 It was also their first time touring in North America as a quartet in over 30 years, and also the first time that the band has kicked off touring behind a new album in North America. The departure of Mike Sifringer last year left some people skeptical regarding the future of Destruction. It may just be Schmier as the only original member left now, but he has a fine bunch of guys joining him with the dual guitar attack of Damir Eskic and Martin Furia, and the rampaging drumming of Randy Black, making this Destruction lineup more powerful and as unstoppable as ever, both on record and live. Kicking off the festivites was VX36. I saw this band once before back in 2014 when they were opening for Onslaught. At the time, they were just another run-of-the-mill thrash band with nothing really exciting or enticing about their music, other than a few decent riffs. It turned out to be the same case this time around. For me, they did have a hard time keeping my interest in tact, however they did manage to get the crowd pretty warmed up, because the pit they had going was of decent size and intensity. On top of that, even though I didn't find the band all that interesting, I'd definitely choose them over the next band. Up next was Sunlord, a trio from New York who were making their Canadian debut on this tour. Of the three opening bands, they had a more of a tough time keeping my interest than VX36 did. I didn't find their music to be enticing at all. I understand that there wasn't a whole bunch of space on stage for the opening bands to move around, but even with their movements, it felt like they were just going through the motions on stage. The drummer was the only member of the band that seemed like he was having a good time. The only entertaining part of their set was when the singer joked with the crowd that if the mosh pit wasn't big enough, everyone would have to do a bunch of push-ups. On top of that, the crowd wasn't all that active during their set, except for having a small pit that didn't last too long. | Written and photographed by Alex Stojanovic DESTRUCTION w/ NERVOSA, SUNLORD and VX36 @ Lee's Palace Toronto, ON, Canada May 1, 2022 Presented by Inertia Entertainment It has been another pretty hellish winter, but the weather is now improving, even if we still have a couple of cooler days here and there. On top of that, the return of touring continues to be in full swing, which needless to say, is an amazing thing. One of the tours that came through this spring season was Destruction at Lee's Palace on May 1st, with special guests Nervosa, Sunlord and VX36. This was Destruction's first tour of North America since 2017 for the Under Attack album. They didn't have the opportunity to come here for the Born To Perish tour, so in a weird way, they were promoting two records here, those being Born To Perish, and their new album Diabolical. VX36 Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic SUNLORD Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic |
| NERVOSA Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic DESTRUCTION Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic | Taking the stage next were the lovely ladies of Nervosa. This was only their second North American tour, but also like Sunlord, they were making their Canadian debut on this tour. After Sunlord's quite dull set that almost put much of the crowd to sleep, Nervosa did a total 180 to the atmosphere as they were the most energetic band of the night. The ladies got an entire crowd that was 90% male moshing, headbanging and pounding their fists. This was their third North American tour overall, but it was their first one since 2016, and first one with the current lineup. Of all the singers on the entire tour, Diva Satanica was the most energetic, but she had the advantage of that, due to the fact that all the other singers on the tour were playing guitar as well. With an ecstatic reception, it's clear that this won't be the band's last time here. Finally, closing off the night was Destruction. Having been 5 years since Toronto got to see the German thrash legends, it goes without saying that the fans were ecstatic when they hit the stage, and on top of that, from what I can remember from the other times I've seen them live, this might've been the biggest headline crowd they had in Toronto in a while. Starting off the set with new music with the title track from Diabolical, they played a career-spanning setlist, touching on many different eras. The selection of new music from Diabolical and Born To Perish included "Repent Your Sins", "Born To Perish", "No Faith In Humanity" and "Tormented Soul", and the selection of classics included the standards like "Mad Butcher", "Thrash 'Til Death", "Nailed To The Cross", "Release From Agony", "Curse The Gods" and "Bestial Invasion". We were also treated to some cool deep cuts such as "Death Trap", "Tormentor" and "Inspired By Death". Given that it was my first time seeing the band as a quartet, I can definitely hear a big difference in the sound with two guitars compared to when Mike Sifringer was the only guitarist. As great of a player that Mike was, and as monstrous of a tone he had, the band's live sound was still lacking that extra bottom end of a second rhythm guitar, particularly during solo sections. However, now that they got a second guitar, it sounds so much more fuller and more aggressive than before, so it goes without saying that going back to being a quartet was one of the best decisions the band ever made. With an eclectic setlist, and a new lineup, Destruction made their 40th anniversary celebration in Toronto one to remember. |
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