass, and Art Cruz on drums, cementing their name as one of the most important forces of the current metal scene worldwide.

Sheer groove flows from the very first second in Nevermore, a solid tune where Mark and Willie’s axes are flawlessly supported by the rumbling bass by John, and the band keeps hammering their weapons in great fashion in Vanishing, sounding visceral and exciting as good Groove Metal should be with of course Randy kicking us in the head with his visceral roars, not to mention the awesome job done by Art on drums. Then let’s bang our heads nonstop to the groovy and heavy-as-hell To the Grave, showcasing another dynamic kitchen brought into being by John and Art while the guitars exhale fire and animosity; followed by the high-octane Ditch, bringing forward an extremely fun chorus to sing along with Randy (“You’re face down, down in a ditch that you dug yourself / You can live and die by the hand you’re dealt / Unwound consequence and you can never tell / Live or die by the hand you’re dealt”) while his bandmates deliver a flawless, infuriated Groove Metal extravaganza for admirers of the genre. And the title-track Omens is another superb moment of the album, a lecture in contemporary metal music by Lamb of God where Mark and Willie extract endless aggressiveness from their guitars while Art shows no mercy for his drums.

Slowing things down a bit while investing in pure heaviness, it’s time for us all to break our necks headbanging to the sound of Gomorrah, with Randy barking and screaming manically nonstop, and there’s no time to breathe thanks to the massive beats by Art in Ill Designs, another violent hybrid of Groove, Thrash and Death Metal where the riffage by the band’s guitar duo is tailored for slamming into the pit. Putting the pedal to the metal, Randy & Co. deliver a humongous dose of heaviness and rage in the form of Grayscale, where John makes sure the earth trembles to the sound of his thunderous bass, whereas in Denial Mechanism we’re treated to another round of the band’s trademark acid lyrics (“A pathetic birth of the end times / Slowly creeping to the final deadline / No fairytale on a movie screen / Just slow collapse beneath our gluttony”) amidst a hurricane of metallic sounds perfect for their incendiary live concerts. Lastly, the band offers us all the introspective September Song, which morphs from a very serene sonority into the band’s usual madness while its background keys add a touch of epicness to the overall result, putting a climatic ending to the album.

Fortunately for all of us with serious budget restrictions the band made Omens available in its entirety on YouTube and on Spotify, but of course if you have some extra money to spend on music you can click HERE and grab your favorite version of such intense album of modern-day heavy music. Also, don’t forget to follow the band on Facebook and on Instagram for news and tour dates (and believe me, if you’ve never seen Lamb of God live you don’t know what you’re missing), to subscribe to their YouTube channel, and to stream all of their wicked creations on Spotify. “We’re being marketed and sold falling skies, doom and gloom and all this end-of-days material. That stuff makes wonderful fodder for metal music,” said Randy, and we must all agree that although our world might be reaching its inevitable and sinister fate soon, at least Lamb of God will keep absorbing all that darkness and turning it into first-class music for our total delight until the very end of all days. Well, as the band itself says in their new album, fuck it all, ignore the omens.

Best moments of the album: Vanishing, Ditch, Omens and Denial Mechanism.

Worst moments of the album: Gomorrah.

Released in 2022 Epic Records/Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. Nevermore 4:35
2. Vanishing 4:48
3. To the Grave 3:43
4. Ditch 3:37
5. Omens 3:47
6. Gomorrah 4:12
7. Ill Designs 3:41
8. Grayscale 3:59
9. Denial Mechanism 2:37
10. September Song 6:00

Japanese Edition bonus track
11. Evidence 3:50

Band members
D. Randall “Randy” Blythe – vocals
Mark Morton – guitar
Willie Adler – guitar
John Campbell – bass
Art Cruz – drums

Guest musicians
Ernie C, Juan Garcia, Wes Eisold, Toby Morse & Sara Taylor – gang vocals on “Omens”

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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Album Review – Lamb of God / Lamb of God (2020)

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Re-energized and unrelenting, Richmond, Virginia’s own Groove Metal titans are finally back after five years with their pulverizing eighth studio album.

