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Concert Review – Lord of the Lost (The Opera House, Toronto, ON, 09/18/2024)

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And Lord of the Lost dragged us all to hell on their second electrifying concert in Canadian lands this Wednesday night in Toronto.

OPENING ACT: Julien-K

A few hours after the more-than-epic show by LORD OF THE LOST in Montreal, it was time to drive back to Toronto for round two at  The Opera House, again featuring JULIEN-K as the opener, as part of the band’s US + Canada 2024 tour. At first I thought The Opera House was bigger than the Beanfield Theatre in Montreal, but after searching for both online I found out that the difference in capacity is only of 25 people (The Opera House can fit 950 people, while the Beanfield Theatre fits 925). Maybe the fact that the floor section at The Opera House is bigger gives that impression, I don’t know, but what really matters is that LOTL were once again stunned by their Canadian fans, this time by a loud and vibrant Toronto crowd, who might not have been as rowdy as the fans in Montreal, but still VERY loud. And what’s even better is that I was joined in Toronto by my buddy Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi, which is the reason why the photos are way better than my crappy mobile ones from Montreal.

As I was able to watch more of the show by Los Angeles, California’s own Electronic Rock act JULIEN-K in Toronto, I can confirm what I said in the review for Montreal, that they were an amazing opener for LOTL and that everyone inside The Opera House had a great time during their show. Their closing song, a cover version for Blue Monday, by New Order, sounded fantastic, some sort of tribute to their previous band Orgy who blew up in popularity for covering that same track. As mentioned in the review for Montreal, you can listen to more of the music by Julien-K on BandCamp and on Spotify, getting your electronic vein pulsing strong to the sound of one of the torchbearers of the style in the American scene.

Setlist
Futura
Deep Beat Overground
Fractured
All That Glitters
Your Tears Mean Nothing
The Hydra
Undo Everything
Stronger Without You
Blue Monday (New Order cover)

Band members
Ryan Shuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
Amir Derakh – lead guitar, samples, keyboards, synthesizers, bass
Galen Waling – drums

LORD OF THE LOST

If you’re feelin’ down depressed and lonely, I know a place where we can go, and no, that’s not 22 Acacia Avenue, but any concert by LORD OF THE LOST, like the awesome one in Toronto this Wednesday night. I honestly don’t know how bands like LOTL can play with so much energy night after night and never get tired, liked what they did playing in Montreal this Tuesday night, and in Toronto exactly 24 hours after. The band was as sharp and electrifying as the night before, kicking some ass on the beautiful stage at The Opera House on another sold out (or almost sold out) show, and once again that adrenaline kept flowing from the band to their fans and back, turning the venue into another amazing rock and metal party.

The setlist was the same as the one in Montreal, which means the Toronto crowd had the same fuel to have a great time together with the band, and the energy blasted by Chris & Co. on stage was just as amazing as well. As a band that continues to evolve and explore new horizons, the newer songs from their 2022 album Blood & Glitter were the ones with the loudest reactions from the crowd, which as mentioned was not as wild as Montreal not because of the band, but simply due to the nature of fans in Toronto, always a bit calmer than their Québécois friends. The dancing, fist pumping, jumping around and screaming were all there, of course, and the band loved every single second of their time interacting with their “new” fans, because they might have played countless times already in their homeland Germany, but their happiness playing in Canada was the same as the one form a band that’s just starting their career. Yes, they were that happy and excited.

Closer to the end of the show, Chris mentioned that it was really insane to be playing in Canada, something unimaginable to any of them a few years ago, and that they’ll surely return to Canadian lands sooner than later (also mentioning the fact that getting their visas to Canada is way easier and cheaper than to the United States). I trust Chris one hundred percent when he says they’ll come back, because that was by far one of the wildest couple of shows I’ve seen in the past few years, with the deep connection built between the band and their fans in Montreal and Toronto being a thing of beauty. Who knows, maybe LOTL are going to be the next big thing in Canada, playing at bigger venues, attracting more and more people to their shows, and if that happens they absolutely deserve it, as they’re not only one of the most talented and innovative bands of the current scene, but they’re also really nice guys who are just starting to discover how fun Canada is and how passionate the fans here can be. In other words, see you soon, LOTL!

