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Concert Review – Cattle Decapitation (The Concert Hall, Toronto, ON, 12/06/2025)

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And Toronto partied like it was 1349 together with the mighty Cattle Decapitation on a emotional, memorable and heavy-as-hell night of extreme music.

OPENING ACTS: Grindmother, Tribal Gaze, Frozen Soul and Aborted

After seeing four albums played in full in the past couple of weeks, those being Rivers of Nihil (by Rivers of Nihil), Citadel and Exul (by Ne Obliviscaris), and Somewhere Far Beyond (by Blind Guardian), it was time for another absolute blast with album number five this Saturday, when the indomitable CATTLE DECAPITATION, with the support of GRINDMOTHER, TRIBAL GAZE, FROZEN SOUL and ABORTED, took the stage of The Concert Hall in Toronto with their No Fear For Tomorrow North American Tour 2025 to melt our faces with the full play of their 2019 bestial opus Death Atlas. That was maybe one of the heaviest and most emotional events brought to the city by Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment this year, and of course Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi and I were there to be part of such a phenomenal celebration of extreme music by some of the best bands of the current scene worldwide.

As it was a Saturday I managed to get to the venue just in time for the farewell concert by the mighty GRINDMOTHER, a 77-year old retired social worker from Canada whose footage from a rehearsal in 2016 went viral, having played over 50 times live with her bands across Germany, Japan, Canada and the United States (and you can enjoy all of her songs on BandCamp, by the way). In July 2025, she announced her retirement due to dementia, kicking ass on the stages in Montreal on Friday and in Toronto on Saturday as her way to say “thank you” and “au revoir” to all Canadians who have supported her through the years. In Toronto she had the phenomenal support of the she-wolf Chelsea Marrow of Blackened Death Metal beast Visitant (who I had the pleasure of chatting with for a brief moment) and of the electrifying Elizabeth Selfish of Crossover Hardcore act BRAT, adding even more adrenaline to a very emotional goodbye from the stages. I’m sure her son Rayny Forster, who plays bass with her live, is immensely proud of his mom, a strong and relentless woman who proved once again there’s no age limit when it comes to heavy music. It was an excellent warmup for the other bands of the night, and hopefully Grindmother can now enjoy her retirement in great fashion together with her family while listening to some ass-kicking Extreme Metal. Thank you for your music and for your passion for Heavy Metal, Grindmother!

Band members
Grindmother – vocals
Chelsea Marrow – vocals
Elizabeth Selfish – vocals
Topon Das – guitar
Rayny Forster – bass
Mathieu “Vil” Vilandré – drums

After a quick break it was time for Texas-based Death Metal brigade TRIBAL GAZE to ignite some wild mosh pits in the floor section with their short but extremely violent and heavy performance. Led by the charismatic frontman McKenna Holland, the band has just released the excellent Inveighing Brilliance, available on both BandCamp and on Spotify, which was basically what they played during their entire set. Songs like Smiling From Their Chariots and Emptying the Nest sounded inhumane live, with drummer Cesar De Los Santos dictating the pace of his own band and of the entire crowd, who went mental inside the pit and slammed like there’s no tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll hear more from those talented guys in a not-so-distant future, and I can’t wait to see one of their concerts again as they definitely know how to make our good old Death Metal sound incredible live.

Setlist
Smiling From Their Chariots
Emptying the Nest
To the Spoils of Faith
The Irreversible Sequence
Godless Voyage
Twitching on the Cross
Beyond Recognition

Band members
McKenna Holland – vocals
Quintin Stauts – guitars
Ian Kilmer – guitars
Zachary Denton – bass
Cesar De Los Santos – drums

The next attraction of the night is one of those bands you know they’ll quickly become a reference in the genre. I’m talking about Fort Worth, Texas’ own abominable men (and woman) FROZEN SOUL, bringing absolute chaos, frost and heaviness to the stage with their ruthless blend of old school Death Metal. Playing songs from their two awesome albums Crypt of Ice, form 2021, and Glacial Domination, from 2023 (both available on BandCamp and on Spotify), plus a few new killer tunes like Skinned by the Wind and Invoke War, from their upcoming yet-to-be-titled 2026 album, the band led by the unstoppable Chad Green on vocals (who also gave an emotional speech by dedicating one of the songs to his deceased younger brother, therefore showing a lot of heart) put everyone to slam, stage dive, crowd surf, and even do some push ups during their incredible performance, leaving us completely disoriented after all was said and done. One thing I must say about their concert is that the sound quality was superb, allowing the bass by the fantastic Samantha Mobley to punch us hard in the head for our total delight. Needless to say, she’ll (very) soon be one of our metal ladies of the month. I’m now desperate to listen to their upcoming album, because based on what we were able to witness this Saturday, it’s going to be a real banger. Hell yeah, winter is coming again, courtesy of one of the must-see names of the current Death Metal scene.