At long last, five years after the release of the excellent VII: Sturm und Drang, Richmond, Virginia-based Groove Metal titans Lamb of God are finally back with a brand new album self-titled Lamb of God, the band’s eighth studio effort, for our vulgar delectation. Produced by Josh Wilbur (Korn, Megadeth, Gojira, Trivium), the fact that their new effort is self-titled is a testament to the band’s pride and satisfaction with these songs and this period in their creativity, showcasing a true and healthy collaboration between frontman Randy Blythe, guitarists Willie Adler and Mark Morton, bassist John Campbell and newcomer Art Cruz on drums, a re-energized and unrelenting lineup that’s more than ready to lay claim to the metal throne. “Putting only our name on it is a statement,” Mr. Randy Blythe said. “This is Lamb of God. Here and now,” expressing in words all the rage, groove and darkness found in each of the album’s ten original and extremely acid songs.

An eerie start evolves into a pounding Groove Metal feast in the opening track Memento Mori, where Willie and Mark and infernal with their riffs, inspiring us all to slam into the pit like true metal maniacs while Randy darkly vociferates the song’s psychological lyrics (“The hardest hour, the cruelest sign / I’m waking up from this wretched lie / I fight it the same, don’t waste this day / Wake up, wake up, wake up / Memento mori”), whereas in Checkmate we’re treated to more of their modern-day, austere words (“Watch the gears grind off their teeth / The screeching halt machine digging heels in disbelief / Two reactional identities, opposing policies / A bait and switch routine”), while Art brings forward all his fury and dexterity on drums, proving why he was chosen to take the band’s drumming duties. And in Gears, my favorite song of the entire album, Randy sounds inhumane with his enraged roars accompanied by Art’s pounding beats and the groovy and thunderous bass by John, resulting in a very intricate, multi-layered and thrilling aria from start to finish.

Speeding things up a notch, the quintet fires the neck-breaking, pulverizing tune Reality Bath, bringing an amazing shredding blasted by the band’s guitar duo while Randy alternates between his trademark growls and dark, eerie clean vocals, followed by New Colossal Hate, keeping the album at an insane level of wrath and violence. In other words, it’s another song perfect for jumping up and down with the band, with John and Art making the foundations of the earth tremble with their hellish kitchen, and they continue to crush our heads with the wicked and visceral Resurrection Man, one of the heaviest and most obscure of all tracks, with Art hammering his drums fiercely while Rady fires deep, vicious roars nonstop. Then featuring guest vocalist Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed), the band delivers more of their hybrid of Groove and Thrash Metal in Poison Dream, with the sick riffage by Willie and Mark adding an extra kick to the overall result, not to mention the song’s vibrant and aggressive vibe.

The one and only Mr. Chuck Billy (Testament) lends his thunderous vocals to the high-octane Groove and Thrash Metal hurricane entitled Routes, sounding very melodic and at the same time as vile and caustic as possible, offering our avid ears their usual frantic beats, rabid screams and strident guitar solos, and you better get ready for another round of insanity and heaviness spearheaded by Randy and his demented screams in Bloodshot Eyes, also bringing some introspective moments while John and Art deliver endless groove through their unstoppable weapons. And last but not least, Lamb of God fire one last breath of first-class, demolishing metal music entitled On the Hook, with all of its crisp and thunderous riffs and bass jabs being nicely spiced up by Art’s rhythmic beats, uniting the heaviest elements from Thrash and Death Metal to the band’s core essence and, therefore, putting an amazingly heavy and explosive end to the album.

You can follow Lamb of God on Facebook and on Instagram (if you haven’t done so yet, of course) to stay up to date with everything that surrounds the band, including their tour dates, new songs and videos, news and other nice-to-know details, but I highly recommend you invest a small amount of your hard-earned money into their brand new album by clicking HERE and selecting your favorite version of it, as this is among the best metal albums of the year hands down. It might have taken a little longer than expected for Mr. Randy Blythe and his henchmen to released their new album due to all this horrifying and tedious COVID-19 pandemic, but at least the wait is over and, if you look on the bright side of life, all the wait was relatively worth it, making us insanely eager to see what Lamb of God had to offer us all in such obscure times. Needless to say, they didn’t disappoint at all, with their self-titled installment certainly fueling their inner selves to keep composing and delivering more of their unique Groove Metal for many years to come. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for metal concerts to be back on, buy your tickets to see Lamb of God live, and witness them kicking some serious ass with both their classics and the new fulminating songs from their new album, just the way we like it.