Setlist
The Curtain Falls
The Future of a Past Life
Dry the Rain
Loreley
Destruction Manual
For They Know Not What They Do
Raining Stars
Sex on Legs
Six Feet Underground
Born With a Broken Heart
Die Tomorrow
Black Halo
Forevermore
Drag Me to Hell
Blood for Blood
Unstoppable (Sia cover)
Shock to the System (Billy Idol cover)
Blood & Glitter
One Last Song

Band members
Chris “The Lord” Harms – lead vocals, guitars, cello
Pi “π” Stoffers – guitars, backing vocals
Benjamin “Benji” Mundigler – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
Klaas “Class Grenayde” Helmecke – bass, backing vocals
Gerrit “Gared Dirge” Heinemann – piano, keyboards, percussion, guitars, theremin
Niklas Kahl – drums

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Concert Review – Lord of the Lost (Beanfield Theatre, Montreal, QC, 09/17/2024)

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When the curtain fell in Montreal, no one was left alone by Lord of the Lost in one of the most memorable concerts in their entire career this Tuesday night.

OPENING ACT: Julien-K

As Billy Idol would say, It was a night, Montreal, burning bright, oh what a night at Théâtre Beanfield (or Beanfield Theatre) when German Dark Rock/Heavy Metal band LORD OF THE LOST, supported by JULIEN-K, played for the first time ever in Canadian lands this Tuesday night as part of their US + Canada 2024 tour, and based on the reaction of the crowd during their entire show I’m sure it wasn’t the last time we saw those guys in the Great White North. I must say the venue was also amazing. It was my first time there and I can’t wait to travel all the way to Montreal to see more of my favorite bands playing there. Not only that, the weather in Montreal was also beyond perfect, around +25oC and sunny, turning the whole day into a memorable experience for both the fans and the band.

I’ll be honest and say I didn’t see much of the concert by Los Angeles, California-based Electronic Rock act JULIEN-K (due to other commitments prior to the show), which began as a side project for electronic music created by Amir Derakh and Ryan Shuck from Orgy, alongside Anthony ‘Fu’ Valcic, and that sounds a lot like a fusion of Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, New Order, Ministry and Marilyn Manson, but I guess everyone at the venue enjoyed a lot their performance. They recently released the albums Harmonic Disruptor, in 2020, and Unauthorized Live In Europe, in 2021, and if you’re curious to know more about them you can find their music on BandCamp and on Spotify. I personally believe they were a great choice to open for Lord of the Lost, properly warming up all fans at the venue for the main attraction of the night, and even if electronic music is not my cup of tea I need to say they’re really good in what they do.

Setlist
Futura
Deep Beat Overground
Fractured
All That Glitters
Your Tears Mean Nothing
The Hydra
Undo Everything
Stronger Without You
Blue Monday (New Order cover)

Band members
Ryan Shuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, keyboards
Amir Derakh – lead guitar, samples, keyboards, synthesizers, bass
Galen Waling – drums

LORD OF THE LOST

It might have taken years for LORD OF THE LOST to finally pay a visit to Canada, but the wait was absolutely worth it as Chris Harms and his henchmen simply destroyed the Beanfield Theatre with a flawless performance overflowing electricity, heaviness and passion, putting every single person at the venue to jump up and down, dance, raise their horns and fists and scream out loud together with the band. Their setlist was amazing, showcasing a great balance between all of their old material with their latest released Blood & Glitter (2022) and Weapons of Mass Seduction (2023). The first few songs, including The Curtain Falls, Dry the Rain and Loreley, already gave us a very good taste of how awesome the whole night was going to be, and the louder the reaction of the fans was, the better the band was on stage and vice-versa.

