Written by Alex Stojanovic

PANTERA
w/ Lamb Of God and Child Bite
@ Budweiser Stage
Toronto, ON, Canada
August 12, 2023

It has been a topic of discussion for well over a decade, and the unimaginable came to fruition just last year, when Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown announced that they would be teaming up together for a bunch of Pantera tribute shows.  The announcement caused quite a division between the fans, with one half being really stoked on it, and the other half causing an uproar and calling the move and insult to the legacy and the Abbott brothers.  At first, when it was announced, I wasn't sure how I felt about it.  However, as more details started rolling out, I started to get behind it more and more.

Written by Alex Stojanovic
Photography by Marta Chilina

(C) 2023 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com

CANNIBAL CORPSE / MAYHEM
w/ GORGUTS and BLOOD INCANTATION
@ Rebel
Toronto, ON, Canada
September 27, 2023

It's a Wednesday evening in Toronto.  The weather is borderline warm and cool now that we've arrived in the fall season, and the fall touring season for bands is in full swing, so what do you do?  Go to a show of course, because what else, right?  One tour taking place currently is the co-headline tour between Cannibal Corpse and Mayhem, once again bringing the worlds of death metal and black metal together, along with Gorguts and Blood Incantation serving as special guests.  The tour of brutality steamrolled into Rebel on Wednesday, September 27, and the show attracted all ages, proven by the fact that I saw a dad holding his little girl on his shoulders during one of the sets and she was rocking out hard.

​Starting off the evening were Blood Incantation.  Now, I'm going to be completely honest as I always am, but they could've picked a much better first act for this tour.  For a band that has been around for over a decade and having released two full-lengths, they gave more of an impression that they were just starting out.  Their sound was full of ambience, which definitely made it really hard to distinguish any of the riffs, as it sounded like I was listening to just a wall of sound.  Frontman Paul Riedl's in-between song banters couldn't have sounded more unenthusiastic.  It came across as though performing live was a burden to him and he would much rather be doing something else.  As a result, it was rather difficult to watch their set and stay engaged.  I honestly found myself getting the yawns during their set.

Up next was some homegrown death metal with Gorguts.  It's a bit of a special occasion for anybody to see Gorguts since they don't tour that much these days.  They haven't played a show since 2017, so it must've also felt like a relief for the band to be back on the road after six years.  This was also the point of the show where myself and all those who were falling asleep during Blood Incantation really woke up.  Whoever was doing sound for Gorguts deserves a raise, because they made a death metal band's set have what I like to call the million-dollar sound quality.  Luc Lemay looked like a death metal wizard with his long grey hair and beard, but he has lost nothing off his voice or guitar playing.  Their short 6-song set consisted of tracks like "Rottenatomy", "Disincarnated", "Bodily Corrupted", "Considered Dead", "Inoculated Life" and "Obscura".

​Now it was time for headliner of the night: Mayhem.  Supplying the black metal portion of the night, they entered the stage which was later filled with smoke, with Attila Csihar dressing like the reaper in a raggedy hooded cloak for the first 3/4 of the set and a makeshift cross mic holder made of two bones, and then later dawning a mask that made him look like a Satanic zombie towards the end.  It was my first time seeing Mayhem, and to me, they didn't really surprise me as far as a black metal show goes.  It had all the elements that you would expect a black metal show to have from both the sonics and the visuals.  I found it kind of hard to watch their set because they weren't active on stage, and their movements were rather slow, trying to match with the atmospheric vibe from the tremolo-picked riffing.  I also found it rather odd that Attila didn't talk to the crowd in between songs.  Even though the band are notorious for their controversy surrounding Dead, they still manage to resurrect him each night with his voice introducing "Freezing Moon" on the P.A.  I honestly don't plan on seeing Mayhem, unless they're part of a bill that I really want to see.

Written by Alex Stojanovic

MEGADETH w/ BIOHAZARD
@ Colosseum Caesers Windsor
Windsor, ON, Canada
September 21, 2023