Best moments of the album: Memento Mori, Gears, Reality Bath and Routes.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Epic Records/Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. Memento Mori 5:48
2. Checkmate 4:30
3. Gears 3:55
4. Reality Bath 4:32
5. New Colossal Hate 4:30
6. Resurrection Man 4:59
7. Poison Dream 4:57
8. Routes 3:04
9. Bloodshot Eyes 3:57
10. On the Hook 4:30

Band members
Randy Blythe – vocals
Willie Adler – guitar
Mark Morton – guitar
John Campbell – bass
Art Cruz – drums

Guest musicians
Jamey Jasta – vocals on “Poison Dream”
Chuck Billy – vocals on “Routes”

Album Review – Chthonic / Battlefields of Asura (2018)

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Embark on an adventurous journey with Taiwanese immortals to the sound of the new opus by the Taiwanese masters of Orient Metal.

It might have taken five years for one-of-a-kind Taiwanese Melodic Black/Death/Folk Metal icons Chthonic to strike again with their high-end fusion of a captivating storytelling and their unique and exotic music that several people like to call “Orient Metal”, but the excruciating wait was definitely worth it. Over those past years, since the release of their 2013 masterpiece Bú-Tik the five members of the band have turned new pages of their lives, with lead vocalist Freddy Lim (林昶佐) having organized a new political party and being successfully elected to a seat in the Taiwanese parliament. Nonetheless, they never forgot their promise to their fans to deliver a new album, culminating with the release of Battlefields of Asura (政治) now in 2018, the prequel of their four albums with related story including Seediq Bale (2005), Mirror of Retribution (2009), Takasago Army (2011) and the already mentioned Bú-Tik, all combined with the acoustic album from another dimension Timeless Sentence (2014), the expanded novel Day 578 After the War (2014), and the movie Tshiong (2017).

And the story told in Battlefields of Asura by Freddy and his bandmates Jesse Liu (劉笙彙) on the guitars, Doris Yeh (葉湘怡) on bass and backing vocals, CJ Kao (高嘉嶸) on keyboards, synths and piano, and Dani Wang (汪子驤) on drums throughout the album’s 11 tracks is an adventurous journey with Taiwanese immortals, as explained in detail in the band’s “Souls Resposed” series. What lies ahead is full hostility, murderous emotions, walls of iron that are difficult to conquer, and lusts and desires that are not easy to bid farewell to, but there is also courage that inspires infinity. At the end of the adventure, it turns out to be a quest for the perpetual prajna. When you feel tears on your face, that’s when you will finally realize this is where all the stories told in Chthonic’s past albums come from, always embraced by the band’s harmonious, thunderous and unparalleled metal music.

Drawing Omnipotence Nigh, featuring Fang-Yun Chen on dizi (a Chinese transverse flute), is an insurgent battle-like intro only Chthonic can offer us, setting the stage for  the melodic and imposing The Silent One’s Torch, the perfect opening for their upcoming live concerts with Dani dictating the rhythm with his piercing beats while Freddy’s roars grow in intensity and rage as the music progresses, not to mention CJ’s always inspiring keys. Even more harmonious and thrilling, Flames upon the Weeping Winds has all it takes to become a fan favorite, with Doris not only shaking the foundations of earth with her bass punches, but her backing vocals also sound superb; followed by A Crimson Sky’s Command, another inspiring creation by Chthonic where CJ’s keys and synths sound and feel the most “Taiwanese” of the entire album (if we can say so), with highlights to the passionate growls by Freddy and the cutting riffs by Jesse.

Featuring Lamb Of God’s own frontman Randy Blythe on additional vocals, Souls of the Revolution is a flammable and rebellious anthem thoroughly crafted by our beloved Taiwanese horde where Jesse and Dani are on absolute fire and in perfect sync, elevating the song’s impact to a whole new level (not to mention it’s perfect for singing along with the band), whereas Taste the Black Tears carries a beautiful name for a crushing and epic tune, with Doris and Dani spearheading the band into the battlefield. Furthermore, the keyboards and synths by CJ bring an extra dosage of epicness to the overall result, with the music flowing powerfully form start to finish. And in One Thousand Eyes a dense and bold intro evolves into classic Chthonic, with Freddy gnarling like a demonic entity while CJ brings balance to the sonic havoc blasted by the band with his smooth keys, all boosted by the song’s extremely effective and exciting backing vocals and Jesse’s gripping guitar solo.

