AMON AMARTH - METAL MASTER KINGDOM TORONTO SHOW REVIEW

6/6/2016

Next up were Entombed A.D., whose set consisted of mostly Entombed covers, and rightfully so, because the band is all former Entombed members, but when it comes to material under the Entombed A.D. name, they only have two albums to draw from. They began their set with their new album's title track "Dead Dawn". Other Entombed A.D. originals performed include "Second To None" and "The Winner Has Lost". A really cool and sort of unexpected part of their set was when they invited Amon Amarth guitarist Johan Soderburg on stage to jam on "To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak The Truth" and "Wolverine Blues". It's not very often that you see the opening act invite a member of the headlining band on stage to jam a song or two, but it's not new. Other Entombed covers performed included "Stranger Aeons", "Living Dead", "Revel In Flesh" and the set closed with "Left Hand Path".

Written by: Alex Stojanovic
Photography by: Navneet Johal
April 30, 2016

Photo credit here.

The warmer weather is finally here and tons of great shows are still coming through Toronto. Honestly, is there any better way to spend a Saturday night than going out to metal show? On the last day of April, a huge crew of Toronto metalheads packed the Danforth Music Hall to the limit to see the great Amon Amarth, making it a completely sold out show. This was also Amon Amarth's biggest headline show in Toronto to date. After headlining the Opera House, the Phoenix and the Sound Academy in previous years, it was time to take it to the next level at the Danforth Hall.

First up were shred maniacs Exmortus. It was my fourth time seeing them and they keep getting better every time. It's also gotten to the point where I know exactly what to expect when I see Exmortus. After seeing Exmortus in more smaller intimate venues like the Hard Luck and the Mod Club the last three times, it was great to see them on a slightly bigger stage this time around. Their six-song set consisted of "Rising", "For The Horde", "Slave To The Sword", "Death To Tyrants", a little bit of Beethoven with "Moonlight Sonata" and "Metal Is King". During the latter, the famous guitar swap trick between Conan Gonzales and David Riviera was executed. Exmortus always put on a great show with tons of shredding and heavy tunes.

Now it was the time we've all been waiting for, the mighty Amon Amarth, who had what I think is one of the coolest stage sets I've ever seen. The drum riser was a viking helmet with the top blown off and horns on the side. There were also six flights of stairs, which include two that we couldn't see because they were in behind the riser, as well as the Jomsviking backdrop, which later changed. Fans riled into a frenzy as Amon Amarth started their set with "The Pursuit Of Vikings" and "As Loke Falls". At certain points during the set, two knights would come out and put on a sword fight and give some action poses with bows and arrows. With the amount of anthems in Amon Amarth's catalog, they could easily do a two-hour show. New songs from Jomsviking that were played included "First Kill", "At Dawn's First Light", "The Way Of Vikings", "One Against All", "One Thousand Burning Arrows" and "Raise Your Horns". The latter began the encore. Other fan favourites performed include "Cry Of The Blackbirds", "Death In Fire", "Destroyer Of The Universe", "Deceiver Of The Gods", "Father Of The Wolf", "Runes To My Memory" and "Victorious March". It was a bit surprising that the band left out

"Guardians Of Asgaard" because it's a common song in their setlist and Lars-Goran Petrov of Entombed A.D. did guest vocals on the recording of the song and it would have been great to see Lars trade off on vocals with Johan Hegg on the song. However, it was an amazing show, and if you haven't seen Amon Amarth live yet, what are you waiting for?

AMON AMARTH

Johan Hegg - Vocals
Olavi Mikkonen - Guitars
Johan Soderberg - Guitars
Ted Lundstrom - Bass
Jocke Wallgren - Drums

Label: Metal Blade Records

ENTOMBED A.D.

Lars-Goran Petrov - Vocals
Olle Dahlstedt - Drums
Nico Elgstrand - Guitars
Victor Brandt - Bass

Label: Century Media Records

EXMORTUS

Jadran "Conan" Gonzales - Vocals & guitars
David Riviera - Guitars
Mario Moreno - Drums
Michael Cosio - Bass

Label: Prosthetic Records

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SHOW REVIEWS (2016 - Present)