Setlist
Skinned by the Wind
Beat to Dust
Chaos Will Reign
Morbid Effigy
Merciless
Absolute Zero
Arsenal of War
Invoke War
Crypt of Ice

Band members
Chad Green – vocals
Chris Bonner – guitars
Michael Munday – guitars
Samantha Mobley – bass
Matt Dennard – drums

After everyone had a short break for having another beer, checking the merch stands, going to the washroom, or simply recovering their energies from the chaotic show by Frozen Soul, it was time to “get do da choppa!” together with the unparalleled Belgian Death Metal machine ABORTED, and oh boy, what an apocalyptic performance it was. Sven De Caluwé was not only on fire with his demented guttural, but he was also in his best comedian mode, impersonating the best action hero of all time, the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger, multiple times, making jokes with his own mother, and asking fans to do some jumping jacks during one of the songs (after pushups and jumping jacks, I was wondering if Cattle Decapitation were going to ask us to do some abs later). What an amazing frontman, and let’s say their setlist helped him a lot, with several songs form their 2024 masterpiece Vault of Horrors, including Dreadbringer, The Shape of Hate and Death Cult, plus classics the likes of Retrogore and The Saw and the Carnage Done, all available on BandCamp and on Spotify, setting fire to the atmosphere just like what happened during their headlining concert in Toronto in February. The icing on the cake happened when Darude’s pop hit Sandstorm was played over the speakers and Sven invited everyone to dance with him, showing we metalheads are not just anger, hatred and darkness. We can also dance. See you at the party, Sven!

Setlist
Dreadbringer
Retrogore
Brotherhood of Sleep
The Origin of Disease
Infinite Terror
The Shape of Hate
Death Cult
Insect Politics
Threading on Vermillion Deception / The Saw and the Carnage Done
Sandstorm (Darude song)

Band members
Sven De Caluwé – vocals
Daníel Máni Konráðsson – guitar
Ian Jekelis – guitar
????? – bass
Kévin Paradis – drums
Siebe Hermans – drums

CATTLE DECAPITATION

We witnessed an emotional farewell, had fun with two of of the new-ish names in Death Metal, and became part of a Belgian death cult this Saturday night. Was that enough for us avid metalheads? Of course not, because we still wanted to party like it was 1349 together with the almighty Progressive Death Metal/Grindcore creature CATTLE DECAPITATION, playing in full their 2019 opus Death Atlas, plus three songs form their 2023 killer album Terrasite, both available on BandCamp and on Spotify, and both paying “homage” to the putrid, gory and visceral downfall of the human race. It was pure Armageddon on stage, and of course that transpired to the floor section where the mosh pits were simply insane.

Anything I say about Travis Ryan at this point of his career is not enough to represent his importance, talent and passion in extreme music. The guy is unstoppable, ruthless, and his goblin screeches are one of those things you must experience live at least once in your miserable life. Songs like Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts, Vulturous, the phenomenal Bring Back the Plague, Death Atlas, and the humanity-is-doomed trio formed of A Photic Doom, We Eat Our Young and Scourge of the Offspring sounded brilliant live once again, and as Travis himself said they’ll be back in April or May I’m wondering if next time we’ll have Terrasite played in its entirety. I love when bands play their albums in full live, as I believe any album is meant to be listened in full without skipping any songs, so let’s wait and see what they’ll bring to the city in the coming months. I’ll be there for sure, because when Cattle Decapitation invites you to party (like it’s 1349), no is definitely NOT an answer.