Chthonic Battlefields of Asura Box Set

Then we have Masked Faith, a whimsical and at the same time fierce bridge to Carved in Bloodstone, bringing elements form Epic Metal to their core Orient Metal. However, what starts in a promising way loses its strength after a while despite its imposing backing vocals and pounding drums, but that doesn’t last long as Chthonic are back on track with the fulminating Millennia’s Faith Undone, featuring Denise Ho (also known as HOCC) on vocals and Su-nung Chao on erhu (or hiân-á violin). This is undoubtedly the closest song to their previous installments Bú-Tik and Takasago Army, sounding epic, dense and electrifying, with highlights to the slashing work done by the band’s stringed duo Jesse and Doris, resulting in a true battle hymn by those unrelenting Taiwanese metallers, flowing into the ominous and stylish outro Autopoiesis. In addition, don’t forget to check the song’s acoustic version called Millennia’s Faith Undone (The Aeon’s Wraith Version), just as epic as the regular one.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a longtime fan of Chthonic or a newcomer to their sonic realm of rebellion and war, you’ll certainly have a blast listening to the top-of-the-line music found in Battlefields of Asura, proving why they’re perhaps the best metal band the East has ever provided the world. Needless to say, this is a must-have album in your metal collection, available at several locations such as IndieMerch, but if I were you I would go for the Battlefields of Asura Box Set available from the Ciong Zo webstore, including a long-sleeve shirt reflecting the song “Flames upon the Weeping Winds”, a cap reflecting the song “A Crimson Sky’s Command”, prayer beads reflecting the song “One Thousand Eyes”, a badge of honor reflecting the song “Taste the Black Tears”, a candle cup reflecting the song “The Silent One’s Torch”, the Taiwanese version of the album in CD format,  a special “Millennia’s Faith Undone (The Aeon’s Wraith Version)” 7″ vinyl single, and a treasure box reflecting the song “Carved in Bloodstone”. Then, and only then, you’ll be properly (and fully) armed to join Freddy, Jesse, Doris, CJ and Dani into the Battlefields of Asura.

Best moments of the album: Flames upon the Weeping Winds, Souls of the Revolution, Taste the Black Tears and Millennia’s Faith Undone.

Worst moments of the album: Carved in Bloodstone.

Released in 2018 Ciong Zo

Track listing
1. Drawing Omnipotence Nigh (feat. Fang-Yun Chen) 2:07
2. The Silent One’s Torch 4:02
3. Flames upon the Weeping Winds 3:10
4. A Crimson Sky’s Command 3:31
5. Souls of the Revolution (feat. Randy Blythe) 4:39
6. Taste the Black Tears 4:49
7. One Thousand Eyes 5:15
8. Masked Faith 2:18
9. Carved in Bloodstone 2:57
10. Millennia’s Faith Undone (feat. Denise Ho & Su-nung Chao) 5:05
11. Autopoiesis 2:04

English Version bonus track
12. “Battlefields of Asura” Album Concept Description by Freddy Lim 1:55

Limited Edition Box Set Disc 2 (Vinyl) bonus track
12. Millennia’s Faith Undone (The Aeon’s Wraith Version) 6:15

Band members
Freddy Lim (林昶佐) – vocals, erhu
Jesse Liu (劉笙彙) – guitars
Doris Yeh (葉湘怡) – bass, backing vocals
CJ Kao (高嘉嶸) – keyboards, synths, piano
Dani Wang (汪子驤) – drums

Guest musicians
Randy Blythe – additional vocals on “Souls of the Revolution”
Denise Ho – female vocals on “Millennia’s Faith Undone”
Fang-Yun Chen – dizi on “Drawing Omnipotence Nigh”
Su-nung Chao – erhu on “Millennia’s Faith Undone”
Chi-Jen Chen, Ching-Lan Hsu, Chun-Yu Yang, Hsiang-yi Wei, Hsuan-Yi Chen, Joey Kuo, Po-Jen Liao & Wei-Shun Liu – backing vocals, choirs

Concert Review – Slayer (Budweiser Stage, Toronto, ON, 05/29/2018)

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And Slayer said goodbye to Toronto in the most pulverizing (and best) way you can imagine.