A few songs sounded utterly powerful in Montreal, like Six Feet Underground, Die Tomorrow, Drag Me to Hell, and Blood for Blood, where by the way Chris invited everyone at the venue to do the “one-person mosh pit” (which is basically jumping and spinning around alone), and let me tell you that all fans loved that moment, with huge smiles on everyone’s faces. Pi Stoffers and Niklas Kahl were ruthless armed with their respective guitars and drums, adding a humongous dosage of heaviness to the band’s music, therefore sounding even heavier than in the studio, (something I personally loved as a fan of extreme music), and that translated into a lot of headbanging, dancing and clapping from the audience for the total delectation of the band. To be fair, the whole band was spot-on, precise and on fire, playing all songs to perfection, with the ending of the show including their cover versions for Sia’s Unstoppable and Billy Idol’s Shock to the System (the biggest surprise of the night for me), plus of course their classics Blood & Glitter and One Last Song, being the icing on the cake to their breathtaking show.

All band members were visibly very emotional during and after the show, with Chris repeating several times it was a dream come true for them to be in Canada, and that they didn’t expect such a big turnout on a Tuesday night in a country they had never played before. He also said Canada is the 40th country they’ve ever played at now, and that they will surely return in a not-so-distant future. I’m sure all fans who attended their concert can’t wait for another round of LOTL madness in the city, and I’ll make sure I find some time in my busy agenda to see them again in Montreal because that show was definitely mind blowing. There was “round 2” in Toronto the next day after a six-hour drive back home, but that will be covered in a separate review. For now, all I can say is that LOTL are Montreal, and Montreal is LOTL.

Setlist
The Curtain Falls
The Future of a Past Life
Dry the Rain
Loreley
Destruction Manual
For They Know Not What They Do
Raining Stars
Sex on Legs
Six Feet Underground
Born With a Broken Heart
Die Tomorrow
Black Halo
Forevermore
Drag Me to Hell
Blood for Blood
Unstoppable (Sia cover)
Shock to the System (Billy Idol cover)
Blood & Glitter
One Last Song

Band members
Chris “The Lord” Harms – lead vocals, guitars, cello
Pi “π” Stoffers – guitars, backing vocals
Benjamin “Benji” Mundigler – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals
Klaas “Class Grenayde” Helmecke – bass, backing vocals
Gerrit “Gared Dirge” Heinemann – piano, keyboards, percussion, guitars, theremin
Niklas Kahl – drums

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Album Review – Burning Witches / Dance with the Devil (2020)

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The witches are back to mesmerize us all and put us to dance with them forever and ever to the sound of their incendiary Heavy Metal.

Swiss Heavy/Power Metal outfit Burning Witches is by far one of the hottest exports from the Alpine Republic since the release of their self-titled debut album in 2017, receiving a very positive feedback from fans and critics from all over the world. Formed in 2015 in Brugg, a Swiss municipality and a town in the canton of Aargau, the band currently comprised of Dutch newcomer Laura Guldemond on vocals (replacing the band’s original singer Seraina Telli in 2019), Romana Kalkuhl and Sonia Nusselder on the guitars, Jeanine Grob on bass and Lala Frischknecht on drums is ready to show the world everything they got once again with their third full-length installment Dance with the Devil, the follow-up to their highly acclaimed sophomore album Hexenhammer, released in 2018, and a lesson in Heavy Metal by five talented ladies who have always loved and breathed heavy music that will certainly inspire you to raise your horns and bang your head like there’s no tomorrow.