Setlist
Death Atlas
Anthropogenic: End Transmission
The Geocide
Be Still Our Bleeding Hearts
Vulturous
The Great Dying, Pt 1
One Day Closer to the End of the World
Bring Back the Plague
Absolute Destitute
The Great Dying, Pt. 2
Finish Them
With All Disrespect
Time’s Cruel Curtain
The Unerasable Past
Death Atlas

Encore:
A Photic Doom
We Eat Our Young
Scourge of the Offspring

Band members
Travis Ryan – vocals
Josh Elmore – lead guitars
Belisario Dimuzio – rhythm guitars
Diego Soria – bass
David McGraw – drums

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Concert Review – Korpiklaani & Ensiferum (The Concert Hall, Toronto, ON, 03/03/2025)

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***Review by Kevin Ibbitson and photos by Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi***

OPENING ACTS: NiNi and Trollfest

KORPIKLAANI and ENSIFERUM are two of my favourite bands and it’s been way too long since I seen them last, like over a decade ago. So you could imagine that it was time for me to add new merch to my growing collection during their Folkfest Of The North Tour 2025 concert in Toronto at The Concert Hall, brought to the city by Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. To be honest, I have also out grown my current tees and I was looking forward to replacing them. My brother Keith and I arrived early to get a good spot in line to facilitate the process of procuring said merch as soon as the doors opened. My brother Keith, who is the photographer for the Headbanging Moose, had with him two exquisite poster-sized photos of Korpiklaani’s lead singer Jonne Järvelä from the last time they played Toronto, hoping to get them autographed at the meet and greet for V.I.P. ticket holders even though we didn’t have meet and greet tickets. We did have a volunteer in the front of the line who was willing to do it for us and we accepted the opportunity with much appreciation. Right at that exact moment Korpiklaani just happened to be walking by and my brother showed him the photos of which got Jonne enthusiastic approval. That being said, the doors opened a little later than expected but the process of entry went smoothly so off to the merch stand I went. I was about fifth or sixth in line and was happier than a pig in shit when Korpiklaani’s tour manager told me that they had plenty in my size. The problem was that merch wasn’t fully set up yet and so we all had to wait twenty minutes before we got served but to my great disappointment, when it was my turn, they couldn’t find anything in my size (3XL). As you could imagine I felt dejected and super disappointed that I had wasted 20 minutes in line for nothing and that I would not be able to get a good spot against the barrier at the front of the stage but luckily I found a decent spot to the left of the stage. My attitude for the opening act was a bit downcast as I was still stewing about the merch debacle.

Taiwanese musician NINI and her band took the stage to open the show and they proceeded to entertain us with their blend of traditional Chinese folk instruments fused with modern metal. Normally I would be totally into that sort of thing but it took me a while to get into it, no fault of theirs, they were great by the way. Nini was colourfully dressed in her traditional silk costume and looked absolutely adorable as she shredded out a short set complete with her rendition of duelling banjos and flight of the bumblebees. Nini is superbly talented in traditional Chinese instruments as well as playing modern guitars and the band was quite impressive as well. they closed their set with a cover of Brittany Spears “Hit Me Baby One More Time”. I noticed that the band was without a bassist and that could have made an even greater impression on me. My brother Keith picked up a Nini Patch for me to help cheer me up. 8/10

Band members
NiNi – Ruan, Liuqin, San Xian, ukulele, Irish banjo, DaoYu
Jesse Venom – vocals
Taylor Bellemare – guitars
Emilio Vergo – drums

If the Patch didn’t cheer me up, Norway’s TROLLFEST sure as hell did. It was my first experience with them and brother these guys are a hoot. As soon as they came strutting onto the stage in their pink flamingo costumes and blacklight face paint I knew we were in for a good time and instantly my mood picked up and was fist pumping and clapping along side everyone in unison. Trollfest can really get a crowd going if you know what I mean. Their show demands crowd participation and I was all in on it loving every second of it. I didn’t participate in the conga line as I didn’t want to lose my position but it looked like everyone was having a blast. My thighs are still hurting though from all of the couching and jumping up and down (I’m so out of shape) and I had a fist bump moment with one of their guitarists whom after their set handed me a set list, which was cool as fuck. It felt like Trollfest played a full set. I definitely want to see them again the next time they come back to Toronto, they were awesome and I had an amazing time seeing them do their thing. 10/10

Setlist
Dance Like A Pink Flamingo
Flamongous
Essenfest
Ave Maria (Charles Gounod cover)
Twenty Miles An Hour
Kaptein Kaos
Illsint
Renkespill
Pina Colada
Kjettaren Mot Stromen
All Drinks On Me
Espin Bin Askeladden
Helvettes Hunden Garm

Band members
Trollmannen – vocals
Mr. Seidel – guitars
Fabio Grimdrap – guitars
Böesse Basshöl Nybazist – bass
Bjørn Dugstad Rønnow – drums
Drekka Dag – saxophone
Fjernkontrollet – accordion, keyboards
Trollbank – bouzouki