OPENING ACTS: Testament, Behemoth, Anthrax and Lamb Of God

I don’t know what to say about the absolute devastation that happened at the always perfect (and I dare you to name one place in this planet that’s better than that for a live concert) Budweiser Stage yesterday in Toronto. When it was announced that there was going to be a Slayer Farewell Tour, I guess they forgot to say it was going to be a farewell to their diehard fans, brave people who lost their lives while crushing their heads and spines into the nonstop, infernal mosh pits that took over the entire venue (and I believe I saw some smaller ones even in the seated areas) during the more than SIX HOURS of brutal Thrash and Death Metal blasted by some of the best bands in the history of heavy music. As a matter of fact, whoever had the initial idea of putting together on the same day/night the great Testament, Behemoth, Anthrax, Lamb Of God and Slayer deserves a huge prize and our utmost respect forever. It was totally and amazingly insane from start to finish, on a beyond beautiful and sunny day in the city. My neck hurts and I’m as tired as hell, so I’ll try to be brief in writing a little about what was supposed to be the last fulminating performance by the almighty Slayer in Toronto (and I really, really hope it was not the last time we saw those guys here).

It was past 4pm when the gates finally opened and the fans could enter the venue for some beer, for getting a little shade away from the scorching sun, and for a few curious ones to enjoy the official pre-show party with Canadian Black Metal horde Panzerfaust at the River Bar at 4:30pm. As I was dying for a beer and pumped up already for TESTAMENT at 5pm, I unfortunately couldn’t attend that mini-gig, but I guess the band won’t be mad at us for doing that, right? Anyway, at 5 o’clock high there they were Chuck Billy, Eric Peterson, Alex Skolnick, Steve Di Giorgio and the demonic stone crusher Gene Hoglan for a short and demolishing lecture in Thrash Metal, still promoting their latest installment, the flawless Brotherhood Of The Snake, from 2016. It was insanity in the form of seven faster-than-a-bullet songs (who doesn’t love the thrashing classic Into the Pit?), with the bestial drums by Gene sounding like he was hired by TTC to help with the excavations for a new subway station, making our chests and even hats tremble with his beats. Yes, as awesome as that.

Setlist
Brotherhood of the Snake
Rise Up
Practice What You Preach
The Pale King
Into the Pit
The New Order
Disciples of the Watch

Band members
Chuck Billy – vocals
Eric Peterson – guitar
Alex Skolnick – guitar
Steve Di Giorgio – bass
Gene Hoglan – drums

After a short bathroom break, it was time for Poland’s most iconic metal band of all time to darken the stage with their blasphemous and sulfuric music. Polish Blackened Death Metal institution BEHEMOTH lived up to the expectations even playing a shorter setlist than usual (and at daylight, something they might not be used to), mixing classics with kick-ass songs from their latest album, their 2014 opus The Satanist, plus a brand new song named Wolves ov Siberia. Mr. Adam “Nergal” Darski was on fire throughout the entire performance, proving why he’s one of the most respected metal artists of the past decade, leaving the fans eager for more of their obscure music in a not-so-distant future. One funny thing is that Behemoth were the only band to not throw to the fans any guitar picks or drumsticks, but instead they were spitting blood on the people at the front row. If that doesn’t tell you how dark their music is, I don’t know what would.

Setlist
Ov Fire and the Void
Demigod
Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
Wolves ov Siberia
Chant for Eschaton 2000
O Father O Satan O Sun!