An eerie, mesmerizing intro titled The Incantation captivates our senses for the infernal Lucid Nightmare, with Romana and Sonia blasting sheer adrenaline through their sick riffage. Put differently, it’s classic Heavy Metal from the 80’s with Laura kicking some serious ass with her witch-like, soaring vocals, setting the bar really high for the rest of the album. Then it’s time to dance with our beloved Swiss witches in the title-track Dance with the Devil, a Hard Rock extravaganza led by Lala’s spot-on beats and Laura’s stunning vocals while the band’s stringed trio fills every single space in the air with adrenaline and electricity; followed by Wings of Steel, originally released in their 2019 EP Wings of Steel, a pure Heavy Metal tune showcasing the band’s dexterity and passion for what they do, all spiced up by Romana’s and Sonia’s classy guitar solos.

And Laura keeps blasting her high-pitched, piercing vocal lines in Six Feet Underground, another solid tune where Jeanine and Lala make the earth tremble with their low-tuned, metallic weapons, whereas in Black Magic we’re treated to an introspective, melancholic intro where Laura beautifully declaims the song’s words, evolving into a stunning ballad presenting passionate guitar solos and an ethereal atmosphere, showing a more delicate side of the band. Less visceral than the previous songs but still heavy-as-hell, Sea of Lies is a good composition bringing to our ears a great performance by Lala on drums, providing her bandmates a solid base for them to effectively slash their strings, while a Judas Priest-inspired riff kick off the metallic anthem The Sisters of Fate, perfect for banging your head nonstop with the girls or for hitting the road with your loved ones. This is the epitome of the band’s killer Heavy Metal with a Rock N’ Roll twist, with their guitar riffs and solos penetrating deep inside our minds.

Necronomicon is one of the darkest and most devilish of all songs, with Laura impersonating a true witch with her raspy, demonic vocals while Jeanine doesn’t stop hammering her bass strings, also presenting more of the band’s razor-edged riffs and solos, and bringing forward Helloween-inspired riffs blended with the classic Hard Rock by bands like Europe and Survivor we have The Final Fight, another lesson in charisma and vocal potency by Laura, therefore highly recommended for singing along with the band. Then taking their heaviness to a new level the quintet blasts the battle anthem Threefold Return, presenting an old school shredding infused with rumbling bass punches and rhythmic drums which will please all fans of classic Heavy and Power Metal without a shadow of a doubt, and lastly we have their cover version for Manowar’s classic Battle Hymn, featuring guest guitarist Ross the Boss (Manowar, Ross the Boss) and guest bassist Mike LePond (Symphony X, Ross the Boss). This is a sensational rendition by the witches with a welcome feminine touch, and still as strong and insurgent as the original version (which you can take a listen at HERE).

If you consider yourself a true metalhead and you think you have what it takes to face the stunning metal witches from Switzerland, go check what they’re up to on Facebook and on Instagram, and of course go grab your copy of the breathtaking Dance with the Devil (also available for a full listen on Spotify) from the Nuclear Blast webstore in different formats by clicking HERE or HERE. Hence, after putting your hands on such entertaining album of heavy music, you’ll quickly realize the unrelenting Burning Witches have taken over your mind for good, inspiring you to dance with them forever and ever to the sound of their undisputed Heavy Metal.

Best moments of the album: Lucid Nightmare, Dance with the Devil, The Sisters of Fate and The Final Fight.

Worst moments of the album: Sea of Lies.

Released in 2020 Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. The Incantation 0:57
2. Lucid Nightmare 4:50
3. Dance with the Devil 4:26
4. Wings of Steel 4:29
5. Six Feet Underground 4:31
6. Black Magic 5:06
7. Sea of Lies 4:56
8. The Sisters of Fate 3:31
9. Necronomicon 4:12
10. The Final Fight 4:35
11. Threefold Return 3:56
12. Battle Hymn (Manowar cover) 6:55

Band members
Laura Guldemond – vocals
Romana Kalkuhl – guitars
Sonia Nusselder – guitars
Jeanine Grob – bass
Lala Frischknecht – drums

Guest musicians
Ross the Boss – guitars on “Battle Hymn”
Mike LePond – bass on “Battle Hymn”