ENSIFERUM

Now I was pumped for seeing one of my absolute favourite bands, Finnish Folk Metal giants ENSIFERUM. I fell in love with this band back in the early 2000’s and I listen to them almost everyday. Like I stated before it has been a long time since I seen this band and talking about, the Opera House was the last place I seen them back when co-headliners Hypocrisy couldn’t make it across the border so Ensiferum played two full sets when they absolutely didn’t have to and that made them legends to me. Ensiferum kills it every fucking time I see them and Monday night was no exception. Although they didn’t play all the songs I wanted them to play (Iron, Token of time, Blood Is The Price Of Glory), The set list they chose to play was stellar none the less and they did play my absolute favourite song which is Treacherous Gods. My back was getting crushed as the crowd got pretty rowdy during their set and had some pretty good crowd surfing to boot. Sami Hinkka is an absolute wildman on the bass and is always full of infectous energy. Sami and I had a little Arnie and Carl weathers hand shake moment while Sami was running along the barrier hyping up the crowd with high fives, but when he got to me we clasped hands. Petri Lindroos and Markus Toivonen are absolute shredders on the guitar and Janne Parvianen destroys on the drums as well. Pekka Montin’s soaring vocals have been a great addition the the band’s sound since 2020. Ensiferum played a full set also and I can’t wait to see them again in the near future. As soon as their set was over my brother Keith informed me that he was over at the merch table and they found 3XL shirts for me so I left my spot to go support the bands by buying some sorely needed band tees. 10/10! I fucking love Ensiferum!

Setlist
Aurora
Fatherland
Twilight Tavern
Treacherous Gods
Winterstorm Vigilantes
Lai Lai Hei
The Howl
Run From The Crushing Tide
Andromeda
Leniret Coram Tempestate
Victorious
Wanderer
Rum, Women, Victory
In My Sword I Trust
Two Of Spades

Band members
Petri Lindroos – harsh vocals, guitars
Markus Toivonen – guitars, backing vocals
Sami Hinkka – clean vocals, bass
Pekka Montin – clean vocals, keyboards
Janne Parviainen – drums

KORPIKLAANI

I had to watch KORPIKLAANI kick ass from the back of the venue from then on until I went upstairs to the upper level and realized that the view up there was pretty good and the sound was a little better too. I was elated having added three new shirts to my collection and sat back and enjoyed Korpiklaani from upstairs. They sounded great up there and I had a great time. While folks were busy having a great time on the floor, the folks upstairs were doing the same. What I love so much about folk metal is that it has a more festive feeling. You don’t get bogged down with more serious attitudes that other genres of metal bring with them. I find folk metal more light-hearted and care-free than other genres. Don’t get me wrong about other genres as I’m sure everyone is at those shows to have fun too but some people take things too seriously sometimes and that’s okay but I just love the vibe that folk metal brings. Korpiklaani definitely brings that fun atmosphere with them wherever they go. They put on a great show that night and treated us to a pretty awesome drum solo during Metsamies which had the crowd roaring with approval. Korpiklaani are one of if not the best bands to see in the folk metal scene and I highly recommend that you should check them out if you have never seen them before. They are always so much fun. They finished off the night with their classic drinking anthem “Vodka” which was a perfect coda to cap off the end of the night. 10/10! Korpiklaani does it once again!

Setlist
Rankarumpu
A Man With A Plan
Saunaan
Happy Little Boozer
Levan Polkka
Rauta
Aita
Oraakkelit
Kalmisto
Pixies Dance
Levaluhta
Gotta Go Home (Bony M. Cover)
Iron Fist (Motörhead Cover)
Viima
Metsamies
Sahti
Tequila
Vodka

Band members
Jonne Järvelä – vocals, acoustic guitar
Kalle “Cane” Savijärvi – guitar
Jarkko Aaltonen – bass
Sami Perttula – accordion
Olli Vänskä – violin
Samuli Mikkonen – drums, percussion

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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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Concert Review – Wind Rose (The Concert Hall, Toronto, ON, 04/18/2024)

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The Concert Hall hosted one of the most melodic, symphonic and fun nights of heavy music of the year in Toronto so far this past Thursday.

OPENING ACT: Xandria

Due to my trip to New York to see them mighty Judas Priest on Friday April 19, I wasn’t able to join my buddy Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi at The Concert Hall (the whole thing moved from Lee’s Palace to The Concert Hall due to the high demand for tickets) on Thursday night to enjoy XANDRIA and WIND ROSE during the Toronto stop of their North American Warfront Tour 2024, another classy event brought to the city by Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. It’s getting to a point where I need a clone (or two) to be able to attend all concerts that I would like to, because I also had to miss Raven and Artillery on Saturday, but let’s leave this one for another review and focus now on the amazing performances by Xandria and Wind Rose, because as Keith said both kicked some serious ass on stage.