Band members
Adam “Nergal” Darski – lead vocals, guitars
Patryk Dominik “Seth” Sztyber – guitars
Tomasz “Orion” Wróblewski – bass guitar
Zbigniew Robert “Inferno” Promiński – drums and percussion

Another bathroom break, another beer, and at 6:55pm sharp (don’t you feel amazed with how punctual all events are in Toronto?) it was time for the old school, slamming, riff-oriented Thrash Metal by the one and only ANTHRAX, who (guess what?) delivered a sequence of seven ass-kicking, frantic songs, including Evil Twin, from their 2016 album For All Kings, and beautiful classics such as I Am the Law, Madhouse and Indians. Scott Ian and Frank Bello were in their usual “I’m playing on stage but I’m also moshing up here together with you guys in the pit” mode, while Joey Belladonna was beyond happy with the warm reaction of the fans to each one of their songs. The low point of the show was that unfortunately Charlie Benante couldn’t play with the band as a result of an ongoing battle with carpal tunnel in his wrists, but the good thing is that he was replaced by the monstrous Gene Hoglan. Do I need to say more? In addition, Mr. Belladonna said that the concert yesterday was Anthrax’s biggest crowd ever in Toronto, and I’m sure everyone who was there banging their heads to their music was more than happy to have been part of such important day to the band.

Setlist
Caught in a Mosh
Got the Time (Joe Jackson cover)
I Am the Law
Madhouse
Evil Twin
Antisocial (Trust cover)
Indians

Band members
Joey Belladonna – lead vocals
Jon Donais – lead guitar
Scott Ian – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Frank Bello – bass guitar, backing vocals
Gene Hoglan – drums*

*Replaced Charlie Benante due to illness.

After all the havoc generated by Testament, Behemoth and Anthrax, there was still more to come with Groove Metal titans LAMB OF GOD, still promoting their 2015 album VII: Sturm und Drang, and let me tell you the show was so heavy and insane I think some people went missing after the demented circle pits ignited by Mr. Randy Blythe and his henchmen. Playing a solid mix of songs from all of their albums, with all of them of course being as brutal as hell, Lamb Of God put a huge smile on the faces of their diehard fans, with Randy also praising all the bands of the “mini-festival”, requesting everyone to pay a humble tribute to the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair with a few WOOOOO’s, and jumping up and down like a maniac on stage nonstop. Well, everything a Redneck loves in life, right? And please correct me if I’m wrong, but was Randy wearing some sort of ankle monitor still due to the manslaughter case he was involved and arrested for a few years ago? If that’s the case, well, that’s what I call a badass frontman, ladies and gentlemen.

Setlist
Omerta
Ruin
Walk With Me in Hell
Now You’ve Got Something to Die For
512
Engage the Fear Machine
Blacken the Cursed Sun
Laid to Rest
Redneck

Band members
Randy Blythe – vocals
Willie Adler – guitar
Mark Morton – guitar
John Campbell – bass
Chris Adler – drums

SLAYER

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” It’s with these classic words that I want to introduce you to the end of all days in the form of the Satanic Thrash Metal blasted by the heaviest, the most awesome and the most destructive band in the world, the all-powerful SLAYER. Actually, I should say FUCKIN’ SLAYER, or even SLAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR, as this is the right way to refer to the unrelenting Tom Araya, Kerry King, Gary Holt and the second stone crusher of the night, the barbaric Paul Bostaph (another guy that probably got some money from TTC to speed up the subway excavations yesterday). Playing at least one song from each one of their crushing albums, from their 1983 masterpiece Show No Mercy to their 2015 opus Repentless (with the exception of their 1998 controversial album Diabolus in Musica), Slayer put on a flammable performance (and I’m not using the word flammable in vain, as there was A LOT of fire during the whole concert), turning the entire floor section into one supreme, hot-as-hell, motherfuckin’ savage circle pit.

And that mix of classic Slayer with their more contemporary albums workd extremely well, creating a hellish balance of sounds for the total delectation of all admirers of their undisputed Thrash Metal. It was fantastic watching them performing faster, newer tunes like Repentless, Disciple, Hate Worldwide and Jihad, while at the same time delivering their classic infernal melodies in Mandatory Suicide, Postmortem and Black Magic. For instance, in my humble opinion the sequence comprised of Payback (one of the most pulverizing songs of the night), Seasons in the Abyss, Dittohead and Dead Skin Mask simply proves how timeless their music is, and how important they’ll always be to the world of heavy music. Then from Hell Awaits until the grand finale with the all-time classic Angel of Death it was an absolute chaos, with the circle pit getting bigger and bigger, people screaming at the top of their lungs and crowd surfing nonstop like if there was no tomorrow, and sweat and beer flowing everywhere. And I’m not going to say how cataclysmic the metal hymn Raining Blood was. If you were not there, you don’t deserve to know.

