Written by Timothy Cox
Photographed by Lilia Mattingly


(C) 2018 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com


VANS WARPED TOUR 2018 (PART 1)
@ Old Cypress Lot @ Metropolitan Park
Jacksonville, FL, USA
August 2, 2018

​For anyone who lives in Florida, there is always one thing you have to count on, which is the chance for rain.  As much sun as the state gets, you can’t have the rainbows without the rain, and that’s exactly what happened at the Jacksonville show for the 2018 Warped Tour.

Written by Ananda Elora
Photographed by Anna Sklavos

(C) 2018 All rights reserved by www.metalmasterkingdom.com

BEARTOOTH w/ KNOCKED LOOSE and SYLAR
@ Danforth Music Hall
Toronto, ON, Canada
September 15, 2018

​Presented by Live Nation

Written and photographed by Alex Stojanovic


(C) 2018 www.metalmasterkingdom.com


VENOM INC. w/ METALFIER, DEMONTAGE and ARCANE EVIL
@ Coalition
Toronto, ON, Canada
September 2, 2018


Presented by Heavy & Humble Productions

Labour Day weekend is a festive time, as it's the last weekend before students and teachers prepare for the school year.  In downtown Toronto, many restaurants and bars were hopping with people enjoying and making the best of the last weekend of the summer holidays.  While most people were enjoying a nice meal and drinks, or just finishing up on their back-to-school shopping, a group of Toronto metalheads gathered at Coalition to catch the return of Venom Inc..

The last four months have been touchy for Venom Inc., because as many people are aware, Jeff "Mantas" Dunn dodged a bullet earlier this year when he suffered a major heart attack on April 30th that caused him to lose consciousness for a whole 5 minutes in the back of an ambulance.  The doctors and nurses had to shock him to resuscitate him.  His heart attack was a result of two blocked valves in his heart.  When it was realized that a stent ​​​wouldn't solve the issue, the next option was a double bypass surgery.  It is now the start of September, and Mantas is back on stage, and it seemed like it never happened.  However, he is still in the recovering stages, so as a result, the band are not taking extensive tours yet.  The band made their return to the stage in Finland at the start of August and also played a slot at Bloodstock in England, followed by a small handful of North American dates.  Let's get into the evening's festivities now, shall we?

To kick things off, local Toronto thrash/black metal outfit Arcane Evil took the stage to a sparse crowd, but people slowly gathered at the front to watch their performance.  This was also the band's debut show.  During their set, they experienced an amp malfunction, which took about 5 minutes to fix.  While a solid performance, there were a couple of factors that made it a little difficult to enjoy the band's set thoroughly.  For those that have read some of my past reviews, you know that I've always been a fan of great sound.  When the sound is exceptional, it makes any band's set much more enjoyable, regardless of if it's in a small low-ceiling club like Coalition or a stadium the Rogers Centre.

However, when you're a black metal band, and you're playing in a small low-ceiling room, the chances of the sound not being as clean are pretty high, and that was the case with Arcane Evil, even though the band played well.  Let's face it, the sound in a lot of low-ceiling rooms is usually not the best.  There also wasn't a whole lot of variation in their songs, which also made it a little hard for me to fully enjoy their set.  I'm not denying the band's musical abilities, but if there was a bit more variation between the songs, even if the sound was not as great, Arcane Evil's set would've stood out much more.  Just an opinion, guys!  You played great.  An opening slot for Venom Inc. is not too shabby for your first show.

Next up were Toronto metal titans Demontage.  Musically, they were sort of similar to Arcane Evil, but their music was slightly more varied, especially with the track "The Principal Extinction".  I've said before that I never really like it when a frontman talks in a gutteral or raspy voice on purpose when addressing the crowd, and there were a couple of times where The Lout spoke in that sort of voice.  I just find it unnecessary, just saying.  A couple other songs the band treated us to were "Ritual Of Flames" and "Entourage Of Demon Dances".

Up next was New York City outfit Metalfier, who were the only band of the night to have four members, as all the other bands were trios.  If I may also add, they had the best sound of the entire night.  It was also the band's first time in Toronto.  Their set started with the Omen theme song as they entered the stage.  In addition to the originals they performed, they also gave us a couple of covers, including Judas Priest's "Breaking The Law" and Metallica's "Escape".  I will say that although an exceptional performance, "Breaking The Law" was a bit odd to hear with screaming vocals.  One other standout moment of the band's set was when frontman Andrew Janda snapped a string on his guitar in the middle of a song, but managed to finish the song before he changed the string.

Now it was time for Venom Inc. to take the stage.  As they entered the stage, they began their set with "Metal We Bleed", followed by a good batch of the Venom classics like "Welcome To Hell", "Don't Burn The Witch", "Die Hard" and "Live Like An Angel (Die Like The Devil)".  They had a bit of a rough start to the set due to the stage monitors cutting out, and they were obviously not too happy about it.  Coalition should seriously look into making upgrades to their P.A.  Most of the songs in the set were also in the set the last time I saw the band at the Mod Club last year, but there were a few new choices like "Sacrifice", "Parasite", "Lady Lust" and "Black n' Roll".  The other change is that there was a new face in the band on drums.  For the past few months, Jeramie Kling of The Absence has been filling in for Abaddon, who took some time off to be home and spend time with his newborn daughter.  At this point, from some stuff I heard, I don't think Abaddon's with the band anymore, but we won't get into that.

As the band returned on stage for the encore, Demolition Man started paying tribute to Mantas, who shared the heart attack tale with the crowd and expressed his eternal gratitude to everyone who supported him during his period of recovery, including the doctors and medical personnel who helped bring him back to life, which was met with thunderous applause.  The band then finished off the night with "Bloodlust", "In League With Satan" and "Countess Bathory".

Fans were elated to see Venom Inc. back on stage after Mantas' episode, I know I was.  Coalition was packed with a very respectable turnout, but I will say that seeing the band headline a place like Coalition after headlining the Mod Club last year was a little odd for me.  I can't wait for Venom Inc. to return when they tour on their upcoming album.

​VENOM INC.

Tony "Demolition Man" Dolan - Bass & Vocals
Jeff "Mantas" Dunn - Guitars
Jeramie Kling - Drums

Label:  Nuclear Blast Records
Website:  www.venom-inc.com
​www.facebook.com/VenomIncOfficial


DEMONTAGE

The Lout - Guitars & vocals
Abominable Reverend - Drums
Perverted Priest - Bass & keyboards

Label:  Belial's Basement Recordings
Website:  www.demontage.ca

METALFIER

Andrew Janda - Lead vocals & guitars
Rob Broderick - Bass
Christian Cos - Guitars
Carlos Gordillo - Drums

Label:  Unsigned
Website:  www.metalfier.com


ARCANE EVIL

Kirk Capuano - Guitars & vocals
Joel Capuano - Bass
Allen Lerne - Drums

Label:  Unsigned
Website:  www.facebook.com/arcaneevil