The opener was a band that’s becoming a fan-favorite to everyone who enjoys some classic European Symphonic Metal in the city of Toronto, Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany-based act XANDRIA. Keith said they put on a solid performance a usual, and I’m more than certain that was exactly what the Greek goddess Ambre Vourvahis, guitarists Marco Heubaum and Rob Klawonn, bassist Tim Schwarz, and drummer Dimitrio Gatsios brought to their avid Torontonian fans Thursday night, as they were superb when they opened for Kamelot in the summer of 2023 in the city. Blending songs from their excellent 2023 album The Wonders Still Awaiting with older tunes, plus their brand new single Universal, the band didn’t disappoint their fans at all, delivering a more-than-proper warmup for the main attraction of the night, and who knows, maybe we’ll see Xandria headlining a tour in Canada soon, right?

Setlist
You Will Never Be Our God
Death to the Holy
Reborn
Forevermore
Universal
Your Stories I’ll Remember
Two Worlds
Nightfall

Band members
Ambre Vourvahis – vocals
Marco Heubaum – guitars
Rob Klawonn – guitars
Tim Schwarz – bass
Dimitrio Gatsios – drums

WIND ROSE

After a short break, it was time for the main attraction of the night, Pisa, Tuscany, Italy-based Folk/Power Metal horde WIND ROSE, to hit the stage at The Concert Hall for the delight of all fans at the venue eager to witness their always fun performances, promoting their 2022 album Warfront. Keith said it was his first time seeing those guys live and that he was truly impressed with their show. Their energy was huge, and had him “digging a hole through The Concert Hall floor” (whatever he means by that, most probably something that happened during the song Diggy Diggy Hole). Keith mentioned he will definitely see them again whenever they return to Toronto, and if you’re curious to know more about the band you can find all of their creations on BandCamp and on Spotify (or on any other streaming service). I’m definitely eager to also see them live for the first time ever, so hopefully they’ll get back to Toronto sooner than later, and without any other pre-booked concert to block me from attending their show.

Setlist
Army of Stone
Fellows of the Hammer
Drunken Dwarves
Mine Mine Mine!
Gates of Ekrund
The King Under the Mountain
The Battle of the Five Armies
The Art of War
Tales of War
Together We Rise
Diggy Diggy Hole (The Yogscast cover)
Diggy Diggy Hole (Dance Remix)
Tomorrow Has Come
I Am the Mountain

Band members
Francesco Cavalieri – lead vocals
Claudio Falconcini – guitars, backing vocals
Federico Meranda – keyboards
Cristiano Bertocchi – bass
Federico Gatti – drums

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Concert Review – Alestorm (The Concert Hall, Toronto, ON, 03/22/2024)

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In a winter-like night of spring in Toronto, countless fans braved a ruthless snowstorm to enjoy the incendiary concert by the most famous pirates of the metal scene worldwide.

OPENING ACTS: Glyph and Elvenking

Unfortunately due to a heavy snowstorm that hammered the city of Toronto on Friday night (it looks like we moved from a spring-like winter to a winter-like spring, which is a real bummer), I wasn’t able to make it to The Concert Hall to enjoy the start of the Tour of the Dead Marauder 2024, with the bands GLYPH, ELVENKING and ALESTORM, another amazing event brought to the city by the one and only Noel Peters of Inertia Entertainment. Not only that, this was the first ever event Noel held at The Concert Hall, which according to my buddy Keith Ibbitson of Metal Paparazzi is a fantastic venue for metal concerts. Huge stage, amazing lighting and sound, and the wrap around the upper balcony has a wicked view with one bar. Hopefully I’ll be able to see other bands playing at The Concert Hall, because I’m really curious to see how it is now. Anyway, as mentioned Keith was able to make it to the show, so not only he was responsible for the photos, but he also had to send me some words about each of the bands that played Friday night. I’ll add some information about the bands to the review as well, just to make it more detailed, and I hope you crazy metalheads enjoy the reading.