One thing I’ll never understand is how Mr. Paul Bostaph managed to play drums at that insane speed and intensity with all those blistering hot fires burning almost all the time all around his drum set. I think that proves he’s not human, as none of the guys from Slayer are. As a matter of fact, Slayer are a four-headed, rabid beast that would make even the “hound of Hades” Cerberus put his tail between his legs and run away, and if this was in fact their farewell tour, well, they’ll be beyond missed by all of us, diehard Slayer fans who consider Dead Skin Mask one of the best “ballads” ever composed by any band. Let’s wait and see if we’ll be treated to at least one more Slayer apocalypse in Toronto in the coming years as a second, third or whatever leg of their farewell tour, I don’t care, as long as they return. Now it’s time to take some rest from all madness from yesterday, do the body count (and maybe there are even some bodies floating in Lake Ontario near the venue), take a deep breath and keep doing what we all know how to at home, at school, at work or anywhere else where some good and reverberating screaming in required. And you know what word you need to burst your lungs screaming, right?

Setlist
Delusions of Saviour
Repentless
Blood Red
Disciple
Mandatory Suicide
Hate Worldwide
War Ensemble
Jihad
When the Stillness Comes
Postmortem
Black Magic
Payback
Seasons in the Abyss
Dittohead
Dead Skin Mask
Hell Awaits
South of Heaven
Raining Blood
Chemical Warfare
Angel of Death

Band members
Tom Araya – vocals, bass guitar
Kerry King – guitar
Gary Holt – guitar
Paul Bostaph – drums

Album Review – Body Count / Bloodlust (2017)

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Controversy, acidity and hatred are just some of the main ingredients in one of the heaviest and most complete albums in the career of the bloodthirsty Ice-T, Ernie C and Co.

We as human beings all got a deranged sickness deeply rooted inside our minds, a will to kill for sport and for revenge, an inner desire to make the ones who disagree with us or who hurt us suffer in pain, and that’s exactly what the iconic Ice-T and his henchmen, collectively known as American Thrash/Groove Metal band Body Count, have to offer us in their new installment, the excellent Bloodlust. Since their inception in 1990 in Los Angeles, the band has been delivering a high quality hybrid of Groove Metal and Hip Hop, but in Bloodlust they managed to increase the heaviness of their compositions significantly, resulting in what can be considered their most metal album of all time.

Not only Bloodlust is the sixth studio album in their solid career, but the controversy, acidity and hatred flowing from each one of the album’s 11 tracks puts it almost side by side with their cult self-titled debut album, from 1992. That only shows how passionate Ice-T and the other are about heavy music, always playing it with a lot of energy, trying to send a clear message to their fans and showing the bitter truth of the lives of the less fortunate people in the United States and all over the world. Besides, when you have guest musicians the likes of Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God) and Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Sepultura), you know the music will hit you in the face like an uncontrolled bulldozer.

Loud sirens and the more-than-special guest Mr. Dave Mustaine himself declare martial law, before Body Count begin delivering sheer heaviness, chaos and groove in the opening track, the awesome Civil War, with Ice-T having a fantastic performance with his hostile rap-like vocals, resulting in one of their darkest compositions to date; and keep banging your head to the always boisterous riffs by Ernie C and Juan of the Dead while Ill Will smashes his drums mercilessly in this Groove Metal anthem The Ski Mask Way. Needless to say, the song’s lyrics are as aggressive as hell (“I’m in your rear view, when you leave the club / How cold could I be, you look like food to me / All on instagram, showin’ that cash off / What you really hope, is I don’t take this mask off don’t make me punish you don’t want to hurt your wife / Come up off that watch, it ain’t worth your life / I gotta crew of wolves, life has no meaning / We roll late night and hunt human beings”). Slowing the pace down a bit and increasing the groove considerably, This Is Why We Ride is a song where Ice-T is nicely supported by the excellent job done by Vincent Price on bass and Ill Will on drums, not to mention that the sounds of the shots and the sirens of the cops together with the insane heaviness blasted by the band will crack your neck mercilessly.

If you’re already feeling that pain in your neck after such intense headbanging music, All Love Is Lost will terminate it for good. Featuring the unparalleled growls by guest Max Cavalera, the vocals in this song burst with acidity while the instrumental pieces are a work of anger. Moreover, Ernie C and Juan sound like two serial killers slitting throats with their bestial riffs. Then the band offers us a fantastic version of two all-time classics by Slayer, Raining In Blood / Postmortem 2017, with Ice-T kicking ass on “Raining Blood” while Vincent Price takes care of the vocal duties on “Postmortem”. Furthermore, the intro to the song is already a lot of fun, with Ice-T explaining the origins of Body Count saying he wanted to have a Heavy Metal and Hip-Hop band by blending the music by Black Sabbath, Suicidal Tendencies and, of course, Slayer. God, Please Believe Me works as a poetic bridge by Ice-T and his crew to the fulminating Walk With Me…, one of my favorite songs of the album where guest singer Randy Blythe vociferates like a beast, while Ill Will sounds insane on drums and Ice-T is just as rabid as Randy. This is a flawless hybrid of Thrash, Groove and Rap Metal, showcasing even hints of Death Metal, perfect for stage diving, mosh pitting and sick headbanging due to its beyond brutal rhythm.

Here I Go Again, a re-recording of a demo track from Ice T’s Return of the Real sessions, brings a somber ambience with Ice-T delivering some darker-than-usual vocals, with its instrumental being pretty solid which results in an effective support to the craziness flowing from the song’s lyrics and the demented screams in the background. Then we have the controversial No Lives Matter, another high-end explosion of Groove Metal by Body Count which blends their heavy music with an austere discussion about the issues surrounding the “Black Lives Matter” initiative. Put differently, it’s an extremely politicized tune with insane bass lines by Vincent and a great performance by Sean E Sean with his samplers, paving the track for the title-track Bloodlust, a song about our attraction for death and brutality, about the inner desire of mankind for killing, portraying it as a sickness inside our hearts and minds. While Ernie C and Juan fire fierce and melodious riffs, Ill Will continues his technical and groovy attack on drums, showing how amazing this song will sound when played live.

And if you think Ice-T and his henchmen would give you a break from all their sonic havoc, they come crushing one last time with the best song of the album as their closing act, the flammable Black Hoodie, an amalgamation of their past, present and future where poetry and violence are powerfully united (“Got on a black hoodie, its hood up on my head / I didn’t have a gun so why am I dead / You didn’t have to shoot me and that’s a known fact / And now I’m laying face down with bullets in my back”), with all instruments exhaling metallic and belligerent sounds while Ice-T keeps rapping nonstop.

It deosn’t matter if you are a metalhead that’s not very fond of rap or a rapper that doesn’t get too excited to the sound of a heavy riff, when you have an album like Bloodlust (which by the way you can find in different bundles at the Control Industry webstore) on your hands it’s almost mandatory that you start banging your head to Body Count, acknowledging they are indeed the biggest exponent in the history of Rap Metal and one of the most fun acts from the 90’s that’s still alive and kicking without sounding Jurassic. And I’m pretty sure the counting of bodies done by Ice-T, Ernie C and Co. is far from being over.

Best moments of the album: Civil War, Walk With Me…, Bloodlust and Black Hoodie.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2017 Century Media

Track listing   
1. Civil War (feat. Dave Mustaine) 4:23
2. The Ski Mask Way 3:36
3. This Is Why We Ride 5:26
4. All Love Is Lost (feat. Max Cavalera) 3:36
5. Raining In Blood / Postmortem 2017 (Slayer cover) 4:31
6. God, Please Believe Me 1:23
7. Walk With Me… (feat. Randy Blythe) 3:07
8. Here I Go Again 3:32
9. No Lives Matter 4:23
10. Bloodlust 3:34
11. Black Hoodie 3:29

Band members
Ice-T – vocals
Ernie C – lead guitar, backing vocals
Juan of the Dead – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Vincent Price – bass, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Postmortem”
Ill Will – drums
Sean E Sean – sampler, backing vocals
Little Ice – backing vocals

Guest musicians
Dave Mustaine – spoken word and lead guitar on “Civil War”
Max Cavalera – additional vocals on “All Love Is Lost”
Randy Blythe – additional vocals on “Walk With Me…”