“Toronto is in its 4th day of spring and old man winter thought it would be nice for a snowstorm. However, the fans of the band Alestorm didn’t care. They stood outside for more than an hour in the blustery wind and snow to get inside a warm and newly renovated The Concert  Hall, where Noel Peters and his company Inertia Entertainment put on their first show. The bands Glyph, Elvenking and headliners Alestorm kicked some ass and let all their fans enjoy some much needed moshing,” said Keith about the entire night. The doors opened at 7pm and the first band of the night, GLYPH (a Power Metal featuring members of Gatekeeper, Greyhawk, Hjelvik, and Ravenous) went on shortly after, leaving Keith scrambling to get his camera ready and fight his way through the already packed venue. I believe they played the songs Honor, Power, Glory, A Storm of Crimson Fire and When The World Was Young during their set, and maybe a few others, but these three definitely deserve a listen. Moreover, Glyph will release their new album Honor. Power. Glory. this Friday March 29, so don’t be a fool and get ready to rock with such an amazing band by purchasing it or streaming it on BandCamp and on Spotify.

Band members
R. A. Voltaire – vocals
Rob Steinway – guitars
Darin Wall – bass
Jeff Black – keyboards
Ryan Yancey – drums

Right after Glyph finished warming up the crowd, it was time for Italian Melodic Power/Folk Metal entity ELVENKING to take the city of Toronto by storm (and fortunately not a snowstorm) with their hypnotizing concert, blending songs from their vast catalogue (as the band has been kicking ass all over the world for 27 years already) with their most recent effort, the 2023 album Reader of the Runes – Rapture. In addition, Elvenking are not your regular band, as their lineup includes mystical creatures represented by frontman Damna, guitarist and keyboardist Aydan, guitarist HeadMatt, bassist Jakob, drummer Symohn, and the iconic violinist Lethien, who definitely adds an extra touch of magic to their live performances. Keith said their concert was insane, driving their fans crazy and eager for more Elvenking in the city in the near future, and I honestly can’t wait for that as long as there isn’t a boring snowstorm blocking all roads, of course.

Setlist
Rapture
The Hanging Tree
Draugen’s Maelstrom
Pagan Revolution
Silverseal
Moonbeam Stone Circle
To Oak Woods Bestowed
Pagan Purity
Bride of Night
The One We Shall Follow
The Wanderer
The Divided Heart
Elvenlegions
She Lives at Dawn

Band members
Damna – lead vocals
Aydan – guitars, harsh and backing vocals, keyboards
HeadMatt – guitars
Jakob – bass
Lethien – violin
Symohn – drums

ALESTORM

Finally, after a quick break, the main attraction of the night took the stage for a memorable performance. The one day Scottish but now multinational Folk/Power Metal privateers ALESTORM kicked some serious ass according to Keith, with a jam packed venue making the night even more special. Having released that same Friday their new EP Voyage of the Dead Marauder (which is really cool, by the way), the band formed of Christopher Bowes, Máté Bodor, Gareth Murdock (and if you don’t know his Black Metal band Imperial Demonic, I highly recommend listening to their 2023 debut EP Beneath the Crimson Eclipse), Elliot Vernon, and Peter Alcorn was on fire during their entire set, playing classics like Keelhauled, Drink and Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship as well as the new songs The Last Saskatchewan Pirate and Voyage of the Dead Marauder, leaving a sold out The Concert Hall eager for another killer show by those metallic pirates in a not-so-distant future. “The crowd barrier broke and me and the security held it up during the third song for Alestorm. They had to fix it on the fly,” said Keith who, despite having a corrupt memory card and losing most of his over 200 Alestorm photos, made sure I got a very special (or maybe I should say divine) photo taken by our amazing brother and photographer Ryan Miles Leblanc. “There was a special appearance by the lord Jesus Christ who graciously moshed and crowd surfed,” said Keith in a message to me. Well, who would say that Jesus would be a fan of pirate metal, right? YAAAAAARRRR!

Setlist
Keelhauled
No Grave but the Sea
The Sunk’n Norwegian
Alestorm
Under Blackened Banners
Hangover (Taio Cruz cover)
The Last Saskatchewan Pirate
Wenches & Mead
Magellan’s Expedition
Mexico
Voyage of the Dead Marauder
Big Ship Little Ship
Nancy the Tavern Wench
P.A.R.T.Y.
1741 (The Battle of Cartagena)
Shit Boat (No Fans)

Encore:
Drink
Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship
Fucked With an Anchor

Band members
Christopher Bowes – vocals, keyboards
Máté Bodor – guitars
Gareth Murdock – bass
Elliot Vernon – keyboards, backing vocals
Peter Alcorn – drums

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